welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm jake topper. it is 2 -- tapper. it is 2:00 a.m. in israel and in

gaza, i'm looking out over tel aviv. it's been 22 days since the terrorist attacks by hamas caught this country, israel, and frankly much of the world, by surprise. tonight a new phase of the war against hamas rages. listen to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu earlier this evening. >> translator: the war inside gaza is going to be long. this is our second independence war. we've got to save our country. we're going fight in the air, ground, and sea. >> i'm pamela brown in washington. we are also following breaking news back in the united states. this hour, we bring you the harrowing personal stories of war. a mounting death toll and increasingly unsurvivable conditions in gaza and what we know about does's military plans include -- israel's matter plans including reporting on which hamas leaders israel says have already been eliminated.

first we're going to start with the massive ground operation in gaza. cnn's nic robertson is live for us in sderot, israel. you've witnessed an eruption of activity literally where you are near israel and gaza tonight. >> reporter: yeah, jake. look, a cacophony into the night really continues as artillery fire, helicopter gunships, we just heard a couple of tank rounds going out close to here, missile strikes, and other missiles that, frankly, haven't seen fired here before zipping across -- through the skyline and into gaza. intense, it continues. we got a chance earlier on today to get out and try to see exactly what these troops who are on the ground now close to the line of gaza and those going inside to try to see exactly what they were doing. racing along the border with

gaza, israeli tanks, an incursion force on the move. part of the idf's intensification of operations preparing the way for an expected large-scale ground offensive. that dirt track down there where you can see the dust coming up, that's the road that runs along the israeli side of the border. we've been able to hear intense gunfire from the idf shooting into gaza. tank rounds, as well, fired from there right into gaza. machine gun fire erupts as unseen soldiers battle for control of the fields that separate the border from the crowded gaza towns. [ gunfire ] inside the towns, smoke rising from intensified strikes where the idf says hamas hides in underground tunnels and among

civilians. israel's defense minister announcing a new phase in the war. [ speaking in a non-english language ] >> translator: last night the ground in gaza shook. we attacked terror operatives of all ranks in every location. >> reporter: the tempo of battle rising noticeably friday night. power, phone, and internet services cuts in the north of the densely populated palestinian enclave. hospitals already short of medicine, water, and other essentials at times appearing overrun with casualties. on saturday in apparent desperation with deteriorating humanitarian conditions, some gazans stormed a u.n. compound looting food. >> people in gaza are dying. they are not only dying from

bombs and strike, soon many more will die from the consequences of -- from the gaza strip. >> reporter: with nightfall saturday, the idf keeping up the pressure on hamas. the pace of strikes unrelenting as the ground offensive continues. israel's prime minister promising more to come. >> translator: the war in gaza will be long. we are going to fight in the air, ground, and sea. we are going to fight and win. >> reporter: so far only a tiny fraction of israel's fighting force of more than half a million troops have crossed the battle lines into gaza. what comes next could ignite tensions way beyond israel's borders. and here we are deep into the night, and we can still here those tanks along the borderline

there maneuvering, machine gun fire, as well. not sure if it's those tanks firing the machine guns, but very clear there are intense on-the-ground military operations under way, building up this sort of build-up to a greater incursion very much under way here, jake. >> all right. nic robertson, thank you so much. there are around a million children in gaza facing a situations the leader of unicef says is, quote, horrific. unicef is demanding humanitarian cease-fire and unconditional release of the hostages that hamas seized on october 7th. and in recent hours, executive director katherine russell said that unicef has only been able to get in touch with a handful of unicef's humanitarian staff in gaza due to the communications blackout. i'm joined now by ricardo perez, unicef's spokesman. mr. perez, thank you so much for speaking with us. how many staff members does unicef have in gaza, and how

