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>> hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world as we continue our breaking news coverage of israel at war, i'm rosemary church. israel is warning its punishing strikes against hamas and its stronghold in gaza are just the beginning as it wrapped up its response to the militant groups unprecedented surprise attack over the weekend. israeli airstrikes have been pummeling parts of gaza aimed at degrading its military capabilities and now the israeli defense minister has ordered the complete siege of gaza, halting the supply of food, fuel, and electricity. rockets are also being launched from gaza as hamas threatens to begin killing civilian hostages and broadcasting it if israel

targets people in gaza without warning. the death toll on both sides continues to climb, including at least 900 people killed in israel following the assault by hamas and nearly 700 killed in gaza after israeli airstrikes there. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is promising his country will go after the militant group like never before saying the horrendous acts have not been seen since the time of ices. >> the savage attacks that hamas perpetrated against citizens of israelis are mind-boggling. slot -- massacring hundreds of young people at no door festival, convicting scores of women, children, elderly, even holocaust fibers. hamas terrorists burned and executed children. they are savages. hamas is ices and, just as the

forces of civilization as united it if heat ices, the forces of civilization must support israel in defeating hamas. >> ahead of the united nations is calling on hamas to release its hostages and cease all attacks so the u.n. can deliver humanitarian aid to gaza. the israeli ambassador to the u.n. estimates that up to 150 hostages have been captured by hamas fighters. some of them were taken at a music festival over the weekend, others are soldiers and some are children. a hamas spokesperson announced on monday, in a video message, they will not negotiate hostage release while coming under israeli fire. cnn's nadia beshear is following developments for us, she joins us now live from london. good morning to you london. israel plans a complete siege of the gaza strip as it continues to bombard the palestinian territory. it will be the likely

consequences of this and what could it mean for the hostages being held in gaza right now? >> look, rosemary, that announcement by the israeli defense minister has certainly raised alarm bells and it is important to look at the context here when we talk about the gaza strip or talking about a very small, densely populated area that has been under a land, sea, and air blockade can forced by israel since 2007. more than 2 million palestinians live in this area and many of them are refugees. there is concern around the impact of this decision will have, as well, of course the impact of israeli airstrikes on civilian life. we have heard those repeated warnings from humanitarian groups, including, as you mentioned, there that you instructor a general antonio guterres. she spoke yesterday and deplored the attacks carried out on saturday by hamas. again, they warned of the civilian and humanitarian impact of this latest decision taken by the israeli

government. take a listen. >> i am deeply stressed by those announcements that israel initiated a complete siege of the gaza strip, nothing allow in. no electricity, food, or fuel. humanitarian situation in gaza was extremely volatile before these hostilities. now it has accelerated exponentially. >> we heard from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu speaking yesterday. he said the rdfa go on the offense against gaza like never seen before. we have seen those continued airstrikes carried out by the idf on targets in gaza, the idea of claims they are targeting hamas positions and targets. they've already carried out hundreds of strikes, but given the situation in gaza, given the fact that this is an area that is still under blockade and instantly populated by a majority civilian population of palestinians there is concern, of course, for the humanitarian

toll. we heard the warning from the idea of telling palestinians in gaza to leave their homes, to flee these areas and evacuate. but, this has really raised question as to where these palestinians can go. the u.n. palestine refugee agency say that more than 137,000 palestinians in gaza have so far been displaced, many of them taking shelter in you and schools, but many of these schools, according to the u.n., are already at capacity. there is, of course, a deep concern for the israeli citizens taken hostage, not only concerned that they will be caught up in the car fire, but concern that the fate of their -- hamas captors. we have heard the stark warning from hamas that, unless these airstrikes carried out by the idea of against a billions in gaza stop, they will begin to execute israeli hostages. they will not engage in any negotiations on the hostage situation while gaza is still under fire. but, of course, the real

