welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and around the world. i'm bianca nobilo. >> and i'm max foster. israeli airstrikes on hamas targets this gaza seem to be getting more power it will by the day. the death toll on both sides of the border continues to climb. israel now says that more than 1200 people were killed in the weekend attacks by hamas. >> huge explosions have rocked gaza this morning where the palestinian health ministry says more than 5,000 have been wounded. >> israeli naramilitary has cal up more than 300,000 reservists and evacuated near the border. the defensive against hamas may have started from the air, but

it will also come on the ground. president herzog is worning against harming any hostages. >> israel is committed to the security of its citizens, to their safety and well-being both when they are attacked by murderers and cruel human monsters and when they are kidnapped and taken prisoner by them. i would like to emphasize the full responsibility rests on the barbaric murders of hamas and islamic jihad. therefore to the well-being of those an strbducted and kidnapp not a hair on their heads should be harmed. they should be released and returned home. >> and each passing day brings another horrific example of the hamas attacks. more than 100 bodies have been found in a kibbutz now gaza. nic robertson saw the carnage. a warning this report contains

graphic content. >> reporter: the drive into kaf is chilling. >> i thought about general eisenhower that comes into the death camp and he brings the press. >> reporter: he did the same inviting about 50 journalists. >> you will see, it is a big massacre, big disaster. >> have you ever seen anything like this in your career before? >> never. >> reporter: less than a mile from gaza, 70 hamas fighters stormed in here early saturday. some even flying. this is one of the paragliders that flew in here. you can see the engine here, propellers here made of carbon fiber, the fuel tank up here and the frame of it at the front.

>> reporter: the idf in control now after a two day battle. hamas lie where they fell. only now the extremes of their barbarity becoming apparent. 700 plus civilians lived here. how many were killed still unclear. how they died, brutally apparent. some decapitated they say. >> they be in the front of their parents, they killed parents and we found babies between the dogs and the family that killed before him. they cut head of the people. >> reporter: each body bag silent, sent nacentral that all kfar to be overrun. a motivation for troops too.

>> we wait foe would you defend our people and until now we collect the bodies. >> will you be going into gaza itself? >> i look to the next 100 yards. >> you take care of the next 10. >> next 100. i fight the next 100 yards and then look for more. >> reporter: forward to a possible showdown with hamas. how and when, still to be determined. nic robertson, cnn, kfar aza. >> and the response continues. this is a view across the skyline of gaza, you can see how there are multiple missiles being fired into that area. targeting hamas infrastructure according to the israeli, but many on the ground saying that civilians very much being caught up in that and the hospitals are

full. and an increasing desperate situation when you consider the whole area has had the food, medicine all cut off. elliott gotkine is with us. the number of israeli deaths going up by a frightening number every day. and you get a sense of it when you see those idf soldiers still discovering bodies in the south. >> right. just yesterday we were talking about 1,000 deaths inside of israel. now we're up to more than 1200. just to put it into context, this is around about half the number of casualties that israel suffered in the yom kippur woor which began almost 50 years ago to the day according to the gregorian calendar. so future historians will be no doubt racketing what is happening right now alongside those wars such as the yom kippur war and the like. and of course every day we're seeing more and more evidence of the brutality and savagery of the hamas attack. we heard from benjamin netanyahu

saying hamas is isis and this is like isis. and i suppose as a sceptical journalist your initial reaction is this is a bit of hyperbole. but now we've seen the evidence on the ground. nic robertson there in kfar aza where the troops say women, toddlers, the elderlywou brutal butch erd. and of course we're seeing the other stories, people we've spoken with, who for example had to hide under corpses for hours on end in order to stay alive to not be killed when they first attacked that peace festival going on just next to gaza. these are things that you hear about in wars whether from the holocaust or the bosnian war, people hiding under masses of bodies in order to stay alive.

