>> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello and welcome to our viewers and all around the world, i'm paula newton with the very latest on the israel-hamas war. nearly three weeks after hamas murdered nearly 1300 men women and children, expanded ground operations in gaza. as you can hear for yourself, gaza residents did report the israeli air strikes and think report that they have become more intense than ever on top of aural of it, nearly all communications in and out of the enclave appear to be severed. the mounting death toll in gaza led the u.n. to denounce it as

despicable in light of the october 7th mack aconsiders ceres. as an assistant to benjamin netanyahu,. >> we saw the sort of gruesome terrible horrific violence they inflicted upon us. we refuse to live with that sort of neighbor anymore. we are now going to create a new reality in gaza. >> so the civilian death toll in the meantime in gaza continues to be absolutely staggering. and that includes dozens of aid workers, medical staph and journalists. but hamas leaders have been defiant and continue to fire rockets into israel. israeli authorities say three people were wounded when a rocket hit a four story building in tel aviv friday. with us is cnn analyst wilson clark, former u.n. commander.

as we are trying to parse exactly what's going on on the ground, there is this continued debate right, on the ground as to whether this is a full scale ground invasion that israel has always promised or maybe something smaller, still significant but smaller in scope. what are your thoughts as you see things unfolding? >> if i listen to what the prime minister said he way going to do and israeli spokeman about destroying hamas it's going to be a very large, long and sustained operation. now whether this incursion that started at dark in israel is going to be the first part of that, or it's just going to be another larger raid, we don't know yes why -- yet. we have to see if the israeli troops hang in there or come out and we'll have to find out what else is happening in the area. is there another incursion somewhere else that's not being

reported for example. and those matters they just have to be revealed. we just don't know right now. >> you know, the fate of the hostages as we continue to try to figure out what's going on on the ground it is the fate of the hostages that really become so essential to the military strategy. do you believe that israel has essentially forsaken their fate with this kind of ground invasion? >> no, i think it's the opposite. what we have seen for 70 years really, since the korean war in which the united states and britain were engaged, is the use of diplomacy, hostages, negotiations to stall frustrate and degrade combat operations. and that's certainly part of the game that hamas is playing here with these hostages. i think best way to get the hostages out and this is my personal opinion, is to strike hard and keep the pressure on

hamas. i think what i've experienced, in my time, in uniform and afterwards, watching these, is that when the pressure is off, the -- there's no change. we know that hamas is capable of keeping prisoners there for a year or two. so it's just not feasible. now without knowing what's actually happening in the negotiations, that would be my impression. doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to try to negotiate to get the hostages out. it may happen. we may learn something. it may help us get the hostages out another way. but in general, if these operations are not pursued, and there's a pause and it's delayed and it's week and two weeks and three weeks and four weeks, it gives hamas more time, it pullets more pressure on israel and it degrades the alternative of going in to get those

hostages. so i don't think it's incompatible to do this operation and also seek to bring the hostages out. >> i know, unfortunately that kind of equivocation, whatever it is, is really hurting the families right now, the families of those hostages that are waiting to see exactly what israel's policy on this will be, what their plan is. i want to get to what's going on on the ground in israel on a tactical level. you said yourself this is going to be a long difficult war. are we talking months or years? when we look at one of the other conflicts on the globe right now you talk about russia and ukraine we are far into that, further than perhaps anyone imagined we would be. is that what we're talking about here as well? >> well, i think the two conflicts are really not comparable. in the case of russia ukraine you have a major russian force fighting a conventional war against a major ukrainian force

backed by the west. here what you have is a terrorist group that's taken over 2 million palestinians, it's used the palestinians to feed their organization, it's using them now as hostages. and its intent is to stay in place, build up its power, and eventually try to destroy israel. so it's an existential threat to israel, it may take two weeks, four weeks, eight weeks, months, we don't know. but slongs israel sees this as an existential 3rd, they are going to use it until they can finish as much as they can with this operation. >> what do you make of the u.s. and euers to kind of make a pause and temper that with israel and say look are you sure this kind of ground invasion is

