you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today.

welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada, and all around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. we begin in gaza where israel has been ratcheting up the military pressure with expanded ground operations. explosions were heard reverberating across the enclave through the night. the idf says it struck 150 underground targets overnight. this is said to be the most intense israeli bombardment since the war started. >> translator: in addition to offensive operations we carried out over the past few days, the idf ground forces are expanding their ground operation this evening. >> all communications, networks in gaza are reportedly out of service and have been for many hours. the mounting death toll led the u.n. general assembly to vote

for an immediate cease-fire on friday. israel's foreign minister announced it as despicable. eleni, what more are we learning about israel's incursion into gaza in the last few hours? >> reporter: what we don't know is how many troops entered gaza, whether they're still there, and then what the next plan is. the ground operation, the idf says, is expanding israeli government official and spokesperson saying that they can't confirm whether this is the incursion or the invasion. but certainly the next few days, he says, will be difficult and will be very long. from what we've been seeing on the ground in the early hours of the morning, intense rocket fire and missiles and strikes into gaza. tank fire heard as well. and then things got a bit quiet. we're hearing now that is ramping up again. from inside of gaza, we're

hearing these are the most intense strikes since october 7th. of course you mentioned the communicatioe most intense strikes since october 7th. of course you mentioned the communications blackout. we've also heard the palestinian authority telecommunications minister saying the two international connection points with gaza have been struck by israel, making it more difficult to get information in and out of the gaza strip. but in reality, we just heard from our sources on the ground. this is what's happening. this is how it's affecting hospitals. that because they cannot respond to strikes, the people are either bringing bodies as well as the injured by using bicycles, cars, even walking.. then ambulances are deplployed. so this is the impact of the communications blackout where you cannot get assistance to people that need it most. now, the idf is also alleging that hamas is using hospitals --

and i quote -- to wage war. this is now adding the added fear of hospitals being targeted. the biggest hospital, al she fa, the largest in gaza, i spoke to the dg of gaza health ministry. i want you to take a listen to what he had to say. >> it's the biggest hospital in gaza strip. more than 50,000 civilians are just staying within the premises of the hospital. >> 50,000 civilians are within the premises of the hospital. so, look, these have been sort of safe spots for people trying to flee and get to safe areas. he also described a very miserable situation that is playing out with resources depleting fast. the u.s. defense secretary said this overnight as well to the israeli government. the importance of protecting civilians during the ground operations and also the importance and emphasized the need to get aid into gaza.

what this new ground offensive means for aid and well as the protection of civilian lives, kim, is a big question. >> yeah, the other question is what these ground operations could mean for the safety of the d israeli hostages. what more can you tell us about the latest negotiations? >> reporter: yeah. look, friday was an important day. i mean our sources in qatar were telling us there was momentum that had been built to try and release a big number of hostages, which the idf now says stands at 229 people. this includes foreign nationals as well. there was a lot of hope, momentum. the idf has responded and saying that we should ignore those rumors, calling it psychological terror by using the potential release of hostages. but from what we hear and the qataris have been mediating a lot of these discussions to get hostages released.

we've already had four hostages released in just a week. the question is can this continue? can the mediation continue when you've got the israeli ground operations intensifying and what then potentially that would look like. look, the u.n. passed a resolution that was led by the jordanians about a sustained as well as immediate humanitarian truce, which of course includes the release of hostages. important to note, israel as well as the u.s. voted against this resolution. however, 120 countries voted for this resolution. it just brings into question what the state and the calculus will be going forward and the potential of release of more hostages as we're seeing a communications blackout and incredible pressure coming through for the people within gaza. >> absolutely. thanks so much, eleni jk giokos.