so quite unimaginable things that have happened and more and more evidence of this, more and more videos and our reporters are seeing it with their own eyes emerging every day. >> if there is any doubt that hamas was a terrorist organization because obviously it is a government as well effectively in gaza, that has gone away now in the global consciousness because of the nature of the attack. >> you'd think, wouldn't you. but you only have to look at the scenes that we've seen in australia and other places like that where people are coming out into the streets, whether celebrating the initial attack on israel or still, you know, applauding what has been happening against -- >> a lot of those are supporting palestinians. >> yes, but at the same time, there is a lot of things going on with people from student bodies such as particularly at harvard for example putting out statements which are then kind of blowing up on social media as well. so still a very -- i'm sure that

you would find many people that would say no, that is not the case. but we've seen the evidence that hamas has been behaving in the same way that the islamic state, isis, was behaving in syria and iraq. >> elliott, thank you. u.s. national security adviser jake sullivan says the white house does not sxetexpect israel to pursue a siege, but they are consulting with allies in case the conflict escalates. a u.s. carrier strike group has arrived in the eastern mediterranean sea. officials say it is meant to deter other nations or groups in the region from trying to widen the war. the aircraft carrier was accompanieded by guided missile destroyers and cruises. in a speech from the white house, president biden said that he will be calling on congress to pass supplemental funding for israel. >> and he shared details about his call with the israeli mprim

minister benjamin netanyahu. and he compared it as elliott referred to do the atrocities of isis from years ago. mj lee has more now from washington. >> reporter: for the second time since the attacks on israel began, president biden delivering a speech trying to show the u.s.'s resounding support for israel and condemning hamas. the president saying in his remarks that hamas' actions compare to some of the worst rampages of isis. he used words like shear evil and abhorrent. and he confirmed that the death toll of americans in israel had climbed to 14 and confirmed for the first time that americans were among the hostages taken by hamas into gaza. >> we now know american citizens are among those being held by hamas. i've directed my team to share

intelligence and plememploy experts to consult with and advise israeli counterparts in the hostage recovery efforts. because as president, i have no higher priority than the safety of americans being held hostage around the world. >> reporter: president biden tuesday also spoke for the third time since the attacks with prime minister netanyahu. he said that he had pledged to netanyahu again that the u.s. would offer whatever resources the country needed to get through the next several weeks. but it is certainly unclear at this moment exactly how all of that would unfold legislatively. mj lee, cnn, the white house. hamas is firmly rejecting president biden's remarks on israel calling it inflammatory. in a statement tuesday, the militant group said biden's statement aims to escalate tension against the palestinian people. >> it also urged the american administration to reassess its position on the

israeli/palestinian conflict. biden described it an act of sheer evil. joining us now is michael stevens, associate professor of international studies. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> what do you think some of the contingencies that the u.s. administration would be exploring in the event that this conflict spills over or that there any intelligence suggestion of greater involvement from other regional players, what might they be looking at? >> certainly they have already been building on those contingencies. they have been talking to the saudis and to a number of the european countries who they themselves have good access to the palestinian authority and to the israelis on the grounds. so at the moment what we're seeing is a set of plans being put in place for an escalation trying to understand that actually things might get a bit worse before they get better. but ultimately as your piece

just said, there are hostages on the ground, there are italian hostages, german hostages, american hostages. there is a limit. the question is when do people start to talk and the sad thing is that time is not yet now. >> can i just ask you, obviously a big factor in the background is iran and concern that if this is not contained and iran gets folded in, that is a much bigger global issue, isn'it. >> yes. >> can i also ask you about russia and where they are sitting on this? we haven't heard much from them. obviously the relationship with iran but also with israel. >> sure. i mean the russians are a bit distracted right now as you well know. i don't see any military role for them in the conflict. not only that, but the u.s. has first move advantage. they have moved a lot of personnel and armored warfare into the region. and basically saying that everybody else stay out.

