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>> john: fox news alert, israeli defense forces saying its ground operation is expanding. this as we learn that hamas apparently running operations underneath a bunker from a hospital in gaza. >> sandra: new information from the idf, israeli defense forces. officials say this is what the massive terror complex under sharifa hospital could look like. israeli intelligence suggesting hamas uses the medical facilities to store weapons and execute attacks putting not only israelis in danger but also risking civilians in gaza. >> john: i'm john roberts in washington as we head into hour two here, hi again, sandra. >> sandra: a lot happening last hour and a new hour. sandra smith in new york. this is "america reports". we are also learning about a new attack on u.s. forces in the middle east. a defense official saying the u.s. shot down a drone targeting a u.s. air base in iraq this morning. that would be the 20th attack on

our u.s. troops in just ten days. we have fox team coverage now in the middle east, greg palkot reporting from israel's northern border. >> john: alex hogan is live in tel aviv. what are you hearing there about this increasing ground operations going on tonight? >> hi, john. the idf says it is increasing the ground operations and have seen repeated strikes coming out of gaza. all this while the country's defense minister said that when this ground invasion does officially happen, it will be long and difficult. the idf going into gaza again for another day, bringing in tanks, releasing this video of ground work saying this is the next stage of the war. galant, the defense minister, said part of the process will be tailing and dismantling the vast tunnels and they are using power

generators to ventilate the tunnels and idf soldiers conducted targeted raids by sea using attacks on hamas infrastructure and this mission included navy vessels and aircraft. now, with the crumbling infrastructure that we are seeing in gaza, the health ministry says 7300 people have been killed, including about 3,000 children. it is critical to stress those numbers are not verified but the damage is widespread. the u.n. secretary general said misery is growing by the minute. and more than 1.4 million people displaced. a lot of speculation what will come of the hostages, their families around the world hoping for answers of some kind of deal. new tonight, idf says rumors of some kind of deal is rumors, saying this is psychological terrorism for the families hoping for some kind of answer to bring those people home. what we have seen here in tel

aviv, continued air raids and strikes on the city. the crew went to a strike, a direct hit on an apartment building, injuring three people and just in the last 30 minutes we did hear a response to what we have seen today from a spokesperson from the israeli military urging everyone across the country, if you hear those sirens, it is not a drill, get to shelter as quickly as possible. john. >> john: good advice. alex, thanks. sandra. >> sandra: thank you, alex. fires are blazing along lebanon's southern border where hezbollah and israeli forces are firing at each other. fears of a second front from u.s. officials preparing for a possible mass evacuation of americans. greg palkot is live there at the israel-lebanon border. what's the latest? >> sandra, yes, as israel battles hamas in gaza, we are hearing drones overhead, we are just up against the

israel-lebanon border and we have been watching how iran is responding on many fronts in this region. early today there was smoke and fire on a ridge line about two miles from us, wildfires triggered by shells launched between the israeli military and the iran-backed hezbollah militants. syria, ten miles east of where we are. pentagon has confirmed it struck arsenals there of iranian-backed militants who hit u.s. military bases in syria and iraq in the past two weeks. 21 american soldiers injured. the west bank, 30 miles south, during the last night, israeli military staged a deadly raid on a militant camp, another group, islamic jihad, active there. and near a resort town, potentially deadly drone was intercepted. it could have come from yemen. now all these groups have a

name, branded iran's axis of resistance. hamas leading the battle against the enemy israel, but others are pitching in, as you get the picture, from all sides and tehran, well, it seems to be pulling the strings. sandra, as alex and trey and everybody is reporting, a lot of focus on front one in gaza, land, sea and air battle brewing there. could trigger other fronts as well. >> sandra: greg palkot on the border. >> john: general, thanks for jumping in the chair for us. we wanted to ask you about this increased ground activity that the idf says it is under taking tonight. it's about 9:00 at night there in israel. trey yingst is telling us this is not yet a full ground operation, but based on what you've seen with increased air