the best strategy for what your goals, your mission is? >> well i think united states and israel see eye to eye. but i think there is also a concern in the united states about the potential for this spreading to the region. the united states is talking to all the actors in the region, in the way that the israelis are not. the united states also has its own concerns for our own people that are hostages as well as americans who are there caught up, american, palestinians who are in gaza who are trying to get out. so the two countries have slightly different interests on this. maybe substantially different interests, but fundamentally, the united states is behind and supports israel. >> in terms of what the u.s. does do right now, geopolitically, i don't have to remind you, it is a very tense and dangerous time. this more aggressive posture i would call it towards iran and its proxies, do you think that will have the desired deterrent effect for the united states?

>> well, i don't think the policy is as yet aggressive towards iran. it is -- it is reacting to iran. not aggressive. the two aircraft carrier battle groups, one is there, the other is arriving, those are forces that were meant to send a signal to iran to back off. iran didn't listen to that signal. iran is duking and teasing and having its proxies snipe and send missiles and rockets and so forth. not a full effort by iran but an effort to claim its emblem as a resistant force against israel and the united states. and so the united states strikes that have been conducted against these iranian arsenals in syria, after our troops have been hit, some 30 americans have been taken off with injuries, many with traumatic brain injuries

from concussion. i think it's an appropriate response. not an aggressive response. but a response that warns iran, back off, stay out of this. >> and we will see if that has the desired impact on iran. general wesley clark as you continue to see the bombardments there in gaza it's important to have your perspective on it, really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> now as we were saying gaza is largely under a communications blackout at this hour still under the looming threat of an israeli ground offensive as they continue to target hamas. now a local service provider says most of the phone and internet links have been decimated as israeli links poununded the ststrip. insidede gaza and with the outse world are severely disrupted if not impossible. multiple humanitarian groups say they can't get in touch with their teams on the ground. some palestinians who have managed to maintain connection reached by cnn say they've split

their families so at least some members would survive in case of an israeli strike. others talk about hearing explosions but without stable communications they can't check on their families to see if they're okay. now the leader of the u.n. agency in charge of palestinian refugees sent a dramatic message about the humanitarian situation. listen. >> as we speak, people in gaza are dying. they are not only dying from bombs and strike. soon,ment more will die -- many more will die from the consequences of siege imposed on the gaza.strip. basic services are curriculum bling. medicine is running out. >> now, the health ministry is hamas-controlled in gaza. and now, they have in fact responded to u.s. president joe biden's public questioning of the reliability of palestinian casualty figures in the conflict with israel by publishing the

names of what it says are thousands killed since the start of this conflict. now in the wake of the october 7th attacks by hamas that killed almost 1400 in israel, an air launch and imposed a complete siege of the gaza strip. israel says the strikes will continue until all of the 200 hostages of released, cnn's selma adulaziz reports on the conflict about israel. >> families are mourning and counting their dead, near endless stream of funerals echoes throughout gaza and doubt is cast by the u.s. and israel on the death toll being released by hamas. hamas seized control of gaza in 2007, no elections have been health since. the militant group is the political and military power here. it controls the government and

therefore all ministries including the health ministry. president biden says that's why he has no confidence in the reported gaza death toll. >> have no notion that palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. i'm sure innocents have been killed and price of waging a war. >> this is how the hamas-run health ministry responded. publishing this document, a 212 page report listing the i.d. numbers, names sex and age of more than 6,700 palestinians it says have been killed since october 7th. among them nearly 3,000 children. the total figure is expected to be even higher. because of hundreds of unidentified bodies it says, the ministry says it is committed to accuracy. it accused some of dehumanizing palestinian victims. our people are not anonymous

entities that can be ignored it said. the palestinian authority which rules the west bank also hlt back. >> there are certain leaders that don't want to see reality. the numbers are correct. they are our numbers. these numbers are fed to us from the hospitals of gaza, every single day, that are received by our ministry of health. >> skepticism over the death toll spiked ownership the ali hospital. at least 471 were killed. the u.s. gave the more conservative estimate of 100 to 300 killed. >> it was at least a couple of hundred and that's terrible and that's atrocious and sad and we grief with the families that are affected by that but the numbers are not reliable. >> u.n. agencies right groups and even the u.s. state department have it cited the u.s. ministry of health in the past but says recent fiction