so of course the russians aren't going to mess with that. they have a strong relationship with bashar al assad in syria, but that is about as far as it goes. and as we've seen the last few years, there has been a kind of cold peace between the two. they do coordinate in syria, they accept sometimes that the israelis will go into target iranian backed militias like hezbollah that are operating close to the israeli border and there is a takes set understanding that russia has its interests, israel has its interests.set understanding that russia has its interests, israel has its interests. but i don't see them stepping into this at the moment. >> michael, this is a sort of difficult question to frame correctly hamas is designated as a terrorist organization, but there is a large amount of sympathy globally for what hamas might be trying to achieve or how they might be trying to

protect the palestinian people. given that this unprecedented and surprise attack was clearly very sophisticated and well planned, what do you think that this strategy was if there was one in terms of the brutality that we're hearing reports of from the israeli soldiers, the hostage taking, hearing reports of babies being murdered. why this lack of discipline? >> i mean, this is an attempt to hit back in any way possible. but clearly it was tactically very well planned. i don't see much strategy there. and somewhat mass sympathizers have implied that this is a form of resistance to iz sraeli occupation. in-all of us can agree that it is difficult to understand how killing babies is a form of resistance. but nevertheless, this motion

that what has happened is so shocking that it has woken the world up to talk about the israeli/palestinian conflict. i'm sure the last six months to the year the focus of your show has been on ukraine. but now israeli is top of the agenda on breakfast news. so in a way hamas has done a barbaric act but we're talking about israeli/palestinian situation and people are being knowledging that there is a problem that needs to be solved, that it probably cannot be solved militarily. and that there needs to be a political solution. the question to my mind is not about hamas who clearly have signed their own extermination by the israelis and i think we have to accept that will be pretty bloody and brutal and it will be a very bad time coming ahead, but there is also the palestinian authority. there are palestinian actors on the ground who are not hamas and who do need to be engaged and we

need to start thinking strategically about how palestinians talk to israelis in the future because let's be honest, they haven't been talking and the situation has been getting worse. >> you're right about ukraine. let's talk about ukraine briefly because what does this attention on the middle east have on the ukraine war? does russia capitalize on it, but also what does it mean for the u.s. funding which is already drying up going to ukraine and some of that funding now will be focused on the middle east presumably, so it makes funding even less likely for ukraine. >> yeah, so i think in terms of funding, i don't see a huge shift because, you know, israel has a strong relationship with the united states. that is signed off every year and has bipartisan support in the congress. so the funding streams that support israel i don't think will be unduly changed. the types of weapon systems the israelis use which are extremely

advanced are very different from the weapon systems that the ukrainians use. obviously the ministry of defense in the uk, the department of defense in the u.s., have a set strategy for ukraine. and so it is coming in that country and there are plans afoot to try to resist the russian defensive push and to push back in that way. so these things can be separated defensively. in terms of political time, biden's time, macron's time, that is a different story. they will have to focus heavily on trying to solve this problem that has broken out between israel and palestinians, they will have to try to come to some sort of negotiated solution, not now, but in the future, and that does divert attention away from zelenskyy and the ukrainian cause, no doubt about it. i was even just talking to somebody in the region today about an hour ago who said isn't it interesting that we've stopped talking about ukraine. i think in terms of political attention, yes, we probably have.

and this conflict in palestinian and israel will take all the news headlines for a while. but strategically, the position on ukraine stands. i think the big challenge there is about the u.s. presidential election and what will happen if donald trump becomes president. >> michael, really appreciate the time. thank you. coming up, chaos in gaza, palestinians say billions are scrambling to find water, food and shelter. how the international community is responding. plus top european union officials are responding to the crisis as israel intensifies it. the latest international reactions to the fighting, next.

in' u.n. human rights is warning israel that keeping essential goods out of gaza is prohibited by international law. and they have ordered a complete siege blocking supply of electricity, water and fuel. >> and the u.n. says this will only coal pompound the misery o

those trapped. and hospitals are filling up as the airstrikes bombard the region. doctors without borders says hospitals in gaza are overwhelmed. officials say they are already seeing shortages of medicine, water, electricity and fuel which hospitals rely on for their generators. >> and policy chief is urging israel against punishing all palestiniansofs over the hamas attack. >> nada bashir is joining us now. what is happening to try to deescalate the conflict? >> we know on the regional front there are intense talks between regional leaders trying to not only deescalate the tensions ongoing as we've seen across israel and palestinians, but also crucially focusing on ways to get aid to gaza. as you mentioned there, gaza is now under siege and no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel getting into the gaza strip

