. this is cnn breaking news. look like hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world with cnn breaking news coverage of israel at war. the israeli military said it will allow people in north gaza safe passage to southern gaza during a six-hour window starting this hour. the idf forces said an air strikes on friday killed a senior hamas commander who was behind much of the carnage. the united nations is slamming israel for ordering mass evacuations of palestinians in northern gaza and allowing those people so little time to get out. one official called it outrageous and said it defies the rules of law and basic humanity. tens of thousands fled south the past 24 hours. many others are staying put.

thousands of leaflets were dropped over gaza friday telling civilians not to come back until the ida tells them so. an israeli army spokesperson explained why the evacuation order was necessary. >> anybody who wants to prioritize his safety. should heed our warnings and go south of gaza river. i completely understand that it is far from an ideal situation, but this is the situation that we find ourselves in. and we're doing our best in order to minimize civilian casualties. that's why we're calling on them to leave out of a concern near safety. >> the sudden surge of people into southern gaza put a lot of pressure on wrath of border crossing into egypt. only place to actually leave gaza. egypt said they've not closed it on their side but its status is unclear due to israeli air strikes on the gaza side.

israeli forces conducted raised inside gaza friday searching for as many as 150 hostages still held by hamas. the raids of the latest sign that israel is ramping up operations against hamas after the militant group's terror attacks inside israel one week ago today. cnn's reporter reports. >> reporter: israeli troops inside gaza for the first time since hamas's attack last saturday. a limited local raid targeting hamas searching for hostages. seemingly over the guy time the idf announced it last friday. not far away, northern gaza civilians are forced into a life or possible death choice. flyers dropped by israel told them to flee south now triggering concern at the u.n. >> the united nations considers

it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. >> reporter: no deadline given by the idf in their effort to minimize mounting civilian casualties. >> we're asking them to evacuate so that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to hamas in the gaza strip. >> reporter: thursday night, the heaviest israeli strikes on northern gaza yet. but hamas is telling its residents to stay put. setting the scene for a potential blame game over the rising palestinian death toll. >> gaza gave a counter order telling palestinians in gaza to stay at home. why? because having human shields they think protects them. >> puts them in places where they will be in danger. puts them in places where they're used in effect to try to

protect hamas officials or their equipment and infrastructure. >> all of this as israel's trooper build-up grows signalling a larger ground attack may be getting close. u.s. secretary of defense in country making sure the idf has what it needs. >> i'm here in-person to make something crystal clear. america's support for israel is iron clad. >> reporter: not just military support. eu leaders came close to gaza to see for themselves where some of hamas's most brutal murders were executed. but inside gaza, fears escalating about what the coming days will bring. >> time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. if fuel, water, food and life,

saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the gaza strip. >> reporter: apprehension on both sides of the border growing as troops ready for an expected longer and much more dangerous raid. nick robertson cnn, israel. >> with us from israel is margaret guess senior advisor to benjamin netanyahu. good to have you with us. your government announced it will give the 1 million civilians in northern gaza safe passage the next six hours starting this hour to evacuate. what exactly does that mean? >> that means we're urging people to leave an area where there will be i believe very, very severe combat. you have neighborhoods there where hamas has built its underground tunnel

fortifications and communication systems, and arms depots under civilian housing. so we're asking people to leave as best they can. we know it can be difficult. but the alternative is worse. we don't want to see civilians caught up in the cross fire between us and the hamas terrorists. and where once again, we're urging people to move away out of what will become a dangerous combat zone. >> is it likely the ground incursion will occur six plus hours from now. >> i'm not going into that you, of course, understand why, talking about military opening thes before they happen. israel is very serious. i want to say something that needs to be understood. we've had several rounds of violence since hamas took over the gaza strip some 16 years ago. this is not -- this is not

another round of violence. this is war. went want it. they declared war on us when they attacked us with the october 7th massacre. we are responding to protect our people. we're responding to eliminate a threat, a very severe threat, and we're urging civilians, please, for your own safety, vacate the combat zone. >> is it likely hamas terrorists will also vacate the combat zone. >> it's possible some will try to escape with civilians. we know that's how they operate. they are ruthless. we've also seen reports that they've actually established road blocks to try to prevent people from leaving the combat zone. that's terrible. civilians who want to leave. first of all, are being told by hamas to stay. but those leaving nevertheless are held up at road blocks.

