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. hello, and welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and all around the world. i'm max foster with our continuing coverage of israel at war. it's 9:00 a.m. here in london, 11:00 a.m. in israel, three weeks ago a series of brazen attacks killed more than 1,400 people in southern israel with more than 200 men, women and children taken hostage. after what it called targeted raids over the previous two days the idf now says it's expanding ground operations into gaza. it says its warplanes struck 150 underground targets overnight, set to be one of israel's most intense and sustained bombard ams since the war started.

a senior adviser to the prime minister spoke earlier with cnn's jake tapper. >> we will not live like that any longer. we saw what they're capable of doing. we saw the sort of gruesome, terrible, horrific violence they inflicted upon us. we refuse to live with that sort of neighbor anymore. and we are now going to create a new reality in gaza. >> well, nearly all communications networks in gaza are reported to be out of service and have been for many hours, cnn's raphael romo joins us from tel aviv. that's making it difficult to get a full picture from what happened on the ground. but what can you tell us how intense it was overnight, raphael? >> hi, max, even after two weeks of air strikes and artillery fire on gaza, and even after several targeted raids into the enclave it appears hamas still has the capability to launch rocket attacks against israel, our team here in tel aviv had to go to a shelter friday afternoon

when we -- when the air raid sirens went off once again. we heard several loud booms and later authorities here said that several people were injured after a residential building was struck by a missile, including a 20-year-old man who suffered head and limb injuries. and max, once night fell gaza residents told cnn that they were witnessing some of the most intense air strikes since the war began. there was widespread power, internet and cellular service outages across the gaza strip. the palestinian telecom company that provides mobile service to gaza says that the intense bombardment resulted in the destruction of all remaining international roots connecting gaza with the outside world, leading to a complete interruption of telecommunication services, and several united nations agencies now report they have lost contact with their local staff in gaza as most of the communication capabilities of

the enclave appear to have been interrupted, max. >> okay, raphael, thank you, for more now, joined by peter leighton, a visiting fellow at griffith asia institute, speaking to us from briz bonn, australia, thank you for joining us. i mean, how are you reading what's happening? because this isn't the full ground invasion we're expecting, but it is certainly bigger than the incushions we've seen recent ily. >> it's certainly feeling like a large scale attack. how -- i think time is running out, and the israelis need to get a move on, if you like, so, i suspect that this is perhaps the start of this large scale assault, but i don't think they have very long for it. what surprises me most, i suppose, is that the israeli air force are dropping -- are reported to have dropped more

than 7 or 8,000 bombs over the last few weeks. they've caused significant damage to the building in gaza city and north gaza. so i would think about now is about the right time for a ground incursion. but i would also ask, what is left now? hamas is a fairly small organization. that's an awful lot of bombs. >> and they're targeting tunnels, aren't they? because we've reported widely how hamas uses tunnels, and the israelis saying many of those tunnels go under civilian structures like hospitals and schools. but we know from the hostages that have been released they were held in tunnels. so, what sort of calculated risk are they taking by attacking tunnels, where the hostages might be? >> they're certainly taking some reasonable risks there.

you'd expect that the bombs are being accurately targeted to where they believe that the tunnels are. there are different kinds of bombs and some bombs are certainly very good at destroying tunnels, they are penetrating bombs that detonate deep underground. and i would expect that those bombs would be sending out shock waves and certainly collapsing many of these tunnels. it's just that this is dragging on. this is about three weeks now. that's why i think that now is the time, and i would expect the major assault to be over the weekend before international efforts can military force a cease-fire. >> we understood that on the diplomatic side there are also discussions about having a large group of hostages released. how does this military action play into that? >> i'm not sure that the israelis think that is correct.

there seems to be a lot of confusion backwards and forwards as you would expect, of course. and while that has been noted again it's been about three weeks, not much has happened. there have been four hostages released, which is very good, but it still is dragging on. i'm also concerned, of course, that while it is possible that hamas does have reasonable stores of fuel and water held underground, expecting an attack like this, the civilians in the south of the gaza strip do not. so their position is gradually getting worse and worse and will eventually be untenable. because clearly, people need water. >> i mean, they were extraordinary scenes, weren't they, last night, in terms of the skyline of gaza. we've had polls recently that say amongst israelis there's

