cnn's matthew chance. and this official flushed out a bit that there had been a proposal pult on the table that would allow any american citizen who could present their passport to exit to the south of the gaza strip into egypt. there was a proposal to allow limited amount of palestinian civilians 2,000 per day do the same. this is extremely complicated because of the bombardment, spiraling humanitarian crisis. time is of the essence because of the potential for a ground offensive. but obviously complicated for egypt because we're looking at a huge potential influx of refugees. egypt of course on the border with gaza. so talks apparently under way and likely focus of secretary blinken's time as he visits the region today. >> clare sebastian in london, thank you very much for that. thank you all very much for joining us on this sixth day of the war between israel and gaza in the wake of the awfulul hama

terrorist attacks. don't go anywhere. "cnn this morning" starts right now. hello, everyone. we're glad you're with us. i'm poppy harlow with phil mattingly in new york. erin burnett joins us live in israel. it's 6:00 a.m. on the east coast. 1:00 p.m. in tel vooe, where secretary of state antony blinken is on the ground now as the war between israel and hamas intensifies. we're expecting to hear from him shortly. he's meeting one-on-one with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu as airstrikes continue to gaza. hostages are still being held captive this morning. this is what it looks like in

gaza city right now. >> israel is now vowing to keep power, water and fuel cut off to the gaza strip until hamas releases hostages. the international committee of the red cross is sounding the alarm saying hospitals will turn into morgues with cancer patients, babies in incubators and elderly at serious risk. there are hundreds of thousands of troops massing near the border with tanks and artillery as that vows to crush hamas. >> we have team coverage across the region. let's get to erin burnett live at a hospital in ashkelon. this is a hospital that got hit yesterday in the strikes that you were reporting from. and also that's treated hundreds of patients since the initial attack over the weekend. what are you seeing and hearing? >> reporter: yes, that's right. and it's very busy here, so we're in ashkelon. we hear the thuds of those strikes that you were referring to in gaza. a very busy morning for the idf forces. and here at this hospital, it was hit yesterday.

650 people actually were treated here for the actual attacks. 70 people came here yesterday as a result of the strikes we were reporting from. and as you can see behind us, it's busy. this is the er and the trauma unit entrance. but what you're seeing here is food and assistance for first responders. they say that they have been receive ing donation from all around israel ever since the strikes started. and that's what you're seeing behind us. so here in this hospital, obviously, used to being a target. they are accustomed to that. hundreds of people, 650 people were treated here for the attacks themselves. >> you're roughly eight miles away from the boarder of gaza. you were reporting from there all day yesterday. when you talked to officials,

when you talk to people like those that are behind you now, what kind of preparation are they making for what's expected to come in the days and weeks ahead? >> reporter: there is a resignation, and also, there's trepidation. people are aware something is going to happen. they are sure something is going to happen. but they dread it. and i think that's the fair way to describe it. as we're standing here, and i know you can't hear it, but we hear the regular thuds of those strikes in gaza. so here it's not just talking about it. it's something palpable they can feel and hear. it's obviously affected their community. as you point out with gaza, we stand in this hospital here that is received hundreds of people is suffering from the attacks and the ongoing strikes in gaza they say that hospitals are at risk of humanitarian crisis. you refer ered to that because the electricity and fuel shortage. they say the hospitals will be turned into morgues. that's what we're hearing from

officials in gaza. but you have the israelis saying there's going to be no electricity, no fuel, no water to gaza until those 150 hostages are returned to israel. >> that is the question of what does portend. we could see in your live shots yesterday all of the equipment and the troop buildup right there on the border and that begs the question that everyone has been asking about a ground invasion if that will happen, when that could happen, away have you seen today so far? >> reporter: we have seen it continue. there's no change. it does raise the question of how long you can stay and what military experts will call a crouch. you're crouched down and ready to go. you can't stay in that position for a period of time. so when you have 300,000 troops, you need to make a decision.

and i think that's the real question that they have is exactly when. a spokesperson told me that i spoke to overnight that referring to it as something to happen within days. i think it just reflects the sense that what happens will happen. it will happen in the near future. this isn't something where you can indefinitely, as we saw with putin for months and months, start to build up along the border. that's not the situation we're looking all the at all. >> you made such a great point. this is not abstract, the feeling is palpable. you're hearing the boom. is the tempo increasing, decreasing, talk about what you're seeing and feeling? >> reporter: i can tell you what we have seen so far in ash can ke lon. it's really just constant thudding. i'm not going to say it sounds like more than yesterday, maybe it does a little bit.