from hamas are unreliable. u.s. rights watch an independent study, responded. >> we've always found the ministry of health data to be generally reliable. the conversation should focus on how world leaders can stop further mass astrossities and not nitpicking whether a number that is generally en accurate might be a little bit off. >> and access is limited. foreign media has been denied to gaza and local journalists, conditions on the ground remain difficult. cnn and other news outlets cannot independently verify the figures. and while some argue over the death toll bodies keep finding up. selma abdulaziz, cnn london. >> and now to another big story we have been following very

closely, with influence developments. the governor of emanuel confirmed a short time ago that the suspected gunman is dead. ending a two-day about 7:45 local time local time friday night. 48 hours after police said card went on a rampage killing 18 people, within a matter of minutes. it is unclear how long the suspect's body had been there and when exactly he died. authorities say the community can now though breathe a sigh of relief now that the threat is in fact over. listen. >> our work again is not done here. i was very elated tonight when i got the call from commissioner sasha advising me of the revelation of what took place and mr. card is deceased and no longer a threat to our community or any other community. i just don't want to forget the families that are grieving and

will continue to grieve. i don't want to forget the law enforcement officials that have worked tirelessly throughout this whole event to come to a good conclusion. >> officials say card's body was found with an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area about eight miles from where the shooting took place in a neighboring town. we do expect more details when authorities give a press conference 10 a.m. eastern time saturday morning. of course now ghins the long road to healing and mourning the is loss of these 18 people. the 18 souls you see there. u.s. senator ann go king who represents maine says it will take a long long time to process this pain. we will come together through this difficult grieving period and hope for brighter caller days. we want to bring in daniel runner now who is a retired fbi supervisory special agent. it is good to see you again on this daniel and again when there is relief thankfully in the

community we're not following a manhunt any longer. and yet there is a bit of frustration. police didn't disclose very much in the press conference. what is your take on how this all unfolded? >>, it is curious as to why they are keeping certain details from the public, and not releasing it just yet. but there is a reason. they've trained for this type of scenario, they've trained for these type of press conferences, the fbi and dealing in leading with other law enforcement agencies, have vast experience in identifying how to deal with these situations. unfortunately, here in the united states, we often have these mass casualty type of incidents. and it is very well documented as to how to proceed through these events. have a press conference, as soon as possible, following the event. and we learn about these things from the mistakes which we've

made in the past when maybe a press conference wasn't held, or where certain information wasn't kept -- you know, wasn't released to the public just yet. but the investigators are nonstop. they're working the scenes. the various scenes, as to collecting the evidence, the fbi ert, the evidence response teams, the computer analysts, they are analyzing the phone, all the data. fortunately the fugitive is no longer in play. so now they can focus as you are saying on the long road for healing. and the healing will begin when everybody comes together. the victim specialists are at the fbi are some of the best in the country. they are coming up from quantico being there, being able to provide assistance for not only the victims's families and other families who are traumatized by the situation, lost a friend,

lost a neighbor. they will all need help and that is where this healing will begin which will go alongside the investigative team, why this individual conducted the attack and how he planned it out. how did he purchase the weapons, where did he purchase the weapons and why there weren't certain red flags that were brought up early enough that were incentive. all this will help the process of moving forward. >> you make a good point in having people come together. not having a vigil, being locked down, coming together to support everyone has obviously hurt a lot of those suffering right now. i do want to point to the fact that it's rather chilling to hear that he may not have died within minutes or even hours after the attack. it's possible he was actually alive perhaps as long as a day and a half before he killed himself. what do you make of that? >> listen, at this point we are

all theorizing, anything is possible. he could have died immediately after. he could have died a day and a half after. we don't know that. that's what the medical examiners working alongside the authorities there in maine in lewiston they are going to determine the time of death. clearly we know the method of death, at that point once we know approximately what time of death was then they'll go back and they'll talk to the search teams that looked in that area and determine why he wasn't found. if he had been say dead since right after the incident, why wasn't the body found? or, you know, if he had died only hours before his body was found, then we'll understand where he was going for that two days. so there's a lot of answers that need to be -- that need to be answered, excuse me a lot of questions that need to be answered, and at which point we will be able to start putting other pieces together. >> the gun debate is front and center again and i'm not asking