a local service provider says most of the phone and internet links have been decimated as isrsraeli air stris pounded the enclave and as a result communications are severely disrupted. 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 if their families are okay. the leader of the u.n. agency in charge of palestinian refugees sent a dramatic message about the humanitarian situation. listen to this. >> as we speak, people in gaza are dying. they are not only dying from

bombs and strikes. soon many more will die from the consequences of siege on the gaza strip. basic services are crumbling. medicine is running out. >> the health ministry in hamas-controlled gaza has responded to u.s. president joe biden's public questioning of n 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. cnn's salma abdelaziz reports on the controversy around the death toll. some of the images in her report are graphic. >> reporter: families are mourning and counting their dead. a near endless stream of funerals echos throughout gaza. and as palestinians bury their loved ones, 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 held 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. >> i have no notion that the palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. i'm sure innocents have been killed, and it's the price of waging a war. >> reporter: this is how the hamas-run health ministry responded, publishing this document, a 212-page report listing the id 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 hit back. >> there are certain leaders who 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. >> reporter: skepticism over the death toll spiked after the explosion at gaza city's hospital. within hours, the hamas-run health ministry said 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 ter ebl, and that's atrocious, and that's sad. and we all grieve with the families and loved ones affected by that. but the numbers are not

reliable. >> reporter: news outlets, u.n. agencies, rights groups and even the u.s. state department have cited the hamas-run health industry in the pass. but the u.s. now says recent statements and figures from hamas are unreliable. human rights watch, an independent body, responded. >> we've done research during multiple rounds of escalations, and 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 atrocities and not nitpicking whether a number that's generally proven to be accurate may be a little bit off. >> reporter: and access is limited. foreign media has been denied entry into gaza. and for local journalists, conditions on the ground make reporting difficult. cnn and other news outlets cannot independently verify the figures. and while some argue over the death toll, bodies keep piling up.

salma abdelaziz, cnn, london. israel is claiming the largest hospital in gaza is the site of a major hamas command center. it appears to be a significant attempt to prepare public opinion ahead of a major ground offensive in 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 hospi hospital. he uses these places in order to do command and control for terror activities, launching rockets, et cetera, et cetera. it is here in this hospital where hamas operates its command and control cells. this is where they direct rocket attacks, and other hospitals in gaza with network of their

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 health ministry tells cnn hospitals are used to treat patients only, and they're not hiding anyone. hamas also rejected the allegation, calling on the u.n. and arab and islamic countries to immediately intervene to, quote, stop the madness of bombing and destroying the medical system. the white house says it's still working to secure the release of hostages held by hamas in gaza after israel announced it's expanding ground operations there. cnn's alex marquardt has dthe details. >> reporter: efforts to get hamas to release the almost 230 hostages being held captive in the gaza strip took a blow on

friday when israel significantly stepped up its operation in gaza. the talks to release hostages led by qatar had been going well and they were nearing the release of a large number of hostages. then after israel launched the expansion of their operations, u.s. officials says the talks will continue. one official telling cnn quite firmly there is no scenario under with until these 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 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 are trying to escape. the u.s. and israel have accused

hamas of not opening the gate at the crossing into egypt, which is called rafah. egypt has also shown some reluctance at letting people out and 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 both those hostages and those trying to flee. alex marquardt, cnn, washington. sources told cnn there's been, quote, significant progress on negotiations to release hostages held by hamas, but there are still issues remaining. here's cnn's becky anderson. >> reporter: clearly this expanded operation, as the israelis have described it, in gaza, until the dust settles on that and we see how long that lasts and what happens on the back end of it, difficult to say whether the same momentum still exists for these talks. what appeared we were looking at

was a significant number of civilian hostages on the verge possibly of being released. but, jake, at this stage, i mean clearly we'll just have to wait and see what happens in the hours to come overnight certainly. two days after the deadly mass shootings in maine, the suspected gunman has been found dead. for the families of the victims, now comes the long process of healing and momourning thohose lostst. we'll l have the l latest fromoe cocoming up.