that's as far as i would go, but they are regular strikes. they are constant. you hear a thud, seconds later or a minute or two later, you hear another thud. on the receiving end of that is gaza where you keep hearing about the injury toll, the death toll going up, and those hospitals are becoming overwhelmed because of people seeking care, but also because of the fact they don't have electricity, fuel or water. we also understand, even from those who may have supplies or generators like a hospital might, you're in a situation where because nothing can come in, even with that sort of a backup, you only have a few days that you can operate. that's what they are dealing with just a few miles from here across that border. >> thank you so much. stay with us. we'll get back to you very soon. we know that at least 1,300 people have been killed inside of gaza. more than 6,000 injured. that comes from the palestinian health ministry. israel continues this blockade about a food, fuel, water,

supplies into gaza. health officials are warning the hospital system is on the brink of collapse. ben wedeman joins us from lebanon. you have reported extensively in gaza throughout the years. talk to us about what that would be like on the ground in gaza with this continuing blockade. >> the situation was grim even before this war began, but certainly what we have seen is a dramatic, catastrophic deterioration of liveing conditions in gaza. yesterday at 2:00 p.m. local time, the only power plant in gaza shut down because of lack of fuel. now hospitals who have backup generators and storage facilities for that fuel, but they say they are quickly running out. we have heard from the palestinian ministry of health

that this hospitals are at total capacity, the beds are full, the injured are basically lying on the ground in the hallways. the system is essentially collapsing. now the international committee of the red cross has put out a statement, which you have referred to as well as erin, but i want to read this critical paragraph. it says as gaza loses power, hospitals lose power, put ting newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. kidney dialysis stops and x-raies can't be taken. without electricity, want hospitals risk turning into morgues. the israelis have announced they have imposed this total siege, no electricity, no food, no fuel, the water seems to have been cut as well. but let's keep in mind, there are 2 million people in gaza. many of them, probably more than

50%, are not supporters of hamas. they are just trying to survive. 40 pors of the population is under the age of 15. the population density of gaza is around 21,000 people per square mile. that's about 6 times the population density of washington, d.c. so as you have this totality of factors, no food, no water, no electricity, no fuel, the hospitals collapsing, under bombardment 24 hours a day, we understand that today has perhaps the most intense bombardment on the gaza strip so so far. the situation is unbearable for the people of gaza. they are appealing for help. the palestinian ministry of help is asking for international help to come in and set up hospitals, field hospitals, operating

theaters, because nothing is getting in. and not even journalists. in the past we have been able to cover these events, but in this instance, the israelis aren't letting anybody in. the egyptianss have sealed the border for journalists as well. there are very capable journalists in there at the moment, but the rest of us are stuck on the outside. but from afar, we are seeing just how difficult that situation is and just deteriorating dramatically by the minute. >> ben wedeman, thank you very much. especially given all your expertise reporting inside of gaza. we'll get back to you soon. >> you're looking live at pictures from the gaza border where we are seeing a lot of tanks and military vehicles that continue massing forces. we want to bring in former member of the joint staff, colonel lateen.

as we have seen throughout the course of the morning, we kept seeing large components flow into that area. how long can they stay there? what's the length of time they would mass before an incursion could begin? >> yeah, good morning. that depends on a lot of factors. one of the key things is how long are they going to have food and fuel just to stay there. troops are not happy troops. and the key thing here is these guys are going to be sitting here probably for about 72 to 96 hours or so. and then after that, they are going to basically spring into areas in prepositions all around this border area right here. this zone is basically the zone in which they are going to be operating in, and all the points at which the tanks and apcs and

infantry vehicles are located, this is the jumping off point for anything they might be be doing in gaza in terms of actually conducting operations in that way and make ing things work for the israeli forces this area. >> stay with us. thank you. we're waiting to hear from secretary of state antony blinken. he has landed in israel. we know he's meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. we'll bring his remarks, as soon as they come. >> that will come as the white house is faced with a real dilemma. how to respond to the atrocities without escalating the conflict. we have new reporting, ahead.