hamas has no qualms whatsoever about using the gaza civilian population as a human shield for its war machine. and in doing so, it's a double war crime. first of all, when they target innocent israeli civilians, that's a war crime, of course. and terrible violence that the brutality that we saw in the seventh of october massacre. that just shows who they are. the fact they treat their own people in a similar way, they say to them don't move out of harm's way and we will prevent from moving out of harm's way, that says everything you need to know about this hamas organization. it really is isis type. >> can you explain the target israel has bomb so far in gaza? and what more can you tell us about the terrorists that you've said have been killed? >> so we been hitting hamas strong holds throughout the gaza

strip. and we will continue to do so. we've been hitting arms depots, tunnels, hitting commanded control centers. hamas will come out of this, if at all, crushed. that's our goal. there were theories that maybe because hamas, as i said they've been in power 16 years. and they're ruling a territory of land with some 2 million inhabitants and that forces them as the government to be more responsible, to moderate their positions, to worry about their own civilian population. anyone who thought that hamas maybe was moderating the october 7th massacre was a wake-up call. the sort of brutality. the horrific brutality that we saw hamas demonstrate in the way it murdered innocent civilians, and taking scores of people

hostage, kidnapping them, take them to gaza. anyone who hey allusions about hamas, i hope, that the events of october 7th were a slap in the face. that they understand exactly the enemy we're dealing with. >> as you may gaza is home to over 2 million people. almost half are children under 18. israel is cut off electricity, water, food and fuel. under humanitarian law, it's illegal to collectively punish civilians. at what upon will israel resume the key essential services for civilians? >> you raise the issue of electricity. i'll address that first. first of all, we know for a fact that hamas uses the ingredients in gaza for its own missiles. the missiles fired on gaza is facilitated by electricity. second, the hamas rockets that

have reigned down on israel disrupted and destroyed part of the electricity grid that actually supplies gaza. so is the international community or is there a request that we rebuild what they have destroyed in their rockets so they can shoot more rockets at us? is that a logical request of israel? >> can you explain what this means to the civilians in gaza, the 2 million people half of which are children, who won't be getting food and clean water into that region? when will that resume? >> i cannot say at this stage. i can only say that we don't see, yes, we don't want to see the civilian population of gaza caught up in the cross fire. having said that, i know and you know that there hasn't been a war in recent history where

there hasn't been humanitarian suffering as a result of conflicts where innocent civilians haven't been caught up in the crossfire. it's not possible. but what we do as a democracy, if they deliberately target innocent civilians with their brutal violence, we make every effort to be as surgical as is humanly possible. we target the terrorists. we target those who are trying to kill our people. in so doing we're defending our people. our own people. but hamas has to understand they will be crushed. their military machine will be destroyed. when this is over, there had been a new reality in gaza. >> at this point in time, no one in gaza can leave gaza. no civilian can leave. are you in talks with egypt about opening that border crossing so that that could be a potential humanitarian route for civilians to leave? >> any conversations we're having with the egyptians will

remain confidential. i do say this. inside the gaza strip there are areas that we know will become combat zone. dangerous combat zones. move out of those areas. and what i said they will become dangerous, they will become dangerous for the israeli soldiers who may be operating there. because the hamas has built its own defenses, an elaborate system of underground tunnels, booby traps. house to house. i have a daughter serving down south. i'm concerned about her. she knows and all her fellow soldiers know. this war went want. it was forced upon us. now that it's been forced upon us. we have to act decisively. we cannot allow this brutal isis type terrorist organization to continue to thrive on our

