too close to it. it's pretty graphic. active fighting continued along this stretch of the border throughout the day, as israeli military forces poured in. so we're seeing a bunch of tanks being brought down this way. you've also been hearing a steady stream of booms, apparently rockets landing in the distance in that direction. and certainly a feeling that people are on high alert. we tried to push further down that road, we were told in no uncertain terms we needed to turn around. >> clarissa ward, cnn, raine, israel. >> our clarissa ward reporting there. our cnn this morning continues right now. hamas launching a barrage of rockets on israel after the israeli military announced that it had regained control of all of the towns on the gaza border. >> you can hear the desperation.

this is the aftermath in the city of ashkalon, not far from the gaza border. this all comes some 48 hours after hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack by land, by sea, and by air, killing civilians and taking hostages overnight. israeli air strikes pummeled hundreds of targets in the gaza strip. israel's defense minister has this morning ordered a, quote, complete siege, saying electricity, food, and fuel will all be cut off. >> the videos show the horror on the ground at a music festival in israel are 260 people have been found dead. this is a drone video of burned out cars at the site. a dash camera video shows a hamas fighter shooting his rifle and taking a hostage. this morning, a spokesman for the israeli military say that hamas have brought dozen of hostages and there could be terrorists hiding in israel now. >> they came in in hundreds. there still could be terrorists. we're slowly scanning each of the communities and we're

evacuating the israeli population from these locations. >> cnn's hadas gold is live in jerusalem. hadas, this has been such a fast-moving story over the course of the last couple of days. where's your sense of where the things stand right now on the ground? >> reporter: this is israel's essentially worst nightmare. when my situation with israeli security officials over my past three years here or so, i don't think anyone ever imagined what is happening right now over the last two days or so. earlier today, jerusalem, televiv were once again targeted by a barrage of rockets. i was in my apartment when this happened, and as soon as it was over, i came out on my balcony and i could see a plume of black smoke coming in the area of jerusalem. jerusalem in these conflicts in the past seems to be taken out of the equation. it might get one round of rockets and that's about it. it's different this time. and it feels different across this region. this feels completely different. that's what you're hearing from the israeli military as well.

they're saying, this isn't an operation, this isn't a tit for tat, this is a full-out war. israel has not properly declared war, guys, since the 1973 yom kippur war 50 years ago. and that's what's so stung ning about all of this. here in jerusalem, i've been hearing a constant roar of fighter jets going overhead, likely flying towards the gaza strip. we know they have been pummeling the gaza strip, multiple airstrips down, but because of the blockade on gaza, the electricity, the internet is not really fully available there. our full picture of what's actually happen in gaza, it's hard for us to completely understand exactly the scale of what's happening there. of course, we know there are hundreds of casualties, thousands have been injured. in israel, we know of at least 700 who have been killed. we know that there's at least 2,500 injuries. guys, just what happened at that music festival by itself, this is the largest mass casualty

event in israeli history. and that's just one event of the many that we're seeing right now. and only in the last few hours did we get confirmation from the israeli military that they have finally regained control of some of those communities in southern israel, where they were engaging with militants in firefights for 48 hours after this first happened. that's just incredible, that there were still residents in southern israel being told to barricade themselves in their homes, to not leave, for fear of militants still being there. and there's a fear there could be other sleeper cells or other militants that might appear. we have heard from the minister of defense, who has declared a complete blockade on the gaza strip. this means no electricity, no fuel, no food, nothing will be going in and out of gaza for the foreseeable future. eyes are still on the north. there were some reports that air raid sirens have gone off in the north. that is a very, very concerning development. we don't have that confirmed yet whether that means there were

rockets fired or not. if hezbollah decides to join this fight, we are on a whole different level of conflict here, the likes of which this region has never seen before. >> that would be from southern lebanon into north and from the south there from gaza. hadas, your reporting has been extraordinary throughout this. thank you very much for joining us live from vojerusalem. >> cnn's nic robertson joins us live. you've seen the movement of the military equipment firsthand. what can you tell us this hour that everybody is working under the assumption that an assault and an incursion is coming. no official confirmation yet. what are you seeing? >> you know, i think it's going to take realistically some time for that to actually happen. on a scale that perhaps people imagine. you know, i don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that if the israeli defense force got active and timely precise intelligence about the location of some hostages, that they would try to take that