attacks, artillery attacks, now ground operations, what would you surmise the idf is engaging in tonight? >> thanks for having me. you are seeing a prep for the battlefield and doing it ten days. first, they isolated the battlefield to say go south, they have cut gaza in half and focus on the northern half, they did not do in 2014 when they went in full bore into all of gaza. the second thing they are doing, we used to call thunder runs, armored heavy raid with bulldozers and coming back out, setting the condition, using heavy artillery, heavy airstrikes to isolate the battlefield and the next step is going to be, and this is the tell, the ground assault will take place, and a tough -- it's going to be a very tough assault but it's clear to me what they are doing. isolate the battlefield from gaza north, use maximum fire power to wear down the

resistance and put ground troops into gaza and that's the tough fight. that is the fight that is going to take a lot of time, a lot of effort. because you are fighting buildings, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 stories, fighting ground level, the tunnels, a different fight entering. when you go into tunnels, it changes the dynamic totally. one simple example, you remember this. above ground if you have night vision goggles, you use ambient light. in tunnels, you have to see heat. all you are picking up is a symbol, a red symbol of heat. it's going to be a tough fight but i think you are looking at the precursor of them going in full bore probably in the next if not 48, 72 hours and the fight will get joined. >> sandra: a big look ahead, a big prediction, general kellogg. what do you believe, knowing that they are expanding their operations, the wording of the

israeli army tonight, that they are expanding their operations right now, what do you believe will be involved in their calculation, when to move in for a full scale invasion? >> i think the calculation like ok, we isolated the battlefield and forces move along the old riverbed to isolate from the south to the north and then major forces come in to the north of gaza and gaza city itself. and how they will do this, sandra, basically think of a checker board. they are going to isolate the city by checker boards. the fairly decent intelligence of maybe where the hostages are held or where they come in and control the facilities and go block by block, building by building. not one of these major tank assaults we used to see in the past. this is an infantry-specific fight, a very hard fight, but do it very systematically. the secretary of defense said

it's not going to be over in a week or two weeks. in 2014, even though it was all of gaza, it lasted a little over a month. i think they are going in for keeps on this time, totally isolate and reduce hamas. >> john: what do you make of the news that came out that apparently internet service and cell phone communication is down. tried and true tactic of war, when you are about to invade, take away the enemy's eyes and ears. >> you've got it. that's what they are doing. they are taking down the coms, taking down the electricity, the electrical grids, they are taking down everything they can to basically isolate that battlefield, to give them the advantage. because right now, john, a lot of that advantage is going to go to hamas. what i mean by that, it's their -- basically they are fighting on their turf, their battlefield, their tunnels. they set all this up. as good as the israelis are and training at a place called zelam, southern desert, urban training facility, i've been

there, about 600 buildings, you can put a brigade in there, training going in there, getting ready for it. but still the advantage goes to the defender and they have to fight house to house, floor to floor, door to door, it's not going to be an easy fight. i would caution everybody. you will see some scenes that are not going to be pretty but that's the way war is, and you'll see civilian casualties and a lot of damage brought into that area. that's the only way they can do it. and frankly, they have to reduce hamas and this is the way they have to do it to take out the hamas. >> sandra: and now wondering what the time frame looks like to do that, general kellogg. the defense minister, many are looking at his comments basically pointing to a very long, potentially grueling and open ended new phase of this war. he told a group of foreign reporters that "it will take a long time to dismantle hamas's vast network of tunnels and expects a lengthy phase of lower

intensity fighting as israel destroys pockets of resistance." what is the sort of time frame do you believe, general, we are looking at here? >> you know, you are talking, it's going to go on for weeks, 30, 60 days. i will remind you in the back of my mind i kept thinking about this. what u.s. grant did with sherman in the civil war, sherman to the sea and burned atlanta to the ground. and in world war ii, destroyed dresden to send a signal. i think you are looking at a total reduction in the city of gaza, they told all the civilians to move south, they are going in full strengths. sandra, they have to do this. this to them is the existential fight. hamas did something we have not seen since world war ii when the nazis basically eliminated, exterminated one-third of the jewish population. this is what they are looking at is the existential fight.

and my recommendation to them, you have to go in hard, and reduce everything and don't leave until it's done. that simple. >> john: all right, general keith kellogg joining us, thanks. appreciate it. see you again soon. shannon bream, you have a fine program coming up this weekend, promo in a second, but the political aspect of this. something interesting has been happening in relation to the president and approval numbers since this began. his approval number september 2023, 41%. october, 37%. among democrats, he's lost 11 points, he was at 86, now 75%. some thinking that this drop could be attributed to the fact that some democrats, particularly those on the far left, believe he has aligned himself too closely with israel and is not saying enough about the plight of the palestinians.