question now that we are looking at is what happens next. what is the next phase of this situation on the ground. we do see the airstrikes continuing, there is also questions around potential for an idea of ground incursion, but it has not been confirmed by the israeli government. what we have began to see on the ground is a buildup of tanks and artillery units around the gaza strip as well as hundreds of thousands of reservists being called up. there is real concern that this could escalate into a full-scale ground incursion. >> a big worry. not a beshear joining us live from london, many thanks. as we are been disgusting israel's defense minister has given the order for a complete siege of gaza, cutting off all utilities and aid to the region. cnn's ben wedeman has more on what palestinians there are enduring, but we must warn you some of the images you're about to see are graphic. >> moments after an israeli

airstrike on gaza -- refugee can't, desperate calls for help. the dead, dying, and injured covered in dust and blood. israel's wrath is now unleashed upon gaza. the israelis say that they hit the building without warning, they didn't ask us to evacuate, they didn't say anything. suddenly, we heard the airstrike and we ran to the building and found it had completely collapsed. around 75,000 people in gaza have already been displaced according to the u.n. relief works agency which deals with palestinian refugees. in this cramped strip of land along the mediterranean, 2 million palestinians are now in the crosshairs of an enemy bent on revenge for hamas's surprise attack, which left hundreds of israelis are dead and thousands wounded and dozens now in hamas

captivity. by evening, the death toll in gaza was approaching 700, with almost 400,000 wounded according to the palestinian health ministry. monday evening, the spokesman for hamas issued a grim warning. they will start executing their civilian hostages and broadcasting those executions is israel targets people in gaza without warning. we [sound of artillery] gaza and israel have gone to war many times before since hamas took control. this will not be yet another brief outbreak of attack and counterattack before a return to the status quo. israel is amassing troops and armor on the outskirts of gaza, preparing, in all likelihood, for a ground invasion on a

scale not seen before. now, israel's defense ministry has ordered what he called a complete siege of gaza, cutting off all food, fuel, and electricity. that in a place where, according to the world food programme, 63% of the population was food insecure before this war began. so much has happened since saturday morning in gaza and it's only the beginning. ben wedeman, cnn, jerusalem. we want to get the latest information now from the israeli defense forces and joining me now from tel aviv's idf spokesperson major libby weiss. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> so, it has been three days since the terror attacks began. what is the latest on the airstrikes and, of course, returning rocket fire and are there any remaining breaches

along the border? >> as you mentioned we are now in the third day of this national tragedy following the amos massacre on saturday morning. the situation is a very dynamic one that is changing constantly. right now we are at more than 900 israeli casualties from the attack on saturday, thousands of injured and, of course, dozens of hostages that were impact in to the gaza strip. the situation along the border with gaza in those a civilian communities appears to be more controlled than in previous days, but, of course, the idf is working constantly to make sure that there are no hamas terrorists still operating within israeli territory. >> of course, israel faces a hostage crisis right now with the public calling on the government to get those hostages safely returned home

but how can that happen if israel is ordering a complete siege of gaza well-hamas threatens to kill the hostages if they threaten -- without warning. how can you reconcile that? >> well, first and foremost, everyone in this country, military or non military, we are all devastated by this hostage situation. our thoughts are with the families and with the innocent civilians who are kidnapped and who knows what is happening to them right now in gaza. we're thinking about them constantly. the situation is a very, very complex one, but the idf strikes are on hamas military targets. that is the purpose of those strikes. the situation is a complex one, much because of what hamas has done in the gaza strip over the last decade and what they continue to do. but, the situation is certainly a very, very challenging one and our focus and thoughts are always with those hostages, without civilians, children,

women, the elderly, people who have nothing to do with this kind of conflict and our thoughts are with them constantly. >> the idf's mission is to ensure hamas has no military capabilities at the end of this war. again, what does that potentially mean for the hostages? >> again, these are issues that we're all dealing with right now and having to balance in our approach. it makes a lot of sense, it seems reasonable in fact that by the end of this hamas will have no military capability. this is not a reality that we can live with. i would not be able to imagine that anywhere in the world would be able to live with this reality. hamas is a terror -- against israeli civilians and of course as the mentor it all responsibilities to make sure that this never happens again. >> we're learning that an idea of officer died after being