often are you able to even speak with them? >> thanks for having me, jake. we have several dozen, and right now it's very difficult to get this touch with them. as you've mentioned, we've spoken to a few, but many more are not reachable at this point. we are very concerned about their safety, and we wish we can get in touch with them soon. right now, land lines, cellular, and internet services were cut off. so we're unable to do that. and the main telecommunications tower in gaza has reportedly been struck. it's a very difficult situation. we haven't heard from most of our staff. we are concerned and trying to reach out to them. >> so there are about 2.3 million people in gaza, roughly half of them are 18 or under. talk about the scope of the crisis for children in gaza, what they're enduring now, and what is the scope of the need

for aid, for humanitarian aid, to get into gaza? >> the needs are immense. right now we have hundreds of thousands of children who have been enduring over 20 days of a relentless nightmare, the situation in gaza is horrific. we need a humanitarian cease-fire because, you know, children are on the move with no safe place to stay, running out of water, food, medication. they are not able to access health services, and let's not forget as we mentioned, half of the population in gaza is of children. it's one of the mostly dense -- densely populated areas on the planet. children have no safe place to stay. we've heard already that nearly 3,000 children have reportedly been killed since the beginning of this conflict. many thousands more have been injured. that's an average of nearly 400 a day, children killed or

injured reportedly since 7th of october. the situation is catastrophic. it's horrific. it's desperate for these children, and we need that cease-fire to hold. >> i just want to point out for our viewers that there are questions that normally i would ask about conditions in gaza and the situation with hamas that i'm not going to ask because you do charitable work and you do important humanitarian work, and i don't want your workers to be subjected to any politics or anything like that that i might be curious about. so just for anybody wondering why i'm not asking it, that's why i'm not asking it. what are the long-term risks that these children might face if this conflict stretches on as is anticipated for weeks or for months? >> the consequences are very dire, jake. let's just mention a figure here. before this conflict started, an estimated 800,000 children were in need of mental health support because of anxiety or depression

or, you know, ongoing trauma, that was before october the 7th. so imagine now what conditions these children are going to be, how are they going to be able to process everything that is happening? they might have seen their houses destroyed, their parents gone, they might be alone, scared, displaced without a safe place to stay. and that's just one aspect of the long-term impact that this conflict can have. we're talking about infrastructure being destroyed, children no longer have schools. they are now hiding in schools instead of going to school to learn and thrive. so the long-term impacts are right now difficult to calculate, but certainly they will be very severe. >> is any aid at all getting to unicef teams in gaza? any at all? >> unicef managed to get 14 trucks through the rafah channel, the corridor, since it

opened. right now because of the escalation of the conflict, it's very hard to get more through. whatever got through is not enough. it's a drop in the ocean. we need a lot more, and it needs to continue. so that's why once again we call for this humanitarian cease-fire so we can get our supplies through with our u.n. partners and other organizations and also get our humanitarian workers on the ground to support the distribution of these supplies and logistics. for that we also need telecommunication back. >> lastly, what are the needs facing children in israel who survived the october 7th attacks and maybe lost family in the attacks or maybe experienced trauma? >> well, i think they are encourage nt -- in urgent need f mental health support. what they've seen is traumatizing. even for those who were not directly part of that or haven't had family members involved, just the atmosphere of fear and

concern across the border and whatever is happening there and -- and the intensity of what's happening surely affects them, too, it disrupts their lives. so we're also very concerned about them. for unicef, a child is a child no matter where they come from. and we hope that they're getting the support they so desperately need. >> i are card or perez, thank you so much. obviously people know where to go in they want to help contribute to unicef. another live look at gaza right now. we can hear even more strikes going on this evening. at times they've been followed by flames. coming up next we're going to take you on the ground in gaza, see the aftermath of those strikes after they hit.

in the last 24 hours, several pro-palestinian protests have taken place around the world. in rome, italy, thousands marched in front of the coliseum carrying the palestinian flag, chanting "free palestine." thousands more walked the streets in berlin, germany, and london, calling for a cease-fire in gaza. demonstrations were seen in istanbul where turkey's president told the crowd they should lead the rally with a determination never to allow new gazas to arise. the reality is much of the world can only watch and wait to see when and how this brutal war between israel and hamas will end. meanwhile, many innocent palestinians are living a true nightmare right now in gaza. we show the thousands displaced palestinians who are taking refuge in a hospital, one of the israeli defense forces claim is

a hamas command center. we want to warn you that the video in this report is graphic and may be upsetting to watch. >> reporter: 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, shrouded bodies the latest amongst thousands of victims. israel says it is targeting hamas, now expanding its ground operations. a retaliation they say to the hamas terror attacks of october

