open. this is an extremely difficult k crossing to get up at the best of times involving israeli acquiescence, egyptian approval, hamas approval. not only is it continuing to be bombarded but the civilians who have made their way there trying to get out are no closer to knowing if it will open. the egyptians sdo not want the palestinians to make their way to the sinai desert. great reluctance to see that open and yet a greater need to get the aid in and get people out with every hour that passes. >> melissa bell, thank you so much for your reporting from cairo. that's it for this hour. ♪ >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. hello, again, everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm fredericka witfield in

atlanta alongside sara sidner in tel aviv. as we start a new hour, we're following breaking news, israel's defense minister announcing a short time ago that the idf has moved to a new phase of war against hamas. israeli soldiers are now operating inside the gaza strip. armored vehicles and tanks were on the move overnight, but it remains unclear if this is actually the beginning of israel's anticipated major ground assault in gaza. ahead of troops entering the enclave, overnight israel unleashed an onslaught of aerial bombardments that rocked gaza. the idf renewed its warnings for civilians in northern gaza to evacuate. doctors say they treated hundreds of wounded overnight, but also there were many killed

in the air strikes. the idf says the air strikes targeted 150 underground spaces and terror tunnels. they claim they killed one key hamas operative who, it says, carried out the deadly attacks on october 7th in israel. we're also watching israel's border with lebanon. the idf and hezbollah continue to exchange fire on that front. sara sidner picks up our coverage on the ground there in israel. >> thank you, fred. it has been a bombardment like we have not seen. we have seen just a fierce air attack from israel over gaza. we also know, as you mentioned, that there are troops now on the ground in gaza. although it is not the main offensive that everyone thought it might be, the ground

offensive that everyone thought may happen, it is a much smaller group of israeli soldiers that are in gaza. we have been seeing the air strikes, feeling the rumble like thunder over our heads here in tel aviv from those air strikes in gaza and seeing rockets come over from gaza, from hamas into israel. you are seeing those shots there of the iron dome intercepting rockets one after the other. about a half dozen rockets have come over tel aviv in the last 30 minutes. we go to jeremy diamond in israel as close as you can get to the gaza border. israel soldiers are on the move. we've been seeing video of the trucks going in. but the idf is renewing its message to gaza citizens to evacuate. what are you seeing right now on the border? there's another rocket coming

in. one moment. we just saw another iron dome interception just over my shoulder here. we see those quite often. i just wanted to check to see where it was to make sure we're in a fairly safe place. jeremy, what are you hearing and seeing on the gaza border? >> reporter: moments ago we were on a position overlooking the gaza strip, and what we were able to see over the last couple of hours was the continuation of this expanded ground operation and those intensified air strikes and artillery strikes onto the gaza strip. we are now 24 hours after israeli forces launched that expanded ground operation, and the barrage hitting gaza remains fierce and intense.

you can see some of the video that we shot moments ago seeing not only explosions in gaza, but also barrages of rockets being fired by hamas militants, we would suppose towards israeli towns and cities. as you are seeing those arriving toward your location, we have been seeing the outgoing from the gaza strip. we heard the chief of staff of israel's armed forces making clear that this expanded ground operation is not something that is simply going to last 24 hours, but it is a new phase of this military campaign that israel has been waging against hamas over the last three weeks. he says the best soldiers are now operating inside of gaza and important and complex operations are being carried out by those soldiers inside the gaza strip. he makes clear the objectives of this war require a ground operation, he said, and also

acknowledging the fact that it will likely lead to idf casualties, saying that every victory comes at a price. now, overnight as we were hearing the most intense bombardment of the gaza strip that we have heard in the three weeks of war, we have learned that the idf struck over 150 underground targets inside of gaza, which explains the intensity of the bombardment that we heard last night. again, these operations are very much still ongoing. these not the targeted raids we saw on the two previous nights where tanks went into gaza and the next morning the idf announced those tanks had returned across the border. again, we are 24 hours since this ground operation launched and we can still hear artillery fire, tank fire and also small arms fire, indicating there is fighting on the ground in gaza likely involving infantry troops

as well. >> we heard those telltale sounds of the iron dome intercepting the rockets. we're seeing the pictures coming from your area because gaza is just beyond where you are seeing those rockets come over. not too long after you see them go out, we see them here in tel aviv. of course you've been in ashkelon. what have you seen as far as any damage, or have the rockets sort of flown over towards where we are, if you will? >> reporter: it depends on the day. today since we've been here, we've not had any sirens in ashkelon. just a couple of days ago there were two impacts made. it's important to keep in mind that while the iron dome does intercept the overwhelming majority of rockets, some do still make it through. ashkelon is the city that has seen the most rocket fire of any

