it's 3:00 on the east coast, noon on the west coast. 10:00 p.m. in eastern ukraine where a scene of unthinkable tragedy has happened. updating what we know. hundreds of people are dead, 295 confirmed dead. after an apparent missile attack took out a packed jumbo jet over ukraine. this is an area of intense fight between the ukrainian government and pro russian rebels. officials on each side are blaming officials on the other. now we have amateur video that reportedly shows the exact moment the jet crashed into the ground. here. we're told that fireball was malaysia airlines boeing 777,

flight 17, as it explode on impact. 295 people confirmed dead. there are reports that 23 americans were onboard. that's according to the manifest. the state depth has not confirmed that. the pictures from scene bloody bite parts, broken seats and some passengers still trapped in their seats. the debris field and bodies stretch for nearly ten miles across the east of ukraine. here, video from moments ago from the scene. the jeck broke apart in large pieces, many with no evidence of fire at all. suggesting it likely did not explode until impact with earth. ukraine's president says his forces had nothing to do with the crash. he calls this an act of terrorism, and vowed that the people responsible will pay. same story from the pro-russian rebels. one official says his force dozen not have the weapons to hit a jet cruising at altitudes

and their missiles only go 13,000 people. but witnesses saw a powerful launch issue in the same reason where the plane went down. we'll show you the flight path. from amsterdam to kuala lampur and went down over the east of ukraine, right next to the russian border in a separate incident ukrainian officials say a russian plane shot down a ukrainian fighter jet using an air-to-air missile. defense officials say yuan yuan -- in ukraine say it's proof the kremlin is directly supporting the separatists in even ukraine, which it is. president obama talked to vladimir putin this morning. the two spoke briefly about the jet crash but the white house did not give more details. president obama spoke about the situation at a speech on themer earlier today. >> the world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near

the russia-ukraine border, and it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. right now we're working to determine whether there were american citizens onboard. that is our first priority, and i directed my national security team to stay in close contact with the ukrainian government, the united states will offer any assistance we can to help country, our thoughtsd and why. and prayers are with all the families and passengers, wherever they call home. >> the kremlin reports that president putin expressed his condolences to the malaysian government. yesterday president obama slapped russia with more economic punishment for its continued involvement in eastern ukraine. now a game-changer in an already very tense situation. we'll get to jennifer griffin at the pentagon. first, i want to give you a report from one of first reporters from "the new york times" and her word tell the

story of this tragedy. this is not short. but i want to read it to you. it brought things home for us. after viewing debris over an area of several mys malaysia airlines flight mh17 came to rest in a large wheat field, dotted with purple flours and ringed in queen ann's lace, incongress guissely many of the bodies were largely intact, indicating that the plane had made it's least a somewhat controlled landing. as dark descended on the field, light rain began to fall. casting a funeral pall over a scene of almost unspeakable horror. a woman in a black sweater top on her back, blood from the firs, her left arm raised. another victim, naked except for a black bra, lay on the fields. her gray hair mixing with the grown grasses, one leg broken, and her body torn. a young boy who looked to be around 10 years old lay on his

side in a red t-shirt reading-don't panic. pieces of the plane scattered crossroad the road and field. a seat back with the television display cracked. a tail fin displaying the colors of malaysian airlines. one televised image showed a travel guide for bali, almost untouched. the road was lined with fire engines and emergency vehicles. militia many meant fall in this territory, urged journalists to take photographs. rescue workers tied pieces of white cloth on tree branches to mark where the bodies were found. there were no houses in the immediate vicinity. the only visible structure was a poultry operation with long white coops viz nibble the distance. many of the victims were still in their seatbelts and aattached to pieces of the plane one man still in his socks but without his pants. lay on the field. his right arm placed on his stomach as if in repose.

