♪ tonight, israel at war. hamas' surprise attack by air, land, and sea. armed gunman flooding in from the gaza strip, killing hundreds, injuring thousands, including americans. one of the first targets a music festival. >> we're running, and we hear gunshots. i think that's the moment we

realize okay, this is not a joke. >> our team on ground. >> you can hear the sound of an explosion overhead. >> as israel responds, lighting up the skies of gaza, could the u.s. get dragged into the conflict? plus, the missing. >> you can't sleep. all i can think about is where she is, if she is suffering, if she is still alive. >> more than 100 hostages being held by hamas. the families seeing images of their loved ones online, bloody and terrified. >> i can see that he is afraid. he is so scared. >> the race to save them. >> it's likely that the ones that have been taken back to gaza are going to be used as human shields. >> this special edition of night line, israel at war will be right back. honey... nyquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu relief with a dreamy honey taste. nyquil honey, the nighttime, sniffing, sneezing, couging, aching,

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♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. israel is a nation at war tonight after suffering the worst attack in 50 years at the hands of hamas militants. the onslaught by air, land, and sea taking israel and the world by surprise, leaving at least 900 dead. israel's response escalating today. the death toll also mounting in gaza. our team is in the region. we begin with abc's chief foreign correspondent ian

pannell. ian? >> byron, we've seen unprecedented punitive strikes against gaza over the last three days. over 600, approaching 700 palestinians killed, 140 or so of those are children. but it looks like we're only seeing the start of something much bigger. when you travel around the south of the country, you see large numbers of men, munitions, logistics, every gas station has large collections of soldiers. you see them out in the fields with armored vehicles. it looks like a staging area. it looks like israel isn't just going to be striking from the air, but perhaps attacking from the land. threaten is a question, what does hezbollah in the north across the border in lebanon do? does israel face a war on two fronts? either way, it feels like we're just seeing the start of something much bigger. it was supposed to be a carefree day, filled with music and dance. thousand of young men and women gathered in the field in israel near the gaza border on saturday, attending the super

nova music festival, a festival for peace. >> people in the party were dancing, looking at the dj, looking at the sunrise. and you're like feel very hopeful and happy and joyful. >> yael, her husband oren, and friend amir were there together when suddenly horror struck. rockets from the militant group hamas seen streaking overhead. >> was running. i understand that they are shooting at me. the bullets flying around me. >> reporter: panic spreading as hamas gunman close in. >> we were laying under the stage for like 20 minutes. and i didn't dare look at what's going on, but i could hear their boots, and i could feel, and you could hear everybody like shh. >> reporter: festival goers seen in videos circulating online running for their lives. the friends separated as they fled for safety. they're relieved to be alive and

back together. but others aren't so lucky. one man, 30-year-old sahel raced to a shelter only to witness many of his friends shot and killed in front of him. glad you're okay. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: he was shot but survived. speaking to our david muir from the hospital. >> one of my friends, she got choked by the smoke. she tried to run away, and she got back in with the terrorists who tried to get inside to shoot at us. and just drop her on the floor and start to shoot, shoot her to death. shoot her then. >> reporter: this is the scene of the music festival. the carnage that was forced on to them by the hamas militants. the road, it just is testament to the ferocity of what happened here. you can see this whole area down here is just full of bullet

casings. 260 people lost their lives in this area. 260 lives gone in just one location, and it was only the beginning. more than 2,200 rockets firing into israel by the terrorist group hamas, launching a surprise attack by air, land, and sea, just after dawn saturday morning. >> it's more horrifying. like murdering with cold blood people, and small children. >> they don't care about peace. they want to kill us. >> the stories i heard from my -- my parents and cousins and uncles who were survivors of the holocaust, i hear now from our volunteers. >> reporter: hamas video showing armed militants storming blockaded areas of the gaza strip. officials say once inside israeli communities along the border, they killed indiscriminately.