city in israel. what we have really been watching as israel has intensified its bombardment inside of gaza is we have seen casualties inside of gaza start to rise in a dramatic way, more than 7,000 people killed. of those 7,000 people, more than 3,000 are believed to be children according to the palestinian ministry of health. that is the result, of course, of this bombardment and of the fact that we know hamas is very much operating within civilian areas. just yesterday the idf claims that hamas is operating from underground facilities underneath gaza's largest hospital inside of gaza where not only are critically injured people being treated but also where thousands have been seeking shelter. the idf provided this alleged intercepted conversation between

two gazans. they said they had additional intelligence. palestinians have denied it. certainly one of the challenges of these operations being carried out by israelis is the fact that there are miles and miles of underground facilities hamas maintains where they are hiding their fighters and where they carry out rocket attacks. the fact this underground city is underneath the very real city aboveground where civilians are as well inevitably leads to risk. the idf says they take measures to try to avoid civilian casualties, but the toll has been too high from a human perspective as you watch what is happening on the ground in gaza over these last weeks. >> it's harder and harder to know exactly because there has been a communications blackout from the bombardment according to the telecom provider there.

they have completely lost communications. so it is even harder now to see exactly what the damage is to human life and to the infrastructure there in gaza at this point. but we have seen so much damage and i know you're hearing jets over head as well. jeremy diamond, thank you so much for all of your reporting today and in the past three weeks. let's turn to retired army brigadier general peter zwak. thank you for joining us on this saturday. as you look at what is happening with the movements of israel forces into gaza and you hear the israeli military has a small number of soldiers that have remained in gaza on the ground. what is your view that's happening here, the plan that you see unfolding? >> the israelis have been

watching. they have a lot of us wondering why didn't they go in the first week. i believe in large part, okay, you have all the diplomacy going on, but they've been studying methodically the ground. they understand history and how difficult urban fighting is. they had to bring up a massive call-up and prepare their troops to do any major assault. now, what i think is happening is that they have probably over the last several weeks been fighting a shadow war already, nibbling on the margins of the hamas defense, going underneath. they've been pinpointing the tunnels. they've been trying to find where the hostages are, identifying targets. and then at a certain point they're calling in air strikes. these are not aimed at the palestinian population, but

unfortunately in the cynicism of hamas they have collocated their forces among the population. i would call these probes, on-the-ground probes with heavy armor backs it up. they're not rushing in because they know heavy forces going in. no. this is kind of methodical. so they're probing, it's reconnaissance in force, it's shaping the operation, air power hitting what they're doing, special operations on the ground. at a certain point they will go. the tragedy, of course, is hamas is going to continue to use civilians as a shield, and this is what makes urban fighting so

horrific. >> there is a terrible human toll, mothers and babies, pregnant women, grandparents have been killed in large numbers there in gaza so far. there is talk of what a prolonged siege might look like in gaza and particularly in gaza city, because the israeli military has told people to leave, go from the north to the south, but even the south is getting hit by air strikes. what would this look like if they decided to do a full-scale war from the ground and the sky? >> this is a really, really hard question. i think, first of all, they would work to seal off the city, yet they are struggling with creating conduits out for the palestinians who still remain up in northern gaza.

but they've got to seal it off. you know, the debate over the things going in and fuel, unfortunately, hamas is also using lots of fuel for its tunnels and generators and all that. so how do you manage that? the siege hardest on the civilian population. so while the presence of hamas has a choke hold on that population, in the siege, i would have to believe the idf will be turning up the pressure on the ground and just block by block, basement by basement, tunnel by tunnel trying to f ferret out these guys. also, remember, we have the hostages there, which also makes

this so devilishly complicated. but to besiege them with a lot of civilians still in there, i don't think it will work in that environment for some of the reasons i've tried to suggest before. >> i think you used the term devilishly complicated and i think that is a term that really gives you the idea just how hard this is going to be for the israeli military but even worse for the civilians caught in the middle of all of this. thank you so much. let's turn now to the latest on what people in gaza are seeing amid this barrage. there has been a blackout for some time certainly overnight where communications were impossible according to the

telecommunications provider there because of the bombardments. what are you hearing? >> reporter: we saw terrifying scenes last night of intense bombardment. what was more concerning was the silence, the lack of video coming out, the lack of messages from rights groups on the ground, from people and civilians and our teams inside gaza. as we've woken up this morning and seen still limited communications, what we have seen is a mounting civilian death toll, complete devastations. israel says it is targeting hamas, but as we have seen, that civilian death toll has mounted by the hour. we know more than 7,000 palestinians inside gaza have been killed. that is just the number of people who have been identified. there still many areas where they have been told to evacuate