7th which left at least 1,400 dead and more than 200,000 others held hostage -- more than 200 others held hostage. the numbers killed 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 are allying through this. this was the scene on friday at the hospital, the largest in gaza. now not only a lifeline to thousands of patients but a sanctuary to tens of including children displaced by the war. "we're not 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 red buildings, as i mentioned, are buildings that hamas is using. >> 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 walking in all parts of hospital, in the basement, the different clinics, the different buildings. i've been there night and day, peacetime, wartime all over. i have never seen anything that looked like our could 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. cnn in amman, jordan. >> thank you so much for that report. soldiers with the israel defense forces are among the hundreds missing after hamas' surprise terrorist attack on october 7th including 18-year-old tamir who was kidnapped from a base near the gaza border. tamir's father joins us now live. thank you so much for being here. really appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> first of all, i'm so sorry that we're meeting under these circumstances. how are you and your family

doing? >> not in good shape. >> yeah. >> it's very difficult thing to have in the middle of life. we didn't thought that it could happen to us. we don't have days, we don't have nights. >> it's all one big blur? >> yeah. >> yeah. and one of the things that must be odd is i know in the rest of the world they distinguish between civilians and military, but in a country like israel where there's conscription and everybody has to serve in the military, some people make careers of the military. >> yeah. >> i understand that. but tamir, how old was he? >> almost 19. fresh -- fresh soldier. >> yeah. yes, he's in the military, but he didn't really have a choice. >> no. he didn't have a choice.

tamir was staying at the military base near the gaza border. and his unit helps the civilians in gaza. his unit gives assurance and license to the gaza people to work in israel, to come to hospitals in israel, and volunteered to do that day. >> because he wanted to help the palestinian people. >> yeah, he wanted to help the palestinians and to his friend that wanted to be at home that saturday. >> oh, he was -- >> he volunteered to to that shift. >> oh, somebody wanted to -- he was substituting for them. >> yeah. >> wow. what do you want people to know about tamir? >> tamir is -- he have great

heart. he liked to help everybody, his friends, his family. very smart boy. >> yeah. >> it's not because i'm his father, but he's a very smart boy. he wanted to be there and to help and to do something good in the army. he liked it very much. >> you saw video of tamir being kidnapped, being dragged into gaza. >> yeah. >> what was that like? >> terrible. my small est -- my youngest daughter saw it. >> how old is she? >> 14. at 4:00 p.m., and she was terrified. she said, tamir kidnapped.

and it was a terrible thing to see. he was terrified. his eyes was in shock. but he went to gaza with his two friends on his feet. we saw him crossing the border on his feet in good health. he looks in good health. but we don't know now what is -- what is going on with him or with all the rest. >> are you worried because now the -- netanyahu this evening announced that the idf is beginning phase two of this war, the ground campaign. i know there are families with loved ones that have been kidnapped by hamas. i know there are families that are worried and didn't want this to start because they're worried about the hostages. how do you feel? >> yeah, i'm very worried

because i think that it's not good for us right now. we have more than 200 hostages in gaza, babies, kids, youth, adults, grandmothers, grandfathers, soldiers, and we want them all come back home. we have more than 6,000 prisoners here in israeli prisons. palestinian, hamas prisoners. we must do the terms of action now -- >> trade -- >> trade now, now, now, asap. >> yeah. >> don't do any move right now. do the trade. >> yeah. >> there is a huge problem now

with our people that stays in gaza, in the holes -- i don't know where. and nobody take care of them. >> if you could talk to the people who have your son right now, what would you say to them? >> set them free. they want to be free. they help you. they didn't harm you. set them free. >> when president biden was here a few days ago he said that he had warned netanyahu and the cabinet that after 9/11 we made some mistakes in the united states, and part of that was being consumed with rage. do you worry that maybe israel is acting in sometimes out of

rage instead of being strategic and smart? does that concern you? >> i think so -- >> the rage is understandable. the rage is -- >> i'm a regular person, but i think that we should come down for a bit to think and to do the right action to bring them all back and to think about the nnext -- at gaza, that's what i think. >> i hope they bring tamir back soon. i really hope they bring him back soon. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for sharing your story. >> thank you so much. >> we'll be right back.