a young man in blue shorts wearing red nike sneakers lay with his arms and legs displayed outword, clutching his iphone. the victims of the crash, a malaysian airline flight 17 from "the new york times" reporter, sabrina, one of the very first on scene. 295 lives lost. and in the early going the belief is, a missile knock that plane out of the sky before it exploded in the wheat field in eastern ukraine. jennifer griffin has breaking details at the -- from washington. >> a pentagon officials are saying they can't confirm what brought down the malaysian flight. they've been tracking both russian fighters as well as russian arms crossing the border into that separatist region of ukraine for some time. it's one of the reasons that the president put those sanctions against russian defense industry

yesterday as well as certainly the oil industry and other parts of the russian government. what we can say is that we have just found a report from the russian news agency from june 29 suggesting the russian rebels in the ukraine separatist region had overtaken a missile base where there were these buk missile launchers stored. these are missiles that can reach as high is a 72,000 feet. whatever brought down the malaysian plane would have to be able to fly at that height, and there are only three types of weapons we know of that could be fired from the ground and reach that high. one of is the buk missile or fa-11 or fa17, both in the hands of the ukrainian government as well as the rebels. or an f-300, something that only the russian army would have. pentagon officials say that

about 10,000 to 12,000 russian troops had gathered on the ukrainian border, causing them some concern. they weren't sure why they were there on the border because back in mid-june, the russias pulled back men of -- many of their troops and packed up. so the troops moved into the vicinity in recent days. then you have the back and forth between the rebels themselves and the ukraine government, finger-pointing beginning but, again, if it was a missile that brought down the plane, that both sides have possession of those buk missiles that are capable of flying at that great height, and as we discussed, shepard, those missiles can lock on to a target and they shoos the largest heat signature and those who fire those missiles can't control it once it locks on to -- so this could be a tragic mistake itself was a buk missile that brought down the

mh17. >> jennifer griffin from washington, many thanks. we have been reporting throughout the afternoon that there are multiple finger pointing going on here, and the russian news agency or news channel, about which you may have heard volumes during the crisis, which is frankly nothing more than a propaganda outlet for the creme len, it's raise -- kremlin, it's putting up something to pay attention to rt is reporting: president put's plane might have been the target of ukrainian missile. rt is calling this a ukrainian missile. malaysia airlines flight 17 plane traveling almost the same route as russian president vladimir putin's jet shortly before the crash that killed 295. quoting now, i can say that putin's plane and the malaysia boeing intersected at the same point and september echelon that

was close to warsaw on the 330m issue lawn at the height of 10,100 meters. the presidential jet was there at 1621 hours moscow time. a source told the news agency, the contures of the aircraft are similar. linear dimple messengers similar. as for a coloring at a remote distance they're almost identical. you know what this is? this is vladimir putin saying, ukrainein's tried to hit me. rt is the kremlin. rt reports those ukrainians might have been trying to hit vladimir putin. here's what is different this time. in the past, his actions have been undercover. we have not been able to see what it was they were doing when they took over crimea. this time the european satellites are up in the air, the american satellites in the air. this time european ground stations are there. this time america has intelligence sources on the ground. this time the world was watching. this time his lies won't fly.

this time if vladimir putin is responsible, the world will know, and ukraine promises he will pay. and we'll be right back.

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your modefy gravity.ything. find hidden treasure. make rainbows appear. now she could use a hand, so she can keep living on her own. comfort keepers can help you help her. our professional caregivers are carefully chosen and highly trained to provide a variety of in-home services while truly engaging with your aging loved ones so they can stay happy at home. comfort keepers. keeping the comforts of home. call comfort keepers now to learn more. let's get to the white house now. ed henry is live there. ed? >> interesting piece of new information. a short time ago we're told vice-president joe biden who has been dealing with ukrainian

officials, was at the inauguration of the new president a few weeks back, just got off the phone with president poroshenko offering assistance to help determine what happened and why. you were talking a moment ago about this report from a russian news agency suggesting that perhaps this was a ukrainian missile, ukrainian arms targeting russian president vladimir putin. on the phone call between president putin and president obama we're told by white house officials that president obama confronted president putin with what they term, quote, extensive evidence that russia is sending heavy weapons in right now to separatists in ukraine. so, the u.s. is obviously for some time been saying this but even today as this plays out is pointing the finger not for this incident but in general, the climate on the ground in ukraine, charging that russia has been sending weapons into the separatists. that could obviously be a very