border. that is unsustainable for the betterment of israel. the protection of israel. for the better future for the people of gaza and peace in the middle east. it's crucial that israel have an overwhelm victory here. a decisive victory. and we will. >> hamas killed over 1300 people in that brutal terror attack. since then, we know that over 1900 people have been killed in gaza, including almost 600 children. what else is the idf going to do going forward to minimize civilian casualties? >> well, when we ask people to leave combat zones, we're, we're trying to save lives. that's our goal. can i urge cnn to be skeptical? numbers coming out of gaza are coming out of a hamas controlled ministry of health and those numbers don't talk about combat

tenants or noncombatants and have an interest in escalating humanitarian crisis. i have no doubt that it's very difficult in gaza. but those numbers are coming from a hamas controlled ministry of health. i'd also like to add, with manager permission, is that hamas's policy -- israel is making efforts to try to minimize civilian casualties. it must be remembered and we spoke about it a moment ago. hamas is making everything to maximize. why are they telling people not leave combat zones, setting up road blocks from leaving? what's the motivation? the truth is they don't care a hoot about the people of gaza. they're willing to sacrifice every last gazan on their extremist jihadist isis type agenda. >> finally how long do you think this conflict will last?

what's the ultimate objective? >> the objective is a new reality in gaza, where israel will not face a terrorist organization that has either the will or the capability to inflict the sort of horrific violence that we saw exactly weeks ago this morning. that's the goal. and when that happens, and it will happen -- it will be better for the people of israel. it will be better for the people of gaza. it will be better for the middle east. if we defeat the extremists and we will -- if they are crushed -- and they will be -- that hopefully will leave room and space for modern evidence and peace with our neighbors >> we appreciate your time today. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me.

the hamas terrorist attacks in israel last weekend were unprecedented in a sophistication and level of planning. that includes a wide array of aiding weaponry accumulated over many years. cnn takes a closer look. >> reporter: an entire arsenal on display. weapons fashioned in hamas home grown facilities. no less deadly. cnn analyzed dozens of photos and videos of hamas militants during the surprise assault to identify weapons used to kill at least 1200 people in israel. >> most important characteristic of the military equipment they have it's easily irritable. reliable, dependable and you can get parts for it. >> reporter: many like this soviet built machine gun appear to be relics from previous wars that made their way into the hands of hamas. ubiquitous among many photos and

videos, the ak 47, the preferred weapon for militant groups capable of spewing automatic fire with horrific assaults. assault rifles along with the grenades carried by hamas militants made them deadly when they reached israeli towns and villages near gaza. >> all they're trying to do is provide the shock effect. depend ability. based on allow they operate them, they're successful with them. >> reporter: hamas main weapon has long been supply of rockets short to long range. terror attack on saturday morning began with a barrage of rock fire smoke screen for the imminent attack. thousands of rockets overwhelmed the iron dome air defense system, attack tick they defined over the year >> that's for has no to see tire

them up against potentially commercial aircrafts. i think that's one of the major issues of these terrorists groups >> hamas used para gliders to cross the border, they're very maneuverable and easy to target in the air, but in the chaos of the moment. plan worked. some weapons and equipment were decidedly low tech. israel built a complex underground to stop them. so hamas used a bulldozer do tear down the above ground fence. >> they're looking to create chaos with the kind of equipment they have and the equipment has got to be reliable. >> still ahead, the u.s. defense secretary meets with israeli leaders ahead of israel's expected military escalation against hamas. his message next. ♪ ♪

u.s. president joe biden says his administration is working like hell to get americans taken hostage by hamas out of gaza. mr. biden spoke by phone to family members of 14 americans still missing after attacks last saturday. in an interview with 60 minutes, he spoke about his deep