it began as a celebration of peace and music, and it ended in horror. for some women at the nova music festival, there were moments where death would have been preferable to being captured by hamas. and for those who managed to escape, survival came with trauma after witnessing the unthinkable. i spoke with one of the women who survived, and i bring you her story now with the warning much of what you're about to hear is quite disturbing. this was not a military target.

♪ the revelers here not combatants. [ gunfire ] and yet, without warning, hamas terrorists turned the nova music festival into one of the most brutal and bloody scenes of a new war. "it doesn't make sense that they came with that number of weapons to use against civilians. it just doesn't make sense," says litala. no one knew what to do. the news reported an army of terrorists had crossed into israel, some ran to their cars. they got a call warning that on the roads everyone was getting shot. soli and her friends stopped the car and ran inside a camper. and for eight hours, they stayed in there in total silence. the door locked. six on the floor, lital and a friend flat on the bed. terrorists banged on the windows. one poured a chemical on the camper and tried to set it on fire. they feared machine gun spray, but only twice did hamas

terrorists fire into the camper. one time leaving bullet holes in the ac unit. the scariest moment, she says, is when terrorists tried to unhitch the camper from their car and tow it away. if they had gotten in the car and taken the rv to gaza, were you going to do anything? she says, "as a girl the worst that can happen is worse than dying is being taken to gaza. we were all thinking about it," she says, "that if they took the caravan we would jump out, creates chaos. because we prefer to die than be taken as hostages." until their phones died they sent desperate texts to their families. you don't understand how many terrorists there are, she told her father. they are here. four hours into the attack, where are all the forces, she asked. she said her family's connection to top military brass was little help. her dad replayed the message to a former higher ups in the

israeli defense forces who said the centers where the terrorists are located are in the settlements and not the open fields where you are. he said to be calm. one hour or two until the army would come. lital knew then that the israeli defense forces knew nothing. she feared she would never again see her 1-year-old son. the army did eventually show up. and after eight hours hiding in terror, lital and her friends emerged from the caravan to see piles of bodies. more than 260 innocents at the nova music festival were killed that day. she realized how fortunate she had been. "i prayed really hard that god wouldn't leave my boy without his mother," she told us it. "he's so small. many people who prayed weren't that lucky." she'd the distance from the caravan to the soldiers, about 300 meters, there were piles of bodies. and they started driving on the road, hundreds, hundreds,

hundreds. she has no way to describe. bodies were blocking the road. she got back home. she saw on the news that there were at least 100 murders. she looked at her mom and said to her, "there are at least 1,000," and her mom said that was not possible. "you've never seen a dead body before, you have post trauma." she said, "no, i know what i saw," and she was right. one of most difficult parts is returning home and seeing a lot of people who are missing, and you saw them there dead. and you can't tell their families because it's not your place. it was never-ending, lital tells us. it's still not finished. we're still in it. maybe it's jarring to some people, she says, the comparison of this situation to the holocaust. it was also jarring to me at the beginning, but the moment that i felt and i heard and saw the world's denial of what happened, i understood why they're comparing it to the holocaust.

natal is home with her baby boy now, but her husband's not home. he's in the reserves. he's off defending israel. as we hear the blasts hitting gaza tonight, the israeli military says one of those strikes last night took out several high-ranking hamas commanders. how that might impact the leadership of the terror group. that's next.