opportunity to get them. but i think that's exceptionally unlikely. and the sort of ground incursion that we've seen in the past, and i've been here before when that's taken place, it's taken some time to gather the troops and equipment and material. and i don't see that many place yet. i do see increasing security. what you can see behind me now is gaza. i'm going to step out of the way. you're looking at apartment buildings in gaza, the city itself, that gives you a sense of the dense structure of the population. i'm hearing a fighter yet. you can actually see the fighter jet overhead here, flying quite literally towards gaza literally. it would be hard to show. we'll try to show some smoke coming from the horizon in gaza itself, that appears to be the aftermath of an earlier strike that has taken place in gaza. but from our position now, we

have views over gaza, the gaza strip and i can still hear that fighter jet that i saw flying through the sky on its way to gaza. often, when we hear or see those jets flying, and it's flying relatively low, and i can see it relatively easy, when we hear that, we hear them coming over. normally you get an impact in gaza. it's not clear if that's what we're going to see or witness from here right now, but it's typical of what has been happening over the past 24 to 36 hours, with increasing frequency, as israel tries to stop those additional rocket strikes being launched, as we've witnessed earlier today. >> nic, as somebody who has so much experience in the region, in that area specifically, can you explain to people what the effect of the defense minister ordering a full siege, cutting off electricity, water, food, what does that mean in practice? >> reporter: it's going to mean

an increasingly difficult humanitarian situation in gaza. gaza is incredibly poor. you can hear that fighter jet again. it's incredibly poor. has one of the densest populations in the world. they absolute -- their economy absolutely is on its knees and relies on the ability of palestinians to come into israel to work and get some money, which keeps the economy ticking over. that and humanitarian aid and financial, you know, financial stipends from states that are trying to feed the civilian population in gaza. it is a population that will very, very, very quickly feel the effects of an electricity stoppage, it does have a border with egypt, and it is possible to get food and electricity from egypt. but it has come to rely on israel for a large part of the population's needs. so it will be felt. and that will be a pressure point on the government, on the leadership of hamas. but it will also be -- it will

also be something that hamas will use to further their position that, you know, we will lead you in this tough situation, it's israel that's the problem, not us that's the problem. that will be their message. but it is likely to be a scenario where we will hear from aid officials about the decline in the health situation, in the decline of safe drinking water, in the decline of enough food for populations there. so 2 million people is a lot of people in a tiny space not to have clean water that's getting filtered -- that won't be filtered without the electricity. the pressures will grow, without a doubt. >> no question, nic. as nic was pointing out, we are now looking at live pictures of gaza city. you can see the smoke rising from what appeared to be a strike coming right around the time that nic was pointing out the israeli fighter jets or jet that was flying over the top of

him right now. this is continuing to be an escalating situation that we've seen back and forth over the course of the last several hours, as things continue to move towards what has been a very fluid situation. one with very little if any precedent up to this point. nic robertson has been on the ground, is keeping us posted. thanks very much, nic. >> we'll keep you posted on those strikes, but the death toll rises. we are learning more this morning about the victims and the families who are in mourning. we are about to introduce you to a man who lost his daughter and his son-in-law and nearly his lost his grandchild as well. elon trohan says that his daughter and her husband both lost their lives shielding their 16-year-old son, rotim. a bullet penetrated his grandson's stomach but he did survive and is recovering right now. he's an israeli scholar and professor emeritus at brandeis

university. i am deeply sorry for the loss of your daughter, debora. >> thank you. thank you. so are we. >> tell me about her. tell me about her. >> debora was a child of light and life. she -- rather than becoming a scientist or a physician, she said to me one day, dad, i have to do music, because it's in my soul. so she went to the equivalent of the berkeley school of music in boston, she went to the ramon school where she met her husband. actually, debora grew up and that's where i'm speaking to you from. those jet planes are flying over my house in gaza. and to give you a sense of geography, it is 45 seconds from gaza to my house. that's the time that we have to go into our domestic bomb shelter. so she is a singer, a child of life, she was the center of

