in the gaza strip. israel will no doubt have some mapped out. not all of them. where we're standing if and when this ground invasion comes, it will probably be worse than ones we've seen before in terms of casualties and the bitterness of fighting that we have in store. kim? >> appreciate it. elliot in london. thanks america's top diplomat is in jordan after spending thursday in israel, antony blinken is trying to prevent the conflict from spreading and hoping to secure the release of hostage, cnn beckie anderson has more. >> the war between israel and hamas kicking off a flurry of diplomatic activity across the east. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken landed in tel aviv thursday to show washington solidarity with israel. >> the message that i bring to

israel is this. you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself. but as long as america exists, you will never have to. we will always be there. by your side. >> the secretary of state also tried to secure the release of hostages taken by hamas. working with allies such as qatar to strike a deal for the release of israeli women and children for palestinians women and teenagers according to a diplomatic source. but hamas says it will not negotiate as long as it remains under attack from israel. and israel says it has cut off water, electricity and fuel as long as those hostages are held in gaza. with the worsening humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave, the u.s. warned israel it must follow laws of war amid talk of a massive ground assault.

elsewhere, talks underway with egypt to allow civilians to exit gaza by the border crossing. so far, no concrete deal there. meanwhile the crisis paving the way for the first ever phone call between iran's president and saudi arabia's crown prince. mohammed stressing escalation and targeting as well as support for the palestinians cause. that matched normalization deal with israel. jordan king one of the first arab states to strike a peace deal with israel renewing calls to accomplish a palestinians state. >> what the palestinians territories are witnessing is currently is again our area will not obtain peace and stability without achieving a comprehensive and just peace on the basis of two-state solution

so that the palestinians people can receive the independent country with sovereignty. >> while blinken he'll reportedly will meet on friday. but despite the diplomatic pressure. peace in the region seems further away than ever. beckie anderson, cnn, tel aviv. >> still to come the white house confirms at least 27 americans have been killed in the israel hamas war. we're learning more about their personal stories. plus, iran is blocked from accessing billions of dollars as part of a prisoner swap deal as the u.s. investigates the country for potential links for hamas attacks. details next. ♪. ♪.

defense secretary lloyd austin has arrived in israel. pictures from is just moments ago scheduled to meet with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. his israeli counterpart and the newly created israeli war cabinet. follows one by u.s. secretary of state antony blinken thursday. u.s. officials are scrambling to get americans back home sealy.

the biden administration said it will start charters flights today to destinations in europe. infer rid home on u.s. base and other carriers, united, americans and delta airlines stopped flying to and from there this week over safety concerns. the white house confirmed the number of americans killed in the conflict is now 27. 14 u.s. nationals are still missing and we're learning their names and their stories. here's cnn erica hill. >> reporter: beaming smiles every day joy. now forever frozen in time. >> it's amazing. person. each and every within that met her loved her. she's done nothing wrong. >> his 25-year-old daughter daniel was born in california. she and her boyfriend recently moved to a new apartment. adopted a dog and building a life together. >> they went to a party to

celebrate peace and love. >> danielle and noaa never made it home from the festival. >> told me in the last meeting that she and noah decided to get married. unfortunately we'll bare them together. >> he was a captain in the dog handling unit. the citizens spent his camp in the u.s. his aunt describes him as a fun loving passionate kid. he was 27. his ex-wife said he moved back to israel two years ago to care for his morning. on saturday, hamas attacked the village where they lived. >> they were part of the security team, the pet troll team in the -- in the village. >> him and his brother both israeli americans were killed.