who are still beneath the rubble there because of israel's continued bombardment. that is only intensifying. we could see more civilian areas coming under attack and in particular hospitals where tens of thousands of palestinians inside gaza have now taken shelter, many around the largest hospital inside gaza, hoping this is a safe area. but it may not be for long. take a look. a flash of light over the chilling imposed darkness that engulfs gaza every night. a glaring promise of more death and destruction. the ongoing siege and a communications blackout plunging gaza into eerie silence. what little video has emerged so far paints a picture of the

devastation wrought by israel's relentless bombardment. scenes of incomprehensible loss, bodies of the latest among thousands of victims. israel says it has targeted hamas, now also expanding its ground operations, a retaliation, they say, to the hamas terror attacks of october 7th, which left at least 1400 dead and more than 200 others held hostage inside gaza. but in the besieged strip of land, the number of palestinians killed also rises with each and every air strike. the situation here is dire. our homes were destroyed in the air strikes. six of our family members were killed. what can we do? we have all living through this. this was the scene on friday at the largest hospital in gaza, now not only a lifeline to thousands of patients, but a

sanctuary to tens of thousands, including children displaced by the war. we're not even asking for food. we're not asking for water. we're asking for safety, for security. our men, women, our children, they've all been killed. many have come in the hope that hospitals will remain a safe haven. but this safe haven is now being characterized by israel with no verifiable evidence as a potential target. >> the buildings are buildingsu >> reporter: it is a claim rejected by palestinian officials in gaza, who accuse israel of falsifying intelligence and say the hospital is only used to treat patients. but the consequence of such allegations is feared by many. any suggestion that this hospital could be viewed as a legitimate target by israel, for doctors who know the hospital well, is a warning of

unimaginable bloodshed. >> i've been in all parts, in the basement, in the clinics, in the different buildings. i've been there night and day, peacetime, wartime, all over. i have never seen anything that could look like or function as some command center. >> reporter: on and on, israel's air strikes lay waste to this already ravaged enclave. artillery shelling now adding to the devastation. the people of gaza gripped by a constant cycle of mourning, still struggling to comprehend this endless nightmare, death now woven into the very fabric of their lives. it is important to underscore as these air strikes intensify, the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating. we've been hearing from families on the ground inside gaza who

tell us they are rationing food, they have no more safe, clean drinking water available. and as we all know, the warnings to the hospital and medical teams on the ground are unless more fuel is brought into gaza soon, we could see even more hospitals closing their doors to patients. as we know, thousands inside gaza are desperately dependent on those hospitals and that urgent medical care, particularly as there's no sign of these air strikes letting up any time soon. >> the mfamilies cannot get in touch with their family members living in gaza. there's an extreme amount of fear there. thank you so much of the story. we'll have much more of our r le coveverage i in a momentnt.

we're learning new details about the investigation into that mass shooting in maine wednesday that killed 18 people and injured 13. we now know the shooter's body

was found yesterday inside a box trailer at a recycling center parking lot in the town of lisbon. investigators say 40-year-old robert card died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, ending a two-day manhunt in southern maine. the rampage in lewiston was the deadliest mass shooting in the u.s. this year and the deadliest since the uvalde, texas, school massacre. i'm joined by simone prokupecz live for us in lewiston. >> reporter: police releasing a lot more information now that the shooter is dead. they say they were able to release more information on the investigation. we know he was found last night at 7:45 inside this trailer at a recycling plant in the area where they've been searching the past few days. we learned police found a total of three guns, a long gun in his

car and two additional guns on him or in the trailer when they found him. we also learned that they are looking as part of the motive here as to what was going on in this individual's life that may have led to this. they say there was a mental health component to that. they were looking at that, that he thought people may have been speaking badly about him at these locations that he attacked, that he was hearing voices. so that is something they are looking into. what's helping them try to unravel all of this is the shooter's family. they say they have been very cooperative in helping them. we also learned as we've been reporting the last several days and now on-the-record confirmation that they found a note when they searched the shooter's home, the police describing it as a paper style note. in that note, he left information for a family member

indicating to police that he did not expect to survive. here's police talking a little bit about that. >> what it is, is it's a note to a loved one. it is saying that this is the passcode for my phone, this is the bank account numbers. i wouldn't describe it as an explicit suicide note. the tone and tenor was that the individual was not going to be around and wanted to be sure this loved one had access to his phone and whatever was in his phone. >> reporter: also, his bank account, information about that bank account in that note. now investigators are looking through all of that. they're going to look through his phone to try and paint a better picture of what was going on in his life. the other thing obviously now is the grieving part.