organizing festivals, of parties, of celebration. and it was a natural role for her. she's the part of a family of six children and is used to the commotion and the wondrous tumult of being in a big family and that kind of excitement and pleasure was communicated to the people amongst whom she lived. can i say something to you? >> of course, of course. >> can i say something? >> you had on before parents who want information on their children. i want to tell you is that i had too much information. this is not a normal war. it isn't like there's a front and a rear. we were on the phone with debora as she was killed. we were on the phone the entire day with our son -- our grandson, rotim, as he lay first under her body and then found a place to escape under a blanket in a laundry. in other words, we live in an age of cell phones. we all knew, most of israel knew

what was going on. we had contact with -- and have contact with our loved ones, our husbands, our children, our family members, our friends, our neighbors. we were participants in what can only be called a pogrum. this is not a military event. this is not a military strike. the historic interpretation or explanation of a pogrum is when a military strikes at civilians. and this attack was rehearsed, well rehearsed, well planned, carried out. and if you look at what they're doing, they're taking hostages from infants to senior citizens, people older than i am, denying them their rights. i wonder if they're giving them their medications. if they're giving them visitation, they're allowing them to communicate? in short, this is a human rights outrage that really echos what

the kind of pogrums that made my grandparents leave europe for the safety of meamerica. >> we know among those hostages, according to the israeli ambassador, include holocaust survivors as well as children and elderly, as you mentioned. >> absolutely. >> ilan, you had to taken the phone call from rotim, and we are so thankful that he survived, but he had to call you and tell you that his parents are alive saving his life. was texting. he was told not to speak, and therefore he was to hide and use texting. by the time he was rescued, he had 4% left in his battery. other people ran out beforehand and he was lucky to have his, t chat that was invented to help them. that chat extended from southern israel up to the north. up through the galilee. and it included people who were social workers and a trauma

specialist, telling him how to breathe. what to do with the bleeding -- the blood that was coming out of his abdomen. how to -- what actions might be helpful, encourage him, telling him that, you're a hero! trying to raise his spirits. t to endure more than 12 hours of hiding when he could hear outside people speaking in arabic and engaging in shooting. you should know that he was in a safe room, but that made no difference, because the terrorists who came, they had explosives and blew up the front door to their house and then blew out the front door to their so-called safe room. this was an unbelievably well prepared attack on a civilian population. it was not an attack of military against military, so it was planned. and that's going to be our problem going forward with hostages.

the hamas wants hostages. they planned on having hostages. and how we deal with that is a conundrum that very few other countries have ever dealt with successfully. after all, in america, how long did it take to get people out of iran and so on or somalia or other places? so we have a first-class problem, but what we do know is that we will not tolerate thousands of rockets being sent against a civilian population. i heard before somebody talking about the outrage of ngos that are concerned about human rights. i would like to hear ngos being outraged about the ending of thousands upon thousands of rockets that are inaccurate against civilian population centers. that is an outrage. sorry. >> no, do not apologize. >> you got me excited. this is a hard time in which to live. >> do not apologize.

you lost your daughter and your son-in-law. just before i let you go, is rotim going to be okay? >> rotim will be fine. he is -- the brunt of the shot was born by his mother and it penetrated his stomach very -- a short distance, missed any vital o organs. there are also some splinters near his eye and ankle and other places, but they're minor. the other children -- lots of siblings, it's a big family here, we're walking with him through the halls of hospital. he's 16, resilient. he survived this. he'll survive more. but the trauma of the this is going to last his lifetime. >> of course. of course, it will. and saved by his mother.

ilan troen, thank you. >> thank you. these are live pictures this morning. israel continues its strikes into gaza. we are just learning from the state department that nine americans have been killed in israel since saturday. we're going to get an update from the state department, spokesman matt miller will be with us. stay with us.