we're back with live coverage from tel aviv. you're looking at some live pictures from over gaza. israel's military says its war iwar planes have hit 150 underground targets, they killed, quote, several hamas operatives. they say that includes one high-up hamas terrorist who israel says helped plan the horrific october 7th terrorist attack that killed more than 1,400 in israel, most of them civilians. as israel strikes hamas, a major question is whether they are able to destroy hamas' kaep capabilities and prevent them from regrouping in the future. rafael romo is with me now. this is one of dozens of hamas leaders that israel says it's eliminated this month. >> that's correct, jake. so the israel defense forces has put together a list of 32 targeted killings of the hamas leadership. and this list includes a number of different people, people who are in charge of logistics,

tactics, the military wing, and -- and many of those involved in planning the october 7th terrorist attacks. one that stands out and let me show who he is, the reason why he stands out is because he was in charge of hamas aerial assets responsible for hamas uavs, drones, paragladers, as well as aerial detection and service systems killed saturday. i talked to a fame near ashkelon, and they were telling me a friend of theirs saw how they came down on october 7 using paragliders and screaming at them in arabic that they were going to kill them. a very hateful language. and so apparently this guy that we just saw was responsible for not only training them but also equipping them. >> interesting. what about the state of the leadership when it comes to hamas' intelligence capabilities? >> yeah, it seems like if we

take a look at that list and we have to caution that it is a list that was put by the -- together by the idf -- >> sure -- >> -- we don't have a way as cnn to independently verify that's the case. >> yes, we're not experts on -- >> we have no access to gaza. >> right. >> but it seems like they have crushed a significant portion of the leadership, especially those involved in planning that. and there's another guy who also stands out for another reason. his name is shadibarud. one of the hamas officials partially responsible for planning the october 7th attacks. he was killed thursday. so again, here's another commander who apparently was one of the masterminds of the october 7th attacks. >> give us a broader picture about what other hamas leaders might have been killed and what their roles would have been. >> we took a close look at the list. it is very interesting because the list includes, if you can

imagine this, a guy who was responsible for being the minister of the economy for hamas. the guy -- >> shade it they were taking out not -- they said they were taking out not just the military and terrorist operatives but the governance, as well. >> you can imagine if you take down someone a minister of economy who's responsible for the finances, then it is a direct hit at hamas' ability to get any money to support their military wing. those who have been launching rockets that you have seen, that i have seen here in tel aviv, it's going to in the long run anyway limit their ability to do so. but again, 32 people that we know of because of what the idf says. >> that also is 32 out of several thousands that have been killed. rafael romo, thank you so much. t let's bring in military analyst and retired air force colonel cedric leighton. colonel leighton, as we heard from rafael, israel says it's killed more than 30 hamas

leaders since october 7th. would you consider that a big dent in dismantling hamas, especially including the sizable death toll in gaza, or do you think there's still a long way to go? >> well, jake, there's definitely a ways to go. but it is a sizable dents. and especially when the leadership that has apparently been killed includes a chief or deputy intel chief and the air chief and some -- probably some of the planners that were associated with the operation on october the 7th, it's significant. and it really does put a dent in hamas' capabilities. having said that, it's pretty clear that hamas has a capacity to regenerate itself. the sbench probably relatively deep, but it is something that they would have to overcome, this deficit, in order to really resume effective military operations against israel. >> israel says or more

specifically the israel defense forces saying that gaza's largest hospital where thousands of civilians are currently sheltering, where there are -- nobody's questioning the idea of legitimately doctors, nurses, patients, that that hospital underneath is a hamas command and control center. what level of confidence should the u.s. have in the idf's intelligence to make that assertion given the fact that -- i think there is a legitimate reason to question how good the israeli government's intelligence is when it comes to gaza given what happened on october 7th? >> yeah, it's -- one of those areas of intelligence that if you get it wrong you get it very wrong. so it really depends on the kinds of sources that the israelis used in order to get that intelligence, how accurate they were. was it just based on one force like electronic intercepts, or was it also based on human

