♪ this is "nightline." >>. >> byron: tonight, the desperate mission to find the hostages in gaza. as many as 150 captured, including 14 americans.

>> since saturday, i had no sleep. no eat. i am a father without a wife, without his baby girls. >> the obstacles in rescuing them. >> these hostages are hidden away. many of them probably underground in different locations in a very dense urban area. >> byron: what's being done to free them? >> we're working around the clock to secure the release of americans held by hamas. >> byron: plus, time running out? israel warns more than 1 million palestinians to leave northern gaza. >> today, morning, we woke up to the news that we had to evacuate. >> byron: one week after that horrifying surprise attack by hamas terrorists. >> we saw bodies, we saw the massacre, we saw the isis-style carnage. >> byron: is the ground invasion imminent?

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essentially being given 24 hours to leave their homes. we've seen large movements of people out of northern gaza today, in particular gaza city. men, women, children packing up what few belongings they can carry and heading southward. even when they get south, people that we've spoken to on the ground are reporting that they're still coming under heavy israeli bombardment. the israelis are poised to launch some kind of land operation. they haven't said as such but they put all the infrastructure in place for such a mission. we've seen tanks, men, munitions flood into that area. we know that israel called up something like 360,000 reservists. meanwhile, the israeli special forces did conduct some raids inside gaza today. they say they were looking for hamas infrastructure, hamas weapons. but also looking for some of those missing hostages. they say they collected some evidence that might help them identify where those hostages are. but life inside gaza for the

people there was already intolerable. but this war, this latest round of bombings, has created enormous amounts of suffering. we've seen significant numbers of death, a lot of people killed, including children, and a significant number of people wounded. you're seeing hospitals there that are now completely at capacity. and of course, there is a complete siege. all power, all food, all water provided through the border from israel has been closed off. all the boreders have been sealed. people inside have nowhere to go right now as they wait and see whether or not this land operation happens and what happens to them. byron? >> byron: thank you, ian. stay safe. now to the plight of another group of people caught in the middle of this conflict. nearly 150 people held hostage by hamas terrorists. today, president biden spoke with the families of those 14 americans about this complicated situation. >> it's so surreal. it's so shocking and so devastating that i think we both

just went numb. we were not able to even comprehend that it could be them. >> reporter: 5,000 miles from israel, posters of the missing appearing on the streets of new york city. defiant alana spoke at the united nations. >> we must come together against what we know is evil. i am pleading for your help to bring my family back. we don't want more bombs or rockets or blood or tears. >> reporter: six of her family members abducted by hamas. the kidnapping captured on video for the world to see. >> i can see david holding one of the little girls. i can see shona holding what looks like amelia, her niece, the 5-year-old. we just broke down crying once we had that realization. >> reporter: her desperate message echoed by so many others. >> since saturday, i had no sleep. no eat. i am a father without a wife,

without his baby girls. >> i have a voice here in the west. i have to use it for my family, for the israeli people, for the overall cause of peace. >> byron: but peace is something far, far away. residents of the gaza strip have been under relentless bombardment for seven long days and nights. tonight, as many as 1 million palestinians are on the move, told to leave their homes and run for their lives. the message came from the sky. israeli leaflets raining down, warning gazans they have just 24 hours to move away from the border. but with the borders closed, the only place they can head is south. some by car. some by cart. others on foot. the evacuation met with fierce backlash by some. >> moving more than 1 million people across a densely

populated war zone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous and in some cases simply not possible. >> byron: 21-year-old college student najar documenting her family's exodus. >> salaam, everybody. today morning we woke up to the news that we had to evacuate. >> byron: the drive south is horrifying, she says. when she got to the end of the journey, there was no sanctuary. >> the moment we arrived, we realized that air strikes were happening there as well. very heavy ones. just a couple of minutes ago, there was one that shook the entire house. obviously, the night is going to be dreadful, as always. >> byron: for its part, hamas is urging gazans to stand firm and not heed the evacuation orders. while civilians flee, the

militants dig in. releasing this video showing a sophisticated network of underground tunnels in gaza where they hide and launch their rockets. today israeli special forces went on raids into gaza, searching for terrorists, weapons, and hostages. >> the case going on now in gaza is unprecedented in its scope. the number of hostages and complexity of the environment. >> reporter: robert clamster has been involved with international hostage negotiations for more than 30 years. >> these hostages are hidden away, many of them probably underground, in different locations, in a very dense urban area. and it's extremely difficult to find a way for anyone to get to them to help them. >> byron: hamas claims they've captured up to 150 hostages, 14 of them americans. delicate negotiations to bring citizens back home unfolding behind the scenes. >> we're working round the clock

to secure the release. of americans held by hamas in close cooperation with israel and our partners around the region. >> for family members and other people close to the hostages, they should continue to have hope. because there is hope of a resolution. the longer it goes, the more hope there is. >> byron: but for the families, every moment of waiting is excruciating. >> i spoke with them 8:30 in the morning. and that was the last time that we know. it was not in his apartment, he is not in the kibbutz. >> byron: he hasn't heard from his father, alec, since saturday and information from authorities has been scarce. >> they don't want to say things. they don't know. but we don't want to act -- to wait to get the news that he's kidnapped.