happening now, you see the smoke rising above gaza, as israel continues to launch counter-strikes in response to the attacks by hamas militants. this just in, the state department says nine americans were killed in those attacks in israel. joining us now, state department spokesman matthew miller. i appreciate your time. to start there, it had been four, it's now been updated to nine. can you tell us more about what

you know about the americans that have been killed so far? >> so i'll start with, yes, i can confirm that nine americans unfortunately have lost their lives as a result of these horrific attacks in the region. we are in close contact with the government of israel, as they continue to conduct security operations to locate missing u.s. citizens, missing israeli citizens. and we are, of course, in close contact with the families of these nine deceased americans and offering them any consular assistance that we can provide. >> does the u.s. have any sense of how many american citizens or dual citizens are missing at this point? >> it's very hard to say. it's a number that moves all the time, as the israeli military continues to conduct military operations. there are missing americans who are unaccounted for. we've continued to work. some of them will be located, we suspect, some of them may unfortunately turn out to be deceased, but we will work on that with the government of israel in the coming days. >> and is there any information available as to whether or not any of them have been taken

hostage? >> we cannot confirm that at this point. there are reports of that, but there are americans who are unaccounted for, and our first provider is to locate those americans, find out what their status is in the coming hours and days. >> you know, matt, the secretary -- secretary blinken, you could see through the readouts of the phone calls, it's been a furious effort on the diplomatic side over the course of the last 48 hours. is there a sense inside your department right now that an offensive from israel, a ground incursion is almost an inevitability? >> i think i will let israel speak to their exact military operations, both the nature of those operations and the timing of them. the secretary in his conversations with his counterparts in the israeli government has made clear that we see it as our job to support israel. the first shipment of military stance including munitions began to arrive yesterday and and the secretary has made clear, as the president made clear in his public statements that we will do everything that we can to

support israel as it defends itself from this terrorist attack. >> my understanding from talking from people involved in those classified briefings last night is there is space and supply in order to send immediate aid over to israel, but there's a possibility that there will need to be requests for. do you have a sense that is imminent? an additional security supplemental request? >> i don't want to get ahead of where we will come down on that question. ly say that we do have the ability to immediate israel's immediate needs. as i said, the first package of military assistance has already begun to move to the region, but we are in close contact with our israeli keown parts about what additional assistance they might need, if any. and if it is important that we go to congress and ask for additional assistance, we will, of course, do that. >> there has been a lot of questions about the involvement of iran. i know u.s. officials have said there's a difference between complicity and direct involvement. the latter is something there hasn't been evidence up to this

point. can you update people on where the u.s. intelligence sees things in terms of iran's involvement? >> so, we don't have any direct intelligence at this point that would show iran's direct involvement in this terrorist attack, but that said, iran has been a longtime supporter of hamas. that's why we've taken action to hold iran accountable for its support of hamas and other terrorist organizations. this has imposed more than 400 sanctions on iran and we'll continue to hold it accountable. we will continue to examine what information we can about what directly led to these attacks and whether iran or any other country may have been involved. but at this point, we don't have any evidence to confirm that. >> one last one on iran, this is something the administration has pushed back very sharply on in terms of the $6 billion assets. you guys have pushed back on the idea that this could be yuutilid for this attack. but i want to play something congressman michael mccaul said.

listen. >> i'm also concerned about the $6 billion in lifted sanctions that have now gone into iran. i don't think it played a part in this event, but it certainly can play a part in any future terror activities. >> matt, to that point, the idea of money is fungible here. this frees up the ability for iran in terms of its terror activities going forward. what's your response to that? >> i think it's important to just establish what the actual facts are. there's been a lot of rhetoric floated about this. but the facts pretty clear. first of all, the reason iran had this $6 billion in the first place, and this is iranian money, it's because the previous administration, the trump administration allowed this money to be paid to iran and placed into accounts where iran could use that money for humanitarian purposes. we have allowed the money to move to a different account in the state of qatar, from an account where it was held in south korea, where iran will

continue to have access to that money, only for humanitarian purposes, with strict oversight from the united states treasury department. so, there is no ability for iran to use this for anything other than humanitarian purposes. i will also say that iran has funded terrorism for years and years and years. decades, in fact. and we expect that they will continue to do so. which is why, even as we allow them to have access to this humanitarian funding, which was already their money, and already in an account to where they could spend it, but were just unable to do so for some kind of technical reasons, we have made clear that we will continue to hold them accountable. as i said, we have imposed 400 sanctions on iran since the beginning of this administration for its range of activities, including sport for terrorist groups. and we will continue to take steps to hold iran accountable. going forward. >> matt miller, state department spokesman, we appreciate your time. thanks. . >> thank you. we have this new video into

cnn showing how nearly 1,000 hamas militants infiltrated israel from gaza. much more on this ahead.