we're surging additional military assistance i obncludin munition, and we will will send the carrier fleet. they are sending more fighter jets to that region. and made it clear to the iranians, be careful. >> that was president biden on wednesday relaying a series of developments in america's response to the war between israel and hamas. the president has been focused on getting the tone just right and the consequences of making a misstep. but he faces a dlilemma. how to support it every in way

without sparking a wider war priscilla alvarez is live for us at the white house. it's such a fine line to walk. what's happening the behind the scenes? >> reporter: this boils down to outrage without escalation. to give you an ideas look, the president gathered his advisers earlier this week before his speech on israel, and in that meeting, he told his advisers he wanted to include more detail about the apaling nature of the attack. he forcefully talked about the shear evil. that deep emotional reaction by the president is what has translated into a forceful response by the u.s. ask that includes ordering u.s. warships to the region, sharing intelligence, as well as really little attempt at encouraging any restraint by israel. but this is a very delicate balance. that's really the message that has come through in closed-door meetings.

that's what we have learned from officials. president has made clear they have to be careful with any missteps. that is really the fine line that they are towing here. and we see parts of that. in meetings with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, he also talks about the importance of the rules of war and they have been wary of making any links with iran because of any concerns of escalation. now as you know, the president has a deep experience in foreign policy. they are leaning on that, but it's very clear they need to strike a delicate balance when it comes to expressing the outrage over what we are seeing in israel, but also trying to avoid any escalation of this moving forward. >> in the middle of that, the president has also not the completely ruled out the possibility of sending u.s. troops to israel. is there any clarity from the administration on what it would take for that to happen?

>> for now, officials say we are not there at this point. a person close to the white house said if hezbollah were to launch missiles, that could escalate the situation. yesterday national security council spokesman john kirby said they are not seeing any rogue actors skirt the warnings from the u.s., but all of this is unfolding very quickly. so for now, the situation remains that there will be no troops sent there, but all uggs officials are keenly aware of how quickly things can change, but actions as of now remain focused on deterrence and a show of force by the u.s. in the region. >> pwe expect to hear from secretary of state antony blinken. we'll bring that to you live. blinken said the negotiations created a corridor to leave gaza. we'll break down why the negotiations are so complicated. that's ahead.

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5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible. it's happening. israel is saying this morning they are not going to let up on this blockade on gaza until the hostages are all

freed. president biden speaking about the release of hostages in an impassioned speech on wednesday. listen. >> you want to make it real clear. we're working on every aspect of the hostage crisis. there's a lot we're doing. i have not given up hope of bringing these folks home. >> let's get back to books east erin burnett. you spoke with the idf. he said something i haven't heard them say, which is where they believe these hostages maybe held. >> reporter: that's right. they did give more information about that. they were pretty specific. when we talk so much ab the tunnels under gaza, how they may have been involved in the attack itself, but he's saying he believes that hamas is holding these hostages in various locations, scattered around gaza in tunnels underground, and specifically, that they think these are locations that have not been known to have been used before by hamas.

which is a significant way of putting it. not saying israel doesn't know where the locations maybe, but they don't know hamas has used these before. it is new information. much more detail than we had gotten to this point. one person trying to help rescue these hostages, i should note, we saw a lot of what appeared to be consular officials from a lot of countries going by. i'm not saying they were going for negotiations, but it's possible that was the situation because there were a lot of country's delegations going down by had that check point. brian stern is trying to help rescue these hostages. it's a veteran-led organization that's rescued americans around the world. i know you're working on projects in afghanistan, obviously here in gaza, as well as in ukraine, where you and i first met. you're in israel right now as

well. when you hear what the idf is telling me where these hostages maybe held, are you getting anymore information? does that fit with what you understand to be the case? >> i think what you're getting from the israelis is accurate. there's a lot more information that's coming out every single day. that's normal for these kinds of situations. these terrible situations have an arc, if you will. every single day we'll get more and more and more. and the hostage takers will learn more and more about them, which we're doing. which everyone is doing. and what they want and need and what the leverage points are and different opportunities to recover or rescue or get them released, which is by far the most amicable for everybody.

the hostage takers don't want to be dead. they know what they have. it's in everyone's interest to get them released. >> i was talking to a father, who his wife and both of his daughters, who are ages 5 and 3, he was literal ly on the phone with her in the safe room when militants came in and she was taken hostage. he doesn't know the situation. but you are dealing when you talk about 150 hostages, with very young children. do you know anything about the conditions they are being held in, where they are being held, and how the reality of such small children being among the hostages is affecting the situation? >> obviously, when children are involved, that's twice the war crime, if you will. hostages are bad, but children bring a different dynamic to it.