leaving bodies in the streets, some shot while sitting in their cars. the death toll, over 900. at least 11 americans among those lost. more than 100 people taken hostage by hamas militants, some of them likely americans. >> it's likely that the ones that have been taken back to gaza are going to be used as human shields. >> reporter: the world watching with mounting fear. >> you can imagine the impact this is having throughout israel, and the world should be revolted at what it's seeing. >> reporter: questions also being raised about how israel, long lauded for its intelligence service missed what hamas was planning. >> this will go down obviously as an intelligence failure for the israelis and their partners. for the israelis, in is going to be as significant, or already is as september 11th, 2001 was to the united states. >> reporter: prime minister benjamin netanyahu declaring the country is at war, telling israelis we have only begun to strike at hamas.

reservists amassing in the south, moving towards gaza. a ground invasion could be imminent. we're starting to see large-scale movements of the israeli military throughout this area in the south now. these are armored personnel carriers, essentially heading up towards the front line. we're seeing a lot of men, a lot of munitions. and a lot of movement. this is starting to look really like a country at war. fighter jets striking over 1500 targets in gaza today, explosions lighting up the night sky. >> the people that may end up being hurt the most are the palestinian people because of hamas actions, they're going to be the ones to pay a very, very dire price. >> reporter: two million palestinians reside in gaza, where at least 680 are dead, according to gaza's health ministry. the parents on both sides of the border, the grief overwhelming.

a father carrying his dead daughter in his arms. a mother crying out for a missing loved one. this woman losing her son and seven other members of her family. "what's happening to the people of gaza isn't fair, lowe she says. "by god, it's unfair. young men, children, boys, children, all of them gone." across the border, israelis banding together. even today hamas still hitting israeli cities and civilian areas. we witnessed it firsthand. just hearing the sound, just heard the air raid siren. you can hear the sound of an explosion overhead. i can see some smoke. it turns out hamas had long been planning its shock attack on israel. in secret for months, now releasing this video showing fighters training on motorized paragliders, practicing their descent into israel.

among the dead, 32-year-old american hayem katzmann. abc news speaking with his mother. >> we understand that he and his neighbor were hiding in the closet, and the neighbor was released, and he was shot immediately. >> reporter: now his loved ones left grieving, remembering a son, a colleague, a friend. >> getting so many messages from people who worked with hayem or who knew him or met him during their travels, how warm he was, how open. he was very accepting person and very loyal friend with sense of humor. he took things in stride. >> reporter: president biden offering his full support to israel, pledging to send u.s. fighter jets and position a carrier strike group in the mediterranean, while those in israel hope for something that seems all too elusive. >> what we want people to know

is that we need help to have this planet be a peaceful loving place that cares about human rights, that cares about morality. it's not about israel. it's about what are the standards of being a human being in this planet. and this is not humanity. >> byron: our thanks to ian. the question reverberating around the world tonight, how will israel's response look in the days and weeks to come. on the ground in tel aviv tonight, abc's matt gutman. matt? >> byron, for the first time in israel's history, 300,000 reservists called up in just two days. that has never happened before. and military officials here tell us that gaza is honeycombed with tunnels. that's where the militants are hiding. that's where they're keeping their weapons. and the understanding here is they have to go in there. there is no other way to clear out those tunnels. there is also an understanding that that could be bloody for both sides, and really for the

first time i'm hearing the consensus among israelis here that hamas needs to be eradicated both militarily and politically. byron? >> our thanks to matt. when we come back, the hostages taken by hamas now held captive in gaza. the desperate race to rescue them. [♪] did you know, there's a way to cut your dishwashing time by 50%? try dawn powerwash dish spray. it removes 99% of grease and grime in half the time. dawn powerwash has 3 cleaning boosters not found in traditional dish soaps that remove food and grease 5 times faster. and, because it cleans so well you can replace multiple cleaning products for counters, stoves, and even laundry stains. try dawn powerwash dish spray. brand power, helping you buy better. how do i do it all? with a little help. and to support my family's immune health, i choose airborne. it has an unbeatable amount of vitamin c,