a tight-knit community in maine is now beginning the long road to healing and mourning the loss of the 18 people killed in wednesday's mass shootings. the state's governor confirmed late friday the suspected gunman is dead, ending a two-day manhunt that had residents on edge. officials say the body of 40-year-old robert card was found at 7:45 p.m. local time friday night, 48 hours after police say card went on a rampage at two locations within a matter of minutes. it's not clear how long the suspect's body had been there and when exactly he died. here's the lewiston police chief. >> our work, again, is not done here. i was very elated tonight when i

got the call from the commissioner advising me of the revelation of what took place and that 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 shootings took place in the neighboring town. cnn's omar jimenez has the latest from lewiston. >> reporter: after a more than 48-hour manhunt, the suspect in the mass shootings at both of these locations in lewiston, maine, has been found dead by apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound according to law enforcement. now, look, this is the end of what has been a very tense chapter for many in this community, wondering where this person may be, especially given the violent nature of what he

was accused and what police believe he did. now, to give people an idea of where this body was found, we are outside the bar and grill which was the second location of the mass shootings that happened on wednesday night. this body was found just about ten minutes away from here in the town over from lewiston, which is where we are, in lisbon, maine. it was found near a recycling plant, where as we understand from law enforcement sources, a plant where he was fired from recently. and so at this point, this now begins the next phase of an investigation for officers to figure out, okay, what led up to the actions that they say he carried out over the course of wednesday night? and what why did this happen? so that is one aspect of the investigation that continues. however, the main priority that everybody had been looking for of trying to locate this person is now over. it is a sigh of relief for many in this community. it is a sigh of relief for many

of the leaders in this community as they laid out in their latest press conference. we also learned that they found the body at 7:45 p.m. eastern time friday night. it wasn't until hours later that they announced, and what they said they were doing in the meantime was they were notifying the families of victims. they also said they notified the family of the suspect as well, a family they said had on the whole been cooperative throughout this entire process. while there's still more investigative work ahead, there is a lot more grieving ahead for many of the families affected. at least 18 killed in total but so many more lives shattered based on the lives they touched. as one resident told us, they are not just numbers. they are people. and it is those people that are going to live on in this community for much longer than this 48-hour manhunt. omar jimenez, cnn, lewiston, maine. cnn's shimon prokupecz

interviewed the police chief of lisbon, maine, where the suspect's body was found friday evening and spoke with our abby phillip. >> it's been a long day for all of you and for my officers. as far as all the details, tomorrow. >> for your community, the people in lisbon, i was there this morning at the supermarket, finally reopened. people were in tears inside out of fear. what have you been hearing from your community? >> what i've been hearing from my community is that we have a great community that's going to stick together, and i've personally been on numerous calls, and people in our community care about what goes on. i don't think it's just lisbon. it's lewiston. it's thompson. it's bowdoin. it's all the surrounding towns. maine's a great state, and i think now you're going to see maine pull together and not be known for this horrific act but actually come together as, you know, a family and taking care of each other. >> this location, we were at this -- sort of at this area

yesterday. >> you've been everywhere, man. every backyard i've been in. i don't know how you do it. >> well, thank you. but i have a question for you. this area your team searched some of this area. >> i'm not going to get into any de details. the commissioner was very, very forthcoming about that. so i'm just going to leave it at this. >> the relief. talk quickly -- >> everybody just be thinking about the families of the victims, keeping them in your thoughts and prayers. you guys have a good night. get some rest. >> appreciate it. abby, as i was saying earlier, this is an area that we were at yesterday with the chief. we actually saw him. we had a little interaction, he and i, because he was throwing us out of the area. that's what he's talking about here. he told us to leave because we were in this area they were searching where they found this suspect dead today. and as you can hear from him,

there is this sense of relief, not only here in lewiston where this happened, but also in lisbon because the people living there have been stuck in their homes for the past two days. supermarkets closed, banks, pharmacies, they can't go to their doctors. it's been a very difficult two days. we have breaking news from iran where state media is reporting that the teen who was allegedly assaulted by the country's morality police has died. she fell into a coma after activists say she was assaulted at a metro station for not wearing a headscarf. the report says the 16-year-old died today after being declared brain dead earlier in the week. the alleged assault happened just weeks after iran passed legislation imposing much harsher penalties on women who breach the already strict hijab rules.

still to come, the attack by hamas on southern israel has put the israeli military on high alert in the northern region as well. we'll have details on the increasing tensions with hezbollah fighters in lebanon. that's coming up. stay with us.