injured in the northern border with lebanon after an encounter with militants who, apparently, entered israel from the north. that is a big concern if this, perhaps, indicates that hezbollah may be planning to join the fight. what can you tell us about that incident? >> of course we've been monitoring the situation along our northern border very, very closely. we do understand there is an infiltration by members of the terror organization, the palestinian islamic jihad into israel. we are monitoring that situation very, very closely and, again, we send a clear message to any other terror organization and certainly to the states that harbor them and support them to not engage in this conflict, to not test us at this time. we are monitoring the situation very, very closely at this time. >> idea of spokes person major libby weiss in tel aviv, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> coming up, israeli survivors

are sharing their stories with the world. we will hear from one woman who endured terror, tragedy, and unexpected freedom. that is just ahead.

>> ordinary palestinians are waking up to another day of fear and worry amid israeli airstrikes as the country lashes out in retaliation to a surprise assault over the

weekend. overnight, cnn teams in southern israel would here at the explosions and coming from the border with gaza, strikes like this one as part of an offensive israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu vows will be, quote, like never before. nearly 700 people have been killed in gaza including at least 140 children according to the palestinian health ministry. thousands more have been injured. joining me now is the director of the malcolm h. -- middle east center in beirut, we appreciate you talking with us. >> thank you, rosemary. >> so, the idf says that its goal is to ensure hamas has no military capabilities at the end of this war. israel is calling for a complete siege of gaza as it -- troops at the border, perhaps in preparation for a ground incursion, we don't know that yet. but what does all this potentially mean for the

hostages given hamas is threatening to kill them if israel continues bombardments without any warnings? >> well, i think that the atrocities that have been committed over the past few days are most devastating, but we need to remember that this does not start on october 7th 2023, this is a much longer conflict. my concern here is that both sides have lost perspective and that, at the end of the day, when the dust settles, it will be both palestinians and israelis will have suffered the most. for the hostages, being under siege in gaza, for those in gaza, this complete siege spells disaster for them. but, it also spells complete catastrophe as you heard from ben wedeman a few minutes ago. it spells complete catastrophe for palestinians, women and children who have been under

siege for the past 20 years and now there is a complete blockade including water, electricity, and food. this is a collective punishment on a scale we have not seen before. it's a ground incursion occurs this, i think, will be a significant game-changer for the region. already what happened on saturday was a game-changer for the region and an incursion will push in the direction of long term violence that we have seen so far. >> this was a monumental intelligence failure on the part of israel. how did israeli intelligence miss this surprise attack, highly coordinated from air, land, and sea and involving so many hamas militants? it's extraordinary that nothing leaked out. >> it is extraordinary, indeed. what we can tell so far is that, even though there were hints and indications, intelligence

agencies did not take them seriously. in a sense, there was an understanding that hamas was not willing to provoke a all out conflict, a conflict which really has no end in sight. what hamas did with its incursion on saturday is, basically, as i said earlier, change the rules of the game. the status quo had become completely untenable. palestinians were being massacred on an almost daily basis, there was no political upside. as two state solution was dead, there is an apartheid system in place. so, basically, change the rules of the game but with no political and insight and i think this is the real disaster. from the israeli perspective they didn't believe or they didn't see, they really bought into the narrative that such an

action would not be taken by hamas militants. it is also a more concerted effort in, i think, the reports indicating, this is not just hamas in tactical understandings that was behind this, but also involved iran, hezbollah, and other groups in the region. >> as the violent increases, how concerned should the international community be by the threat of this conflict expanding beyond israel's borders given that we already have an idea of the northern border with lebanon after an accountant with militants who had entered from the north. we don't know what that may signal, of course, but when is the right time to try to negotiate a settlement involving a temporary cease-fire to prevent this expanding, or is it too premature at this junction? >> i think now is the time.