interesting development as this moves forward. and also, fascinating that president obama was on the phone with president putin this morning as this was playing out. they were supposed to talk about the new u.s. sanctions. i posed yesterday against russia but instead we are told that during this call president putin started getting air traffic control reports telling him about this crash and started passing the information on to the president. if it was putin on the dark behind what was behind the crash and didn't pass it nonwe don't know. on the other hand, did president putin know more and not share it? all we know right now is what the president said a little earlier, that this appears to be a terrible tragedy. vice-president biden telling the ukraines we will assist. >> i wonder if the president's scheduled holds or if this will cause him to change?

>> the president went wheels up a short time ago from delware, where we had the previously scheduled event involving a pushing for more highway funding. so he is on his way now, not here to the white house but to new york city where he is doing two fundraisers for democrats tonight. we expect him to arrive late back here at the white house. we'll see whether he cuts any of that short. maybe at new york he'll do the fundraisers but trunkate the schedule. and he is on his way to new york city right now. >> ed henry at the white house, thank you very much. the ukrainian foreign minister has just been speaking in ukraine updating -- there was nothing new -- let's listen -- sky news is playing it. let's listen. >> -- that they recognize the plane is civilian and they also discuss that there are many great number of casualties on

the scene, on the site, or where the plane crashed down. we -- ukrainian government will continue to investigate the criminal case. not terrorist, criminal case. which was conducted and committed again by those -- are established at this -- documented phone calls, officers of russian federation. again, let me express deep and sincere condolences to all people who lost their dearest members of their families. thank you very much. >> no new information coming from there bus that's the ukrainian security minister, that guy in charge of security for ukraine. suggesting that, of course, the kremlin is responsible. that russian forces are

responsible. we'll wait for all the facts to come out, and it's our belief they will come out soon enough. we know that 295 people are dead. we know that the wreckage field is some ten miles across, and the pictures coming in now from sky news, from the feed from sky news, are illuminating. it was not burning from the video as it crashed. as it came to earth. the explosion happened once it hit the ground. so, whatever caused this plane to come from the sky, the fire that result eddied not happen until it hit the ground, and there you can pieces of the plane strewn about. the wreckage is a ten-mile long area. we believe the plane broke up at altitude, which was 33,000 feet. we still have no confirmation from anyone that 23 americans were onboard but we can tell you history tells us from these sorts of events, having covered this sort of thing for the better part of a quarter

century, the manifests are almost always on point. i do not remember a manifest that had to be adjusted by more than a person or two, in a quarter century of plane crash coverage. most likely, if it says there were 23 american on the manifest, there were 23 americans onboard the flight. we don't know who they are. this is a very busy business route from amsterdam to kuala lampur and a number of dutch tour groups were on board this flight as well as that had been arranged previously. we do not know the ages of the people or nothing of the rest of the nationalities except to speculate a number of europeans onboard and it's a tragic day in ukraine. we're waiting for a 4:00 p.m. news conference, who is that from -- 4:00 news conference from malaysia airlines, 4:00 eastern time, 3:00 central. malaysia airlines to come forward and tell us what they

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breaking news coverage continues. it's been more than four hours since the plane crashed and we heard from ukrainian officials they're still not be allowed to the crash sight in donetsk because the separatist, the rebels who have taken over the control of this area, will not let them in. in fact, we eave report from bbc that confirms a picture which we now-in possession of but cannot show you because of licensing which shows what they call armed terrorists taking control of the

scene and not allowing any emergency person mel to -- personnel to that. so i we talked about how the rebels have sent out messages in one way or another, most recently by the russian version of facebook, claiming credit for shooting down an aircraft, a ukrainian cargo transport plane you might move army officials -- army troops around on it. so, first, the head of the region claimed credit for shooting down an anatov26 and now a similar claim. listen to this. this is one of the rebel sites on the internate that ukraine monitors, and another man have suggested they did it. a social media site attributed to a top ukrainian rebel commander, says the insurgents tried to shoot -- had shot down