which is of course under blockade, it has been since 2007 as a force by israel. and this has really sparked concern. and we've heard from the eu chief, he has spoken about the issues around inflicting what he has described as collective punishment. of course israel says it is targeting hamas positions in order to break down hamas' military capabilities and ability to pose a threat to israel, but as we have seen because gaza is under a blockade, because there is simply nowhere for palestinians to run or take shelter, this has become an issue and long been an issue of collective punishment. take a listen to what he said on tuesday. >> israel has the right to defend. but it has to be done in according dance with international law, humanitarian law. and some decisions are counter this international law. and not all the palestinian people are terrorists. so our collective punishment

against all palestinians will be unfair and unproductive. it will be against our interests and against the interests of the peace. >> now, of course these are the comments from the eu policy chief. we spoke yesterday about how there have been questions around the eu funding for palestinians. he has reiterated that the funding will keep going ahead on the humanitarian support as long as that is needed. and so he is really raising concern over the imposition of the siege on civilians. we have seen airstrikes continuing overnight in gaza as we've seen rockets from gaza into israeli territory as well. we know that this has raised concern on the regional front. president erdogan in turkey has been speaking with the u.n. secretary-general fwut rantonio guterres, they have been focused on ways to get humanitarian aid into gaza but also ways to

deescalate the tensions. of course as we've heard from u.s. officials in qatar, they are set to be in talks with hamas leaders as well focused specifically according to u.s. officials on the hostage situation, ways in which that they may be able to mediate some sort of agreement when it comes to rescuing the hostages from hamas captivity in gaza. >> nada, thank you. still to do, hundreds of thousands have been displaced and neighborhoods reduced to rubble as israel continues to hammer gaza. >> we'll speak to the health ministry on how the area is managing the overwhelmingly burden of care amid the israeli airstrikes. from chrome to duckduckgo.

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." if you are just joining us, let me bring you up to gate with the top stories. day five has dawned after a night light up by rockets and war warplanes. missiles rose above ashkelon as the city is threatened. >> and israelis are furiously firing at gaza. in one area of gaza, the idf says its warplanes hit 80 targets tuesday and through tuesday night destroying hamas' ability to detect aircraft over the territory. these are satellite images of the damage in gaza from israeli airstrikes and israel's defense minister seemed to suggest that ground incursion may be coming. >> as the fighting intensifies, the u.s. is talking to israeli

officials about a safe passage for civilians in gaza. >> this is something also that we have been discussing with our counterparts in israel and with our counterparts in egypt. and without getting into the specifics of safe passage for civilians and so forth, i will say it is something that the u.s. government is seized with in support how we do that operationally. >> large crowds are gathering the kfar aza border. >> and more than 200,000 people have been displaced within gaza and that the number is expected to rise. palestinian officials say at least 950 people have been killed and another 4500 injured in gaza so far. >> these are some of the major strikes conducted by the israeli defense forces in gaza. israel says they have struck more than 70 targets in gaza overnight. palestinian officials say dozens of buildings including homes, schools and medical institutions

have been flattened. ben wedeman has more. >> reporter: the gaza city neighborhood once known as the sands, reduced to ashes. its residents retrieve what they can, which isn't much. israel continues to bound this strip targeting it says hamas infrastructure. residents in shock are asking why. i got married this year, this man says. what it i do? what have we done? you destroyed an entire neighborhood, he says he never fired a rocket. in this one of the most densely populated patches of land on earth, bombs crashing into crowded neighborhoods, rarely differentiate between fighter and civilian. the death toll rises by the hour. while gaza's hospitals are

overwhelmed with the wounded including infants. around 40% of the population of gaza is under the age of 15 according to the cia. the information ministry in gaza reports that nearly 170 buildings have been destroyed and more than 12,000 residences damaged. tens of you thousands have fled their homes seeking refuge in schools converted into shelters. and an oven in this bakery is shut down, many of the shelves empty. life here was already difficult and now the future looks bleaker than ever. gaza will take five years to raise its head after this, she says. and after five years, there will be two or three more wars. it is a catastrophe. and amidst all this somewhere in gaza, only hamas knows where, are more than 100 israeli captives, fate unknown.

tuesday afternoon, israel struck gaza's only port used principally by fishermen. while at the same time, hamas unleashed a massive volley of rockets toward ashkelon. the abyss approaches. ben wedeman, cnn, jerusalem. joining us now, dr. abbas who serves as director general of gaza's health ministry. thank you for joining us. you can give us an update on the state of health care there in gaza? understandably some communication issues there. we'll try to get back in touch with him. we'll be back in a moment.