i think, i believe that the international community should understand israel's -- but not condone it's a collective punishment of palestinians. a ground incursion in gaza is going to opt this takes significantly. not only in terms of the toll it is going to take on civilians, but the political toll because this would force other parties in the region to reconsider what, until now, has been a tactical back and forth. so far, what hezbollah and israelis have been doing is a tiny tactical, i don't want to call it a dance, but a small incursion there, they respond with bombing here. but it is all managed somehow. this kind of exchange. i still do not believe that either party wants this to become a regional conflict that will then drag other parties

into it and could become even more international conflict ushered around get involved. the real concern here is, if they are going to go ahead on the other side, the hamas side, that this notion of unification, which iran and its allies have been propagating over the past year, year and a half, comes to preparation, then this means we are going to see more conflict in lebanon and syria, and possibly involving troops from iraq and from yemen. we don't know. but, the possibilities are quite large and it is a very is lit the slope. i would say the international community needs to intervene and intervene now, understand it is israel's name but did not condone the assault. >> in beirut, joining us there.

many thanks for your analysis and perspective. still to come, a victim who survived that deadly attack at a festival in israel speaks out. we have her harrowing story, next.

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>> with increasing ferocity, israel is pounding what, it says, are hamas targets across gaza, warning that this is just the beginning. all night, israel has been carrying out air strikes on more than 200 targets on the territory from where hamas launched its violent incursion on saturday. palestinians say some strikes have hit residential buildings and hamas is threatening to kill hostages it seized if the attacks continue without warning. outside gaza israeli tanks are amassing along the border raising speculation that a massive ground incursion maybe ahead. israel says it is putting gaza under siege, cutting of food, fuel, and electricity. at least 260 bodies were found at the site of a music festival that came under attack near the

gaza border on saturday. cnn's jeremy diamond spoke to one person who managed to survive, but first a warning, some of the images you're about to see are disturbing. [speaking in a non-english language] for >> translator: i really don't know, it's a miracle. a miracle because people who are next to me did not get out alive. >> with a bullet in her leg and shrapnel in her stomach, 27-year-old -- considers herself one of the lucky ones. but, when rocket sirens sounded at the nova music festival in southern israel, and hamas militants began killing in kidnapping hundreds of festival goers, her fate was far from sealed. >> translator: it was just shooting. whoever could run ran, and others got killed. >> after bullet pierced the windows of the car she and her boyfriend were trying to escape

in she soon found refuge in a small shed, cramped in with at least 50 other people. >> translator: there were already people who are injured. some in their legs, some and they're back side, some in their heads. i had a scarf on me and somebody next to me was bleeding, so i gave her a tourniquet on her leg. >> minutes later, shots rang out. >> translator: there was silence for a few minutes and the police woman who is there with us simply screamed. whoever wanted to be alive needs to leave now. those who couldn't leave, left. those who couldn't, i don't know what happened to them. >> mikhail enter boyfriend took off running, but she panic as her legs buckled her boyfriend dragged her across the ground and managed to shove her into the window of a passing vehicle. but, at every turn, more hamas fighters. >> translator: they just went

with white pick up trucks. on each pick up truck there are at least 20 terrorists with grenade guns, shotguns, machine guns, i've never seen anything like this in my life. >> seemingly encircled, may have once again jumped out of the car and began running. before finding an abandoned army tank on the side of the road. the bullets reached her there to. hiding under the tank, she was shot in the leg and shrapnel from a grenade pierced her stomach. >> translator: in that time we did not see, we couldn't see anything. and they were taken. some people were taken. >> for six more hours, she laid lying underneath that tank until israeli soldiers rescued her and evacuated her to the hospital where she was one of more than 60 victims treated. >> you thought you are going to