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the scale and coordination of this assault on israel was without precedent. there's no question about that. videos on the are showing us how hamas carried out this attack. this video of a heavily armed militant storming the main border crossings between israel and the gaza strip, israeli forces were caught by surprise. this was a drone blowing up an automatic machine gun at the border. some of the militants used paragliders to cross into israel. you can see one flying here, right next to a barrage of rockets. hamas used explosives and a bulldozer to breach the security fence. and from the video, it looks like they were almost unstopped. they went on to attack weakly guarded military posts and went door-to-door in israeli towns on the border there taking hostages while killing sicivilians.

>> joining us now, bianna golodryga. m and cnn chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, john miller. john, i want to start with you. because i think the scale of what we've seen clearly, you can use whatever word you want to describe how we haven't seen it before, but it was also the lack of preparedness on the israeli side that i think has been so stunning. why do you think that was? >> well, people keep talking about the level of sophistication of this attack. we just talked about drones, paragliders, commando teams, missiles. none of that was particularly sophisticated. what was sophisticated about this attack, stunningly so, and as an intelligence professional, i'm still in shock, is the operational security level, which is, this had to involve not just undehundreds, but thous

of players, all of whom must have known something, many of whom must have known a lot, and the idea this wasn't picked but signals in intelligence, by satellites, by bulldozers moving, by human sources, and by one of the greatest intelligence agencies in the world, the mossad, all of that is a shock to the system. there's the sidelight, which is also, that has been a government and controversy in chaos for some time, which can be a real distraction, a watch word to us is we have a broken congress. they're focusing on job one, which is indicators and warning. and being in the right place. >> there is, bianna, the question of why now? why did this happen now? and that is backward looking. the forward-looking question is, what now, vis-a-vis iran. the u.s. government is stopping short, there have been some reports, directly linking iran, that we have not confirmed to hamas backing this direct attack. the u.s., you just heard from matt miller there, not going

that far at this point, but what happened? >> we see ominous signs of the u.s. moving resources to the region as well. clearly, there is no direct link that the u.s. is willing to make right now. i believe israel also not making a direct link, but the focus does seem to be on what happens next with hezbollah. clearly, this is a bigger operation than even hamas. and you can get to this failure on intelligence and military readiness to respond to a hamas attack when you think about what hezbollah is capable of. and israel is -- >> what are they capable of? there were some -- >> there were some, and there are reports of some fighting in northern israel, as well. but their rockets, their missiles, they are more funded than hamas has ever been, and they're more sophisticated in their weaponry. and it's a larger organization. there's concern within israel about the conundrum the country is in right now. it is imperative that they rescue any hostages and get any remains back from gaza. at the same time, they cannot show what would be seen as a

potential sign of weakness in their response to hamas, perhaps opening the floodgates for a launch of an attack from hezbollah or iran directly, if they sense that israel is as vulnerable as some of them may think, given the internal divisions within the country, and ow how israel clearly just dropped the ball in intelligence on this one. >> this is a point you have made, military strength is the north star in this region. it is by definition what israel has brought to the table and at the corner stone of their security in this region. and this has made the country look weak, or at least inept on some level. >> for the israelis, it's all about invincibility, showcasing invincibility. and that's something that even their enemies have taken for granted. we're not going to mess with them on "x," "y," and "z." what we saw unfold on saturday, the fact that israelis, it took them 48 hours to push out all of the hamas fighters and there are

still some inside the country, opens the door to other enemies across the region, particularly iran, hezbollah. maybe we should test them. maybe we have made too many assumptions about israel. by the way, one thing we haven't discussed yet is the domestic issues that the israeli government has, which is for the israeli people, the security establishment was the north star. it's a citizen military, et cetera. for them, they're still in a state of shock over what took place. the israeli government, what it now does in gaza, in both trying to rescue the hostages and get them back as well as eliminate hamas capabilities has a huge challenge ahead for them in order to satisfy the domestic issues, was also show the region actually, we are as strong, if not more than we think you are. >> so to that point, john. this is something that the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee, mike mccall, also brought up in his interview with dana yesterday, which is, he even brought up the taliban, and concerns more broadly about the region. right after 9/11, and of course, there was the commission report, but right after 9/11, there was