>> everyone called him johnny. and she was my sister in law. running for the council of the area of a bunch of villages. she was such a uplifting quality human being. renee butler and his young family along with her morning, carol were murdered at the ka but on saturday >> great loss. on a beautiful tribe. we had. half of our family is gone. this was our life, our love. i had 14 nieces and nephews. i have 11 now. >> reporter: family shattered. as countless more wait for word on their loved ones and wonder when they will ever be whole again. erica hill. cnn. new york. iran has been temporarily blocked from accessing billions of dollars as part of a prisoner swap deal between washington and tehran.

comes as u.s. officials investigate iran's possible involvement in hamas's attack on israel. cnn alex has the details. >> the 6 billion dollars set to be released to iran in exchange for the recent swatch five american prisoners that they were holding that deal is now on hold after hamas, which is backed primarily by iran, carried out the horrific and deadly attacks in israel over the weekend. a u.s. official from the treasury department told members of congress thursday that the united states and qatar reached a quote quiet understanding, not to allow iran to access any of the 6 billion dollars in iranian funds transferred to qatar accounts last month as part of the hostage deal. money is iranian but still in qatar banks and set to be dolled out by the u.s. treasury department for humanitarian purposes. now a source tells cnn those funds will not be touched by

iran any time soon here's what secretary of state antony blinken said thursday in israel. >> fund from that account are overseen by the treasury department can only be dispensed for humanitarian goods, food, med. medical equipment. and never touch iranian hands. we have strict oversight of the funds. and we retain the right to freeze them. >> the u.s. and israeli intelligence communities have found so far no smoking gun tying iran to saturday's attacks directly. but iran's long-time backing of hamas over the years with millions and millions of dollars in funding and weapons has made iran, according to the biden administration, complicit in hamas's attacks in israel. alex mark, cnn washington. >> that decision to freeze the 6 billion dollars iranian funds comes after growing bipartisan pressure. cnn wolf blitzer talked about

this in conversation with erin burnett. >> now the biden administration apparently agreed with so many others that that 6 billion dollars could be fungible if the iranians get the 6 billion through qatar, through this program, they could free up 6 billion they have to use for food, medicine in other areas and free it up to do other things. i think the biden administration now realizeses that a mistake. given what they see as iran's complicity in this hamas attack on israel. they say there's no direct evidence that no compelling evidence that iran was directly involved with hamas in this war, but they think that over the years, the support that iran has given hamas and hezbollah, between to be complicit and not provide other money and probably sense it was a mistake to begin in this direction, given the fact that for several

administration iran seen as the number one state sponsor of terrorism. >> in all the conflicts between israel and hamas over the years, there's been and still is one constant, civilians are always caught in the violence. the war's toll on gaza, children. plus, no power, no water, gaza medical supply is pushed to the brinks of collapse under israeli bombardments. ♪ ♪. ♪.

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watching us in the united states, canada and around the world. this is cnn newsroom. israeli military is calling on all civilians in gaza city to begin evacuating south wards now, today. but it's not clear where 1 million civilians are supposed to go. the idf claims hamas fighters are hiding in tunnels beneath the city and wants civilians out of harm's way. >> the aim here is to minimize damage to civilians. there are significant combat operations ongoing. and we are preparing for future and the continuance of our operations and out of an understanding there are civilians here who are not our enemy. and we do not want to target them. we are asking them to evacuate so that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to hamas in the gaza strip. >> israel has now amassed about 300,000 troops along the gaza board and pounding hamas targets

nonstop with air strikes and artillery. >> u.n. said more than 423,000 people have been displaced by the conflict between israel and a 25% increase in one day. more than 2/3rds are taking shelters in schools run by the u.n. at least two u.n. schools were being used as emergency shelters when they were hit by air strikes. the organization says 12 of its staff and 30 students have been killed since saturday. relief groups are calling for the protection of civilians in gaza humanitarian crisis worsens by the hour. cnn reports and we want to warn you her report contains graphic content. >> reporter: gripped by grieve. a loss of unfathomable scale. gaza's death toll and number of civilians wounded is rising with

each and every air strike. in the refugee camp men dig with bare hands, desperate to rescue loved ones from beneath the rubble of what once were their homes. >> sad begins to list the names of children killed in the latest strike. among them his niece. she was just a few months old. now she is one of more than 442 children gaza health ministry said killed by israeli air strikes so far. israel says it is striking hamas targets. but authorities here say medical facilities, schools, residential areas have been impacted. our neighbors said that the israelis called and told them to evacuate the area. so we came to stay with relatives here. but the next morning, when we woke up to pray at dawn, the air strikes happened. there was no warning. the densely speculated gaza