we're quite sure that this is the case. >> byron: the grandson of a holocaust survivor and prominent polish-israeli activist, alec recorded videos documenting their family history. >> it's a very low quality. i did it for me. i wanted the story of this family to be recorded. we speak about everything, about world war ii and holocaust, what happened there. today, i realize how glad i am that i did it. because now it's something we can see and watch all the time. >> byron: rudimentary but priceless recordings. >> it's a very valuable memory for me. >> byron: anxious loved ones in the u.s. clinging to hope. a vigil for two illinois women captured while traveling to israel for an 85th birthday celebration. >> i pray they're alive because

they're innocent and loving and they didn't do anything. just innocent. >> byron: today president biden speaking for over an hour with families of missing americans. >> they're going through agony, not knowing the status of their sons, daughters, wives, children are. it's gut-wrenching. i assured them my personal commitment to do everything possible, everything possible, to return every missing american to their families. >> although the hostages get a tremendous amount of attention, the broader strategic issue is the war. and the ongoing conflict between israel and hamas. and israel's need to defend itself. and that's what makes the decision-making and planning so very difficult. >> byron: just yesterday, u.s. secretary of state antony blinken visiting the besieged country. one of his top priorities, survivors of the carnage. >> we're strong here. we're powerful here in this place now. tel aviv and everywhere.

>> byron: making his way through the crowds, expressing the u.s. unwavering support for israel. >> we need the u.s. >> what you're doing is incredible and we're there for you, with you. we'll do anything we can. the bond that we feel between americans and israelis, shared values, shared beliefs -- >> byron: major cities around the globe on heightened alert today, prepping for potential violence after a former leader for hamas called for a worldwide day of rage. pro-palestinian rallies held from baghdad in iraq and beirut, lebanon, to new york city, thousands flooding the streets peacefully. but in israel, the military buildup on the border with gaza, nearly complete. more than 300,000 reservists called up. tanks on the move. israel readies for a full-scale ground invasion. >> i think shattered is the

perfect word for how we're feeling, how the israeli people are feeling. we very much want to pick those pieces back up. coming up, trying to make sense of this war. my conversation with two spiritual leaders about how this conflict is affecting us all. my active psoriatic arthritis can make me feel like i'm losing my rhythm. with skyrizi to treat my skin

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♪ >> byron: it has been a gut-wrenching week with so much death and so much suffering in israel and in gaza. there are more difficult

questions to come than there are answers right now. tonight a conversation. i'm joined by imam adean sharif and rabbi matthew goertz. thank you for joining us on what is a difficult night around the world. my first question is a conversation to ask you gentlemen to weigh in as spiritual leaders. earlier today i was with two friends, good men in their 50s. one palestinian, the other israeli. they couldn't look at each other. they are both hurt. they are both angry. how -- is it time yet to even begin to bridge that divide? imam, i'll start with you. >> i think it's over time for us to bridge the divide. i think that's one of the reasons why we still have the conflict. i think we need to bring people together to have those conversations that ultimately can remind them about the principles of their faith. and the more we can lean on

them, the more we can remind ourselves about what almighty god has said about how to treat not only your friend, but also how to treat one that you may be considering to be an enemy -- >> byron: rabbi, i know you share the spirit of that sentiment. but we're in this moment right now. there's bloodletting right now. what can we say, if anything, right now to have that conversation? >> dean and i have known each other 17 years. i would call us brothers. we've had the deepest of conversations. we've traveled to the middle east with 10 muslims, 10 jews, 10 christians. but in the jewish tradition, when there is this much bloodshed, or death at all, we give ourselves a period of time called shiva. then a number of months after that, just to be able to process the loss. what's hard about going right into conversation now is that we haven't yet resonated with what it is that's happened. the problem that's going to be, it's going to be, as you said, more bloodletting.

how we have conversations while allowing ourselves to mourn and comfort each other is incredibly challenging right now. >> byron: imam, you sent out a statement earlier this week. you say in part, i want to quote you here, "let us pray and work to help the people of palestine and israel rediscover the beauty and goodness of their human connection to each other." beautiful words. but we're in an ugly space right now. >> yes. and we need to recapture the beauty of that innate human nature that all mooid mighty god has given each one of us. i think part of the reasons why we have this conflict is that we have lost sight of the connection that palestinians and israelis have. i think we need to rely more upon the word of almighty god and less upon the word of politicians. >> byron: there is a violent

disagreement going on right now. what, if anything, should people do right now for those of us stateside who care about -- who may have family and friends or who just care about what's going on? what can, should, we be doing right now? >> when it comes to our relationships with our dear ones in israel, from my point of view, right now i can't offer words that could console them. it's impossible when someone's been traumatized the way my friends in israel have been traumatized to actually think i could fix it. the scenes seen are not going to be unseen for a very long time. the question is what you do when you move past that. and to be able to separate terrorists from everyday palestinians. and -- because my qualm, my issue is not with everyday palestinians, it's with the terrorists who committed the kinds of acts that, quite honestly, i haven't even

internalized yet because i'm still in such shock about it. there's going to be a road here. i hope, and the question will be, will we have the patience to get through what we're going to have to get through in these next few weeks and months to be able to find reconciliation? i'm so sorry to say this it's very hard to find anyone right now who's interested in being conciliatory, given how much pain they're in. the blood has just been spilled and the farms are now killing fields. that's going awhile just to clean the blood off the ground before we start to talk. >> byron: gentlemen, thank you. as the eyes of the world watch for possible escalation between israel and hamas, stay with "gma" and abs news live for the latest developments. when we come back, a final hot thought.

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"in difficult times, look for the helpers. they're always there. and the helpers will remind us, there is hope." may we all find a way to be helpful this weekend. that's "nightline" for tonight. thanks for the company, america. be safe. we'll see you monday.