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coverage with a warning, some of you might find it very disturbing, these are graphic images coming up. new fighting today inside gaza. israel defense forces say they clashed with hamas fighters marking the second confirmed israeli operation in the enclave since the beginning of this war. but beyond that, it has been another bloody day across the gaza strip. israeli air strikes ripping through the enclave with deadly results. one gaza hospital saying they are being overwhelmed by the number of bodies. videos obtained by cnn show dozens of dead wrapped in shrouds surrounding the hospital. the morgue already filled to capacity. while in the west bank, a rare israeli strike targeted a mosque to thwart what the idf called an imminent terror attack. the palestinian authority called it a dangerous escalation. the idf is vowing to increase its aerial assaults in gaza ahead of a potential ground

incursion. with the bloodshed mounting, this afternoon president biden held phone calls with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, pope francis and leaders from canada and across europe. the white house says biden and netanyahu have agreed there will be a continued flow of humanitarian assistance into gaza and today more critical aid arrived there. cnn has confirmed at least 14 relief aid trucks carrying urgent supplies entered the enclave a short time ago. i want to bring in erin burnett. >> when fred talks about that mosque bombing, israel admits it and they said there was a rocket launch site right next to it. so they admit they did that and they say that it was a target because that's what was happening next to it. and i want to go to our international diplomatic editor nic robertson because he's on the ground here. where you have been for two

weeks, today, we saw something that we haven't really seen before in there were actual clashes inside gaza between hamas and israeli forces. so we knew special forces had been in there. this is the first time that i understand there had been actual clashes. what more are you learning about what happened there? >> yeah, i'm just looking over my shoulder because we're seeing some tank fire here in the border area right around the border fence line there. i think what we're seeing and this is an indication of it, that the fact that there was a clash just over the border inside of gaza, an unannounced incursion, a small incursion to prepare the way for a potential bigger movement of troops into gaza. this was a situation where hamas say they were able to engage this idf unit and the hamas claim that they were able to hit a tank and some of the -- and a couple of the heavy mechanical

diggers that typically are used to prepare the way for troops to follow on if there's a larger incursion. because there's a border fence because there's a border wall, you need these big diggers to clear way, make sure there's no bombs and mines that have been placed obstructing the movement of troops. in this situation, one idf shoulder was killed, three injured. we don't know what the final objective was going to be other than to -- the sort of limited objective to prepare the way for other troops. neither do we know when a full incursion might come. what we've seen along the border today is an extreme readiness of troops to go in. but it doesn't seem in-fthat th were at the border just yet. it was just at the border and that was new and different. >> that's new and different and we know they're in that extreme

readiness position ready to go. israel has arrested well over 100 -- what they say are hamas operatives in the west bank. what more are you learning about that and the fact that there was an actual air strike. that's not normal either. >> it's not. this was a jeanine. there have been a couple of incursions there this year. i went in back in i think it was january, february of this year and that involved a lot of idf forces on the ground, a couple of hundred. they took casualties. on this particular occasion, they didn't send troops in. it becomes less dangerous for the idf. it ties up less troops. but what they say they were acting on was realtime intelligence that inside a mosque in the west bank there were a couple of hamas operatives who were preparing a military attack that they had weapons, ammunition in a tunnel

system underneath the mosque and, therefore, the mosque was targeted and the two operatives were killed. it's an operation that is less dangerous for the idf, ties up less troops for the idf at a time when they have a lot of troops in northern israel also down here around gaza. and, nick, one final question here, there have been anticipation that there may be more hostages released today. there had been speculation about that. we know that the negotiations are phrenetic and 24 hours a day. but at least at this point we don't know of any. what do you read into that? >> i think that we're at a phase right now that the idf has described where it's increasing its air strikes on gaza in the preparation for a possible ground incursion to make their troops safer. this evening in the past couple of hours, it has been the heaviest and most sustained bombardment that we've seen in gaza for at least several weeks.