strip which has been under an israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007 is home to more than 2 million people. around 47% are children. so far, at least 340,000 people have been displaced within gaza. many are now force to do take shelter in u.n. run schools like this one. but civilians here are also now facing what the israeli government. described as a complete siege on gaza. there's no water for us to drink. no water for us to wash ourselves with so we can pray. they've bombed our schools, many people have been killed. it's not far for children like us. why is this happening to us? >> life under a blockade is all that the children gaza have ever known. for some, luke 13-year-old nadine, it's hard to imagine a future beyond this relentless

conflict. >> last couple of nights have been the worst i've he have lived in my life. this is not living. this is existing. we're not planning our futures anymore. we're just trying to survive. >> but survival in gaza is becoming more and more difficult by the day. the humanitarian situation in rapidly deteriorating. and while the u.n. has condemned what it has described as israel's unlawful blockade on gaza and indiscriminate nature of eyes, there's little hope that the blood shed will here. cnn. . the biden administration says it stands by israel. but there's only so much it can do without a functioning congress. ongoing u.s. military aid to israel is on the table. of course, but there's no scenario for sending u.s. troops to rescue american hostages in gaza. yet. that's what republican presidential candidate tim scott told voters he would do as president. here he is. >> we should be in a position

where our resources and our military weaponry is available and accessible to refill, replenish israel as the need arises the next several months, i assume. in it takes special forces to get our hostages, take american, i'm willing to send an american to bring an american back. >> u.s. house republicans are expected to meet behind closed doors friday morning, hoping to find some way to agree on a new leader. house majority leader steve scalise pulled out of the running for the top position late thursday after it became clear his fractured party wouldn't come together to support him. >> if you look at over the last few weeks, if you look where the conference is, there's still work to be done. our conference still has to come together and is not there. there's still people that have their own agendas, and i was

very clear. we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what of this country needs. >> friday will be the 9th day u.s. house republicans operated without a leader since kevin mccarthy became the first speaker of the house in history to be ousted by his party. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪. ♪.

. white house says it has no plans to put u.s. troops on the ground in israel ahead of an expected military incursion into gaza. cnn nick robertson reports on preparations. >>reporter: israel's newly emerging front line in the war with hamas. heavy how it just dug in. firing on the terror group a few miles away in gaza. part of israel's massive military build-up.

since hamas's attacks saturday. many of the 300,000 reservist called up already deployed ahead of of a highly anticipate asked ground offensive into gaza. these are exactly the same gun positions the israeli defense forces used in that lost major confrontation with the hamas back in 2021. the question now will this confrontation be different? will israel actually be able to crush hamas as the prime minister says he wants to do. military offensives beaten them before and won't be easy now. the palestinians death toll and unintended consequence israeli shelling and missile strikes is climbing. thursday, u.s. cautioning care. >> the prime minister and i discussed how israel does this

matters. we democracies distinguish ourselvess from terrorists by striving for a different standard, even when difficult. >> reporter: and it will be difficult. israel is still reeling from the deadliest most barbaric attack on its civilians when the state was founded. anger hamas shy so too pressure on the prime minister to act decisively. his calling for more international support as he plans his offensive. >> hamas should be treated exactly the way isis was treated. they should be spit out from the community of nations. no leader should meet them. no country should harbor them. those that do should be sanctioned. >> reporter: meantime hamas still getting into israel. this gun battle with them late wednesday. >> there were multiple incursions by hamas yesterday.

