discussions that are taking place over these last few days about rafah. >> sir, sorry, if i could just get some clarification on that.

are you saying that hamas were hiding in the crowds there at the rafah border? is that what you're saying? >> no. i'm saying that they will do everything to take any route that they can in order to create strife, destruction, and that even at the sacrifice of their own people . you're asking 1 million people to move from one part of the area to another while these bombardments continue.

it's hard to understand, rosemary, how much worse it must get for children and their families, how many more must die? for unicef it's been too much since it started. a child is in child, in israel or gaza wherever they are. >> groups are warning of an imminent public health crisis if water and fuel are not allowed to enter gaza soon. we have more on the desperate situation there, but we want to warn you some of the videos are disturbing. >> reporter: this is what life looks like in places israel told families to flee toward for their safety where constant bombardment has reduced homes to rubble and wiped out entire families these survivors say. i lost all my relatives, 15 people, this man says. we were not on the front line or anything. we were just sitting at home.

what have we done wrong? the u.n. warns there are no safe places. about half a million people fled here to southern gaza after an evacuation order by the israeli military, but families desperate for refuge are still trapped in the war zone. the dead and injured flooding a healthcare system on the brink. civilians are caught in the crossfire, with the death toll mounting just over a quarter of those killed being children, according to palestinian officials. a week long siege is strangling the enclave the u.n. says amid fears food, fuel, water, and medical supplies may soon run out. some 2 million people are crammed into this 140 square mile territory. now many of them are pushed into an even smaller corner of the enclave. about half the population are children. there are not enough shelters

to house the sheer numbers of civilians and even those who do find spaces in schools turned refugee centers, it is little comfort to the victims. there is no one to protect us, this little girl says. there is no one who can save us? how are we supposed to live, how? answer me. prime minister netanyahu has vowed to annihilate hamas after a terror attack by the group left 1,400 killed in israel, but with hamas so deeply embedded within gaza's population, rights groups fear a bloodbath. >> what we're seeing right now, the direction that israel is going in, they have said they want to destroy hamas, but their current trajectory is going to destroy gaza. >> reporter: hamas does not answer to the people of gaza.

no elections have been held here since the group gained power in 2007. still it is these residents that will pay the price and with a potential ground incursion expected, that cost is unfathomable. >> hamas has released new video of a young woman identified as 21-year-old maya shem. she has an arm injury and was taken to gaza. this is the first hostage video hamas has released of their nearly 200 hostages. it's unclear when the video was taken or if she's still alive. her mother says she is grateful for the video. here's part of her conversation with cnn's anderson cooper. >> that she's been through and she's in pain and she's injured and she looks a bit terrified,

but she is alive and stable. >> reporter: does it help to see her? >> of course because until now i didn't know if she's dead or alive. i mean it's been ten days and till saturday she was missing and on saturday they said that maybe she's been kidnapped. that's all. so i didn't know if she's alive or dead. we are begging the world to bring my baby home. she's only 21 years old. she just went to a festival party after months that she didn't go anywhere.

she has medical problems. she just wanted to have some fun and she shouldn't be there. so we are begging the world to interfere and to bring her home and all the other. we have like 200 more hostages, children, babies, old people, holocaust survivors that we don't know what's going on with them. we don't know if they're alive, if they're dead, if they give them food. we don't know which conditions there are. >> reporter: is there anything you would want her to know if for some reason she could see this? >> yes. i want her to be strong and i want her to be sure that the world will do everything to

bring her home. >> if you can see us, we want to tell you from all the family and all the people in israel, we're waiting for you. we love you. we're going to do anything to bring you back home. >> we will never stop and i'll tell you we'll be here. we will continue until all the 200 hostages will be home, too. we never stop and the world is without them, sure, because it's not our war. >> cnn's anderson cooper speaking there to the family of maya schem. as israel pledges to fight until hamas is completely destroyed, some fear the battle will cost palestinian people everything. >> what happens if they raze

gaza to the ground? what then? >> why some in the american jewish community are coming together to oppose israel's war. that's next on "cnn newsroom." plus israel braces for a potential second front on the border.