an army transport at the location where the malaysian airlines went down. here's the quote: the people -- donetsk people's run, the top military commander, wrote the following on the russian version of facebook: we just downed an an26 transport plane near torez. down near the progress mines, which is where this jet went down. the vk page attributeed to igor, the rebels shot down another an26 on june 14th and killed 49 service members. so, that is two different people with these rebels who first said they shot down a ukrainian transport plane, then deleted their post when they found out it was actually a passenger shut from malaysia airlines. in addition, these rebels are saying we can't do that because we don't have any of these

weapons that you're talking about. these weapons they say the missile that went up and took down the jet, we don't have those. not true. jennifer griffin reports, and others have commented, that they took over a military base in ukraine where these specific missiles are located. jennifer griffin is in washington now with more information. >> in fact we just retrieved a deleted tweet from the donetsk run, the official twitter page of the russian rebels in eastern ukraine, and it is from june 29th, and it brags about overtaking this base and it says, quote, self-propelled antiaircraft missile systems, buk, in the territory a1402, take control by the dough net k republican. -- donetsk run republic and then shows a photograph from this tweet by the donetsk

republic, showing a buk missile that can fly up to 72,000 feet. so, it appears that the russian rebels in eastern ukraine overtook this military base where we know that the ukraine military did have some buk missiles they bought previously from the russians when they were allied with russia, and they have overtaken this base. they brag about and it then delete the tweet from june 29th after the plane goes down, realize that i go want to have deniablity they didn't have this kind of missile that could reach that high. this is an incredible development. if you look back what was happening on june 29th, the russian rebels in donetsk overtaking this missile base with the medium range buk missiles. >> jennifer griffin with fascinating information. so, first they said they knocked

a transport jet out of the air, and then said, no, we didn't. then they said we don't have buk missiles and then we have a picture of them having buk missiles because they took over a sovereign nation and made it the people's republic of donetsk. their lies are getting caught quicker these days. the lies continue. the fact-checking is happening more quickly. what about the buk missiles said to have brought down the jet? gunny duff. tell it what this and is how it works. >> the buk missile system is a self-propelled medium range and surface to ground missile. it was designed by the soviets in 1999 and has the ability to take out aircrafts and also can

take another drones and cruise missiles and also can take out smart bombs. a very sophisticated weapons system. >> how difficult to, say, move around and get into position. >> it's on a vehicle of a sort that has a turret at the top and there are four missiles that can be in the top of the system. this is what great -- wet, not great but has a 72,000 range capacity and has a radar system that can detect any object that is coming within range. so it can start tracking it in this case the aircraft was at 37,000 feet. win the range. it has a laser system that can track past the target, has an optical system that can track the targets and a thermal system. so it's quite complex and very capable of finds aircraft in the sky. >> if you shot this thing toward, let's say, an anatov26 and there was a larger jet, let's say, boeing 777, higher in

the same range, jennifer griffin's reporting is it might go to the hotter, larger target. is that true? >> yes. very well could. i you're using that thermal system, about it also has an optical tracking system so the targetter can make sure they keep their eye on the target and it's a smart weapon. it was denied in 1979 but they have modified it and improved it over the years so very capable of hitting its target and can also shoot three missiles at one time and track all three at a single target. >> you don't have to be an investigative person to tell this plane did not burn in the air. parts untouched. people strapped in that have not burned at all. so i suppose this miss tool take off part of the wing or plane without blowing up the fuel. >> exactly. it can impair the aircraft from flying, instead of exploding it. awful its goal is to take it down and it was obviously

successful in this case. >> all right, thank you very much. live -- >> thank you for inviting me. >> i want to update another news item. i mentioned earlier the entire world seems to be teetering and we just got new informing from israel, and -- new information from israel and it's not. the israely delves forces have the begun to expand gaza on the land, sea, and air. palestinian sources report heavy israeli defense force artillery fire throughout the entire gaza strip. a gaza resident told a newspaper in israel, quote, they're firing from every direction. everything here is shaking. as the world investigates the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17 and 295 people lay dead in a field just west of the russian border, the israeli defense forces just made an air, land, and sea directive on to the gaza strip. right on the border there. i'm shepard smith in new york,

our coverage continues in a moment.