>> i pulled the most recent polling from fox news where people are by party on this issue, and majority of democrats do support the israelis over the palestinians the way our questioning is phrased, but a much broader, bigger gap of support by republicans. so clearly there is more of a mix of feelings, you know, in the democrat party and that could be part of this. because he's trying to leave no daylight between the u.s. government, what we are willing to do to help the israelis and the push back on iran as well. >> john: and some voters are upset about that as well, many of them in migrant. arab americans are not happy. state rep said, joe biden alienated almost every arab american and muslim american voter in michigan. biden won michigan by 150,000 votes in 2020. some arabs in michigan are saying he is not going to win

the arab vote in 2024. not that it's going to go to the republican, may stay home. that may be enough to flip the state. >> a state like that, as critical as that, he has to think about. and wonder if it's factoring into some of the messaging from the white house podium, asked about anti-semitism and worries about attacks and threats against jewish people said we are against that and pivots to we have to be careful of islamophobia, too, and careful we are speaking out on potential attacks and threats to people from the other side of this conflict, so maybe white house is trying to massage that and navigate that carefully, realizing those are big flips in a month. change in numbers. >> john: and huge disconnect between the president's position and what gen z democrats are saying. they are fueling the anti-israel protests in college campuses. where did that come from? >> we asked this question which

group you are supporting, it's completely different at opposite ends of the age spectrum. you ask the younger group, thr more supportive of the plight of the palestinians and going on there, older voters are more in tune with the israeli, the attack on them and supporting them with whatever comes next so. an age divide. >> john: congressman dean phillips of minnesota is throwing his hat into the ring, saying that he is a big supporter of the president, but it's time to pass the torch. listen to what he said when he was announcing a run for president. >> i voted for his policies, i'm a democrat, a proud democrat and i helped market his policies. president biden has served for 50 years in washington. i think i was three years old when he became a united states senator. i'm listen to people around the country saying they want a change. >> john: a lot of people are saying dean who? he's not really well-known. however, he is articulating a

point that a lot of democrats feel as well, that this president is just too old to run for a second term, and finish out the second term. >> and remember, president biden was making -- he was having conversations being a place holder, the person to get us through the post trump years, so there are some younger people that want to call him on that now. remember, too, phillips is getting himself on the ballot in new hampshire where the president has elected not to put his name because of the in-fighting about the dnc and the calendar. if there is an early win for somebody not named president biden in the democratic calendar, even though we get that president biden was not on that, and he could win by write-in votes, it's an optic and psychological, looking like the sitting president has lost to someone no one knows he is running for president. >> he did not announce in time to qualify for the nevada caucuses. >> mike mccaul will be on with

us and dallas mayor eric johnson flipped from d to r, part of his reasoning, he thinks progressive policies are hurting our big cities. >> sandra: see you on sunday. u.s. striking back at iranian-backed groups in response to the attacks on u.s. troops in iraq and syria. the pentagon says they are ready to do it again and the strategy of deterrence. retired lieutenant colonel daniel davis, a senior fellow and military expert. thank you very much for joining us. i want to make sure our viewers continue to bring them along with the geography of this moment. those u.s. airstrikes on iranian-linked forces in syria, location here, abu camal, what message are we sending here, as we look back at the timeline and the attacks on u.s. forces in the middle east, 20 attacks so

far. what about the american response here? is it enough and do you expect more? >> unfortunately i expect more, but look, we have to back up a little bit and ask a bigger question. why are there american troops in syria and iraq anyway? now, interestingly enough, four years ago i came on with harris falkner on this network and talking about president trump who said he was going to withdraw our troops from syria and i whole heartedly endorsed it because all they are doing is points of vulnerability for the country, it makes it possible for iran-backed groups to attack them. they are not serving value to our country whatsoever and we are having our troops in harm's way and they need to be withdrawn. the issue should not be how many more times should we go and hit these groups or strike iran, that could draw us into another