you're just hearing some of the explosions there. it was more sustained, more consistent, perhaps just 15 minutes ago. but in terms of your question there, i think that it's -- you know, i think that the -- for the troops at the moment that are waiting at the border, this is a moment where they don't know when the order is going to come that they expect it to come. but it's not clear when it will come. >> all right. of course what goes into that calculus, thank you very much. nic robertson. he has been there for the past two years and president biden was busy today. he was making a lot of phone calls to leaders around the world. one of them was the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and sources are telling cnn that the united states is pushing israel to delay a possible ground assault on gaza because they want more time for hostage negotiations. alex marquardt has the breaking news, all the reporting on these details. so, alex, what are you learning? >> well, erin, what i'm being

told is that the u.s. would like to see some kind of delay before israel launches this ground insayings in order to allow for progress, more progress to be made both in terms of hostage release and getting that aid, that critically needed aid into gaza. we have seen progress on both of those fronts. we saw the two american women from chicago released on friday. we've also seen today some of those trucks moving towards the southern gaza strip. i understand from two sources that there's been some pressing from the biden administration side to the israelis to get them to allow for more time to make advances on both of those fronts. secretary of state anthonony blinken was asked about earlier today on a sunday morning show. he said this is a decision for the israelis to make. he skirted around the question. president biden was also asked about this on saturday. he said he's speaking with the israelis.

the israeli side says there's been no pressure from the biden administration to slow what appears to be an imminent ground incursion into gaza. the u.s. and the israelis are certainly trying to give the impression that the u.s. is not dictating anything, not telling the israelis what to do, but at the same time, erin, we have read from the biden administration that there are significant concerns about the humanitarian issues that while they support israeli's efforts against hamas, that they are very concerned about getting those hostages out and getting that aid into gaza. erin? >> all right, alex marquardt, thank you very much with all of that new reporting from washington tonight. and joining me now, her son was one of the many hostages taken by hamas at the music festival two weeks ago yesterday. and i am grateful to have the opportunity to speak with you so that, of course, the israeli government and everyone can hear what you have to say. what is the very latest as you understand it from the israeli government as to where your son

is being held? >> we don't know. i have no idea where he is. i know when he left home. i know what he went through. until they kidnapped him. but i have no idea where he is right now. i know that he was kidnapped when he was alive and well. but that's all i know. >> i cannot imagine what every day is like for you. hoping and the despair and the anger and all of the feelings that you may have. i know you do have images, as you say, you know he was taken hostage. you do know this. you have images of him being dragged by the head, nobody -- nobody wants to look at these. but for you as a mother, the proof that he was taken alive. do you know anything else about what happened that day to your

son? >> well, it went to the peace festival with his friends. he got there at like 5:30 in the morning. about six in the morning there was massive rockets that he heard with his friends and he decided that he had to take cover. so they ran to the car and started too drive to find a bomb shelter, to find -- to help them survive this. they didn't know that there was terrorists around. they just thought that there was rockets and they needed to go and find shelter. ten minutes going into the bomb shelter, there were 27 people with them. civilians. innocent civilians with them. after ten minutes, the terrorists came in and threw grenades into the bomb shelter.

my son was positioned close to the door or to the opening. so when they threw the grenades, i know that from his friend that survived this told us that he threw grenades out with other friends that were there. one grenade wasn't thrown out and it bombed into the -- into the bomb shelter. after that, the terrorists came in and dragged three three of them outside. my son was one of them. i saw the video. it was very hard to see it. it took me a moment to realize what had happened. they were dragging him and pulling him. he tried to resist, but he couldn't -- i think he was really smart after that. he understood that if he would

resist, then they might kill him. so he stopped resisting. and you can really see how he's -- he's dragged and they take, like, his hair and, like, pull him through his hair to the truck. and this was very -- it was hard to see it. very, very hard to see it. his friends told me afterwards that the terrorists went inside and killed everyone. out of the 27, three were captured and kidnapped. and seven survived. all of them were hurt. two of his best friends were murdered that day. and two of his other friends lived to tell about it. which is amazing. so that's what -- >> it is and i know that you just have -- i know you're -- you're grateful to know he was

taken alive. i can't imagine watching that video how that would feel as a mother. but that you have hope that he is alive and that he may come home. when those hamas -- the hostages were released, the first two, now we're two days past that, does -- do you have hope that there could be a much bigger release, that he could be released soon or do you not allow yourself to have that hope? >> well, he has been there for 15 days now. i must say that he is an israeli-serving citizen. and i know that the serbian government, the president is doing everything in his power to get him back home.