>> two major news stories, continuing coverage of the crash of malaysian airlines and report from scene, i've never seen anything like it, one local rebel fighter tells me. you look down and see ears and fingers and bones. snyder reports locals say everything exploded in the air, and fell in pieces. both bodies and the plane itself, quoting, people thought they were being bombed. the plane hit in the air and fell in multiple pieces. and at the same time, we have gotten word in the last five minutes from a newspaper and others that a significant israeli operation has just begun inside the gaza, by land, by sea, and by air. two breaking news stories that

we'll continue to cover right after this.

there is breaking news now on fox news channel. the jerusalem post and others are reporting now that a ground invasion of the gaza is beginning as we speak. that the israeli defense forces have begun a large-scale movement, a significant expansion of operations, as they put it, on the gaza border by land, sea, and air. a gaza resident tells the israeli newspaper, quote, they're firing from every direction, everything here is shaking, unquote. ordinarying to the reporting of the newspaper, palestinian sources report heavy israeli artillery fire throughout the entire gaza strip and these are live pictures from gaza city. our sister network sky news, which is well-staff thread, their correspondent in the gaza reports that just in the last five or six minutes, all power was cut to gaza city, which is

the biggest city there, like 1.7 million people. very, very densely populated. the entirety of the gaza is the size of two washington, d.c.s, with a population infinitely greater, and now the power has been cut and it's our understanding from the jerusalem post reporting and others, that a ground incursion is beginning -- has begun. here's what else we know. the last thing the israeli people and its leaders want right now is a large -- is large numbers of casualties on either side of the border. it's the last thing they want. bit -- but as you now talks between israeli leaders and hamas, brokered by the president in egypt, broke down completely. there's no truce. thesaurus no cease fire. and now you can see on the left -- of you put up the sky pictures -- on the left-hand side of the screen, gaza city --

they switched -- the power had been cut and the invasion has again. we don't know how deeply they will go. we know that part of the israeli defense forces' goals and israeli government has been to stop the rocket fire, which has been coming from the gaza into israel. they want to get to the tunnels, get to the weapons storage areas, stop the movement of missiles, and the hope was they could do so with these air strikes, but because of the lack of a truce now it appears that a full-on operation has begun. i his -- hesitate to say invasion despite the fact the jerusalem post-is reporting that ground forces are moving in. we don't know how far they will move into the georgia. there have -- into the gaza. there have been time in just far enough to get to rocket batteries, et cetera, very close to the border. and other times they have moved all the way in and taken over for short periods of time in an

effort to get rid of the rockets which are flying into israeli territory. doesn't matter your politics on this matter. doesn't matter which side you are tied to is in solely, the truth is a ground envision bring casualties on both sides because hamas and forces inside gaza have had years to prepare for the moment that israel comes back, and they have had weapons from iran, and they are heavily fortified. the population is so dense, we have confirm now there's weapon storage inside mosques, in people's homes and that a the idf goes in the beginning, whoever goes in, will be met with great force, because hamas has been preparing for this for years. john bussey from "the wall street journal" is with was. once the peace talks broke down, that something more would happen. they promised michigan more

would happen. well, something more happened. >> this is what everybody was trying to avoid, at laos the obama administration was trying to avoid and other intervenors in this. the united nations brokered a five-hour cease fire. during that time people in the gaza strip poured out of their homes, went to the bank, went to stores, they reloaded on the necessary-to-life but were smart enough to get back into shelter, and that's when the fighting resumed. you have had michigan on the order of -- had something on the order of 2,000 israeli air strikes in the gaza area. 1600 rockets fired from gaza into israel. we're in the midst of this intense interaction now in the gaza strip. it has just gotten a lot worse, and now you find the obama administration with two different crises -- >> just for a moment. sky news reporting israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu instructed the military to begin