many of the people in this community and all around maine here have been forced to stay home and finally last night were allowed to leave their homes. the next days will be about the grieving and the mourning as many of these people will be able to get together and share the memories and the pain they have suffered in the last few days. the investigation is going to continue. we're outside the bar here where one of the incidents occurred. investigators are still here going over the crime scene, collecting evidence. that's expected to go on for several more days as a vigil is planned here in town tomorrow night. >> shimon prokupecz in lewiston, maine, thank you so much. the intensifying ground and air operations by israel now complicating washington's ongoing effort to arrange humanitarian aid for gaza, and the act of negotiations to release the hostages held by hamas.

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. as israel is stepping up its ground operations in gaza, the families of the israeli hostages being held by hamas there are now demanding answers and a face-to-face meeting with israeli leaders. they want to know how the campaign may get. those family members say, we expect the prime minister and defense minister to meet with us today, look us in the eye and give a clear answer to the question, does the escalation of military activity in gaza endangerment the welfare of the 200 hostages. we have a former senior advisor on the white house hostage

policy review team. we'll get to his analysis in just a moment. kevin, i know the white house has been saying there are still active conversations trying to get humanitarian aid there, a pause in the air strikes and on the ground war, but also to try to get the release of the hostages. what have you heard today? >> reporter: american officials have a hard time seeing how this escalation is going to affect those efforts beyond saying simply that it will make them more complicated. that's part of the reason you have heard the white house, president biden, other top administration officials making these calls over the last several days for what they call a humanitarian pause, some sort of a break in the bombing that would allow the hostages to be released, potentially allow aid to go in, allow civilians, including americans who are

stuck in gaza, to get out. their has seems to be an intensification on these talks on the hostages, talks brokered by the government of qatar to potentially release a large number of these hostages. but this is a complicated effort, because the american government doesn't believe all these hostages are being held in the same place, they don't necessarily know their conditions and the demands of hamas have sort of been shifting over the last several days. so those efforts have been intensifying. the u.n. says they are not dead. there are still hour-by-hour talks to try to get those hostages released. you have seen the american government in quite intensive discussions with the israelis as they planned their response to the terror attacks of two weeks ago, certainly very staunchly supportive of israel in public, but behind the scenes asking

some very tough questions of the israelis about what their intentions are for this potential ground invasion, what they hope to accomplish from this ground invasion and offering their owned a vice. in fact, there had been an american three star marine general in israel consulting with the israelis. we do now understand he has left israel. certainly the u.s. is making clear it is not dictating to israel how it conducts these operations. a marine spokesperson saying what is, has or will unfold in gaza is purely an israeli decision. >> thank you so much for your reporting there in delaware. alex, i'd like to start with you now. how might this military operation, which includes being on the ground, although not an extensive ground war, but an expanded military operation on the ground, how might that impact the lives of the hostages being held in gaza and the

civilians in gaza where we know thousands of people have been killed. >> that's a great question. for the hostages, hamas took them. they are responsible for their safety while holding them. [ audio difficulties ] there could be multiple groups throughout gaza, which is what makes this such a complicated problem. you asked about the civilian populace. we are helping along with partners to help move citizens

trapped inside gaza to safe locations. some of the ngo workers on the ground there are reporting terrible conditions, running out of water. [ audio difficulties ] >> we are seeing some of the pictures out of gaza this morning. according to the telecommunications provider there from the bombardments which were extremely fierce and plentiful overnight. when you look at what has happened, do you see any scenario where the military operation can go forward in the rescue of hostages at this point? because the families are

demanding answers from their government here in israel. the israeli families are saying we want to know if this is going to endanger our loved ones there. >> right. that's a great question. the military operation in order to achieve the goals prime minister netanyahu laid out of demilitarizing hamas, you'll have to go house to house, building to building to find the weapons. otherwise, you can't achieve that goal from the air. it's simply impossible. it does depend on whether hamas is keeping those hostages safe as bargaining chips or whether they're going to keep them in harm's way where they could be harmed as a result of the operations. i think the israelis will avoid doing anything to avoid hurting the hostages, but it's incumbent on hamas to move them outside of the area. they're engaging in negotiations in qatar.