there was i drove through and three terrorists were out looking for civilians. >> the tempo of fire, fire higher than in 2021. a drum beat that seemses to signal a ground offensive. all but inevitable. even so its outcome far from certain. nick robertson cnn, israel funerals were held thursday for some of the people who had been killed the last few days. israeli families gathered in jerusalem's ceremony to funerals of soldiers killed in the conflict with hamas. palestinians mourn the deaths of five of their own who were killed by israeli settlers and forces in the occupied west bank. the nationalities of the victims of the hamas attacks last weekend stretch across the globe. include thailand, brazil,

russia, u.k., australian and ukraine. so many feel compelled to help with humanitarian relief efforts to cnn is compiling resources so you can head to cnn./impact. you can find a list of vetted organizations responding on the ground. that's cnn.com/impact. the european commission launched an investigation into elon musk's social media site x aboutdis information into the hamas war, the probe occurs policies and practices on illegal content how it handles complaints on risk assessments, x claims it removed hundreds of accounts. more now on viral images that claim to be about the war are actually fake. >> one by one video show as rocket reportedly by hamas, the other bombing gaza. neither is real. this is footage from video game.

this is actually of soccer celebrations in algeria. it's all part of a tidal wave of viral miss and disinformation. he works with an online threat intelligence service of he's been monitoring misinformation like this, a fake bbc news report that falsely claim ukraine provided weapons to hamas >> this is relatively sophisticated stuff. it's got the same kind of graphic that the bbc news would normally have. >> i think what happened over recent years, the becomes very easy, affordable to mimic those graphics >> in response to the false news report, the bbc told cnn in a world ofdis information we urge everyone to insure they're getting news from a trusted source. hours after hamas attack began saturday. this began circulating on social

media. a fake white house memo falsely claims the u.s. was immediately sending billions of dollars and new aid to israel. >> this is like some more old school dis information a fake white house document circulating online. >> i do want to point out, it is an old school tactic we've seen multiple years by now, but with the current tools, you can also create it very quickly and make it more believable. >> there's new information every second, every minute-hour. and so there's a lot of room for error as things develop on the ground. >> grain brook tracks dis information with the atlantic r council forensic lab >> this is connected. israel is a very, very connected country. we're seeing an enormous amount of misleading content coming out of this conflict as the world is

watching. >> twitter nonas x is a major source of misinformation, partly because of the changes elon musk made when he took over. on thursday, the european company announced it was launching an investigation about thedis information of the hamas. >> another component, several platforms scaled back in moderation. it's much easier to spread unsubstantiated rumors false information quick. >> this isn't just an information war. it's a real war. and false information can be fatal. >> that dis information is extraordinarily harmful including putting lives at risk. >> x, formally twitter said it's moving resources around at the company after it had the layoffs under musk after addressing these issues. this is not a problem exclusive to x. it's happening on other platforms as well.

but now it's pronounced on x. you can see false vice, misleading videos getting hundreds of thousands, millions of views on the platform before anything is really done about them. of course, the real tragedy is there is no need to post these fake videos and images. we have seen the tragic footage, real footage from israel and gaza and of course, it is upsetting enough these fake videos and images really just adding to the chaos, confusion and concern. tony sullivan, cnn new york >> israel military said it will investigate information from a cnn report revealing hamas spent two years preparing for saturday's massive attacks on israel. also shows much practice work was done inside gaza and some of that more than a mile or less than two kilometers from the most heavily patrolled border with israel. has details. >> reporter: propaganda videos put out by hamas revealed

chilling details about years of preparations that went into saturday's bloody attacks right under israel's nose. analyzing meta data from the vice, a cnn investigation can reveal the presence of at least six training r sites inside gaza, one just 720 meters, from the most heavierly fortified and patrolled part of israel's border. in that camp, hamas recreated an israeli compound with elements of the nearby border crossing including an insignia of the era's battalion. the video showed they practiced taking prisoners and sip tying their hands. it was constructed the last year and a half. at two other locations in southern part of gaza, at any trained for the para glider assault, rehearsing take-offs and landing. cites two years of satellite

image reviewed by cnn shows no indication of offensive military action. the imagery instead shows in the last two years, some camps can expanded to surrounding farm land and there was activity in the last several months at the camps. the stunning revelations raise questions as to how hamas was able to train so openly so close to the border for so long. and why israeli officials were unable to pick up on and prevent the october 7th attack. clarissaward cnn. still to come. protests erupt at college campuses over the hamas war. on cnn next. ♪ ♪. ♪.