a ground offensive and you are looking like, and only on fox news channel, the explosions are happening. 10:41 p.m. in gaza city and the fires light up the night sky. let's listen in as sky news covers it. >> is a tiny area, really. when you go there, when you cross over into gaza, from israel into gaza, you're crossing into a place in some respect you feel like time has forgotten. densely populated. >> should recent, who was able to tweet earlier, can join us by telephone. what are you experiencing? >> well, it's actually very difficult to see anything because the power has gone out over most of gaza. especially the northern part of georgia, close to the border with israel. there's absolutely no light at all so we can't see very much but what we can hear is terrifying. we heard the sounds of constant

bombardment from the naval ships for the past few hours. also seen flares being lobbed over essentially to light up targets in gaza, especially in the north and eastern parts of gaza, and they were then shelled by the naval ships and have been hearing air strikes and reports of many casualties going to various hospitals, including the main hospital, the power outage is causing havoc. and right now it's very difficult to understand what is going on. i think we are really in the dark, like the rest of the 1.8 million palestinians that must be terrified right now. there's not very much information coming through. we know from the prime minister, the israeli prime minister, netanyahu, as well, as the israeli army spokeswoman that ground troops have been mobilized. but where they are, have they

crossed the buffer zone, how far into the populated areas, it's difficult to know that. with the power outage comes almost like an information blackout because we're getting a lot 0 information from television on tweets but it's difficult for people to tweet or give information without electricity and the lost of the wi-fi network. >> stay with us if you can. you have more information. >> from the israeli defense forces. saying, following ten days of hamas attack by land, air, and sea, and after repeated rejects of offers to de-escalate the situation, the idf has initiated a ground operation within the gaza strip. the idf's objective is to establish a reality in which israeli residents can live in safety and security without indiscriminate terror while striking a significant blow to

hamas' terror infrastructure. this stage of operation -- protective edge, the name given to the overall operation by israel's combat -- the missile strikes from hamas, led by the edf southern command, will include close cord nation between units and infan trait, armored corps, engineering corps-artillery in the face of hamas -- >> this operation began just 15 minutes ago 10:30 p.m. gaza time. israeli forces began to move into the gaza strip on thursday evening at 10:30 p.m. the israeli defense forces did not confirm the reports, though they now have confirmed to fox news a limited ground incursion, as they put it, of the gaza strip, has now begun. you are looking live, and only on fox in the united states, as the rockets have -- the missiles

have landed in gaza city and an invasion of gaza has begun. the idf launched a massive wave of combined air and artillery strikes in a possible sign that israel may be on the verge of a ground offensive against hamas and the islamic jihad. fox news now confirmed a limited ground invasion is underway, israel is invading the georgia sample palestinian sources say the strikes occurred up and down the slip, one strike targeted a motorcycle on their way to an attack on israel. at 10:00 local time, so 45 minutes ago, rockets sirens sounded in the tel aviv areas and other areas. the israeli iron dome defense system made a number of interceptions in the tel aviv area. hamas bombarded israel today with rockets after the end of the humanitarian truce, firing more than 100 projectiles, as

they put it, after 3:00 local time there so just about seven and a half hours ago. 81 rockets landed in open areas, two fell inside villages, damaging two homes, and 20 were intercepted by iron dome defense system. the death toll in israel is now one. the digit toll in georgia -- death doll in gaza was near 210 and as we guess rising as we see the fires rising in gaza city. the idf warned citizens in gaza today that -- to evacuate their homes homes and make their way to less populated areas of the major cities, close to 100,000 leaflets containing the message and citizens received recorded phone messages, wanting them the israeli defense forces were about to increase their attacks on gaza and now, fox news confirms, a limited ground