i don't have children, and i can't even begin to fathom what that father is going through. the conditions are terrible. the hostages are not in jail cells where they are given a cot and can watch tv and do their time. they are being held under extremely bad conditions, 100% there's sexual assault and torture. 100% there's things we can't even think about. so it's truly terrible. and the answer again is hamas and their associates need to come up with a resolution because hostages are only good if there are points of leverage. they serve a utility. if they outlive their youth for the bad guys, they will be executed.

it's a problem. >> i know that you're working with some specific families, you're working with americans. do you know anything about the conditions of the hostages that you're specifically trying to negotiate release for? what their condition is when they were taken, and i say on top of that, a the this point, have you figured out who to talk to to try to negotiate any sort of release? >> i can't get into specifics of what we're doing. we're rescuing americans trapped here that can't get out because flights are cancelled and all those things. we're working on getting people out of the palestinian territory who is are hiding essentially. so we have three different things that we are doing at once. we're donor funded. we need financial help.

the conditions that people are taken in are terrible. we need to remember that hah had mass and their associates are terrorists. these are not professional soldiers who understand the law of armed conflict. every one of these situations was brutal. every single one. and the level of brutality is the question. so far from what we understand, pretty much every single person that's been taken was injured to some extent or another. some pretty severely. and some bumps and bruises, but at the end of the day, nobody was treated with dignity. there is no respect. hamas is a terrorist organization, and we need to remember to treat them as such. that means respect them as a terrorist organization. they have sensitive areas and their own redlines, which needs to be taken into consideration.

they are not a real government. they are an organization, if that makes sense. >> brian, i very much appreciate your time. thank you. i think it is worth relating such that we understand in some cases, some people were horrifically injured when they were taken hostage. when you layer that in with what we know to be a dire humanitarian situation in gaza with power and water and fuel and people possibly being held in dark tunnels with no light, one can only imagine the horrors they are being subjected to. every single moment, even now, is of the essence to get people back, if that's going to happen, alive. >> you're so right. the young man who was taken. we spoke to his parents this week. his arm was in a tourniquet when he was taken.

so the dire situation when they are taken. also this morning, there are new questions about the idf's response time to the initial attacks over the weekend. more than 120 bodies were found near the israeli farm community near gaza. survivors have told cnn it took the idf at least 12 hours to get to that area, despite an army base being minutes away. an 8-year-old emily was among those killed. she was at a sleepover at a friend's house friday night before the ambush. this is what her father told cnn. >> waiting, thinking the army are going to be here soon. just hold on a bit longer. and longer and longer. >> in the same kibbutz, they fled to their shelter barricading the door.

we were wait ing for 20 hours with no food, no water, no toilet before the idf arrived to rescue them. let's bring in law enforcement trainer erin cohen. we appreciate your time. there's a lot we want to get to, but start with friends that i've spoken to in israel, the s shattered nature of their view of their response, how does that affect what is expected to come in the days ahead? >> it's not going to affect them. the reason why is emotions are high, but israel doesn't have time to be affected by those emotions. the country comes together collectively. this is what we do. we did it in '56. we did in 1973 when they failed to provide intelligence for the war. israel has been at war every ten years. what's happening right now with the military is the first focus

is these hostages. there's probably over 150 hostages, women, kids who have been dragged into the tunnels, israel has some incredible special operations assets that i have discussed with you before. they have the recognizance unit, the national police have one of the top three counterterrorism units in the world. these units have assets inside gaza. people are looking and listening. it's probably over a thousand people with our intelligence agencies listening to phone calls. >> is it a fair question to ask that intelligence failure, those people would have been in gaza prior to the attack over the weekend. is it a fair question to ask whether that intelligence failure on the initial attack would have been corrected enough at this point to give them much more confidence?

>> yes, the southern portion of israel is now sterile. it's contained. however, there were several rescue missions that were conducted in and around the area. israel was caught off guard. it's happened to israel before. heads will roll when the time is right. we're going to focus on what needs to be done. >> what about what aaron just reported? that was the most detail we have heard from anyone in the idf last night about the fact that they believe some of the hostages are underground, but in locations they have not known hamas to use prior. that would be different than some of the tunnels found. how do you get them? >> that's the most difficult part of this. they are listening to phone calls, gathering information. we need intelligence. we need to know where they are, what structures they are in,