less support for a full ground invasion, that's a big challenge, isn't it, for benjamin netanyahu, who obviously is looking at expanding, you know, significantly when you look at what he said last week. >> that's why i'm saying that time's running out, the israelis, themselves, are getting more and more concerned, now, there are issues, of course, about the war expanding from the north, and that will be tying up various ground forces in the north as well, and economically speaking the war is certainly damaging israel. but the israelis seem to be losing -- i wouldn't say losing interest, but they're becoming more and more concerned about the possible casualties here. hamas is assumed to be ready and waiting and wants the israelis to advance and be attacked, hamas cannot attack israel very well, apart from some relatively small warhead rockets so they

need the israeli army to come forward, if you like, so they can score some victories, and die in some sort of hero -- some hero manner. the israelis are mounting these raids which are getting more and more intense and the bombing last night was very intense, as i said it looks as though this is the -- to a ground invasion and as you just said the domestic situation in israel is turning against a full scale invasion. >> peter leighton, appreciate your analysis this morning, thank you. as we mentioned, gaza is under a communications blackout amid the looming threat of the israeli ground offensive as they continue targeting hamas. a local service provider says most of the phone and internet links have been decimate as israeli air strikes pounded the enclave. as a result, communications

inside gaza with the outside world 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 talking about hearing explosions but without stable communications, they can't check if their families are okay. the leader of a u.n. agency in charge of palestinian refugees sent a dramatic message about the humanitarian situation. >> as we speak people in gaza are dying. they are not only dying from bombs and strike, soon many more will die from the consequences of siege from the gaza strip. basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out. >> while the health ministry in hamas controlled gaza has

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. in the wake of the october 7th attacks by hamas that killed at least 1,400 people, the israel defense forces have launched an air campaign against the militant group and imposed a complete siege of the gaza strip. they say strikes will continue until all of the more than 200 hostages are released. here's a report on the controversy around that death toll. >> reporter: families are mourning and counting their dead. near endless stream of funerals echoes 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 palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. i'm sure innocents have been killed and it's a price of waging a war. >> reporter: this is how the hamas-run health ministry responded, publishing this document, 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 a 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 terrible, and that's atrocious, and that's sad, and we all obviously grieve with the families and loved ones who are 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 ministry of health in the past 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 do it 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 abdel aziz, cnn, london.

the attack has put israeli military on high alert in the northern region as well. details on the increasing tensions with hezbollah fighters in lebanon coming up.

the white house says it's still working to secure the release of hos tajs held by hamas in gaza after israel announced it's expanding those ground operations. cnn's alex marquardt has the 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 its operations up in gaza, sources tell cnn that the talks to release hostages, which have been led by qatar, had been going well and that they were nearing the release of a large number of hostages, then after israel launched the expansion of their operations u.s. officials insisted the talks will continue. one u.s. official telling cnn quite firmly there is no scenario in which 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 that those

pauses could help get hostages out while israel oerndn the oth hand has argued that more military pressure is what helps free hostages, 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 recalled 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 its -- this further complicates the situation for both those hostages and those trying to flee. alex marquardt, cnn, washington. >> sources told cnn there's been significant progress on negotiations to release hostages held by hamas, but there are still issues remaining.

here's becky. >> 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 by jake, at this stage, i mean, clearly we'll just have to wait and see what happens in the hours to come overnight, certainly. >> and northern israeli town 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 attacks by hezbollah militants. cnn reports from northern israel. >> reporter: main street, metullah, israel, normally the busy center of town, now abandoned, the 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, that this -- for many -- from too many windows we are under foot. >> reporter: now based here are hundreds of idf soldiers, we don't identify them due to security. >> a few of us were under attack here and in other places in the area so we need to keep ourselves under cover to make sure that we won't be exposed. >> reporter: metullah is surrounded on three sides by lebanon, by territory controlled by hezbollah, and 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 the town 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. >> 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 through the iranians or -- >> reporter: for now this is an operation designed to defend and deter, and the threat is real. we are 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 some day metullah can come

alive again. do you believe people will be able to come back to a town like metullah again, or is it just too close to lebanon, to hezbollah? >> i know that we will do everything no make them feel protect, to make them feel safe. i saw someone who packed his last luggage with tears in his eyes and i asked him why and he told me i don't know if i will return here. >> reporter: that is a new reality here in northern israel but 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. well, a communications blackout in gaza is now making the crisis even more complicated for people trying to help.