the suspected gunman in what's being called a terror attack in the belgium capital has been neutralized according to the public broadcaster. he had been at large since the shooting that killed two swedish nationals in brussels on monday. the suspect was reportedly shot in the chest and taken by ambulance. his identity has yet to be confirmed. cnn's scott mclean is in london with the latest. what are you learning about the

attack and the apprehension of the suspect? >> reporter: it is remarkable now we're talking about more than 12 hours since this shooting actually took place where this apprehension of the shooting of the potential suspect again identity yet to be verified is taking place and it's all happening in a very small radius. we're talking about where the shooting took place and the arrest was made maybe five, six, seven kilometers or so. this all happened last night about an hour and a half or so before the international football soccer match between sweden and belgium was set to take place in brussels. so this was well before the match, the first half of the match going underway as if nothing had happened, but then the match was suspended at halftime clearly when authorities realized that this attack may have been motivated by the fact that these two victims who were killed were

supporters of the swedish side. obviously there were a lot of swedes in brussels who were there to watch their game. there was a third person who was also shot, a taxi driver. he is expected to survive. the belgian prime minister called this extreme brutality. he called it terrorism as well and the public broadcaster, as you said, has now said there's the suspected attacker has been neutralized. we also know from the prosecutor's office yesterday there was a video that the prosecutor's office referenced circulating on social media where the person identifying himself as the assailant pledged his support to isis and mentioned specifically the nationality of these two victims. that is why there was such high alert for people still in that soccer stadium. it actually took more than an hour. they were told to stay there.

fans were told to stay there until authorities were confident that they were able to safely get them out of the stadium, safely take them out and make sure they could get home because, of course, we were talking about a suspect on the loose all night and now just this morning, some measure of good news. just quickly, the prime minister said last night in the press conference the suspect was of tunisian origin staying in the country illegally, the neighborhood where the arrest was made. the neighborhood was in the spotlight in 2016 after the terror attacks in brussels and sweden, why anyone would be targeted because they're swedish, we don't know precisely, but sweden has been in the news recently because of qur'an burnings carried out by one man in sweden that have raised huge concerns across the arab world or across the muslim world, protests. in fact, it was in baghdad where protesters actually

managed to break into the swedish embassy demanding the expulsion of the ambassador. >> appreciate your reporting on this breaking news. scott mclean joining us live from london. protesters gathered around the white house monday calling for an end to the attacks on gaza amid israel's war on hamas. holding signs reading jews say ceasefire now, they urged u.s. president joe biden to listen to the american jewish community and work to restrain israeli aggression. the protests comes as israel is preparing for a ground incursion aimed at annihilating hamas in gaza. joining me now is the national spokesperson for if not now, a jewish-american organization that's protesting israel's actions in gaza. thank you so much for talking with us.

>> thanks for having me. >> your organization condemns the hamas attacks in israel, but at the same time represents american jews trying to end u.s. support for what you call israel's apartheid system in gaza and you're demanding equality and justice. how do you see that being achieved in the region, particularly in the wake of those hamas attacks and now israel's military response in gaza? what is the political path forward in that sort of environment? >> well, rosemary thanks for the question. today thousands of american jews were at every entrance to the white house calling on president biden to exercise leadership in this moment in a way that only he can to call for a ceasefire, a deescalation, immediate release of the israeli hostages against some of our loved ones are among them and to address the root cause of this violence, which is again, a system of

apartheid and occupation and the assumption by successive israeli governments that they can cage people indefinitely and brutalize them when they try to nonviolently resist and not expect disaster to happen to their own citizens and a large portion of the israeli public is also clear on this. we are in solidarity with the israelis and palestinians that we love again, many of whom we are grieving this week and we are there to call on president biden to exercise leadership in this moment because it is desperately needed. it is quite literally life or death. >> that's your message to u.s. president joe biden. what's your message to prime minister benjamin netanyahu right now as he prepares to send israeli troops into gaza in an apparent ground incursion? >> reporter: what we have heard from this israeli government is that there is no

strategy. what happens if they raze gaza to the ground? what then? netanyahu has made clear that he is willing to capitulate to the fascist ministers -- and i do not use that word lightly -- in his government who are determined to annihilate the palestinian people even at the expense of their own citizens. what i have to say to prime minister benjamin netanyahu, i barely have words, but where is your respect for basic human life? >> and i think given that message, i do want to ask how much support your organization has from other american jews and how difficult it's been taking this stand on an issue in the wake of the hamas attacks in israel because a lot of israelis are feeling the

world is turning against them and has more sympathy for the palestinians than for what happened to the israelis. >> we are trying to model for our community, for our country, for the world again as american jews, so many of whom are grieving. i mean i have co-workers who had friends who were murdered along with their children this week in israel. it's horrific and we are here to demonstrate leadership and to say that even through that grief we are so clear that the memories of our loved ones would be in vain if that violence were to be inflicted on anyone else and so again, this is what brought us to the doors of the white house. it's to say that supporting this israeli government, which has made its genocidal intent -- again, do not use that word lightly -- clear when it comes to the palestinian people, it's atrocious and it will not make

the jewish people safer. it will not make israelis safer. obviously it will have devastating consequences for palestinians and beyond that, it would very likely destabilize the entire region in ways that will be devastating and horrific and ways we can only imagine. >> while this war rages on and even before it, we have been seeing a rise in anti-semitism and anti-muslim threats and attacks here in the united states, sometimes with deadly consequences. what is your reaction to that situation here in the u.s., but also in other parts of the world? >> as we know, there was a 6- year-old palestinian boy who was stabbed over 20 times. i cannot imagine. i have no words. i know as an american jew, i know people whose communities have been devastated by again