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the region is under siege by israel. here is abc's foreign correspondent james longman. >> byron, israel faces two crises. tonight the ongoing situation in gaza, how to respond to hamas' terrorist attack, and the hostage situation. we all saw those distressing images, the elderly, women, children, babies taken hostage inside gaza, and now the race is on to find them and also to tell the families about this situation before hamas carries out its threat to start executing those that it's taken prisoner. >> she wouldn't harm a fly. she is a really good person. and that's why it's so difficult to think, you know, that she's the one that got caught up in this. >> reporter: the last time jennifer heard from her daughter was a panicked phone call early saturday morning. >> kim didn't realize that there was like three -- seven or eight vans full of terrorists.

and they just shot everywhere. they just shot them, slaughtered them like dogs. and that's the reason that i'm here, because i want the world to condemn this behavior. >> reporter: rockets were flying overhead as armed hamas militants descended on the super nova music festival that she was attending. her father told her to find shelter. since then, radio silence. >> maybe she is being held as hostage in gaza. i don't even want to think about that. that's kim as a child. >> reporter: demty is living her mother's worth nightmare, one lived by hundreds if not thousands throughout israel, not sure if their love one is killed or taken hostage. as a mother, can you describe what it's like waiting for news? >> you can't sleep. all i can think about is where she is, if she's suffering, if she's still alive. i just want her back.

i have three daughters. i can't imagine my life without kim. >> reporter: this is the other major crisis israel faces right now, a hostage situation like no other, unprecedented in both scale and complexity. there are at least 100 known captives, including israeli soldiers and civilians, a list that includes women, children, senior citizens, even an 85-year-old holocaust survivor. many of them abducted from their homes and taken to the hamas-held gaza strip. president biden saying today americans likely among the hostages. the stakes for those hostages and their families intensifying as the israeli ministry bombards and prepares to invade the very place they're being held. she is ten years old here? >> here she is ten. >> reporter: sasha's 19-year-old sister carina is one of those now behind enemy lines. >> she just wants their come home back safe and sound. >> reporter: in this video circulating online, the young

israeli defense force soldier can be seen bloody and bound. >> at first i saw this and i didn't think it was her. i just swiped next. her face was in blood. she was screaming. we identified by her by her nose, her brows, her chest. and then we know it was her. >> reporter: sasha was just one of the many to recognize a loved one in the graphic videos circulating online. >> he loved to laugh. he loved to be with his family. >> reporter: israeli american ariel was an ocean away from his brother, alkanah who was captured at that music festival. he is seen wounded in this video. "nightline" anchor juju chang spoke with him. when you see your brother's face in that video, what do you see? >> i can see he is afraid. so scared. >> reporter: he told us he just opened his ice cream shop in tel aviv. >> it's indian ice cream. he traveled all the way to india to bring something special to

israel. he is a funny guy. he really loved. every day for him, if he have $1 in his pocket, he would give you two. >> reporter: uriel and a friend are now back in jerusalem, desperate for updates. what are you hoping to do? >> i'm going go directly to my parents house and just support, support, and support. i want that everybody will know that we're really want to bring them back. there is no other choice. >> reporter: as israel gears up to launch a full-scale offensive, the idf says it's notified over two dozen families so far that they've had a loved one known to be kidnapped. this as hamas has warned that they will execute hostages. >> because they expect this ground incursion, they're going put a lot of these hostages in areas where they expect these preparatory fires to take place. that is something they're using right now to try to protect themselves. i don't know if israel even knows where these hostages are. so the hostages have caused a great dilemma on the operational planning side of this potential

ground invasion. >> reporter: back at the home, sister sasha tells me carina was doing her military service at a base on the gaza border. she says after a few weeks of training, carina was told she wouldn't need a weapon. >> the girls weren't prepared for this. they don't know. they have no guns. >> reporter: carina made one last call home when she saw the militants coming. >> she felt she knew she wasn't going to come home? >> yes. she -- she absolutely knew that she is going to die. >> byron: our thanks to james. coming up, standing with israel. ♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing, non-medicated vicks vapors. [exhales] easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick and try vaposhower for steamy vicks vapors. my a1c was up here; now, it's down with rybelsus®.

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