invasion of gaza has begun by israeli defense forces did so just 17 minutes ago. john hudde on site in gaza city. what can you tell us? >> well, shepard, we just heard two loud explosions behind me just to the north of us. here along the coastline, and we have seen heavy artillery fire. it's intensified over the course of the last 30 minutes, 45 minutes here. both cannon fire from offshore and artillery fire that looks like it's coming from across the israel-gaza border. we're hearing a lot of action, a lot of explosions to the east as well and that's where this offensive is being moved in. the ground forces going in, going after the tunnels, trying too root up the tunnels using equipment, including d-9s, the massive trackers and bulldozers that go in there and can really take out any tunnel, and we saw

it earlier today before this cease fire happened this morning, 10:00 a.m. local time, when 13 hamas militants, according to the israeli defense forces-went across the border, through a tunnel, came up near a kibbutz, an israeli community, israeli village. they were spotted. one was killed. the other trampled back into the tunnels there was an air strike. not sure if the rest were killed. this has been the main concern all along since all of this started about these tunnels. basically the transportation and the shipment of these missiles, m-75 rockets, m-75, m-305, m-75, a range up to 50 mileses and the m--302, a range up to 100 miles. so i'm looking behind me to the north. we're in gaza city, along the coastline. there's been a lot of explosions. we're hearing more -- we're hearing tracers and seeing traceres. i don't know if you can see

this. those are tracer fire. that is -- that is cannon fire from a naval vessel offshore hitting -- you can see that they're targeting a location north of us. see if there's anything else. tremendous amount of fire there to the north. that's probably maybe a quarter mile -- a half mile, mile up the coastline. this area has seen a lot of action over the course of the last ten days, and including over the weekend, when we saw an intense firefight from basically that area just up there. we were so close there was tracer fire going over our heards as -- over our heads. we're hearing choppers in the distance, most likely israeli apache helicopters. we have seen hellfire missiles

being fired. cannon fire from naval vessels. we're not hearing anything else at the moment. but this has been the pattern all night. some silence, and then artillery fire, cannon fire, will intensify, and basically all the lights are out, and you can't see any lights because the electricity has been shut off. so everything is dark. but it gets illuminated obviously when you see those explosions, when you hear the cannon fire, when you see the tracers. so i'm listening for a moment dish hear choppers. i hear the constant hum of israeli drones overhead, doing surveillance. earlier we heard what sounds like the f-16 eagles, f-16 fighters, and now it's a little still. again, really this artillery fire, the fighting has intensified, as you mentioned, ground forces are now moving in to gaza. >> incredible thing to watch. this has been the fear all along

that israel would feel like it would need to resort to this. prime minister benjamin netanyahu had been getting a lot of pressure from his right, from hawks, who said this has to be stopped and stopped now. some pressure from his left as well. now this has begun. john, do you have a sense for exact locations where they moved? the prime minister has describe it as a limited ground invasion. >> right. well, shepard, we're in west gaza here. so, behind me, that -- we're looking north. they're moving in, i believe, from the east. so the east would be camera right. probably about -- man -- three and a half, four miles possibly, from the israeli-gaza border. that area has really been hit hard as well. in fact we're at a hospital in east gaza, rehabilitation center for disabled folks that was hit with artillery fire yesterday, before -- or overnight, maybe

cannon fire -- 105-millimeter, not sure. nonetheless, that area has seen a lot love action because it's very close to the border, and all along that stretch of gas a -- georgia sashing that's where the israeli military has been focused on the tunnels. there's a lot of areas here -- hold on. we have seen a tremendous amount of air strikes in and around our location, and is a mentioned just up the coast, where that cannon fire was just coming in, that is where we saw some heavy firefight. when ground troops, special operations troops, stormed the beach and hit a hamas location over the weekend. now, standby. i'm hearing something else in the distance. hold on.