deadly anti-semitic violence in recent years. the pittsburgh tree of life massacre, massacres at other synagogues across the country, i mean it's who risk and that's exactly why we need president biden to exercise leadership because i am terrified. we are terrified. all of us are terrified of what will happen in this country as well if president biden does not exercise his leadership right now and demand a ceasefire, a deescalation, release of all the hostages and addressing the underlying conditions that led us to this nightmare. >> thank you so much for joining us, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> powerful words there. still to come, it is not just the u.s. president heading to israel, why the u.s. military is beefing up its presence in the region, back with that in a moment.

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the u.s. president is expected to make a high stakes wartime visit to israel this week. the u.s. secretary of state says joe biden will arrive wednesday in a show of american support. an israel military spokesperson says president biden's planned visit will not complicate or delay any ground invasion of gaza. meanwhile the israel defense forces say they've been striking hezbollah terror targets in lebanon today and iran's foreign minister warns the war's possible spread to other fronts could soon become unavoidable if israel does not top the bombardment. to the north of israel the idf confirms ongoing strikes on terror targets in lebanon

belonging to the hezbollah militant group which is backed by iran with an israeli ground offensive intended to wipe out hamas from gaza now believed to be imminent, fears growing throughout the region. we have a report from the israel/lebanon border. >> reporter: they're bracing for a dangerous second front. we gained exclusive access to israel's northern front. the israeli army have sealed off the scooter zone, some of the areas close to the lebanese border, because of the threat posed. they're taking us there the closest place they can that they say is safe and to see the lay of the land. that land is hostile. none of the israeli soldiers wanted their faces shown to

hide their identities from hezbollah, the powerful lebanese militia with a vast arsenal trained on these positions from across the border. >> we're ready if they choose to come. they'll make a huge mistake. >> reporter: war with hezbollah would be brutal said this senior israeli commander who asked not to be identified, but it is now also necessary he told me. do you believe there will be a second front open here or are you hopeful still hezbollah will stay out of this war? >> i hope there will be another front. we need to destroy hezbollah. >> reporter: you hope there will be another front? you want the war? >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> what hamas did in gaza, it didn't come from nowhere. it came from hezbollah. it came from iran and in order for us to stop what happened from hamas, we need to stop them, also. >> reporter: well, this is as close as the israeli military

say we can go. just across there is territory of lebanon controlled by hezbollah, the lebanese militia, and israeli soldiers in this position in israel tell us over the past few days there have been multiple attempts by hezbollah fighters to penetrate the fence and to come into israel, but they've been fought back. if there is going to be a second front in this war in israel, the likelihood is it's going to start here. already there have been exchanges of fire forcing local israelis to flee, terrified what happened in israel could happen here, too. >> a terrorist attack of this escape has never happened and i'm scared that i live on the border. what's to stop them from doing it here? i want to be strong and i want to come back and live here, but i need to think about my kids first. >> reporter: back from the border, israel is bolstering

its forces with some of the 360,000 troops mobilized after the hamas attacks last week. if war in the north is coming, israel seems ready, even bristling to fight. matthew chance, cnn, northern israel. the head of u.s. central command has arrived in tel aviv to meet with the israeli military's chief of staff to better understand israel's defense requirements and outline u.s. support during the conflict. this is the division of the u.s. military that defends american interests in the middle east as well as central and south asia. multiple officials tell cnn u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin has ordered roughly 2,000 american troops to prepare for potential deployment to the middle east. cnn's kaitlin collins spoke with house foreign affairs committee chairman michael mccaul about the move. >> we don't want to see troops

on the ground here, but actually what the administration's doing in this case i fully support and that is deterrence. i think iran needs to see this and most importantly, hezbollah out of lebanon needs to see a showing of force by the united states both in terms of the destroyer ships, the two aircraft carriers and now we're sending special operators to train not boots on the ground, but to train the idea of as they go to the second phase of the military operation, which will be going door to door to liberate hostages and eliminate the terrorists, i think it's important that we show that force. >> my colleague is reporting secretary austin is preparing for the possibility of preparing 2,000 troops to go to israel in support roles of medical, logistics. are you okay with that?

do you think it requires congressional approval? >> no. congressional approval would only apply if we were sending troops into combat. now i'm very cognizant what's going on. i had a briefing in the security room with the national security council about this very issue and what would trigger response from the congress about, you know, a use of military force. my committee, the foreign affairs committee, is responsible for either declaring war or an authorized use of military force. actually i'm currently preparing a draft of that in the event it is called upon and is necessary, but most importantly, supported by the american people. breaking news, india's supreme court has just ruled in favor of upholding lgbtq rights but stopped short of legalizing same-sex marriage. it's still considered a partial victory after months of activists formally challenging the law.

same-sex marriage and intercourse were outlawed in the country in the 1800s, though the latter was overturned in 2018. the court has distributed india's federal and state governments to insure the gay community is not discriminated against. we will have more cnn newsroom after a short break. do stay with us.