for anything, you know, political here but what i'm asking you is materially keeping this kind of man there having access to any firearm, let alone this kind of assault weapon, i mean do you think we've learned anything new in how to prevent that through this incident? >> i think this always, an incident like this always brings forth the conversation. and that's the point that has to be had. we have to have a conversation. there are two sides of this aisle, there are two sides of this argument and both sides feel like they're in the best position and say, you know, i'm always right. so the conversation should be had as to how do we prevent guns getting into the hands of those who shouldn't have guns, because of maybe a problem with a mental stability or other reasons. listen like i said i'm not going to good get into a position of what could have happened or monday morning quarterback this situation because i'm not

familiar with the entire case. i'm not going to be able to give you the best opinion on it without knowing all the facts. but what we can do is continue to have a conversation. and that's the most important part is being able to talk about gun control or gun rights. and people having their firearms with them. clearly, maine is a very gun-friendly state. and a lot of people in that first day on coverage here on cnn and other networks, they were being interviewed, they were clearly saying, hey listen i went inside, loaded my guns and i was prepared. that's the important part is being able to protect onceself in your own home -- onesself in your own home. the conversation could be had in the future but at this time i think the most important part is getting together as we were talking about is healing. finding out what happened and getting that community to heal. screaming from the top of the mountains at this point of gun control or anything along those lines, i don't think is really the best position right now.

but we will begin to heal. >> okay, daniel verner good to have your speos on all of this and again with at least some relief from the community. appreciate it. >> thank you paula. >> israel cues one of gaza's largest hospitals of literally sitting on top of the command and control hub for hamas. what it could signal for israel's next move as s it expas itits war onon hamas..

>> back to our ongoing coverage with israel's war with hamas. the israel military signaled a significant escalation of its ground operation in gaza three weeks after hamas killed over 1400 people in southern israel. gaza residents report the israeli air strikes have been more intense than ever. nearly all communications in and out of the enclave appear to be down. but hamas leaders have been defiant and continue to fire rockets into israel. israeli authorities say three people were wounded when a

rocket hit a four story building in tel aviv late friday. the white house says it's still working to try to secure the release of hostages. cnn's alex murkhart has the details. >> reporter: efforts to get hamas to release the almost 230 hostages held in the gaza strip took a blow, forces tell cnn that the talks to release hostages led by qatar had been going well, but large number of hostages, then after israel announced the expansion of their operations, announced the talks would continue. hostages are free, that the u.s. would stop pursuing talks. the white house is saying they are having active conversations with israel about humanitarian

pauses as they call them. because the u.s. believes that those pauses could help get hostages out, while israel on the other hand has argued that more military pressure is what helps free hostages. now the growing israeli campaign will also make many people more desperate to get out of gaza. including hundreds of foreign nationals who have been trapped in gaza and you are trying to to escape. u.s. and israel has accused egypt of not opening the gate at rafah. allowing foreign officials to be on the egyptian side of the border in order to process the people coming out. there is little doubt that as israel ramps up this further complicates the situation for the hostages and those trying to flee. alex marquart cnn washington.

>> israel is claiming one of the hospitals in gaza is a major inside gaza. >> the red buildings as i mentioned are buildings that hamas is using. meaning, he does his command and control in different departments of the hospital. like the roentgen room and others. he uses these places in order to do command and control for terror activities, launching rockets, et cetera, et cetera. it is here in the chief hospital where hamas operates its command and control cells. this is where the direct rocket attacks, command hamas forces, hamas forces operate inside chief hospitals and other hospitals in gaza with network of terror tunnels. hamas also has an entrance to

those terror tunnels from inside the hospital wards meaning from different places of the hospital you can go into an underground tunnel that will provide you shelter. >> now, the palestinians reject israel's claim. the director-general of the hamas controlled ministry told cnn hospitals are used to treat patients only and they are not hiding anyone. hamas also called on the ash and islamic countries to immediately stop the madness and stop bombing the medical system. we will be back with more news in a moment.