commitment to their release. >> i say we're going to do everything in our power to find them. everything in our power. and i'm not going to into details of that. but there's, we're working like hell on it. they have to know the president of the united states of america cares deeply about what happened. we have to communicate to the world this is critical. this is not human behavior. it's pure barbaricism. >> an israeli citizen has been missing since a kibbutz last saturday. his father was on the call with mr. biden and spoke with cnn about it >> what i can say about president biden, spent about 45 minutes with us. there were representatives of about 20 families there. as an american civilian, an israeli civilian, as someone who's beloved son we're sure

being held, alive, dead, wounded, i don't know. i could not possible ask for more than president biden expressed about the united states commitment to getting these people. not just the american hostages. but all of the israeli hostages, and that he and the administration are in this for the long haul. as crazy as this must sound, at that moment, as proud as i am to be an israeli. i was no less to be proud to be an american as a result of that phone call. honestly most of the time he was living to people's stories, and their desires for his action. and his answers were inspiring. not that he could give information. i don't think there's much information to give right now. but his willingness to listen. i found it extraordinary. and to empathize with the people who are in enormous pain. >> the biden administration

emphasized support for israel as they meet on friday. austin vowed on wavering u.s. solidarity after an expected ground incursion into gaza. cnn jeremy diamond as the latest from israel. >> reporter: u.s. support for israel looks like this. a u.s. military transport plane bolstering the war effort against hamas. where cnn secured exclusive access as air men off loaded cargo. >> military cargo planes just landed here in southern israel. bringing fresh u.s. weapons and ammunition for israel's fight against hamas. today, the secretary of defense, lloyd austin coming here to inspect the shipment. vowing that u.s. military support for israel continue to flow at the speed of more. >> i know how hard you've been working, helping to get this here as quickly as you could.

and tears a lot more that follows >> this was second shipment of military equipment to israel this week. presumption guided munitions, artillery shells and missiles which help protect civilians from hamas rocket >> the show of support it is support. it's the leading edge of more to come. >> we've already seen gaza. what kind of assurances do you have from the israelis about how to use these munitions >> this is a professional force that's well led. i'm sure they will do the right thing. >> reporter: israeli air strikes killed more than 1900 people in gaza this week. including at least 614 children. according to the palestinian ministry of health. palestinian leaders accuse

israel of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. israeli officials blame hamas for firing rockets from civilian areas and using civilians as human shields. even as he made clear the u.s. stands with israel. >> i'm here in-person to make something crystal clear. america's support for israel is iron clad. >> reporter: the defense secretary also reminding israel of its moral responsibility >> with democracies like ours are stronger and more secure when we uphold the laws of war. >> jeremy diamond cnn. airbase. thousands of gaza residents evacuated their homes friday. but for many there's no way to leave and no hope of finding safety from the escalating conflict.

. welcome back, i'm linda kincaid, this is cnn newsroom. continuing to cover the israeli war. a six-hour went is open to allow safe passage in gaza to move to the southern part of the territory. the u.n. is criticizing israel's order to evacuate from gaza city. a senior u.n. official calls the order outrageous and says it quote defies the rules of war and basic humanity. the u.n. said tens of thousands of people fled homes in northern gaza over the past day or so

after israel's military warned civilians to leave gaza city. that's in addition to the more than 400,000 palestinians who were already displaced by the conflict. cnn clarissa ward reports. >> reporter: they grabbed whatever they can and set off. many on foot, with no set destination. after six straight days of relentless bombardment, palestinians in northern gaza woke up to leaflets from israel's military ordering them to move to the south of the densely populated end clave. the deadline given to the u.n. was 24 hours. but nowhere to go, efforts to open the corridor to egypt so far have been fruitless and shelters are completely overwhelmed. head of u.n. refugee agency

called the order horrendous and said the enclave was rapidly becoming a hell hole. the streets of many neighborhoods are already ghost towns, hollowed out by ferocious strikes. those who remain alone with their grief. my sons, my daughters, my neighbors are all gone, this resident says. i only have one message to the arab and islamic world. have mercy on us for god sake, there's nothing left. in several cities across the world, there were protests in support of gaza but the drum beat of an invasion is growing ever louder here. and the price that gaza civilians are paying for hamas's bloody attacks is already so high. at the ship hospital yesterday. some of the youngest victims lined hallways. on a stretcher on the floor of