earlier my colleague kim brunhuber spoke to dr. ze zeher zehu, a founder of -- helping with the dire medical needs there. here he is. >> with the blockade of -- and prevention of food and medicine and medical supplies, and water, clean water, the situation, i cannot imagine what's happening right now to the civilians in gaza. and 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, very large number of children who were killed and injured. and also it will probably collapse what's left of the medical system has lost two-thirds of its capacity, consuming large number of medical supplies, every day

during this crisis is consumed in the hospital worth of one month of consumption before the crisis. and add to it the lack of clean water, lack of electricity. many core functions of the hospitals will stop functioning, including ventilators, incubators, labs, dialysis units, 1,000 patients in dialysis will probably die if there's no urgent supplies of dialysis kits. besides the 135 newborn who are in incubators, the situation going to be unimaginable and beyond catastrophic. >> as doctors try to help those children who have been hurt with the medical system close to collapse 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 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 that 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 family members. 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 picture, her name is dima, a child, 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 we witness 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. >> well, still to come, new video into cnn showing the aftermath of fresh air strikes in gaza city, coming up.

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goli, taste your goals. a top israeli official tells cnn that the country is, quote, beefing up pressure on hamas as israel says it's expanding ground operations in gaza, this is new video showing the aftermath of new air strikes in gaza city. as you can see, 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, the palestinian enclave overnight, communication links are down in much of gaza. meanwhile, air raid sirens blared across tel aviv on friday as rockets were seen in the sky. joining me is dr. omar -- a pediatric neurologist, he's worked extensively in gaza since 2011 and founded gaza medic voices, i don't know if you've tried to get hold of your contacts in gaza, i want to get a sense of the -- we understand they're all down. >> absolutely, so just to update you we are a team of doctors that have been in touch, in direct communication with medics and surgeons on the ground in gaza since day one of this, which is probably 18 days ago now, in the last almost 24 hours

now, it's since 6:00 uk time yesterday, around 1:00 eastern time we have had zero, zero messages, zero ability to make phone calls, and absolutely no communication with over 300 people that we have tried to contact, doctors, surgeons, paramedics, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, friends of ours, colleagues, and we are getting no direct communication whatsoever. there has been literally not a single human soul's voice heard from gaza since yesterday evening. this is a highly unprecedented situation. this is extremely concerning, the lack of communication, the palestinian president released a statement yesterday saying the fact there's no communication coming out of gaza is putting patients, doctors, and the population at risk of mass casualties.

they are unable to call ambulances on 101, their emergency help line, unable to check on their family members if they're alive or not, and we are really disturbed by the implications of this blackout. frankly, this is a new level, new territory we have never entered before. the u.n. yesterday spent all evening while this was happening, discussing whether they can have a cease-fire. and they resounded over a week ago that warned of a risk -- this is directly quoted from the u.n., a risk of genocide happening in gaza right now, there have been thousands of civilian deaths, two children are dying every 15 minutes in n gaza, and i am absolutely sure this rate has gone up in the last 12 hours, the majority of deaths are women and children, department amounts are disproportionate amounts a are. food, water, internet to communicate, phone lines to

communicate is suffocating them, literally suffocating them, and there has been no inside -- >> yeah, the israelis are saying these are very targeted strikes to take out hamas infrastructure. the problem they're facing is that hamas is hiding in or below civilian buildings. so it's hamas that is exposing these civilians. >> i'm not a politiciae drawn into the politics of who is doing this, but what i can say to you is that these people, these human beings are suffering, are dying in droves, they have no access to communication to the outside world. on any organization or government can do targeted strikes in areas that are appropriate for this. this is one of the densest populations in the world. you have 1 million refugees who have gone from the north to the

south. you have tens of thousands of people sitting in hospital corridors waiting, sheltering in what they think are safe zones. yesterday there was a direct attack threat on the hospital in the north of gaza, a direct attack threat saying this was a hamas wing of operations, and we have sources on the ground, credible sources on the ground telling us that the hospital is functioning as a normal hospital, or not a normal hospital because it's in crisis point, it's breaking point. these accusations and -- >> they can be both, can't it, an operating hospital, but also, you know, israelis suggesting they -- you know, hamas, you can effectively get access to tunnels from wards. so, you know, i think -- >> so, i'm sorry your line of questioning is justifying bombing a hospital? >> i'm not -- i'm literally just reflecting the other, you know, point of view that we're getting from israel and they're