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welcome back. families in israel are desperately searching for any information on missing loved ones who may have been taken hostage by hamas. one man says the last time he heard from his daughter was while she was on her way to the mousse he can festival where militants gunned gownned down s civilians. >> and she has given dna samples in case she was gunned down. >> when you have a daughter, you don't know what is going on with her and you see these animals what they do, you can't rest, you can't eat, you can't live, you can't breathe. if it is not your, it is somebody else's. when it is yours, it is hell. high school hell very, very much.

i'm crying like a little kids. i never cry in my whole life before. 71 years old. i never cry. i'm strong human being. but this is something not controlled. we don't know anything. the information is zero. it drives you crazy. nobody talks to you. nobody knows where she is. i give this young woman my life. my life. my life. my eyes. she is everything for me. there is no value for life. >> and he says he is not losing hope though. he is surrounded by family and says that you have to be strong like hell. dr. abbas is joining us from the health ministry. can you take us through the

pressure your system is under and how you are coping? >> well, all the hospitals are full of injured people. and we cannot receive anymore. so we're sending our patients to ngos. and what medical supplies used to be used in one month and now just days. main power station now giving only one hour every 24 hours of electricity. talking now about 974 killed and more than 5,000 injured.

houses have been in-n annihilat while people are inside. we need more ambulances to be able to send the patients outside because we can't take them anymore in our hospitals. we need to assist our local staff and we need the medication and supplies and there needs to be a solution immediately for f fuel. [ inaudible ] we're living under heavy bombardment. strikes are ongoing. so it is very difficult. i'm 60 years old and never seen such a thing in all my life. first time to see a disaster

like this in my life. three neighborhoods are totally annihilated. it is not there anymore. >> thank you for sparing the time in that unbelievable moment you are going through. white house officials say they are in active conversations with israel to try to bring americans being held hostage in gaza home. becky anderson spoke with the relatives of some of the hostages who are pleading with their governments to do whatever they can. some of the video you're about to see may be disturbing. >> reporter: a massacre has unfolded. video of armed fighters rampaging through the area kibbutz close to the gaza border. towards the end, foubo lying lifeless on round. and more. this video showing some of the bodies being removed.

this was home to a 66-year-old, last seen saturday morning. adrian, a nurse, now missing presumed captured by hamas. dist distraught, her son flew from his home in california as soon as he heard the news. along with relatives of three other missing americans, he is pleading for the u.s. and israel to do everything possible to get their loved ones released. >> the israeli government has to bring back august the hostages. i want also to speak about the responsibility of the u.s. administration, president biden and secretary of state antony blinken has for the lives of every u.s. citizen that is out there. >> reporter: for these families the frustration is palpable.

as the fighting intensifies, talk of an imminent ground incursion into gaza. the fate of the hostages, a terrifying prospect. in another kibbutz, more carnage. this was home to a 35-year-old now missing presumed capturedit jonathan also pleading for action from the u.s. administration as he tries to come to terms with what has happened and what happens next. >> my children and grandchildren who were on the kibbutz, a young family and another young family, experienced a living hell for the better part of 20 hours. these are young children and young men and women who cannot be anything other than traumatized by what they witness. my job now as a parent is to try to put the pieces back together.