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russian president vladimir putin has spoken by phone with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the kremlin says they discussed the growing conflict in gaza with putin offering to help end it peacefully through diplomacy. meanwhile the russian president arrived in beijing earlier to

meet with his dear friend, xi jinping. for more on this, want to bring in cnn's beijing bureau chief. what is the likely goal of this visit to china by russia's president at a time when both leaders have criticized israel's military response to the hamas attacks? >> rosemary, the current crisis in the middle east is but the latest example how the two sides, the russians and chinese, increasingly are in sync when it comes to major policies as well as their global messaging. strategically speaking, many analysts have pointed out this conflict in the middle east may be beneficial to both sides, may possibly divert u.s. attention and resources away from ukraine as well as the indo-pacific region where tensions have been rising between beijing and washington over taiwan and the south china sea. let's remember, the last time putin came here was before the

2022 beijing winter olympics where it was announced no partnership between the two sides, but that was also a few weeks before he larched that brutal invasion against ukraine. despite china's claim of neutrality in that war, we have seen bilateral ties grow more robust and more substantive in the past few years and increasingly coordinated on many policy fronts militarily, politically and economically. that's because the two men are bonded over their shared grievances against the u.s. all of that has happened in the past few years. they're reinforcing their desire, their willingness to reshape this current world order led by the u.s. and dominated by western power in. that sense the current conflict in the middle east is presenting xi jinping with a perfect backdrop to compare and contrast to present an alternative vision and

narrative exemplified by the global infrastructure investment scheme and that's why we have seen from chinese media while the u.s. fans the flame of war, china exports peace and development. that's something putin is very much on board praising the chinese "unique approach" in dealing with other countries by providing opportunities to other countries. >> thanks to steven jiang for that live report from beijing. we'll be right back.

welcome back, everyone. in the days since israel declared war on hamas and launched strikes on gaza, close to 60 palestinians have also been killed in the west bank. cnn's becky anderson has the

details. >> reporter: 12-year-old abdul rachman can't sleep at night. his sister says he's too scared to be alone. his home in the village of hosra was attacked by jewish settlers. you can see them here in this video lobbing rocks, then firing at the property, shattering the windows. inside the floor littered with glass, scars of bullets scraping the walls, a bleak emptiness. four local palestinians were killed in this attack. on the way to their funeral the following day, two other locals, ibrahim and his son, also shot dead. images of the loss plastered the walls. the mayor's community lives in fear he says, constantly

attacked by jewish settlers and he says it's getting worse. >> translator: the situation is so, so bad. you can't even describe it. we're living in the devastating psychological state. none of us can sleep. >> reporter: torched cars, water pumps, electricity lines ransacked. he tells me settlers run freely here often under the protection of the israeli police. their aim he insists, to drive palestinians from their homes and ultimately from the occupied west bank. in israel's current government far right national security minister, a former settler leader himself, previously convicted of supporting terrorism and inciting anti- arab racism. others denying palestinians' very existence. while you and i have been talking, i'm just getting an

urgent update on my phone here, local sources, settlers storm mount armah in the town of beta protected by the occupation forces. >> translator: the policy is clear. it's no secret. they want to displace this area. we just have to defend ourselves and defend our land. we will die here. where else will we go? >> reporter: a short drive away and in full view of an encroaching settlement, we meet ibrahim and ahmed's family, wives, brothers and sisters mourning their loss, yet stoic and proud. >> translator: my husband loved his land. he defended his land and we will continue to do that so long as we are alive. >> reporter: tell me about him. >> translator: he was just like his dad, a hero, a brave man with a strong heart. >> translator: as long as

there's someone supporting you and encouraging you to carry out attacks, of course, violence is going to increase. >> reporter: in the shadow of that violence life goes on. for some like these women intimidation making them more intent on staying, but for others like little abdul and his sister, this time it's too much. >> it's so bad i want to cry, but what we can do? >> reporter: they moved to hosra six years ago escaping settler violence that took away their father's life. now being driven out of their home again. becky anderson, cnn. >> a spokesman when asked whether the israeli military would reinforce in light of settler attacks, said the idf was fully deployed in the west bank. palestinian authority president mahmoud a in a call with

president joe biden expressing his rejection of harming civilians on both sides. i want to thank you for your company this hour. "cnn newsroom" continues.