c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. >> recapping the latest developments in israel's war

with hamas. gaza residents are reporting the strongest israeli fire since the current crisis began. they spoke after israel announced it's expanding it's military operations there. it's still not clear if that would mean the beginning of an expected ground offensive. but israel says it's ready to take on troops as they go in. as most phone and internet connections are down in gaza, according to a local service provider. the palestinian advisory is accusing israel to cut communications to hide its crimes. taking on a terrorist. >> the idf is attacking infrastructure of terror. according to our attacks in the last few days the infantry is extending their activity. the idf is acting in a powerful way only to fulfill the aims of

the war. >> for more now we want to bring in cnn eleni jokos, good so see you eleni. what are we learning if israel's gnar curing's in the last few hours? >> i want to give you an idea of what we have seen and heard gun fire and strikes as well, something they haven't witnessed so far. we know that the idf has been going into gaza over the last few days for raids and then exiting again. we just don't know if this is the full on incursion or invasion. we spoke to elon levy last night, not going to speculate or comment on whether this is the invasion or the incursion. but it is important to understand what's coming up. he says the days ahead are going to be long and they are going to be difficult. the general messaging has been

that the idf is ready for a full on invasion. the people within gaza saying they haven't seen such intense fire into certain regions since the start of the conflirkt and it's ramping up. the idf is also alleging that hamas is waging war from hospitals in a systemic manner. of course this putting at risk hospitals which have been a safe haven and refuge for many people. i spoke to one doctor and he is explains how miserable the situation is in these hospitals and now facing potential bombardments. >> as you continue to follow the bombardments on the ground really appreciate it. the attack is put israel on high alert on the normal region as well. details for hezbollah fighters in lebanon.

>> a top israeli official tells cnn that the country is quote beefing up pressure on hamas. the comments come as israel says it is scanning ground operations in gaza, intense air strikes as you just saw there rocked gaza with communication links now down in much of the enclave. in the meantime air raid sirens blared against tel aviv as rockets were seen in the sky. ghost town, civilians have been replaced by israeli soldiers as the town faces risks of attack as hezbollah sociologist engineers from the north. >> reporter: main street metulla israel, now the busy center of town now abandoned.

metulla's 2,000 residents fled in the wake of the october 7th attacks. communities too close to israel's border with lebanon and too close to hezbollah. >> from too many windows we are under threats. >> reporter: now based here are hundreds of idf soldiers, we don't identify them due to security. >> under a few hours we are under attack here or other places in the area so we need to keep ourselves under cover to make sure we won't be exposed. >> betula is surrounded on 30 sides by lebron -- on three sides by lebanon, soldiers based here now say they face three threats from hezbollah, sniper fire, rocket fire, but also the possibility of ground incursions. one happened here several days ago and they're on constant alert for the possibility of the next one.

the town's mayor has the job now of relocating residents to safer areas further south. and keeping letulla ready for residents to return. the when is far from clear. what is clear is that the old status quo is no longer sustainable for those living this far north. not with hezbollah fighters on their doorstep. >> we don't want a war. we just want to end the current status quo and move hezbollah identity of southern lebanon. we can either make a peace deal through the americans and the iranians or else we will have more. >> now it is the time to defend and deter and the threat is real. we are advised not to linger too long in hezbollah's line of fire about.for the soldiers their job now is to make sure some day

metulla can come alive again. do you believe people will be able to come back to a town like metulla again or is it just too close to lebanon to hezbollah? >> i know we will do everything to make them feel protect, to make them feel safe. i saw someone who packed his last luggage with tears in his eyes and asked why, he told me i don't know if i will return here. >> reporter: that is the new reality here in northern israel but also in the south. communities emptied by the threat of hamas in gaza and hezbollah here in the north. many people demanding increased military action across the border but that portends for israeli forces with an uncertain military outcome. jim sciutto cnn in northern israel. the united nations general