>> these look like flares the israeli military often uses to light up an area as they move in. >> reporter: we have seen a lot of that as well. we have also seen the artillery fire and also seen hellfire missiles being fired from apaches offshow, and i'm hearing the rotor blades in the distance. i'm keeping an eye to the northeast to see if we see any other tracers, any other flares, any other artillery. bottom line, this has been intensifying now for the last hour. so it's really -- the artillery fire has been ratcheted up quite a bit. >> this began at 10:30 local time there. so, what, close to half hour ago >> reporter: right. >> during the day there was five hours of calm, and we saw

pictures. the streets were crammed with people. >> reporter: well, they were. at 10:00 a.m., when the cease fire, in order to allow people to get out of their homes who have been holed up in their homes for ten days -- to get supplies, go to the market, and also go to the banks. we saw the banks were just packed with people because you got to understand, a lot of these folks have not been paid. not only over the last ten days but even before that. so they were trying to get money out of the atms in order to go shopping so we saw basically a stampede at one bank of people trying to get money out of the atm, and then over the course of the day, people going out, to the stores, market, runninger rapids before the 3:00 deadline running errands before the rockets were launched, missile strikes happening, and over that period of time and after the sun set we noticed things

intensifying and over the last hour, getting a lot of fire. hold on one second. okay, so, yes, things were busy today. i talked to one woman in line at the supermarket who said, i've been holed up in my home for ten days with my children. this is the first chance i've been able to go out, go to the supermarket. i'm scared. we're living in constant fear. we uwant this to end. but at this opinions point it looks like that's just begin. bear with me. i'm hear -- >> stay with it, john. >> reporter: go ahead. >> it's you, map. go. >> reporter: i just want to listen for a second because i'm hearing what sounded like again artillery fire. and it's tough because, again, we're in gaza city, west gaza, this offensive -- in the distance there's some illumination -- looks like in the distance the eastern side. that's where the forces will be moving in. we saw a small contingent of ground troops come in from the

coast over the weekend, but that, i think, was more targeting a hamas rocket launch site. hold on. again, more artillery fire. we haven't heard any small arms fire. that's artillery fire in the distance. don't know if you can hear that. more tracer fire. come to the right. coming from offshore. artillery fire. so, they're coming from both the west and the east, shepard. so, ground troops from the east, naval vessels, apaches from the coast, from the west, coming in. so, because cliff they're moving in from -- basically they're moving in from both sides. the ground offensive would be coming from the east and the

northeast. that's where the troops have been amassed. with the the d-9s, the bulldozers which are the tunnel busters. they've been coming in from the eastward direction and we have seen artillery fire looks like it's coming from the north and also from off the coast. so, -- again, it's so hard to hear because you have the fire from the east and then basically all directs and then of course the constant hum of the drones before us and, i see overhead in the distance what looks like a fighter jet. so they've been doing -- that's been a constant thing throughout the day that we have been here in the ten days, the hum of those drones -- hold on. the drones humming above. doing surveillance recognizance, and eve now and a again the roar of the f-16 eagles coming in and then a missile strike. so there's a lot of action going on north, in north gaza, and

northeast gaza, and to the left we're seeing cannon fire from offshore. so things are heading up. definitely heating up. going into day 11 now here on the ground here in -- getting up to day 11 here in gaza. again, more tracer fire. more cannon fire to the left. >> john, did you have any heads up on this, word in advance, something may be going down tonight? >> no. no. there's more -- hold on one second. are you seeing that now? let me get out of the way here. so they're really honing in from offshore. i don't know if you can see the tracer fire. they're hitting something right on the coast. >> we can see it.

>> shep, to answer your question, we did not gate heads up. however the israeli defense fors have been warning people the last two days to evacuate from their homes. >> it's 4:00 on the east coast. 1:00 p.m. on the west coast, i'm shepard smith in new york and news is breaking around the world. malaysia airlines flight 17 has crashed this morning east coast time, 295 people confirmed dead in the eastern part of ukraine, in the people's republic of donetsk, that area where the rebels have been fighting this proxy war between russia and the west, and at the same time, as we're still working to find out who did it and how, did a missile strike it down from the separatists, as widely believed. suddenly 30 minutes ago, an israeli ground invasion of gaza began. the israeli military saying the goal is to get rid of the tunnels.