mideast war. we need to reduce our vulnerability and get those guys out. >> sandra: the u.s. military saying they chose these locations because the munitions used in the strikes on u.s. service members in the last ten days came from those locations. to the news, obviously, of the moment and watching the iranian weapons flooding into the west bank, the red lines on the screen are the iranian smuggling routes. as you can see throughout the middle east, on into this area here. the dotted line. as you get into the western border of israel, gaza here, these are the assessed routes to the west bank. constant flow of weapons heading to the west bank. what does this mean for this current moment in this escalating conflict, colonel? >> i'll tell you it means it's going to continue. i mean, we can say we know where

the routes are, but we can't stop them, number one, it's not our job to do that, neither can israel. i saw this same exact dynamic when he was deployed the last time in 2010 in afghanistan where there was all kinds of routes from pakistan where the nonstop support into the taliban that was in there. and we knew the stuff was coming but there's no way to interdict it, israel has to fight this battle and those kinds of weapons and ammunition is going to find some way to get in. that's what people who are desperate will do. >> sandra: the general map, mediterranean sea, west bank, the iranian weapons directly over the border to this general area. here is the gaza strip and what we are watching at this moment and the movement of the israeli forces right now with the israeli army saying that ground forces are "expanding their activity into gaza" as we know they have been lined up along the border there. so, what do you see happening

next with all of this, and is this preceding an ultimate large scale ground invasion by israel into northern gaza? >> yeah, i think it's virtually certain at this point and i believe i heard general kellogg say a minute ago, these are standard kinds of operations you will see in a precursor to a larger force going in, it's reconnaissance, clearing routes of potential mines. there are quite a few of those, and i believe it could also be coming pretty soon and of course a big issue for israel, hamas said that will be their trigger to come in from the north and other groups are going to join in and there's already a great deal of anti-israel sentiment in egypt, lebanon, in saudi arabia, in uae, and that could really exacerbate it further, could make things difficult for the

israeli defense forces. we have to understand, it's not just what's happening in the gaza strip but all around it. so israel has a lot of vulnerabilities here. >> sandra: that's a great point, acting with great force to achieve the objectives of this war. we'll be watching every minute of it. thank you for joining us. appreciate your time. >> thanks for having me. >> john: the u.s. drawing connections between iran and several terrorist groups. we will talk with dr. rebecca adair. expert on this coming up next. each planning their future through the chase mobile app. jen x is planning a summer in portugal with some help from j.p. morgan wealth plan. let's go whiskers. jen y is working with a banker to budget for her birthday. you only turn 30 once. and jen z? her credit's golden. hello new apartment. three jens getting ahead with chase. solutions that grow with you. one bank for now. for later. for life. chase. make more of what's yours.

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>> sandra: the white house says iran provided weapons and funding to hamas but some experts suggest it goes farther, and also trained them. william. >> sandra, you are right. the people who study this for a living say iran does not just financially underwrite terrorists, they train them as well, with combat skills, firing techniques and technical

expertise as the recruiting video shows. iran also teaches its proxies, like hamas, how to build ieds, shape explosives, manufacture rockets, booby traps, the training happens at a revolutionary guard university in tehran. a military camps in iran and lebanon. some 500 hamas and islamic jihad fighters received specialized training in iran in september, says the wall street journal. also hamas engineers over time learned how to manufacture drone and missile components in iran, then returned to gaza to fabricate and reassemble the weapons. >> you'll have more advanced weapons to train on in iran, may be harder to say move a particular model of missile or drone. if you want to have the guy learning how to steer the stick and move it, it may be better to do it with the guys who sort of

pioneered that technology. >> experts say iranian tactics, motorcycles, hit-and-run targets, were evident in the israeli ambush a few weeks ago, and the taking of hostages, hamas gunmen admitted to israeli police during interrogation. iran also produces recruiting videos to promote their political vision, arab world free of the u.s. and israeli forces. >> the whole strategy of the republic, this is not only the hamas fighting, this is the muslim cause. >> over the last 40 years, including today, the u.s. has tried to isolate the irgc, and its proxies, putting in sanctions against hamas and hezbollah. clearly, sandra, it has not been enough. back to you. >> william, thank you. >> john: the u.s. struck two

iranian proxies in syria, dr. bianca adair says now is the time for the biden administration to return to a hard line policy against iran to protect israel and stop a regional war. do those airstrikes send a strong enough message? let's bring in dr. bianca adair, she was also in the cia department of operations, means not too long ago you were a badass. >> yes. >> john: and you probably still are. these attacks yesterday in response to the attacks against the air base at el assad, bases, they hit a storage facility for weapons and ammunition. is that a strong enough signal to be sending to iran? >> absolutely not.