>> reporter: four families experiencing a living hell. unable to process how this happened and how it will end. >> it is our hope which is a little bit ridiculous at this stage to say that the optimistic scenario here is that she is held hostage in gaza and not dead on the street of the kibbutz where we grew up. >> reporter: becky anderson, cnn, tel aviv. the hamas attacks are hurting countries far beyond israeli. these 12 countries say nationals are the dead or missing. many of the foreigners murdered or missing were pat expats and have left to be identified. >> and so any are tries to get their citizens home. with many airlines occur tilling

curtailing or cans lig flights, some are rarnging their own flights to take their people out. >> patrick oppmann has details. >> reporter: multiple people from latin america are confirmed to have been killed or believed to be missing following hamas' attack on israel according to governments from across this region. the largest group comes from argentina, at least oeast seven killed according to the argentine government. another 15 are believed to be missing. two peruvians were killed according to their government. and then one brazilian man was killed, his girlfriend said in an interview with cnn brazil, they were at the nova music festival when hamas terrorists attacked that festival. they sought refuge in a nearby

bunker but assailants threw smoke grenades into that bunker. they were separated and according to this woman her boyfriend was killed. governments from across the region including mexico, brazil and colombia has sent or will be sending planes to evacuate their citizens. hundreds of latin americans who are now awaiting evacuation from israel to be brought back home and to safety. patrick oppmann, cnn, havana. still ahead, the russian president responds to the attacks in israel. criticizing u.s. policy instead of condemning ing hamas. we'll have more on vladimir putin's reaction.

at least four russian citizens were reportedly amongst those killed amongst hamas, but the russian president so far has chosen not to condemn the attacks. >> putin is concerned about the number of civilian casualties but he is largely blaming u.s. policy for what is happening in the middle east. fred pleitgen has the report. and some of the video is disturbing. >> reporter: after hundreds of israelis were slaughtered by hamas near gaza, condemnation

and condolences poured in from around the world but not from russian leader vladimir putin. now in his first comments instead of empathy, putin blasting the u.s. >> translator: this is a clear example of the failure of the united states policy in ins middle east which tried to monopolize any settlement between israelis an palestinians. >> reporter: kremlin controlled tv following suit mocking both america and israel for allegedly being caught off guard by hamas' attack. >> translator: counterintelligence and the u.s. and cia excellent through hamas' invasion, biggest failure in security since 1973. >> reporter: russia long allied with staunched a ver areas and hamas most important backerses. bombing syrian rebels in support of pro iranian fighters battling on the side of bashar al assad

during syria's civil war. but russia also maintained strong ties and security arrangements with israel. putin meeting israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu on many occasions. >> we in no way under estimate the importance of measures that would ensure very strong security of the state of israel. >> reporter: but since putin launched his full-scale war against ukraine, tehran has become a key ally for moscow at israeli's expense fostering economic and military ties with iran while tehran provides russians used to hit ukrainian cities and infrastructure kyiv says even though tehran denies if. ukraine's president zelenskyy claiming moscow's allegiance shifted towards tehran. >> translator: we see how russian propagandaists are gloating, how moscow's iranian

allies openly lend support to those who attacked israel. >> reporter: the kremlin denied allegations by volodymyr zelenskyy that it is tryename t israelis and palestinians, however the former chief rabbi of moscow who of course fled that country two weeks after the full-on invasion of ukraine, he said that he believes that the lack of a show of support from russia for israel is an ominous sign of the deteriorating relations between those two countries. >> and today president zelenskyy is at the na headquarters in brussels addressing a meeting of defense ministers and he says this visit will be key for ukraine's winter resilience. but a lot to discuss today. ukraine chief among the issues but now also israel and containing that situation in the middle east. european union also forming x against hosting misinformation and illegal content about israel's war against hamas.

a top european commissioner sent a letter to elon musk saying that the platform appears to be dangerously close to breaking eu law regarding content moderation. >> seince he bought the country musk has laid off much of its teams. and if x found to have violated the digital services act, it could face billions of dollars of fines. crowds gathered to show support for israel. >> in rome the star of david was projected on to the arch next to the coliseum. the upper house of the italian parliament was also lit up with the israeli flag. >> and hundreds filled the danube bank, many holding israeli flags as they paid respect to the lives lost. >> if you would like information how you can help the humanitarian efforts, go to c cnn.com/impact. >> there is a list there of the

organizations responding to the crisis. and thanks for joining us here. i'm max foster. >> and i'm bianca nobilo. "early start" is up next. he

goli, taste your goals. . good day to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm kasie hunt. it is wednesday, october 11. 5:00 a.m. in new york and here in washington, noon in israe