i know he is an innocent citizen. he was there at the wrong time at the wrong place. i have no idea what will happen. i hope the idf and the israeli government with the serbian government together will do good and try to get him -- not just him, everybody, other kidnappers that were kidnapped home to us. it's very hard. sometimes i -- sometimes i think, wow, how i'm going to wake up in the morning and start my day and do what i need to do to get him back home. it's -- it's unconsiderable what has happened. it's -- he has another brother and a sister at home and they --

you know, and they have to live with the fact that they have to -- that their brother is not home now. >> how do you -- how do you talk to them about it and how do you as a mother -- i know you -- i'm sure you try to be strong for them. how do you even manage to do that. >> i'll tell you how i do it. from the moment i found out that he was kidnapped, i could have gone to a different trails. i decided to go on this trail. my faith is this, i am strong and i am fighting and the way that i'm fighting is asking for help. i ask my family members for help, i ask my community for help, my national israeli people, and also you, you know, americans, and serbians and

everybody in the world to help me, to help us fight this. it's a fight for everybody. it's for humanity. it's a fight that we have to fight to get our lives back. so when my kids see me fight, asking for help and doing good for my community and helping my community go through this, with different things that i do at home. my kids see strength in this. and i know that my son, as i know him, he's very strong. he has good faith. and he will go through this. and i know that he's helping people there. i know that he -- that's what he learned from us. so i know that the -- he's helping himself and the people

around him to be able to go through this horrible thing. it's something that -- it's something that's haunting me every night. i'm thinking about my son, what he's going there, and i sometimes see myself going through this. suddenly being in a -- with rockets around me and gunshots and somebody dragging me somewhere, i have no idea where. and when i think about that, you know, i think about my son and where he is and what he's doing is he's getting food, is he getting time to sleep?

it's something that is -- it's so hard for me and i think anybody who could be in my place or his place and think of it. how do you cope? how do you act? what do you do? so i -- >> i hope that -- >> yes. i'm listening. >> you will be in our thoughts and everyone watching. i so greatly admire your courage and bravery and being able to speak about it and share something so personal that you are enduring. >> thank you. >> and thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you. >> we all hope for your son's return and all of the hostages as the world is on this precipice. coming up more than 100,000 people have been evacuated from communities now near both the northern and southern borders of israel. we're going to share some of

their stories next.

there are more than 100,000 israeli famous displaced after fighting has forced them from their homes in the face of so much uncertainty. one ministry mobilized to house and feed as many as they can. it's basically a volunteer operation and it's jews and arabs working together to serve others. rafael, what did these families say? i know you had a chance to spend time with them and these are people coming together under great duress. what did you find out? >> reporter: yeah, erin, they are traumatized, understandably afraid, but at the same time outraged. let me tell you the israeli military and other agencies here in israel announced the plan last week to evacuate 28 communities living within 2 kilometers of the lebanese border. it has included towns that fall within the vicinity. we visited a shelter in

jerusalem and spoke with people who saw missiles exploding right above them but others who witnessed the brutality during the october 7th terrorist attacks. >> we had terrorists all around us. >> reporter: jennifer says she and her family woke up to the sound of explosions and missiles whizzing by. it was the morning of october a in southern israel near the border with gaza. they soon realized they were under attack. >> we saw helicopters overhead. we saw -- we heard gunfire near us. the terrorists were not far from where i live. >> she and her 5-year-old son are two of the more than 500 displaced people from israel's north and south who are now living at a jerusalem hotel turned into a shelter. >> take a hotel, house people inside, feed them, do

activities, trying to create normalcy. we'll be hosting 1,200 people across the country. >> reporter: this christian organization called the fellowship of israel related ministries or firm for short. >> they want to destroy israel. >> this family living in northern israel. their son joseph warned them a war was coming from the south after the october 7th attacks. now they're also among the displaced. they say they fled their village located two kilometers from the border with lebanon because they saw missiles intercepted right above their heads by israel's iron dome air defense system. >> reporter: from your house near the lebanese border, could you see the missiles, the rockets flying by? >> all the missiles. i saw all the missiles. we saw the army on the border.

>> reporter: according to the israel defense forces, about 100,000 people have been evacuated from communities near both the gaza and lebanon borders due to the heightened risk of attacks. >> some of them lost their homes. a lot of them lost loved ones. i met a family that their 18-year-old daughter, her best friend is being held hostage by hamas in gaza. the trauma is really pervasive. as a group of messianic jews and christian arabs, how can we help these people. >> when can they go home? those are questions for which they don't have an answer right now. jennifer says her husband stayed behind with others trying to figure out how to defend their communities against further attacks. >> we didn't just lose jews. we didn't just lose, you know, zionists or israelis that day,

we lost tourist who is came here for celebration of a peace at a party. we lost caregivers from the philippines and india that were carrying for elderly. >> reporter: for now, all she can do is hug her son harder, pray for her husband's safe return and hope that something like this never happens again. and, erin, beyond opening the shelter, they'll start delivering 2500 hot meals a day in places like bomb shelters. they'll hand out 1,000 grocery boxes this week to women that are at home with their families that will feed them for a week. those involved in the effort, erin, are messianic jews and christian arabs working together to help the families in need. erin, back to you. >> thank you. the president of a synagogue in detroit found stabbed to death outside of her home. we're learning more about that

investigation and will share it with you next.