intelligence and other means that the israelis could use. so the more there is corroboration between several sources of intelligence, the greater the confidence would be that the israelis are wr-- are right. we don't know what the exact sources of this intelligence were, but it is pretty clear that the israelis certainly believe that, and there is historical precedent for hamas and other groups to use hospitals as a cover for their operations. but in this case, you have to be very right before you actually go attacking something like that, and it's a very dangerous thing on a variety of levels. >> so we've seen this eruption of activities at the same time two nights in a row. what is the strategic advantage for the idf to attack at night? >> so nighttime gives the idf a lot of advantages, and they have

a large capacity at night. they have been used to fighting at night. they use night-vision goggles. they have advantages that hamas generally does not have. for example, hamas does not have as many night-vision goggles in terms of their military or their terrorist capabilities as does the idf. so with the advantages of night, the idf can move forward both on the ground and in the air, both fixed wing and rotary wing aircrafts. and they can use that capability to really sow confusion among the ranks of hamas fighters. that's the idea, to fights at night when you -- to fight at night when you can see and the enemy can't. that is one of the key things for the idf to consider. >> all right. colonel, thank you so much. as israel retaliates against hamas in gaza tonight for the october 7th attacks, next video

captured from the gopro of a member of hamas who was killed. it reveals the preparation and the tactics behind the terrorist attack against israel. stay with us.

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coverage of the wrar between hamas and israel. we have been hearing almost complete bombardment. our cnn team took a deep dive, videos taken by hamas during the massacre, three weeks ago today. disturbing picture of how hamas blew through israel defenses. what video leaves out. >> a rocket propelled grenade launcher close at hand. as the sunrises over the gaza strip, he will be dead before night fall. cnn reviewed dozens of videos, israeli first responders have been releasing on social media. coordination and new methods

used by hamas, the scope of the attack and how israel's military was so caught off guard. cnn obtained this booklet of weapons from the israeli government found on the body of a dead terrorist. images of video cameras, the words in arabic, showing how to freight a are gopro. >> how they were instructing terrorists ininvolved how to use a gopro speaks for itself. >> says the videos demonstrate a major escalation the type of attacks that hamas is capable of. >> this is not just surprising. orders of magnitude bigger than anything we have seen hamas do in the past. >> and that's evident in a series of videos that start in a southern gaza town. one group of terrorists gathers in a courtyard, mounting motorcycles, chanting prayers. they're heavily armed working together. can you see another camera

mounted on a helmet. they break through a fence at the border with israel. and then run. the video shows no israeli soldiers are there to stop them. they detonate explosives outside a concrete wall protecting kibbutz sh sh shalom. around the same time another group of hamas militants is approaching another kibbutz. they crawl over the solid gate and start walking around shooting and a chilling moment inside a home, a hamas militant cries out the word for mother. >> another terrorist is also hit and the last video his camera

captures is the sky. it's unclear if other militants escaped. the video camera was left behind and found by first responders. but other videos made their way back in hamas hands, civilian murders were removed. >> how 77 sit as a recruiting tool? >> when isis did that it was incredibly effective. they recruited 40,000 muslims to come fight in iraq and syria. >>trophy of information for u.s. and israeli investigators and israeli officials say just like film of holocaust atrocities, these films are important to document what happened on october 7th. part of an after action review of the attack a common practice after massive attacks and i'm told had he helped officials, highlighting vulnerabilities

that need to be addressed to prevent future attacks. coming up at the top of the hour cnn's jake tapper live on the ground in televiv, what the israeli government is saying about the continuous bombardment of gaza which is g going on n rt now. f

>> welcome back to cnn newsroom i am jake tapper, it is 3

alameda county here and i'm looking out over tel aviv, it is three and a half weeks since the attack. we are harl nearly constant explosions from gaza, after israeli president benjamin netanyahu told the world that the next phase of the war against hamas has begun, he warned it might be a long road ahead. >> we are also following breaking news back in the united states but first what does this next phase of war mean for the 230 hostages held by hamas? that number of hostages updated recently as families wait and pray for their loved ones brutally kidnapped on october 7th. negotiators in qatar are working around the clock even though the israeli response expands