suggesting these hospitals can be two things. >> sure, so as i said there can be a cease-fire from all sides, all sides need to sit down at the table to stop this, but this does not allow the fact that, as complete media blackouts, a complete communication blackouts, that you cannot even access or speak to charity aid workers, to people on the ground who are trying to help to bring humanitarian aid in. we have to remember, this is in a context of 17 years of siege, this -- and yet this is unprecedented. the levels of the number of death, civilian deaths happening on an hour by hour, minute by minute basis, have not been seen before and the west frankly, and the western leaders, are sitting, and not acting, and there has been in your own country, in the u.s., there has been civil society has mobilized. we've seen grand central station yesterday being overtaken by

jewish support, you know, supporters of immediate cease-fire. people are unhappy. civil societies are unhappy. the politicians, the people, the top power table essentially are the ones that are not condeucing this. >> doctor, thank you so much for joining us and our thoughts are with all the people, colleagues, family who you can't contact at the moment. it's a very -- must be very worrying for you, thank you so much for joining us. for more on the humanitarian situation on the ground we're joined by a spokesperson for the palestinian red crescent society joining us from the west bank. can you take us through the communication issues you're having at the moment? >> good morning, max, thanks for having me, so up to now, for more than 16 hours, the palestine -- has been completely disconnected with our colleagues who are right now working on the

ground in gaza. we are completely disconnected from hospitals, emergency centers, paramedics, all of our colleagues who are working there due to the complete disconnection as israel cut ala land line, c cellular communication, as well as internet connection. so we are extremely worried about the safety of our colleagues there due to the intense bombardment that's taking place everywhere in gaza. and as i see it up to this moment, we have been not able to hear anything from them due to this cut of kcommunication, we are worried as well how our colleagues now are able to get to the responses and be able to provide their life-saving services to the people in gaza. the cut of communication means that palestinians, over 2 million palestinians now in gaza, can't call the 101 ambulance service in order to get an ambulance and to get the

emergency medical service. this means, as i assume that my colleagues most probably are working underground based on hearing the voice of bombardment, and then trying to reach the locations as fast as they can, this absolutely affect their response and the timing, how they can arrive at locations in a timely manner, taken into consideration that there is many emergency services, many emergency situations, i mean, many patients who are -- or whatsoever, can't even call the ambulance to get an emergency service, and let's please remember that there is around 5,500 women that they are pregnant women expecting to give birth this month. this means that in such circumstances, and under the intense bombardment, they also unable to call an ambulance to be transferred to the hospitals. >> just looking at live pictures

of gaza city, the smoke rising, our reporters have been describing how the bombardment has been unprecedented overnight, you were describing there the issue with ambulances, i mean, this is one of the key -- going to be one of the key issues, isn't it? because the ambulances were struggling enough. you know, i don't know how many are left there. i know lots of ambulances have been taken out but they've been struggling enough to get across the city in this bombardment, but then you've got this other complication that they're not even being alerted to casualties. so what do you expect to see there, once coms -- communications are back? >> i expect huge difficulties, people now are struggling to get the balance service, and i assume many also they are risking their lives trying to evacuate wounded people and to transfer them by private cars.

my colleagues now are absolutely, i assume they are working on full capacity trying to do as much as check in such challenging circumstances. we call on the international community to ensure the protection of civilians, health care workers, paramedics, and all our health facilities there. as i mentioned we are extremely worried about their safety. and as you just see the situation is just so much horrific, you're talking about intense bombardment that is taking place all over gaza. literally, in gaza, there is no safe place. last thing we heard from our colleagues, before the disconnection of the communication, how much they were worried regarding the last fuel that we have. we were completely running out of a fuel, and the expectation was that we will be completely running out of it within hours,

hopefully i know they are really struggling to have the fuel, whether for ambulances or even for -- to run our hospitals. we have two hospitals in gaza, we have patients in the intensive care unit who are connected to the oxygens, to life support machines, so we are also worried regarding our ability to continue providing our emergency services in gaza, or even our medical services in the two hospitals due to running out of fuel since up to the moment we were unable to get any fuel into gaza. >> okay. really appreciate your time for joining us and our thoughts with you, being unable to contact your colleagues at such a worrying time. we'll be right back.