is it possible my network could take my business to the next level? it is with comcast business. powering all your devices with gig-speed wifi. and you get fast downloads and uploads. pick it up! pick it up! oh we got this! because it's powered by the next generation 10g network. more speed for your business? it's not just possible. it's happening. get started for $59.99 a month for 12 months. plus, ask how to get an $800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. comcast business, powering possibilities. welcome back to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada, and all around the world. i'm kim brunhuber and this is cnn coverage of israel at war. a top official tells cnn the country is, quote, beefing up pressure on hamas as israel says it's expanding ground operations

in gaza this is new video in showing the aftermath of air strikes in gaza city. buildings are decimated and people are surveying the damage and in some cases digging through the rubble. israel says its warplanes hit 150 underground targets in the palestinian enclave overnight. communication links are down in much of gaza as well. meanwhile, air raid sirens blared across tel aviv on friday as rockets were seen in the sky. now, the u.s. defense secretary stressed the importance of protecting civilians in gaza when he spoke with his israeli counterpart on friday. lloyd austin also said aid delivery into the palestinian enclave is urgently needed. cnn's oren liebermann has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: the pentagon watching the situation in gaza very closely as what appears to be a larger ground incursion is taking place on the part of the israeli military into gaza as it goes after hamas. but the pentagon and the white house have been clear this is israel's war to fight and they

will not dick tate or order the israelis on how to fight it. instead they will offer advice and have offered counsel on their best practices, including the recommendation that instead of conducting a large-scale ground incursion, israel goes with precision-guided munitions as well as smaller special operations forces raids. is advice the israelis have heeded? that's an answer that will be clear in the hours and days ahead. meanwhile, the u.s., a big concern is whether the conflict in gaza, if the ground incursion spreads to the rest of the region. we have already seen some spillover, even if the u.s. doesn't see a connection between gaza and iraq and syria, other groups do. that is a key concern here. take a look at this map. you'll get a sense of the attacks on u.s. forces over the course of the past 11 or 12 days. four different sites in iraq. four different sites in syria. many of those have had more than one attack, including an air

base in iraq, which has had at least seven attacks there. the u.s. carried out strikes in eastern syria against groups it says are affiliated with iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps and affiliated groups there. the u.s. says those strikes didn't result in casualties but destroyed an ammo storage facility as well as a weapons storage facility. the u.s. was clear in carrying out these strikes that they were narrowly aimed at essentially protecting u.s. forces, and the u.s. does not want the conflict to escalate beyond gaza or be connected in any way to what the u.s. is doing in iraq and syria against isis there. that's a very fine line the u.s. is trying to walk. will they be successful? that is what everyone is looking at with all eyes on gaza right now. a northern israeli town right next to the border with lebanon has become a ghost town. civilians have been replaced by israeli soldiers as the town faces increased risks of attack from hezbollah militants. cnn's jim sciutto reports from

northern israel. >> reporter: main street, ma tu la, israel. normally the busy center of town. now abandoned. ma tu la's 2,000 residents fled in the wake of the october 7th attacks. part of a mandatory evacuation of communities too close to israel's border with lebanon and too close to hezbollah. >> the problem is from too many windows, we are under threat. >> reporter: now based here are hundreds of idf soldiers. we don't identify them due to security. >> every few hours, we're under attack here or in other places in the area. so we need to keep ourselves under cover to make sure that we won't be exposed. >> reporter: ma tu la is surrounded on three sides by lebanon, by territory controlled by hezbollah. that is why the town has been evacuated because of that threat, and 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 ma tu la ready for residents to return, though 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. >> translator: we don't want a war. we just want to end the current status quo and move hezbollah out of southern lebanon. we can make a peace deal or if not, we will have war. >> reporter: for now, this is an operation designed to defend and deter, and the threat is real. we were advised not to linger