an intense look at the security failures, between the cia and the fbi. what is happening in israel right now, in these immediate days, to improve the intelligence operation? >> that's really important question, because the knee-jerk reaction, which is to say, where's the failure, who failed, and you know, let's deal with that now, that has to be pushed aside. right now, they need their intelligence apparatus. they need their splintelligence people, and they need them focused and on the job. there will be a time to peel back those layers later. but poppy, as you've already foretold, we've seen this movie before. if history is our likely guide, we'll see, there will be those two or three or seven people who come forward and say, we kept trying to say, something is brewing. we're hearing rumblings. there's chatter, we're seeing movement, something's wrong, that may not have had the whole story, but had the pieces. and again, in a very distracted government situation or a

bureaucracy that has become too comfortable, those indicators and warnings, they didn't get where they needed to go. and if history serves us, that's not out of the question. >> you mentioned history. it's important and you would be remiss not to note the timing of this. 50 years and one day following the yom kippur war. that was an existential threat to the country. this is more of an emotional and psychological threat, given that the israelis were not there to rescue their own people. >> stay with us. stand by. straight now to cnn chief international correspondent clarissa ward who joins us live at the foirs point of entry where militants came in from gaza to israel. clarissa, extraordinary where you are right now. tell us what you're seeing. >> so, first of all, you can see israeli military presence. we've been seeing a lot of personnel and a lot of armor. obviously, that's not armor, but

personnel moving towards that border. gaza is literally five minutes down the road that way. and this is where militants from hamas first entered. they drove up to that traffic light, turned around, came down here and just started spraying machine gunfire all along this road. you can see some of the cars just blew right up. this is actually the pickup truck that hamas militants were inside. you can see in the wind screen here, somebody, obviously, was armed, managed to shoot a couple of rounds into the wind screen. at that point, the militants got out of the vehicle and just started shooting everything and anything that was moving. i want to show you another car. forgive me for zig zagging around here. i think this gives you a feel for the intensity of the fire, just completely shot up here, multiple, multiple entry points, and again, over down here, you

can see more cars actually blew up as a result of all of that machine gunfire. a lot of people were killed along this road. those who weren't killed were then taken away, held as hostages. and you can still see everywhere personal effects on the ground. i saw a baby carriage up there earlier on. we were hearing a story from the military who first showed us this scene of a medic who was driving actually this car on the -- if you just spin around, i'm talking to clayton, my camera operator here, this white car had a medic in it. and he was driving -- i'm sorry, i cut my hand here, don't worry about it, i'm fine. he actually had a sign in hebrew saying that he was a doctor, and you can see direct bullet to the

front windshield here. two rounds, at least. he was very sadly killed. but this is what they were dealing with, just absolute carnage. five minutes away from gaza, and so quickly, within a matter of moments, everything changed along this border area. and this is still, i should add, they've secured it enough to feel comfortable letting us here, but this border area is still facing the threat of potential militants still out there. idf estimating now somewhere between 800 to 1,000 managed to cross over. dozens and dozens of breaches to the border. and scenes like this, just of carnage and destruction everywhere you look. >> clarissa, it's almost 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon there. just, it is desolate. we see just one vehicle coming behind you, by the way. a few people walking around.

what is this area normally like, to put in perspective what we see now? >> i mean, we're not too far from the city, this is a vibrant city, normally. as i mentioned before, over up on that corner, i saw a baby carriage upended, just on the side of the road. there's doctors here, these are ordinary civilians going about their daily life. now it's a virtual ghost town, of course. a lot of people are still sheltering many place, those who have not already been evacuated. it's quiet right now, but there has been steady rocket barrages throughout the day. there's a shelter over there that people can run and take cover in, but this is extremely difficult and dynamic, fluid situation on the ground. and the fear right now, or i should say, the priority really right now is to try to ensure

that all of the militants who successfully infiltrated that border have been killed or captured. that all of the various breaches in the dozens we now know, i believe it was 80, according to the idf, have been resolved and fixed. and that the hostages can now be the main focus. and i should say, we were talking to a major with the idf, who said that it has been very difficult for the israeli forces to try to ascertain how many of those hostages with alive, how many of them may already be dead. we know that hamas claims, they have more than 100 israeli hostages, now just a few minutes away, on that side of the border. >> clarissa, to that point, with somebody with a ton of experience in the region , you were pointing out that the military personnel capabilities equipment that was driving by or has been going by you, what does that dynamic do for what comes next from a military perspective on israel's side?