what type of structures they are, how many people are in those structures, how many terrorists are in those structures, how many rooms are in those structures. if we have time to build a mock structure so our israeli asset and hostage rescue unit can rehearse quietly behind the scenes so we know exactly where the left foot is going to land the moment you're making forced entry into a room. we need to know and get the information. that's the first piece. simultaneously, we're going to prepare the marine corp. with conjunction of the troops called up from the reservists to prepare for the counteroffensive. there maybe a smoke screen. they might jump into that confusion and use that panic and chaos and all of that violence of action as a smoke screen to be able to initiate those assaults. they are working recognizance off the coastline of gaza. they are coming within feet of the coastline to be able to

report anything they see. so right now, multiple pieces. here's away we're trying to do. we're going to create a pressure cooker. that means we're going to go into gaza from every different direction and create as much confusion as possible, so we can get the 150 hostages back. like i told you before, israel made a mistake. heads are going to get chopped off when this is over, but we don't have time for that. we need to come together. everybody is getting ready. we're going to be focused. you're about to see what israel does best. which is selective operations using creativity, poise and audacity. >> we just saw it. we have been seeing artillery fire. there's also going to be going in in a pretty major blunt force

type of way. we have been talking about the airstrikes, the shear number of them and the power of them. what's the artillery for? >> the art till ri is another layer in conjunction . we don't want innocent casualties. but as far as the artillery goes, softening. preparing the ground. we want to be able to open up path ways, multiple pathways. 160 degrees, seal off this pressure cooker so when the troops go in, we need open holes. we don't want booby traps or

surprises. so we're just trying to soften and level and prepare that battlefield, so when the signal is given, we have the highest potential advantage possible. to avoid getting killed. it's going to be dangerous and bloody and extremely chaotic. it's going to be really, really hectic. israel doesn't have time. for every second we waste, the hostages get moved around again. like i was explaining, it's like a cold case murder. the longer you wait, the farther away the case gets and the case gets dropped. >> thank you for your expertise. we'll continue to cover the latest out of israel and gaza. here in the u.s., steve scalise has won the gop nomination for house speaker, and yet he's not house speaker yet. his chances of winning the gavel are pretty slim. we'll tell you why.

we continue to monitor what is happening in israel and gaza. we'll continue with our team coverage. we want to turn to the speaker's race in washington. a pretty powerful position, one in which there isn't an official speak er a at this point. house majority leader steve scalise did win the republican internal vote to be the nominee for speaker, but the louisiana congressman, who was normal nalted on nated on a secret ballot, has republicans fearing he may not have the sport to get to 217 votes. by cnn's count, 10 republicans said they will vote no on scalise. lauren fox is live in washington, d.c. with the latest. the house left without a set time or date to vote. it was a heck of an effort by scalise and his team to win the internal competition. can they get it over the finish

line? >> reporter: there's many concerns they may not be able to get it over the finish line. there's a reason that a vote isn't scheduled. when you don't have the votes, people don't want to go to the floor, especially after watching kevin mccarthy grind it out over 15 rounds back in january. right now there are a number of house republicans who are making it clear that they will never vote for skoteve scalise. here's a few of them. >> i'm not supporting steve ska can lease. i will be voting for jim jordan. >> i want to see jim jordan as leader. >> i think the leader is a really great man. i have committed publicly to vote for jim jordan. >> i plan on voting for jim jordan, because i cannot in good conscience to vote for someone who compared himself to david duke. >> reporter: the question now is can things change can behind the

scenes. is there anything that steve scalise say privately to any of the holdouts to try to convince them. this is the difficulty of having such a narrow majority in the house of representatives. whoever gets this job, and it's very unclear who that person will be, they can only afford to lose a handful of votes on the house floor. now you really have a question of strategy here. do you want to continue to try to win the support behind closed dors, or as some members have suggested to me, does steve scalise stand a better chance if he tries to pressure members to publicly say how they are going to vote to try to move members that way. obviously, there's a crisis looming in the middle east. and there are huge questions about what the role of the house of representatives should be at this moment. if they don't have a speaker, they can do nothing on the floor. there was a feeling that after the weekend's events, maybe

there would be more impetus to unify. but up to this point, we haven't seen that. >> it's fascinating to listen to nancy mace, who didn't seem to turn away steve scalise's endorsement in her race. when a shifted position there. lauren fox, another wild day on capitol hill, thank you. the writers strike is over. the actors strike looks like it's going to go on potentially for awhile. their union and the hollywood studios suspended talks last night. it's looking like this three-month strike is not about to end. the studioses say the latest demands would cost an additional $800 million a year and could create what the studios are calling an untenable burden. actors are accusing the studios of bullying tactics. also any surprising move, the uaw expanded its strike last night to ford's most profitable factory. 8,700 workers walked off the job after a brief negotiating session ended abruptly.