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difficult for many to fully appreciate put the anguish of israeli families who lost loved ones in such barbaric and senseless massacres. mother was on the phone with her daughter trap to do the music festival with gunfire all around. she still doesn't know if her

daughter is dead or taken hostage. here she is r speaking earlier with cnn jake tapper >> they went from the car going to the bushes trying to hide, moving from bush to bush. we talked with her and heard the shooting all around them and they're hiding kids with no -- no weapons, no nothing. at some point, just before 10:00, a very good friend of her came back. he was already out of the area but came back to take them to rescue them. and took, his name is ben, and he was taking another boy with him. the four of them tried to leave the area. they didn't get much, much further when i got a phone call at 10:15 crying, shouting saying mommy, we were shot. they shoot the car. we cannot move the car does not

start. we cannot move. all of us are badly wounded. badly injured. gia is for the talking to me. ben is not talking. owe phil are wounded. o'phil gave me his mother's number so i can call her. and she was saying mommy, i'm going to do die. i said no, you're not going to die. you're coming back and find way to take you out of there. and she was asking mommy, how can you take me out of here? please come and take us. pleads tell somebody, tell the army. tell the police. tell someone to come. i tried to call the police. we tried to see how air force can maybe take a plane or helicopter to try and rescue them. and there was nothing to do. i was, i could only lie to her and tell her we're doing everything. it's not a lie. we tried to do everything but i

knew we cannot help them. >> is that the last time you heard from her? >> yes. the last thing i heard from them the shooting around them. we were talking slight ly is. she was fading away. and we heard shooting around them. then a lot of people talking shouting in arabic. somebody tried to start engine. couldn't do it. then somebody hanged the phone and that's it. >> here in the u.s., tensions are rising at college campuss from harvard to aclu over the israel hamas war. cnn nick watt reports. >> reporter: a so-called day of resistance on campuses across the country called by national students for justice in palestine, which hales the hamas terror attack acevedo historic

win across land, air and sea. >> that's the justification of murder of jews as we've seen throughout history under a different name. >> at san diego state one pro palestinians said this. >> we're not for any lives lost. >> 57% of jewish students in the u.s. have experienced or seen anti-semitism. a new before this occurred. now we're seeing the levels rise, the incidents rise. the complaint rise. >> reporter: at harvard, a statement released within hours of the attacks begin we say the under signed student organizations hold the israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. some have recopyedited after a backlash that included a billionaire hedge fund boss asking harvard to name members of the group who signed. none of us inadvertently hired them. last night their names and faces empty blaze ended on a truck in harvard square by a conservative organization. such intimidation is counter

productive. said harvard. a jewish student group. >> a conversation about what is and isn't productive discourse isn't that we're seeing really taking shape. >> a major u penn benefactor called on other alums to close the checkbook after he said was college leaders apparent failures to condemn views of some speakers at a literary festival on campus even after the hamas attacks. college officials have condemned anti-semitism. los angeles tuesday a pro israel rally just a stone's throw from the aclu campus. the cultural affairs commission of aclu, a student group, posted monday, we honor the palestinians on the front lines, taking their land and sovereignty back they say this is not anti-semitism. judyism is separate >> this is aclu organizations. and they have the permission to

say these things. it's absolutely absurd. >> you're holding an israeli flag. is that something you'd be ok doing on campus? >> oftentimeses on campus i feel desired hold a flag if i'm not with a big group. there's a lot of anti-semitism on campus and the felt at all times >> and we're on the aclu campus where today, a large pro palestinians rally. tensions are only going to heighten after what happened in the middle east. what's going to happen in the middle east and tensions particularly on campuses over where is that line between standing up for a palestinians human rights and glorifying murder. nick watt cnn los angeles that the this hour of cnn newsroom, i'm kim brunhuber. our coverage continues after a short break. ♪ ♪.