die? >> yeah. >> jeremy diamond, cnn, jerusalem. -- is among those taken hostage by hamas terrorists. he joins me now from israel, thank you for talking with us for this difficult time for you and your family. >> thank you, good morning. >> what can you tell us about the circumstances surrounding the capture of your sister? >> well, my sister, she is a jewelry designer. she went to the music festival and then the attack happened, she ran away with her friends. she managed to call my father, my bet parents managed to call her and she told them that she was being shot at and that there were many people running away and she is losing battery. the last time we heard about from her was at half past eight

in the morning. later on me and my friends and family, we discovered that she ran away with friends. they sped up during that time because there were shots from all directions and they split up. the last time that she is sped up from someone, it's the last time we knew where she was. they called us and gave us all the information regarding what happened. that is it, that's the last contact that we know about my baby sister. >> how difficult has it been to get information about her sister? have israeli authorities and keeping you abreast of what is happening with the hostages? >> i went to the authorities, we give them everything we had and we tried to be as helpful as we could and there were also --

but we -- mean my friends tried to search the internet and find as many clues as we can. we found two movies that show the terrorists. that is actually the last thing we know about her. since then, we know in more information about her. >> it is such a nightmare for you and your family. what would you like to tell us about your sister? >> well, she was a very happy person a lovely person she always loved to help other people. she was working in the rescue and was a volunteer, of course. she was always a very peaceful person, a lovely person. lots of friends, family, everybody loves her.

she is a great person. which makes it even harder. >> of course. how much faith do you have that your government and the idf will be able to bring your sister and all the other hostages out of gaza safely? >> well i trust that we managed to bring them back home alive. i think that we are demanding and asking from the international community to help us bring back all of these people, these innocent people that we captured and took as prisoners to bring them back as safe as possible, as soon as possible. that is the only thing that i am focusing on right now, trying to make people understand and to help us bring them back home because we are worried, but we're not losing faith. to help as much as we can to do

that. >> for all of us watching it is hard to understand how you and your family can hold it together in the midst of this. it is a nightmare, clearly. how do you do that? >> because we saw in the movie. she is alive, we still got hope. my parents are they're having a rough time with all the imagination, and time goes by it has become even harder. but, we still have a set she would come back to us, hopefully soon. and we are still trying to make actions to help bring her back. that is all we have, there is no point of being crushed. we just want to do the best we can. >> we hope she comes back home to you very soon and of safely soon. thank you so much, for talking

with us and sharing your sister story with us. we'll be right back.

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by downloading duckduckgo on mobile and desktop today. >> dozens of israelis, men women and children, are missing, believed to have been captured by hamas terrorists. all those kidnapping come with their own individual stories of trauma and terror. earlier, cnn's anderson cooper spoke with one woman who is abducted immediately after militants murdered her neighbor. >> we were hiding in the closet and then the terrorists came and they bombed the door. the bullets all entered into his body, so i was saved thanks to him. and then they pulled me out of

the closet, they told me to cover myself so i took three scarves and with a mommy one of my legs, shoulders, and one of my head. then they took me to my living room. >> wait, so the person you are with in the closet was shot? >> he was murdered, yes. >> and you are shot as well? >> i wasn't. i wasn't. i was saved because he was next to the door and they shot him and i don't know why, but they took me out of there and i was saved. he absorbed all the bullets into his body and when i went out i saw him dead. >> she says she was taken to the data border and then released by hamas without explanation. the u.s. is ramping up military

support as israel responds to hamas is unprecedented attacks. a senior u.s. officials says washington is surging air defenses and munitions to the country and trying to determine what other weapons and equipment from u.s. inventories it can be made available quickly. washington is also offering planning and intelligence support as part of the effort to rescue hostages taken by hamas. cnn's kayla tausche has been following the developments and has more now from the white house. >> the white house illuminated in blue and white in solidarity with israel and president biden set deliver remarks to the american people on the evolving situations there as the white house works around the clock to assess the impact on the ground and on american families and communities. 11 americans are confirmed among the hundreds of killed in violence in recent days and the white house also confirming how