the hospital, a young girl pants with fear. you're a good girl, praise god, you're here the man tells her. don't cry, my dear. everyone is dead, she says. there's only a few left. in another bed, a young boy lies heavily wounded reassuring his father. don't be scared. don't be scared, dad, he says. i am fine. but with no promise of safe refuge, fear is the only sane reaction. clarissa ward, cnn. >> still to come a journalist killed by an israel strike in lebanon six other journalists wounded marking one of the worst press disasters yet in this conflict. the details when we come back. ♪. ♪.

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arab israeli news anchor gone viral with an emotional message of unity and defiance following last weekend's terror attacks by hamas. >> i'm sorry i'm using my microphone to send a message to the world. as a journalist, this is my only weapon. since saturday morning, the state of israel is under attack. our beloved country is under attack. we are under an attack of a brutal barbaric in humane terror organization. not an entity. not a government. not a leadership. but a terror organization. don't be mistaken. we experienced difficulties, disagreements and major disputes. like any other country on this globe. but it does not mean that we will not protect ourselves and our children. our home land. >> israel is broadly referred to as the jewish home land be arabs

make up about one fifth of the population. she was the first muslim arab news er on mainstream israeli television. on friday on cnn she was asked how her experience with the terrorist attack shaped her views. >> for me, it's personal. in the last few days, since everything happened on saturday morning, everything that i went through because when i was five years old, on a saturday morning, we went to the gaza strip when back then, fin 87 when israelis had the ability to get into the gaza strip. i went through me and my family, a terror attack. two molotov cocktails were smashed into our car.

and two minutes just before that happened, i saw the terrorist. i saw the terrorist when he got close to the car. i saw something in his hand and i didn't recognize what it is. but i immediately felt here. so i started scrolling down my seat and i continued watching. and looking at him. and in one second, he looked me directly into my eyes. and he saw that in that car, there were two young children. and two families. and he just smashed these two cocktail molotovs into the car. and my father was brave enough

and was clear enough to be able to save us. my cousin was burning in front of my eyes. and thank god he was safe. but the evil that i saw in the eyes of that terrorist, i never forgot that. so when people are telling me, and when i hear that people are saying that what is happening in israel is a lie, i cannot stay silent. it's not a lie. it's not a lie. what is happening in israel is truth. an awful truth a barbaric truth.

catastrophic truth. never in my life i thought that i live to experience and listen to these kind of testimonies. it's unbelievable. you know, you probably saw the image that was put today in the daily telegraph of a baby, an innocent baby. babies were burned. you know what? i'm saying? even if it was one baby. how can you -- how can you rape women and just pummel their

bodies? how can you do that? how can you burn an entire family, a mother, father, two young daughters and a baby? how can you do that? this is a genocide. >> in southern lebanon a journalist for reuters has been killed. six others wounded in an israeli strike while covering the war between israel and hamas. all of them wore body armorer clearly labeled as press. issam abdallah was the reuters's videographer who died according to a cnn analysis of statements and videos. the blast that hit the group happened when israeli forces struck lebanon friday. israeli military not responded to cnn's request for comment. israel's military said it fired at lebanese territory after a

border exploited near an israeli kibbutz. >> i want to return now to the growing humanitarian crisis in gaza. i'm joined now by a civil engineer and human rights activist in gaza. i appreciate your time. >> thank you very much for having me on. >> after hamas launched its terror attack, israel announced a siege of gaza cutting off electricity, water, food, fuel. the idf also been bombing what it says are hamas targets ever since. how would you describe what you and the people of gaza are experiencing. >> kindly correct to start with the idea for the israeli army idea is launching an attack on the palestinian people.