assembly, 120 countries voted in favor of a resolution introduced by jordan friday. it calls for an immediate durable and sustained truce. humanitarian access. and a reversal of israel's owpghts ever gaza. release of all civilians being held cap pif but does not name hamas as cap force. a kahn aidian resolution was rejected the other day. grand central station terminal new york friday night calling for a cease fire in gaza. now the demonstration remained peaceful. it did have a knock-on effect though for travelers with some passengers being delayed. a protest in fact of this size

and scale in grand central is quite unusual and it's certain to disrupt things for several hours. the israeli government is moving ahead to rebuild the towns in gaza that were savagely assaulted on october 7th. almost 1400 people were murdered many of them in their own home. benjamin netanyahu, he says security would be the top priority as the communities are made whole again. meantime volunteers were at the site of many of the massacres cleaning up the tailor aftermath. the location is the kibe unitede kibbutz. >> cleaning a bedroom from a

little kid, a baby that was maybe, maybe three years old. we saw her shoes, we saw her blanket everything was full of blood and you could see the bullets coming through the main door over there in that bedroom. >> we survived the first holocaust, he did not survive this holocaust. >> at least ten people were killed when hamas attacked that town. now thailand suffered some of the highest casualties from the hamas attack. families don't even know their loved d ones are stillll a aliv.

all right, a quick update on israel's war on hamas. witnesses in gaza say the enclave has been taking heavy fire from israeli forces in recent hours. this is video that you're watching now of idf troops fearing from southern israel on friday, and that's after israel announced it is expanding its ground operations in gaza. it's still unclear if that means it's expected ground offensive is about to get under way.

an advisor to benjamin netanyahu says the expansion means the idf is beefing up pressure on hamas. hamas says it is ready to fight if israeli forces go into gaza. now thailand is calling for the release of 18 of its citizens believed to be held hostage in gaza. 33 other thai nationals were killed. we travelled to meet with families of some. victims. and a rewarning, the report contains graphic images that some viewers may find disturbing. >> reporter: the empty back roads of northeastern thailand feel a world away from the war raging in israel and gaza, but even here there are victims. scarred by the violence in the middle east. >> do you think this man wanted to kill you? >> translator: he tried to cut

my throat after i passed out. but because the knife was broken, he couldn't finish the job. >> reporter: this 30-year-old spent years working as a migrant laborer at this turkey farm in israel in a kibbutz located within sight of this security fence that encircles gaza. on the morning of the attack on israel on october 7, he streamed this video live from the turkey farm. he says he hid for hours but was discov discovered by a palestinian man in civilian clothes armed with what looked like kitchen knife. he refused to surrender. they got into a savage fight. he bit you? [ speaking in a non-english language ] >> translator: when we're fighting, he bit my arm. >> reporter: he says he was left for dead and later cared for by other thai migrant workers.

now he's reunited with his family in thailand, recovering from deep physical and psychological wounds. at the start of the latest hostilities, there were nearly 30,000 thai citizens working in israel, many from poor farming villages in this region. their men signed minimum five-year contracts to work in israel. a period during which most would not come home to visit their loved ones, but they say the sacrifice is worth it, because the salaries you could earn in the middle east dwarf the money that you could make in the rice paddies of northern thailand. a proud father shows me the house his son's israeli wages built. his 29-year-old son was expected to come home next year after half a decade of work in israel. this is the bunker. this video shows him and other thai workers on the morning of

the october 7 hamas attack, taking shelter in a bunker. it's the last they heard from their son. this is money right here. until this image emerged on social media. he and several other men held hostage by armed militants. his father and mother now desperate for their son's safe return. i have no words, he says. i want my son back. in a statement to cnn, thailand's deputy prime minister called for the release of all hostages, adding, quote, our thai nationals who've been killed and kidnapped are mostly farmers, earning a living to support their families in thailand and really have no involvement in the conflict. as israel continues its deadly bombardment of gaza, these parents anxiously watch and wait, praying for their son's freedom. ivan watson, cnn, thailand.

>> such chilling survival stories there and still such grief. we will have the very latest on the israel-hamas war after a short break.

hello and welcome to our viewers around the world. israel announced on friday it has begu