uaw has been on strike for nearly a month. we want to go straight to nic robertson. he joins us live on the ground. can you hear us? >> reporter: we're a little bit outside, and what you're seeing is a field with a dozen heavy artillery guns. you may hear some of them go off behind me. they have been firing a very heavy artillery shells, there they go, in towards gaza. this is something we have been hearing happening overnight last night, and we heard it through yesterday. this is quite a significant barrage of artillery that's being laid downgoing into gaza right now. we're going to try to give you a better image of some of those big guns in the field, but i'm looking at them here and count ing six there and further up the

field, ten dug in the bunkers. upwards of easily a dozen that are dug in the field here with ammunition supplies, support troops, infantry troops behind them in their art armored personnel carriers. we were in this field back in 2021 when hamas launched airstrikes, israel responded with hamas launched rockets and israel had responded, the defense forces had responded with gunfire like this and fire from jets. the number of howe witsers here is much higher than what we witnessed two years ago during that potential confrontation. >> we're watch ing it play out

live. can i ask we have been talking about the airstrikes and the scale of the airstrikes. those artillery pieces look like they are in freshly dug baselines at this point. are those new? were those brought in over the course of the last 24 hours? >> reporter: probably 36 to 48 hours. these are freshly dug in here to this field. to look at this field, it had been used in previous conflicts here. again, this is a much more significant number. we saw some of these heavy artillery pieces on the road coming in this direction a couple days ago. so what you're seeing in the field here, this is all new. a couple days ago, this wasn't here. this is part of the massive deployment of the 300,000 reservists, plus others, that

are being sent here to the outskirts of gaza. i would say from where we're located here, we're probably two to three miles or so away from gaza. these barrages that we're seeing here now, we have heard these going on through the night last night. >> thank you. stay close, if you can. let's bring in colonel lateen to talk about his analysis. >> absolutely. what you're seeing is nic is right here. this is really close to the border of israel and gaza right here. so what they are doing is they are firing into this particular area of gaza. they are moving forward doing it for multiple locations. when you combine that with the strikes that israel has been

doing in this area already, notice that there's a concentration right along here in gaza city. this is where it is right here. >> it's this way and probably from this area. look at airstrikes. you look at artillery strikes. they are softening up this area. this might be the area in which the israelis maybe looking to do something. if they are doing it here, or they could be doing it here, but it's a densely pop ulated area, this could be a diversion nar area and might be doing something else. >> stay with us. nic, we're watching this play out live on screen. the tempo seems to be increase ing. you talked about the situation

in 2021. is this different in terms of the scale? sg sglrp. >> reporter: it is. in terms of the number of howe witsers that we're seeing. more guns firing more often for a longer period of time. and this is fares bigger than what witnessed in 2021, without a doubt. more fire power and a more forward-leaning posture than we saw previously. the units that are accompanying this position, we didn't see those numbers before in 2021 either. >> the road behind you appears open. for everyone?

>> all the floods this area are controlled. this is sort of a military zone here. there's a level of access, but most civilians from this area have been either bussed out or requested to leave. that's certainly the message they are getting through local media here. that they should stay away for about the next ten days. the roads are empty there. the stores are closed. this highway would normally be much busier and the traffic has to do with the military as well. >> thank you so much. we'll stay close as well. >> i want to turn back briefly to colonel lathen. the use of these artillery pieces, what does that tell you about the forces are trying to do right now?

>> reporter: what they are trying to do is soften up the target. they want to move troops into here. that's the potential. and the other thing they maybe doing is complimentary to the power outages and the fuel shortages we have been talking about this morning. they are using this to cut them off further. you have the polkt here of potentially moving forces in to perhaps surround a particular unit of hamas. and we also have to keep in mind that airstrikes are occurring in this area as well. so between airstrikes and artillery, we're softening up the targets to actually move israeli forces into position even further perhaps inside gaza instself. >> thank you so much. we appreciate the analysis.

we're going to keep a close eye on that. we're also waiting to hear live from secretary of state antony blinken. he will be there any moment and we'll bring that update as it happens. negotiations for humanitarian corridor to get the civilians out of gaza are ongoing. we'll talk about why those discussions are so difficult, ahead.