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the fbi is now assisting investigators looking in the suspect in the death of a detroit synagogue president, samantha woll. friends and family remembering her today. she led the synagogue in detroit since 2022. she was found stabbed to death outside of her home. police say they found a trail of blood leading to her home where they believe the crime happened. i want to bring in omar jimenez. what more are you learning? >> reporter: i think when people see that headline, it's easy to jump to conclusions immediately. but it's what detroit police are cautioning against, at least right now. they just put out a statement ore the course of this afternoon saying that so far the investigation into the death of

ms. samantha woll remains ongoing. at this time, however, no evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by anti-semitism. now, part of that statement, they also didn't conclude anything that ruled out that at this point. but we do know that this investigation is ongoing. where i'm standing right now is near downtown detroit. just behind me on this block is where the body of woll was found. she was 40 years old. as we understand from police, they followed a trail of blood to her home where they believe the killing actually took place here. they don't have a suspect in custody, as we understand to this point, and they don't know what led up to this killing. regardless of how it happened, it did happen. and now a community is trying to figure out how to move forward. we have been monitoring memorials over the course of friday and take a listen to michigan's attorney general dana

nestle. >> samantha woll may have been the nicest person that i have ever met or will ever meet in my lifetime. sam did more for our community, our state, our world, our lives and in her short time here on earth than most will ever accomplish in 1,000 lifetimes over. and her killer will not rob us of the memory of her joy and warmth and kindnes she leaves behind. >> and also as part of those that spoke, a state senator said she was just with samantha at a wedding the night before her body was found. as the community tries to come to trips with what happened, police are still, of course, trying to figure out why. fred? >> terribly sad. omar jimenez, thank you so much. next, we'll take you inside

a tel aviv hospital sheltering some of its patients underground.

hamas fighters clashes with israeli troops earlier today and this time signatificant becauset happened inside gaza. it's one of the first skirmishes within gaza itself since hamas unleashed that deadly terrorist attack on october 7th. lloyd austin has voiced concerns over a possible escalation of the conflict. keep in mind the u.s. is now urging israel, according to multiple sources to our alex marquardt, to delay a ground attack on gaza so that hostages may get out and more aid can come in. i want to bring in now the former israeli minister of interior and the former israeli minister of justice. and thank you very much. i really appreciate your time.

so we at least have not been aware of a clash inside gaza yet between hamas and israeli forces. we know that happened today. what does that say to you? >> you know, israel is making a lot of efforts in order to find more information about the hostages and currently, you know, the air force mainly acted in gaza, but apparently when the time will come, also ground forces in the -- in large quantity will get in. >> and is that what you believe that it will be a large quantity of ground forces? certainly that's what it looks like along the border, but i would imagine that there are many scenarios at play, but you, it sounds like, believe it will be a very large initial assault. >> yeah, you know, our target is to eliminate the hamas.

they did crime against humanity, something like ethnic cleansing, and they are the worst enemy you can imagine. they're like monsters, worse than i.s.i.s., like the nazis. in order to eliminate them, we don't have any other choice. we didn't want it. we just wake up one morning on saturday and you know all of those atrocities. in order to eliminate them, meaning to eliminate the leadership and everyone, we will have to with forces. >> ayelet, i've been speaking to some people in gaza, including some in north gaza who have decided to stay. they believe it's their home. if they leave, they may not be allowed to return. and in that context, i wanted to ask you about the latest idf

elite leaflets. you have telegraphed that. but the latest leaflet says if you stay, you might be considered as a partner for the terrorist organization. do you think -- >> yes -- >> do you think that is -- at this point, anyone who stays should be considered a partner of hamas? >> definitely. we warned them, you know, we told all the -- all the civilians to go south, south to gaza river, the hamas try to push them to stay because they don't care to use their own population as a human shield. but, you know, it's up to them to decide. they can be safe in the south if they choose to stay in the north. they know the -- they know what will happen. the hamas slaughtered our