absolutely not. we need a stronger signal to hit as many of the irgc weapons depots as possible. they have them throughout syria and iraq and time to stop playing 1 to 2, let's just make a gentle statement and get into a much tougher stance because what we have right now and what we have not only with what's going on in iraq, but also in israel, iran's fingerprints are all over this. so this is not even though we have separated out these two issues as iraq and then what has happened in israel with october 7th, these are not two separate issues. iran is behind all of it and therefore the statements that need to be made, we need to have as strong of a statement about october 7th and iran being behind it as we have about iran being behind those attacks on the united states and our facilities in iraq. >> john: you were with the operations director, you told me you spent all of your career in the middle east, so you know all

of this well, and what the bad guys respond to. contrast what biden is saying to iraq, don't, don't, don't, with what george bush said when he was talking about al-qaeda. he said when i take action, i'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. it's going to be decisive. and trump tweet from april 1st after 2020, after taking out soleimani and attack against al-asad, he tweeted upon information and belief iran or proxies are planning a sneak attack in assets in iraq. if this happens, iran will pay a very heavy price indeed. what language should this president be using to tell iran to stay the heck out? >> well, whether or not you want to give them a verbal, that is really your call as a president.

what they respond to is action. so we can say don't, don't, don't, you can say any mean thing that you want to, but the reality is if you look at when you talk about president burb, talking about president trump, they were not just talking. there was significant action. what the response that you are looking for and what we should be looking for with iran is we know what you did in terms of october 7th and we know what you are doing as well with the united states in iraq, and here is the action, and the action should be devastating. the action in and of itself should start taking away the capacity that the irgc has built up inside of syria that supplies hezbollah, it supplied hamas, and it is setting up two separate fronts, not only with gaza, but then you have of course what is going on in northern israel at the same time they are emboldening these shia proxies in syria and iraq to

attack the united states. say whatever you want to, they don't responds. these are all terrorist organizations. iran has recruited a series of terrorist organizations and they themself is the primary sponsor of terror in the world, don't, don't, don't, means absolutely nothing. >> john: there was some tough talk in recent days, but it came from the iranian foreign minister when he was speaking at the u.n. >> i say frankly to the american statesmen who are now managing the genocide in palestine that we do not welcome to expansion of the war in the region but i warn if the genocide in gaza continues they will not be spared from this fire. >> john: they will not be spared from this fire. apparently he said something tougher in an interview after that. >> he did. subsequent to that, i have seen

these plans and they are worse than you think. in other words, he's admitting iran knows all of these things. and iran is making this bold threat in an interest of creating decision paralysis in the united states, and in the biden administration. the concern is we don't want to look bad or we don't want to bring iran into the war as i have heard repeated. iran is already in the war. iran started it. iran started it in october 7th, used its proxies to attack israel, has repeatedly attacked the united states. and he feels emboldened like the iranian government does and until you push them back and hard where it hurts, freeze that, that $6 billion, being permanently, then go to snap back sanctions and ensure that no oil is sold by iran to anyone because that's the billions of dollars they are using to fund these proxies, and then we start

doing the kinetic strikes against the irgc facilities in syria and in lebanon, we hit the resupply convoys to ensure there are no more weapons allowed to get to these different areas trying to attack the u.s. and israel and then finally start hitting those hezbollah missile sites. that is what matters. that's the language. >> john: we'll see what the pentagon does. it appears they are done for now. dr. adair, thanks for joining us. appreciate it. >> sandra: just getting some word from admiral john kirby. he's been speaking, i believe it's an sound only gaggle, it's not on camera, john. don't know his exact location. according to the white house spokesperson, the u.s. has asked the israelis what their aim is as we are getting word directly from the army tonight that they are escalating their ground invasion there in gaza. we are not getting word to be clear that this is the expected