our ambassador there timmy davis is among the best in the professional diplomatic core along with the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. they're doing incredible work. the goal is that hamas will keep them safe and move them to safe locations. the question is really more for hamas than israel. >> thank you so much for your analysis on this extremely difficult time there in gaza for the civilians and for those hostages who are likikely y in tunnels ununderground.d. we'll bebe right bacack.

while the world is watching the humanitarian crisis unfold from the bombardments in gaza, violence has ramped up in the west bank since the october 7th hamas attack on israel. it's a place that has long seen battles between israeli security forces and palestinians and settlers and palestinians. settlers who international law

say have built on palestinian land illegally. life in the west bank is as precarious as ever. armed and on high alert, since hamas's terror attack in israel. >> translator: we are standing against an enemy as cruel as the cavemen from 3,000 years ago that carried out a massacre on our brothers in the south. >> jewish settler presence here has always been fraught, deemed illegal by international law, the events of october 7th have put these settlements on a war footing. cnn gained rare access to one of the hundreds of settlements dotted throughout the palestinian territories. armed patrols are now everyday occurrences. fortified perimeters segregate jewish communities from

palestinian. local husbands, fathers and son volunteers keep the unwanted out at all times. this man has stopped going to work and called his local draft office in the days after the attack. >> we need to protect ourselves, because we're surrounded by people who don't necessarily like us. i didn't feel like i have to go fight, but definitely defend my home. >> and the situation is no child's play. he says their world was turned upside down on october 7th. >> that day, october 7th, was shabbat. at the end of shabbat we say a pr prayer, sorry. some of it is asking god to help us and to keep our children safe and to keep our soldiers safe and some of these words i just

couldn't say them, because we weren't safe on october 7th. >> palestinians say they weren't safe from some settlers long before october 7th, and it's only gotten more violent since. this man is a palestinian activist and a former palestinian liberation organization official in the west bank. >> why are you committing a war crime? why are you living on palestinian land illegally just because israel tells you you can? this is occupied territory. >> she says the palestinian territories are shrinking beyond recognition because of all the illegal settlements, and then there is the growing settler/palestinian violence. much of the violence has been caught on camera. here, jewish settlers throw rocks and fire guns at palestinian homes.

in another incident after a confrontation, a jewish settler shoots at apparently unarmed palestinian in the stomach. we asked about this incident. how do you defend the palestinians who have been killed by settlers? >> translator: am i supposed to explain to cnn why terrorists that try to kill civilians or soldiers were shot by security forces, the police or the army? with all due respect, i don't really understand the question. >> but we clarified in english and hebrew, showing him the video. >> translator: what you are showing me now is an edited video of attempts of terrorists to hurt and kill jews that are protecting themselves. this happens a lot and unfortunately there aren't two equal sides. >> the video you're seeing is not edited, but palestinians agree with one thing he says, the sides are not equal. they are the overwhelming victims in this, they say.

>> they gave them weapons and encouraged them and gave them support and protection by the israeli occupation army. >> she is referring to israel's hard line national security minister. days after hamas' attack, he announced the purchase of 10,000 guns to arm civilian security teams. he himself began passing them out. gun ownership used to be heavily restricted in israel, but laws have changed and now settlers are getting a huge amount of weapons. back in the settlement, we go to the home where she raised five children. she says here they've had a peaceful coexistence with their palestinian neighbors. >> i live here for 24 years. i never feared. >> and now? >> i think every mother in israel these days feels the same, that something is not the

same anymore. >> and that something is october 7th. our live special coverage from the region continues just after this. to duckduckgo on all your devie

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welcome back. looting is being reported in some parts of acapulco in the aftermath of hurricane otis. here are some aerial views of the damage. otis hit the mexican coast last w week as a category 5, killing 27 people. president biden said in a statement the united states stands by mexico at this difficult time. gustavo valdez is in acapulco.

>> reporter: we've made it to acapulco but just barely, because once you get into the city there's a big traffic jam that is preventing us from advancing, but the story you can see is behind me. all these people, the residents, the people you don't usually associate with a tourist town are trying to go and find whatever they can to get by, because so far we have not seen any help from the government. we have not seen a centralized location where they might be distributing water or food. we're hearing reports of looting. we saw it on thursday. now we're seeing all these people. this is the problem. the cars come from wherever they can. let's see if we can talk to this gentleman over here. what do you have here? there is no food, there's nothing. what do you have?

food and water and some toilet paper and some dishes. they are admitting they went into a store and got what they needed because they can't find it anywhere. you see everybody is complaining, they need help. so the destruction is one thing in the tourist part. now the residents are just begging for help. >> wow. needing help and needing the basics. thank you. we'll be right back.

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