>> i think it's obviously fueling a lot of speculation that we're talking about an imminent ground invasion of gaza. the complicating factor, of course, are those hostages. i mean, hamas claimed that in the bombardment last night of gaza, and it was a ferocious night of bombardment in the gaza strip, that at least four hostages were killed. we don't have any way of verifying that number. but i think it speaks to the very real challenge that israeli forces face here, of kind of to thread that needle of taking out hamas terrorist targets, while at the same time not risking the lives of the dozens or more hostages who likely remain inside that area. >> clarissa, nic robertson, our colleague, was with us just moments ago, and as he was speaking to us, there were

israeli fighter jets overhead, and seconds later, we saw the smoke from strikes in gaza city. i wonder what you are seeing and hearing as well. those are images of what we saw just moments ago. >> reporter: yeah, we have been hearing a steady barrage of rockets. we've also been hearing strikes going into the gaza strip. we're much closer now to the border. it's just five minutes that away. as i said, i haven't heard any strikes in the last five to ten minutes. you can hear jets overhead, though. as i said before, it's absolutely a dynamic and fluid situation. we were up all night on a balcony. relentless, relentless, both in terms of barrages of rockets coming in, but also in terms of those heavy strikes that we heard, throughout the night, nonstop jets in the sky, a lot of drone activity, as well. and the tempo just continuing to ratchet up. >> but there is, obviously, the

very complicating factor of 100-plus hostages being held, clarissa. and how the idf navigates these strikes with hostages being held in gaza. >> reporter: well, exactly, poppy. it's important to underscore, i think anyone can appreciate this, but this is a deeply emotional issue for israeli people, not to mention the kind of visceral grip of terror that it has on the psyche of ordinary people, particularly when you're talking about a situation where it's still ongoing, where there are still hamas fighters, potentially at large in this territory. so, again, it comes back to this very real challenge, that israeli forces face in trying to walk this tightrope. and you've heard israeli prime minister bebe netanyahu tell the israeli people, listen, brace yourself. this is going to be long and this is going to be hard, and i

think we're already seeing that quite clearly on the ground. >> clarissa ward live for us this morning, right near the gaza border. clarissa, thank you very much, to you and your entire team. we'll get back to you soon. and we'll have much more of our breaking coverage of israel, gaza, our team on the ground and around the world, stay with us.

we do have more breaking news this morning as we continue to follow the death toll rising in the middle east. 500 people dead in gaza according to the palestinian ministry of health. in israel we know more than 700 people have been killed in these attacks. state department spokesman matt miller just confirming to cnn nine americans are among those killed, and this is new video we also have from gaza. palestinian officials say israeli air strikes hit refugee camps, also medical facilities, killing according to them a large number of people, no specifics there. israel's defense minister announce this had morning a complete siege of gaza, no electricity, no food, no fuel. the idf spokesman confirming also to us here at cnn all options are on the table

regarding any potential ground incursion. within the hour israel launching strikes within gaza and minutes ago cnn crews witnessing military vehicles moving toward gaza. with us back at the table our senior global affairs analyst bianna golodryga, also back with us and our chief law enforcement and intelligence officer john back with us. bianna, to you. the question becomes now what happens? this is still ongoing, it's not a question of there is a pause and then what? it is what happens next? what is the israeli response, particularly on the ground as this continues? >> so far 300,000 israeli reservists have been called up. if there is one positive note within the country of israel, any concern that reservists who were going to sit out in protest of the judiciary overhauling reforms in the country, we are not seeing any signs of that. >> that was a big question. >> everybody showed up for duty to protect their country. for bibi netanyahu he doesn't

want this to be his moment. as we mentioned before he not only has a fight a front in terms of getting these hostages back and negotiating their release and we know how long these negotiations can last and the price that israel has been willing to pay in response -- in return for one body, two people, we are talking dozens, we don't know how many people they have held hostage. and at the same time show a sign of strength to any other perceived enemies who may see this as an opening for them. and from a military intelligence perspective, not only how did they miss this, how did they miscalculate hamas's strategy going forward. hamas hasn't launched a rocket from gaza in two years and the israeli focal point has been more on fattah, viewing hamas as an organization focused more on governing and not terrorism. if you take a bigger step back and look at their overall intelligence assessment of where hamas stood, there are a lot of questions to be asked. where did they get so wrong?