full scale ground invasion into northern gaza, john. but kirby said they have asked the israeli what their aim is, strategy is, and how this is going to end. >> john: i assume a lot of that would be geared toward the hostages as well, president biden and this administration very worried about the fate of the hostages and of course if israel goes in with the full scale ground invasion, it's going to put the 225 maybe people at extreme risk. so i would assume that's probably what kirby is talking about. >> sandra: he did speak directly to the hostage situation saying we would support a pause -- this is different. so, kirby said we would support a pause for humanitarian aid, fuel and electricity in gaza. he is saying some fuel has been made available now in gaza. they are getting more aid in, but more aid is still needed. we are waiting for a sort of a full read-out of what he has

said in this update but ten additional aid trucks have gotten into gaza, john, amid this aerial bombardment, more fuel is needed. he has seen the reports about israel expanding ground operations in gaza and would not comment on that. that's what we are getting from him so far. >> john: i should say the concerns of the biden administration are two-fold. one is for the hostages, the other is for the plight of the palestinian people not hamas, because they have been devastated by this as well, pointing out with shannon, a large muslim contingent and he wants to make sure that he is paying attention to the palestinian situation as well because the administration is coming under increased pressure over these ongoing attacks. for this president, it's a very thin line to walk, but the sense in israel is that they just

cannot let hamas stay constituted as a military and political organization, that they have to decapitate hamas and looks like they are getting prepared to do that in a big way. >> sandra: on the hostages, john, i found what john kirby said in this gaggle, he said if getting hostages out of gaza requires a localized temporary pause, then we are in support of that. kirby also saying that we will keep pressing along with partners to get hostages released. >> john: and remember what the president said in the rose garden with the prime minister of australia, he said i didn't demand that israel make a pause in order to get the hostages out, if it is possible we would like to see it. but he said ultimately it's up to israel. >> sandra: got it. ok. that is the update right now as the news continues, we are going to take a quick break. we'll be right back with our coverage. bite out of family budgets?

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>> sandra: all right, breaking news, let's get back to trey yingst, live in southern israel. what's happening now, trey? >> yeah, john, sandra, good afternoon. i want to describe to you what it's like on the ground. we are getting a lot of mixed reports from inside gaza and the possibility of israeli troops being engaged by those hamas and islamic jihad fighters. i want to stop talking for a moment. you can hear behind me the engines of apcs. israeli troops are on the move here along the gaza border and it is a new piece of critical information in all of this. it's getting louder and louder as they go up the road over this ridge behind us. but it's an indication that these troops are moving closer to the border.

they are headed, according to daniel hagari, the spokesman for the israeli military, into gaza for limited raids. the israeli military says what is happening tonight is not the full scale operation into gaza, but we can only report what we have and that is according to the israeli military. with that said, artillery fire along the border continues, as do the airstrikes. we are working around the clock to try to get you more information from inside the strip despite the fact that cell service is down for local palestinian services from the jawal network. we are talking with palestinians who have foreign sim cards and can bounce their phones off israeli cell towers, so texting with someone who is inside gaza right now, in the central part of the gaza strip, not in gaza city behind me, and talking about the situation inside, saying they can hear the

airstrikes but where he is located in the central part of gaza no airstrikes. another indication this is focused on the northern part of the gaza strip. the situation is difficult, and asking questions just about inside gaza, with cell phones, and more than 2 million civilians are inside gaza. but again, the latest that we can report, john and sandra, artillery continues, as do the airstrikes. there are movement of troops behind us. the israelis, it appears, are entering the gaza strip in what we can confirm is a limited ground operation. that's tank fire going into gaza, i'm not sure if you could see any of that, but you can hear the blast and the ground shaking here gives you a sense of just how close we are to the battle that is unfolding behind us. john, sandra. >> sandra: we can certainly hear

that, wow, trey, definitely different. >> john: trey, i was about to ask you, we could hear some firing, didn't know if it was tank fire, mortars or artillery, but clearly that was a fairly large blast. we just heard from john kirby a few minutes ago who said that the united states would support a pause in the military operations in order to get aid to the palestinians in gaza and as well, try to make some headway on hostages. it would -- >> when we spoke with the israel defense minister earlier today in tel aviv, he discussed this, and like i said earlier, much of the conversation was off the record but a lot of it we were able to get approved so we could report this, and one of the four points for the israelis, main