many, if any, americans are among the hostages taken by hamas. today a rare and remarkable joint statement from the queen allies, the united, france, and italy saying they have unequivocal condemnation for a moss and say that their countries will offer support to israel as it seeks to defend itself. to that end, the national security council here in the u.s. telling reporters that the u.s. has existing authority and funding to assist israel in its ability to defend itself, but that the u.s. would go back to congress to ask for more if needed. and se spokesperson john kirby saying it is not the u.s.'s intention to put american boots on the ground and also saying that there is, so far, no smoking gun, in his words, to directly ty'ron to these attacks. all that to say that it is a fluid and evolving situation and the white house acknowledges that new

information is being obtained every single minute. kayla tausche, cnn, the white house. still to come, the unimaginable acts to families with his loved ones were captured by hamas. despite so much uncertainty, many cling to hope that the rescue. we'll be back with that in just a moment.

israeli airstrikes have been pounding parts of gaza with netanyahu saying that the targeting of hamas strongholds is just the beginning. the israeli defense minister has ordered the complete siege

of gaza and will halt the supply of food, fuel, and electricity. rockets are also being launched from gaza and a spokesperson for hamas's armed wing warns that it would begin killing civilian hostages and broadcasted live if israel target people in gaza without warning. loved ones of those killed or objected by hamas are sharing hurt wrenching stories of the last time they spoke with them and how they learned over their fate. cnn's brian todd as a report. wewanta warn you some other images you're about to see are disturbing. >> this is 25-year-old noa argamani screaming don't kill me as she is taken away on a motorcycle. the camera pans to show her boyfriend -- being led by hostage takers. their fate is not known. her father yaakov described seeing the video for the first-time. >> translator: it was noah frightened and threatened. you do not want to believe it

but you can clearly see it is your daughter. >> he told cnn this is up his cousin and her two babies nine months old, and three months old being kidnapped. >> i was holding her two -- babies. we were in a nightmare, the baby needs to be. fed >> the families of the hostages wanted these images to be shown. yanni asher is looking for his wife and young daughters after seeing them in this video, a scarf placed on his wife's head as they are taken away on a cart. he describes the last moment that he spoke with his wife. >> she told me that the terrorists of hamas entered the house. later on the conversation was disconnected. >> elon tran a professor at -- in massachusetts says that his daughter debra, and her husband's law me was killed shielding their 16 year old son as they were raked with gunfire. he describes hearing his daughter being killed in

realtime. >> we were on the phone with debra as she was killed. we were on the phone the entire day with our son, our grandson, roatan as he lay first under her body. and then found a place to escape, under a blanket in the laundry. >> he says his grandson survived the attack. ricardo luc says she found out her daughter had been abducted also on social media. the video shows her daughter shoddy unconscious, in the back of a pick up truck being paraded around by armed militants. >> it looks very bad, but i still have hope. i hope that they do not take bodies for negotiations. i hope that she is still alive somewhere. >> hamas is now threatening to execute civilian hostages and and broadcast them if israel targets people in gaza without warning. israeli rescue operations could be dangerous. >> the hostage takers who kill the hostage, there could be an

accident in which the accident and watch the rescuers kill the hostages. typically a very dangerous as the rescue. >> the government of qatar's been in talks with hamas about the hostages according to the senior u.s. official, and a person who is familiar with the discussion he spoke to cnn. they say that the u.s. has been coordinating with the qataris on this. they believe that the qataris can be effective as the media tater. as they have played a key role of several americans being held in iran. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> as we mentioned earlier, the biden administration is showing its solidarity with israel by lighting up the white house in the blue and white colors of the israeli flag. u.s. national spokesperson john kirby says the u.s. will continue to stand with the israeli people in this moment of crisis. in london, the houses of parliament will also illuminated in blue and white.

british prime minister rishi sunak expressed his support for israel and jewish communities across the united kingdom. i want to thank you for your company this hour, i'm rosemary church. on the dock with more cnn newsroom after a short break. do stay with us.