why were this he not seeing any sort of buildup to this incursion? and to your point, what happens next? the u.s. says that they are willing to help israel from any perspective. does this lead to a bigger regional conflict, i don't know. >> that's actually my question. there's complicit on the part of iran or direct involvement. what i heard from u.s. officials throughout the night is basically warning regional actors do not use this as an opportunity. what happens if iran or others use this as an opportunity? >> i mean, it's one of the reasons the u.s., dod, is moving forces into the region. basically that message of sending the aircraft carrier group closer is don't mess around here, don't escalate this further. as far as the israeli task, it is tall. you heard already that hamas claims several israeli hostages were killed as israel goes in there. so they have this multifold challenge of dealing with gaza, the ongoing threat from hezbollah in the northern border, we're going to get

involved if you get involved in gaza, this invincibility gone as we discussed. what more does iran do as they see a vulnerable israel. israel has quite a challenge at a time where the government is divided, the country has beeen divided, to be able to also take out hamas which is effectively the government of gaza, they've been there for 16 years. israel has helped empower hamas at times. they've viewed them as a counterweight to the palestinian authority. so now after empowering them, allowing aid in there, you're really talking about almost like the u.s. going into iraq. you have to take out the entire government of, yes, it's a 7 mile by 25 mile piece of land, but they are fully immersed in there, there's 2.5 million palestinians in there, 100 plus israeli hostages in there. what do you do? israel has no capacity more desire to reoccupy the place, at the same time they have to take out their capabilities. >> thank you all very much. well, the war in israel is leading to rising tensions across the united states as well. this is footage from a

pro-palestine rally sunday in times square. what you are looking at right now is from outside the israeli consulate in san francisco. and this video posted on social media shows an apparent clash between protesters in kirkland, washington, near seattle. a city spokesperson told cnn there were approximately 300 people at the demonstration and no arrests have been made. a rabbi in salt lake city was forced to stop services sunday and evacuate the synagogue after he said the congregation had received a bomb threat. the anti-defamation league s quote, very concerned about a rise in anti-semitism in the u.s. due to the unfolding war in israel. joining us is rabbi steve leader from los angeles. i appreciate your time. i want to start there in terms of as you watch this play out, the dynamics at home, what do you see them as? >> well, unfortunately this is not a new story for us, this is the oldest of stories. i believe what we'll see is some

degree of latitude granted to israel and the jewish people to defend themselves, and eventually as israel exercises its capabilities and attempts at least and i hope succeeds in ridding the good people of gaza and the world and themselves of hamas, what you will see because of the collateral damage is victim blaming. this will -- this will pivot from being the fault of savages who claim to be religious people and it will pivot to blaming the victim. people are already finding ways to say this is israel's fault, which is -- it's the most absurd of lies. but we will see an uptick, i believe, but we're prepared for that. >> the anti-defamation league

also very concerned about a rise in anti-semitism, which is already been heightened in this country. what are members of your community telling you at your temple? what did they say to you yesterday and today? >> i will say that the solidarity with israel, the belief in the importance of what israel represents to the middle east and the world, the solidarity is profound. pro found. far secondary to that are a handful of calls, you know, are you sure our security is up to what it should be? we want to be sure our children are safe. but that is a far, far second from this feeling of complete and total solidarity for the people of israel and for the jewish people everywhere. i might remind you that this is

not a war against israelis. article vii of the hamas covenant makes it very clear, if you don't mind me reading it, i quote, then the jews -- the day of judgment will not come about until muslims fight jews and kill them. not israelis. then the jews will hide behind rocks and trees and the rocks and trees will cry out. oh, muslim, there is a jew hiding behind me, come and kill him. that is article -- from the hamas covenant. this is not just brutality and a senseless war, it's against all jews, it's against all good people everywhere and we have to defeat this enemy. >> rabbi steven leder, thank you for joining us this morning. thanks to all of you. we will see you back here tomorrow morning. cnn continues the breaking news coverage right after this.