objectives as the war is about to enter its 22nd day, is to get those hostages out of gaza. i just saw a flash there, likely -- more tank fire. it just -- it gives a sense of how close we are here. we are right on the edge of the battle here. and again, rocket fire is continuing into southern israel. the airstrikes continue along the border, and these tanks that are clearly just over the ridge from us are now firing into the gaza strip. so we are talking about airstrikes, artillery, tank fire, and just to give you a sense of what it's like here in southern israel, a few moments ago, and you can hear the movement now, a few moments ago we took fire here and it was likely rocket fire. we could not hear the whiz of mortars, so probably short range rockets the factions inside gaza are still firing into israeli territory. you have about ten seconds to respond here. there were sirens sounding in

this location and as we ran to the shelter, explosions rocked the area and local authorities told us minutes after that there were two direct impacts in this location. john, sandra. >> sandra: read off the wires for you. jordan's foreign minister says israel just launched ground war on gaza. outcome will be humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. that is jordan's foreign minister a moment ago. also, the white house's john kirby has been speaking. he would not comment directly on the latest actions by israel into gaza, but he just said we will continue to have discussions with israel about the manner they are doing this. he said we are confident that we can protect our troops and this -- he just said in this gaggle the u.s. will not draw red lines for israel, trey. >> yeah, look, there's a lot

going on behind the scenes here politically in all of this, and that was a lot of what the conversation just, i'm going t get out of the frame here so you can see, so what you are looking at there, cluster munitions probably 155 millimeter fired by the artillery you could hear in the distance. when that happens, it rains down here. that artillery is made -- the rounds are made in the united states and it's the same artillery, actually, that the americans are providing to ukraine, and so this is -- it gives you a sense of the scene here. israelis, as we speak, are shelling the gaza strip with artillery units along the border, the explosion you heard there. in the distance, smaller explosions, that's the israeli navy hammering the western side of gaza. israeli air force is hitting targets along the northern part of the gaza strip. and that artillery continues. with the tank fire that you've seen go off behind me. and so clearly something is

happening tonight, and we continue to cite the israeli military and what they have told us, expanded ground raids into gaza. we don't want to speculate or call this for what it could be, we need to wait and be patient here, but unlike any other night we have covered. we have been out here the past 21 days covering this as it unfolds. and this is a significant development. also to give you a sense of the phases here, this is -- is indicative of what we expected to come next. israelis told us they would be ramping up their strikes against gaza before entering on the ground, this is referred to in military terms as softening the target. and when we met with the defense minister in tel aviv tonight, he laid out this plan, and how it's going to look moving forward and when i asked him directly and you could tell this is wearing on him, this is a massive ground war that is unfolding here and there are concerns it's not just going to be in the south, but activity on the northern border with lebanon and the entire region.

but i asked him how long this is going to take, and he told me it is not a question of weeks, it is a question of months. >> one other question, we talked about this a little bit last hour and that is the fact the idf really has focused a lot of attention on the al shifa hospital, it insists is the headquarters for hamas, underneath the hospitals there is basements and subbasements hamas uses as its headquarters. but they have been tweeting about the hospital, elaborate presentation today with computer graphics, representative of what they say is the underground complex. it would seem to me that that is laying the predicate for israel to go after elements of that hospital if not the hospital itself. have you heard any word there

that the idf is going to try to get that hospital evacuated or may go after it? i mean, what's this information program about that they are launching regarding that hospital? >> yeah, john, it's a good question. to give you some background, it's the largest hospital inside gaza. and it sits in the middle of gaza city. many of the images that we brought you over the past week, especially the images we brought you following the hospital explosion at a separate hospital in northern gaza were from alshifa, they brought the bodies in the palestinian misfire to that hospital. i want to describe the layout to you. in 2014, the 51-day war between israel and gaza, i was reporting there, and you enter in a main entryway and there is a circle, similar to a traffic circle, ambulances will roll in, drop

off patients and the next location. in the center, many civilians who shelter and then the main hospital building. around the complex there are a variety of buildings. and one time i actually met with hamas leadership inside a building. this was in 2014 on the hospital complex. when we step back and think about this, the israelis want the public to understand hamas is hiding a command center under another the hospital according to the israelis and the intelligence they have received. we have not seen that intelligence, only seen what they have told us and the computer-generated image they claim is beneath the hospital. we know there is an extensive network of tunnels, especially gaza city, and i do want to give you some new information. my source inside gaza is texting me as we talk here.