every aspect in the palestinians lives -- the gaza strip was from hamas. now, people are in every aspect and every single detail of their life. i'm talking to you from the second largest city in the gaza strip and the streets are filled with thousands of people who will have to flee intense bombing indiscriminate bombing or be bombed and killed. this is a commitment they have to make. they're not launching an attack of hamas. not at all. it's an attack over 600 children have been killed so far. 2,000 people killed. i just came back from the scene of bombing of two houses where people i know personally have been killed and pulled from under the rubble. to say this is an attack of hamas is another distortion of fact if you allow me to say so. it's an attack on the

palestinian people. we saw it before. we're seeing it now. cutting power lines wash-out supplies, people's resources is a crime. but sadly israel is, the law. if i am a human being and have to feel the suffering of a civilian on either side of the oppression that this is going on and i feel sorry for any civilian has been killed. but let me make the clear. those civilians are victims of long, long decades of israeli aggression almost every day, almost every moment of palestinian lives. and this is why israel should rethink the way they approach this. and think their army, not only since 1940 but recently, nobody talks about 270 palestinians that were killed since the start of 2023 including 79 children in the west bank. nobody talks about displacement of people.

or settlements that are taking lives. nobody talking about the palestinians waters and pollution, attacks on hospitals. let me give you something today. a hospital in the north part of the gaza strip have been threatened to evacuate for goodness sake. how can you evacuate a hospital all departments, ten hospitals have been hit. and cnn can come, bbc whatever channel. come to the gaza strip and see that. the statement about babies because these lives changed the world with the palestinians have been victimized for 75 years. come here to the gaza strip and see the suffering on the streets of people, elderly people not even supporters of hamas, the collective policies as a war

crime and we must understand that if the world continues to the fears of the palestinians and blind eyes of the palestinians suffering all they will have is more suffering for the palestinians and more violence that will be imposed on the palestinians and more reaction from the palestinians as well. you cannot expect to put people under such circumstances for so many years when we expect them to throw roses at you. this is the reality of the matter. ? i just want to ask you. >> sadly, the united states government, the european governments are taking the side of israel is blindly without investigating the situation on the ground as if they were prepared to do that. it was part of a bigger plan for global war fares in the area. come to the gaza strip, come to the families who lost ten

civilians, and another family who lost ten civilians. come to the gaza 44 civilians. >> i just want to ask you, you spoke about -- can i just ask you a question? >> everyone not a very expensive price for the israelis for the palestinians. >> i want to ask you about support for hamas in gaza. hamas has ruled gaza since 2007. how much support is there from the people of gaza for hamas? and what was the reaction after at attack on saturday? >> i'm going to tell you the whole truth. before that attack. support for hamas was dwindling and hamas wasn't popular at all. because people weren't happy with the way hamas was running the gaza strip. weren't happy with the siege and happening with their lives which was miserable as a result of the siege.

but following the attacks, the severe intense attacks the palestinians are united. we don't think of hamas. i'm never, ever supporting hamas in my life. but as i'm talking to you, hamas is part of the social fiber because we're all under attack. support for hamas was dwindling thanks to israeli. support for hamas is sky high now because of the severity of the crimes that the israelis are committing. not because of the popularity of hamas. when they hit us in every aspect of our lives, palestinians get united and don't think of hamas but of popular front or jihad, whatever, they think of their suffering. >> that was mishir, elfara. we're losing a connection. we'll have to leave that there for now. he was in gaza. we'll take a break and be right back. ♪. ♪.

. the israeli military said five hours left of a window that has been open to allow the safe passage for civilians in gaza to move to the southern part of the territory. the united nations is criticizing israel's order for the 1 million civilians in the north to evacuate from gaza

city. cnn u.n. official calls the order outrageous. quote, defies the rules of war and basic humanity. that wraps this hour of cnn newsroom. i'm linda kincaid. more on our breaking news out of israel after a quick break. stay with us, you're watching cnn. ♪ ♪