welcome back, israel has

expanded ground operations in gaza, iranian stayed media reporting the team allegedly assaulted by the country's morality police has died. anita fell into a coma after activists say she was assaulted by a metro station for not wearing a head scarf. 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 breached the already stricter job rules. the authorities have denied the assault allegations saying she was hospitalized due to an injury caused by low blood pressure. >> a tight-knit community in maine is beginning the long road to healing and mourning the loss the 18 people killed in wednesday's mass shootings. the state government confirmed the suspected gunman is dead ending a two-day manhunt that

had residents on edge. the body of a 40-year-old, robert card, was found at 7:45 p.m. local time on friday night, 48 hours after police say card went on a rampage at two locations within a matter of minutes. it's unclear 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. >> well, officials say card's body was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in

a wooded area about eight miles where the shooting took place in a neighboring town. the scale of destruction from the category 5 hurricane otis is still coming to light, an estimated 80% of the city's hotels have been severely damaged according to local officials, power companies say more than 140 high voltage lines that deliver most of the electrtricity to t the area hav also beeeen n damaged. we'll be b back in a m moment.

hundreds of people from a group called jewish voice for peace gathered in grand central terminal in new york on friday night calling for a cease-fire in gaza. the demonstration remained peaceful, though there are reports of dozens of arrests, and some passengers were delayed, protests of this scale are unusual for grand central. the white house says it's still working to secure the release of hostages held by hamas in gaza after israel announced its expanding ground operations. i mean, the big concern within

israel about a ground offensive is the risk it poses to hostages, and, you know, a lot of people are looking at those extraordinary scenes in the skyline over gaza overnight around the world, probably thinking the same thing. >> reporter: yeah. absolutely, and we have heard from many sources inside of israel saying, you know, what does this expanded ground offensive mean in terms of releasing hostages? their safety, and also in terms of negotiations and mediation talks, what we saw yesterday in qatar, specifically from diplomatic sources and the qataris have been very instrumental in negotiating the release of hostages, that there was a breakthrough that came through yesterday, that there was some kind of hope and momentum that was built to release a number of hostages and this is quite important. there was, you know, hope that had been talks about yesterday,

this was before we saw the aggressive ground offensive that had occurred by the idf, that hope has now dwindled. we don't know what this means going forward for negotiations, but the idf specifically said that we should ignore the rumors of the release of a number of hostages, saying that they put them down to psychological terror. the number of hostages released by the idf saying that number has increased to 229 right now. and, again, here max, what does this intensive ground offensive mean for negotiations? that is the big question now. >> yeah, and i mean we've been talking to guests who are very, you know, working from outside gaza, but with colleagues in gaza. they've said they've had no communications for hours and hours and hours, extremely worried about that. what information are we getting about what is actually happening on the ground there?

>> reporter: well, importantly, look, the palestinian authorities, telecommunications minister saying the last connection points with gaza have been struck by israel, and that is, of course, exacerbating the humanitarian reality on the ground. dr. mohammed el ryan, the head of the nursing section at e.r. at the hospital had told cnn that, you know, because of the communication breakdown and the blackouts, that people aren't able to call in for assistance, that ambulances aren't able to be deployed to strike sites and that people were bringing in bodies as well as the injured on bikes, conkdonkey carts, by car even by foot. i want you to take a listen to what he had to say. >> translator: the night has passed with the most intense aggression on the gaza strip where the gaza strip was isolated from the rest of the world. whether two mobile networks, and the palestinian communications

were cut off where we could not reach out to anyone or the outside world. more importantly the inability to reach locations of injured where some of the residents' houses have been targeted in the areas of central gaza, there were some solutions to this but the situation was very difficult and dangerous. >> also reporting horrific injuries because of the strikes that were experienced overnight, look, the death toll, as reported by the hamas-controlled ministry of health stands at 7,028, reports also showing that 1,600 reported missing stuck under rubble right now. look, the white house has questioned the validity and the reliability of the death toll coming through from gaza in response to that. we saw the hamas-controlled health ministry releasing a 200-page document with 6,000 names, with age and gender, to

basically validate the number of lives that have been lost in gaza. the idf now, max, also saying that hamas is using hospitals as, quote, to wage war. and that, of course, creating another element of fear that the people that have gone to hospitals for assistance, and for refuge now at risk. >> eleni, thank you so much for joining us in dubai. i'm max foster in london. more of our continuing coverage with the israel-hamas war after the break. tetest testst

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