too long in hezbollah's line of fire. >> you can find more than 400 soldiers looking at you. >> reporter: for the soldiers, their job now is to make sure that someday ma tu la can come alive again. >> do you believe people will be able to come back to a town like ma tu la again, or is it just too close to lebanon, to hezbollah? >> i know we will do everything to make them feel protected, to make them feel safe. as someone who packed his last luggage with tears in his eyes. i asked him why, and he said, i don't know if i will return here. >> reporter: that is the new reality in northern israel will you also in the south. communities emptied by the threat from hamas, in gaza, and hezbollah here in the north. many people demanding increased military action across the border, but that portends costly exercises and operations for israeli forces with an uncertain

military outcome. jim sciutto, cnn, in northern israel. all right. for a military perspective, let's bring in malcolm davis. thanks so much for being here with us again. what we're seeing from israel right now, do you think this signals the start of the main invasion? >> look, kim, it could. i think that what you are seeing is certainly a ramping up of artillery and air strikes against hamas positions across gaza, and that generally does suggest the preliminary stages of an invasion. you prepare the battle space. you attack known targets. you clear defenses before you send in ground forces because the last thing you'd want to do would be sending ground forces in to fully prepared positions. if you can wear down those positions as much as possible prior to sending in ground

forces, then there's less likely to be friendly casualties in the process. >> that might explain what we're being told here. according to the idf, they've targeted some 150 underground targets, what it called terror tunnels and underground combat spaces. what do you make of those specific objectives? >> well, i think that is sensible. hamas is using the tunnel network to move around the battlefield in gaza and to basically position themselves so that if the israelis move in, they can exploit the tunnels to attack the israelis from the rear. so it would actually make sense for the idf to actually attack those tunnels and destroy those tunnels, ideally with hamas inside them so that they can't use those tunnels, and it makes it more difficult, then, for hamas to defend against an incoming israeli incursion on the ground. >> just before you came on, we heard from the family of someone held hostage in gaza, an

israeli. what about the hostages? you know, if this is sort of the precursor to a ground invasion, does, you know, these incursions, all these attacks, air strikes -- does it help or hurt their chances of coming back alive, do you think? >> look, i'm sure the israelis and the americans are doing their very best trying to get those hostages out. and, you know, there may be possibilities that, you know, intelligence operations can locate some of the hostages and special forces go in and rescue them. but, you know, i think once the ground invasion begins, the chances of rescuing those hostages drop dramatically. hamas want to use them as human shields, and secondly they want to use them as bargaining chips to try and delay the israeli offensive. i think the israelis and the americans have woken up to this cynical tactic by hamas of drip-feeding hostages out over a

period of days and weeks to try and delay that offensive. that gives hamas more time to prepare defenses. the think the israelis are going to go in irrespective of the situation with the hostages. we'll do our best to get them out but there's no guarantee sadly. >> looking ahead, let's say israel does crush hamas, something they've promised before and failed. i mean, what then? >> well, that's a key question for the israelis. they have to defeat hamas. they have to defeat it decisively and not just as they've done in the past, mow the lawn. they have to go in and destroy hamas as an organization and as a fighting force. but then they have to win the peace, and that's going to be challenging because, you know, gaza is an urban environment that is extremely dense in terms of population. there's large numbers of civilians in harm's way. even with the most advanced precision strike weapons

available, civilians will be killed and injured. so it's going to be very difficult for the israelis having defeated hamas to then go in and sit down and talk with the palestinians in gaza and say, look, we have to come up with a durable security solution that prevents the radicalization of future palestinian groups. that's going to be really difficult for the israelis, particicularly if, f for exampm the e war esescalates to bring hezbollah and iran and israel is fighting a multi-front war. but they have to win the peace. they can't just see another generation of palestinians radicalized. >> all right. we'll be right back.