and i'm just going to read you exactly what he said to me. more tank fire. shows you how close we are here. you can hear the tanks firing from the ridge that we're standing on in to gaza. it takes a few seconds for the rounds to hit its target. back to what i was saying about my source inside gaza. more tank fire. the source in the middle part of gaza, he evacuated south following warnings by the israelis. i asked him what the mood is in gaza. he said no connection to know what's goes on. he has a foreign sim card. there's no local cell signal in gaza. he says sound is very big and we're scared. gaza tonight is alone. i can't confirm the air strikes, targets, people, civilians or hospitals. we're trying to reach people in gaza city. no connection. this is a source that i have

used to confirm information about what ishappening in gaza. there's more than two million palestinians in gaza. they're thousands of hamas and islamic jihad fighters along the strip. that's why this is so complicated. we have to talk about the civilians in gaza that are innocent bystanders in this. they're terrified. we think about what it's like inside the strip. we've been there when war erupts. not this large though. the amount of air power hammering gaza. this is the front line of a ground war between israel and gaza. it's going to be incredibly challenging. it will be a bloody urban battle and enif this is contained tonight to an extended raid inside the gaza strip, we're talking about these israeli troops being immediately engaged. they won't roll in to gaza with

tanks and apcs. they will face a fierce resistance from hamas and islamic jihad. there's a battle raging behind us as we speak >> martha: trey, take safety with your crew. we hear it, seen a lot of it and seems to be escalating the last few minutes. i wrote down what you just said, trey. we have a few minutes until the top of the hour here. almost 3:00 on the east coast, 10:00 p.m. in southern israel. you said in the 21 days you've been covering this, tonight is unlike any other. obviously things are changing. >> absolutely. things are changing. this is the next phase of the war. at this moment, i cannot confirm to you that the ground operation has begun. what we can tell you is that a new phase is underway right now as we speak. the israelis describing that

phase as an extension of the raids that were taking place over the past few nights. but this war is entering a phase that we knew it would enter according to the top intelligence officials we're talking to, not just here on the ground but also in the united states. we've been trying to get a full picture of what is taking place here. this was what was described to us as the next step in this, increasing the air strikes, pushing in on the ground to test what the resistance would be like for the israeli soldiers. ultimately continuing with the plan. that plan, according to the israeli military and the defense minister who we talked with face to face today in tel aviv is to completely destroy hamas. listen here. you can hear the apcs. they're headed to the gaza strip as we speak. >> john: trey, you've been doing amazing reporting. we'll let you get a break. it's obviously going to be a

long night. most of the fire is outgoing, which is good. the chance for incoming fire is always there. so stay safe, my friend. doing great work. >> thank you. >> john: wow, sandra. kinetic activity happening there. we don't know how extensive this will be, whether it's a softening up operation or a prelude to something bigger as the night progresses. as trey pointed out, things are different and we've been waiting now for two weeks for this to happen. not saying tonight is the night but looks like it's getting closer. >> sandra: what we know is that the israeli army just said grouped forces are expanding operations. that's happening tonight. almost 10:00 there in israel. just stuck with me when trey said that, 21 days he's been reporting on this war. tonight is unlike any other night that he has covered. he just said this is the next phase of the war.

we'll see how things develop the next couple hours, john. it's going to be a long night. >> john: yeah, it would seem to me the increase -- sudden increase in concern -- >> sandra: wow, look at that. >> john: we see the explosions in the background. the ground operation is getting ready to go. they want to know if israel will make sure as many palestinians as possible stay safe. wants to know whether the hostages will stay safe. wants some idea of what israel is planning to do the next hours and days. >> sandra: i'm going to hop on with our friends on "the five" at 5:00. we'll have continuing coverage there as well. thanks so much for joining us. i'm sandra smith. >> john: looking forward to that. i'm john roberts. "the story" with martha picks up our coverage right now. martha? >> martha: breaking coverage this afternoon. good afternoon, everybody. i'm martha maccallum at fox news head quarters in new york. you have seen the sights