children. they slaughtered or babies. and they don't care to kill their own children as well. i want to show you something, you know, something that i think the world should see in order to understand who is this enemy. look, take a look at this picture. do you understand what you're seeing here? i want the world to understand who are the hamas. in the picture what we are seeing is that -- is a pile of burned babies. this is what they did. they murdered our babies. they burned them and they don't care to kill their own children as well. so you understand, it's a fight about humanity. and we will not let the evil win. so they need to choose whether they want to save their life and

go to the south or to be part of the hamas. >> all right. thank you very much. fred, back to you. >> all right, erin. israel is grappling with the consequences of war and finding ways to keep critical facilities safe. sarah sidner takes us inside a hospital sheltering its patients underground. >> reporter: a doctor checks in on a patient, just an ordinary day in the hospital, except there's nothing ordinary about where this is taking place. >> this is the bunker, underground hospital. this is a functioning hospital in the highest level, every service, every technology, everything that they need we provide them. and everything is being supplied here. >> reporter: it has the look and the feel of a regular hospital with all the things that you

would expect expect for when you turn the corner and you can really see, this is an underground parking garage, at least it was. this parking spaces are now for patient beds. driveways for push carts. this is how the medical center is preparing to street treat pa in wartime. it's as perfectly normal as usual in the most abnormal scenario. >> exactly. this is the right phrase to put it. >> reporter: this is the result of 14 years of planning for war. >> we planned this underground hospital 14 years ago, more or less after the second lebanon war. tel aviv was for the first time got missile attack. >> reporter: that was then. before hamas stormed across the border by land, air and sea on

shabbat, killing, kidnapping and maiming men, women and children. several floors above the hospital bunker, 60 hospital beds are now filled with victims from the hamas attack. >> i went to a party with my friends. it was a music festival. and at 6:30, something like that, the alarm started. >> reporter: and he his friends managed to jump in their car, but then -- >> there was terrorists shooting at us, shooting. >> reporter: shooting at you. >> yes, just shooting without conscious. >> reporter: his car among those abandoned on the side of the road. he ran and hid for the next five hours. blood pouring from his arm where a bullet smashed through his skin and bone. >> there is no one in this world who wants peace more than i do.

trust me. i don't want this -- none of us wanted this to happen. >> do you still think that peace is possible? >> i used to believe in peace all the time. but, right now, after seeing what i saw, you make with enemies. even enemies need to be human beings. >> no matter who you are, this hospital will treat you deep below the earth's crust. it has already moved a whole section of the hospital to get the staff and patients prepared for life below during war. what do you think about being in a parking garage? >> he's enjoying every minute of it. >> reporter: does this feel different this time? >> it feels different because we know that it's not like kind of a limited operation. it's a wartime.

>> incredible. thank you so much. still to come, an israeli american doctor is leaving everything behind to work as a medic in the war. why she's choosing to put her life at risk to volunteer at hospitals next.

a 27-year-old israeli american medic is headed to israel to help victims impacted by the war. she plans to work at a hospital and nursing homes while she's there. cnn national correspondent joining me live with more on this. why did she choose to put her life at risk?

>> well, fred, she says this is a calling. she says she was horrified after seeing the attack on october 7th and she says she's only been reminded of this feeling one other time and that was when she was 6 years old and she watched the september 11th attacks. she said after seeing what happened on october 7th in israel, she decided that this was her way as an american of pursuing justice. she says she will drop everything, leave her home, her father, a job opportunity in fredericksburg, texas, to go to israel and volunteer her time. she says she will do it for as long as she's able to because as an adult now, she says that this is what she's meant to do. here's what she told me. >> one of my ways of coping with this loss, this tragedy of what happened on october 7th is to go to israel and help. this is doing my part and this

is my values and who i am as a person and who i am as a nurse and a medical professional. >> we talked to her on her layover here in los angeles. she was actually born in los angeles. but she landed in israel safely. when i spoke to her in here in l.a., she said she's considered a number of scenarios including death as she says she has made her peace, fred. >> all right. thank you so much. appreciate that. if you want to help the people of gaza and israel, go to cnn.com/impact or text relief to 707070. thanks so much for joining us today. our special coverage continues with jim acosta in washington and erin burnett in tel aviv right after this.

♪ you are live in the cnn newsroom. i'm jim acosta in washington joined by my colleague erin burnett who is live for us in tel aviv, israel. we begin with the latest in israel's war in hamas. israel is planning for a possible ground incursion into gaza. israel carried out