a communications blackout in gaza is now making the crisis even more complicated for people trying to help. earlier i spoke to a doctor, the co-founder and president of med

global, an organization on the ground in gaza helping with the dire medical needs there. here he is. >> with the blockade and prevention of food and medicine and the medical supplies and clean water, the situation -- i cannot imagine what's happening right now to the civilians in gaza. now with the ground invasion, that will complicate it further and going to cause more attacks on civilians, more bombs, more injuries. unfortunately two-thirds of the injuries are women and children. a very large number of children who were killed and injured. and also it will probably collapse what's left of the medical system, which is lost two-thirds of its capacity because of the consuming large number of medical supplies. every day what's consumed in this crisis is consumed of one month before the crisis. you can add to it the lack of clean water that is causing a lot of waterborne infection.

lack of electricity. that means many core functions of the hospitals will stop functioning, including ventilators, incubators, labs, dialysis units. 1,000 patients on dialysis will probably die if there's no urgent supplies of dialysis kits, besides the 135 newborn who are in incubators. the situation is going to be unimaginable and beyond catas catastrophic. >> as doctors try to help those children who have been hurt with the medical system, as you say, close to lapse, i mean you've been to many different disaster zones yourself. from what you're seeing, i mean is this the worst you've seen? >> i've been in ukraine. i've been in syria. i've been in yemen. actually i just came from ukraine a month ago, and this is the worst that i've seen. i've been in gaza four times before. and gaza has witnessed wars before. this is the fifth large war in the last 20 years. but this is the worst i've seen

in the whole world, and i think the consequences of this war will continue to affect the people in gaza and beyond for the next generations. it's not only the physical wounds and the death and the injuries among the families, but also the mental health wounds that will last forever among the children who are witnessing bombing, who lost many of their family members. a doctor who is our lead pediatrician, his last message was 36 hours ago. he told me if i stayed alive, i would like to talk more about my last patient. he saw a patient. her name is dema. she's a child. she's only 10 years old. she lost all of her family members, her two parents and six brothers and sisters. and she had a fracture in her skull and fracture in her limbs and injuries in her liver and spleen, and they don't have enough supplies to treat her. and he was very sorry, and he told me the saddest thing that he has in his life, that he witnessed many children that he

saw in the neighborhoods that now are dead and mutilated. and this is something that should not happen in the 21st century. if you'd like information on how to help with humanitarian relief efforts for gaza and israel, please go to cnn.com/impact. you can find a list of vetted organizations that are providing assistance. that's cnn.com/impact.

israel's foreign minister is calling for the u.n.'s call for a cease-fire despicable. in a social media post, he says israel intends to eliminate hamas just as the world dealt with the nazis and isis. the new -- mike johnson posted a photo of himself calling it a privilege. the congressman from louisiana was just elected as speaker on wednesday after weeks of republican party infighting left

the house in chaos. thailand is calling for the release of 18 of its citizens believed to be held hostage in gaza. 33 other thai nationals were killed during the hamas attack on october 7th. some of the highest foreign casualties that day. cnn's ivan watson traveled to remote villages in thailand to meet with families of some of the victims. we just want to warn you, ivan's report includes graphic images that some of you may find disturbing. >> reporter: the empty back roads of northeastern thailand feel a world away from the raging war in israel and gaza. but even here in one of the country's poorest provinces, 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 a security fence that encircles gaza. on the morning of the hamas attack on israel on october 7th, he streamed this video live from the turkey farm. he says he hid for hours but was discovered by a palestinian man in civilian clothes armed with what looked like a kitchen knife. he says he refused to surrender. they got into a savage fight. >> he bit you? >> translator: when we were fighting, he bit my arm. >> reporter: he says he was left for dead and later cared for by other thai migrant workers. now after more than four years working in israel, 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 of them from poor farming villages in this region. families here say 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? >> reporter: this video shows him and other thai workers on the morning of the october 7th hamas attack, taking shelter in a bunker. it's the last they heard from their son 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 have 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. hundreds of people from a group called jewish voice for peace gathered in grand central terminal in new york friday night, calling for a cease-fire in gaza.

the demonstration was peaceful though there are reports of dozens of arrests and some passengers were delayed. a protest of this scale unusual for grand central. that's it for me. i'm kim brunhuber. my colleague max foster picks up cnn's special coverage after a quick break. please do stay with us.

you're probably not easily persuaded to switch

mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? have we piqued your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible.