from hamas headquarters because we have no intention to hurt any civilians, but next to the hamas militants, unfortunately they will be held too. >> that's important you mention that because that is, as you know, one of the most densely populated areas on earth. we're talking about more than 2 million people, and they can't go anywhere, right? i mean, they're stuck in there, ambassador. they can't go to israel. they can't go through egypt. >> what we are doing now, we are actually -- what we are doing now and i don't think you will find it in any other military, we are actually texting those residents in different neighborhoods and we tell them move out. move out from your neighborhood. you can go to another area in gaza, but don't stay where you are because this area will be attacked or this building will be attacked. i will go not like hamas is not to hurt civilians, is to fight

the militants. hamas is doing exactly the opposite -- they want to -- civilians and they run like cowards to hide behind civilians in gaza to use them as huge -- human shields. we are going to come from the sea, the air, the land, and we will fight back. even though we paid a heavy price and you can tell that i'm very emotional today because, you know, i know the number. i know what's happening -- thousands of funerals in israel, but at the same time, we have the conviction to protect our people and to hand down those terrorists. >> ambassador, i thank you very much for being with us this morning, i very much appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. and we continue our coverage, breaking news, the ongoing strikes inside gaza, there is a war with israel.

. it is 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific, i'm josé diaz-balart. we continue our special coverage at this hour of the war in israel. right now the israeli air force is unleashing, quote, an extensive assault on gaza. these are live pictures that you're seeing. it's all part of a barrage of missiles that rained down from the sky. at least 1,200 people now confirmed dead. the state department says that includes nine americans, and the number is only expected to rise. last hour i spoke with a man in israel who lost his daughter and son-in-law in this horrific terrorist attack. >> there's no such thing here as the front and the rear. the last words from her was that i hear glass breaking. they're speaking in arabic, and i hear shots. that's the lost words we heard from her. plus, the search for the kidnapped, dozens missing and taken by hamas.

israel working feverishly to find them and get them home. and lay terks how did what's being called israel's 9/11 even happen? we'll dive into the intelligence failure that led to the devastating loss of life. with us now to start off our coverage at this hour nbc news foreign correspondent kelly cobiella in tel aviv, nbc news senior white house correspondent gabe gutierrez at the white house. so kelly, what's the latest on the ground as we speak? the sun is about to set, and it looks as though the bombings are continuing on both sides. >> reporter: oh, that's right, jose. there was a strike on the town, the israeli town of sderot just a little more than an hour ago now. hamas claims they rained some 90 rockets and other types of weaponry down on that town.

one rocket did hit outside a supermarket injuring one person, and then an interesting development in the north of the country as well, even as the israeli military carries out these strikes on what they say is an extensive operation on hamas sites in gaza. in the north, they say that gunmen had crossed the border into israel from lebanon. they say that they were able to neutralize some of them, but that three managed to escape. there's an ongoing search for them now, and that at least six civilians were injured as a result. two of them, one severely. one critically. so those are the kinds of things that are playing out in different parts of the country right now. in the meantime, you have these families, just people in israel who are feeling very insecure, unsure of what's going on and on

top of that families who are still unsure where their loved ones are, some who believed that their relatives have been taken into gaza and are being held as hostages. one man said that he has tracked his wife and two young girls into gaza by using his wife's phone. he said that she -- they, the three of them were taken from their home on saturday. my colleague raf sanchez was able to talk to him about what kind of message he would send them if they could hear. here's what he told raf. >> i tell them that be strong, hold on. i'm thinking about you. i'm working hard to try in order to get you back. stay strong. try to be happy. don't be afraid. you know, it's hard for me to

say those things when i don't really know in what terms, what conditions they are held. >> reporter: and there are lots of families going through situations like this. i just heard from a man i spoke to yesterday whose brother, 28-year-old brother is missing. he said that his phone went off the line, dropped out completely on saturday as he was being treated for some sort of injury. he's since seen his phone has been turned back on, but he has no way of tracing it. he's very upset and grief stricken, as you can imagine. so many of these people don't know what's happening with their relatives. they don't know if they've survived or if they're being held captive and they're struggling to get good information out of the government, jose. >> and kelly, thank you, and i want to show this, just in case you're listening to us on radio, the -- it very clearly appears as we're up at 6:06 p.m. that

gaza city is sustaining some form of pretty consistent bombings as the sunsets. gabe, the state department has confirmed that nine americans have been killed in this attack. is there any sense of how this could change or not, the u.s. response to this attack? >> hi there, jose. certainly the state department says it is offering consular services to the families of those americans who have died in this conflict, and we just heard your interview with that professor who lost his daughter and son-in-law, just heartbreaking to hear. and right now the state department also looking into those americans that may have been taken hostage and trying to find out more information about that. jose, there is a concern here that this could escalate into this broader conflict across the region, and that is perhaps at least partly the reason that the u.s. is sending those military assets to the eastern mediterranean, that carrier

strike group as well as extra munitions to the israeli defense forces, but it is also a show of power meant to act as a deterrent. president biden over the last few days has been reiterating that message, telling any enemies of israel not to take advantage of this situation and to mount any other attacks against israel. now, we are not expecting to hear publicly, at least on camera from president biden today, but as we understand it, national security officials are in touch with their israeli counterparts, especially as we see now this -- these live pictures of that bombing campaign in gaza on behalf of israel. so certainly a lot to watch for, jose. no indication on how those -- that increasing casualty list of americans might conflict in this wider conflict, but the u.s. monitoring this very closely, jose. >> gabe gutierrez and kelly cobiella, thank you very much. and yes, we're seeing the split screen on one side, gaza city the other side, the west bank

occupied west bank. as we've kind of gave us a full screen on the gaza city live pictures that we have because i have counting at least five different strikes onto gaza city in these live pictures that we're having. you know, again, this is a place that is super, super densely populated. there's a large civilian population there, more than 2 million people. the ambassador was telling us that the israelis are doing everything by sending texts, calling, et cetera, the civilians that are living there, giving them advanced warning that they should move if they are close to an area controlled by hamas. the question, of course, is when hamas controls pretty much anywhere and every place the presidents to, including, you know, hospitals and communication centers, where there are civilians living nearby or in many cases in apartment complexes where

civilians live, you know, this is a very complicated reality, and the fact is that in all of these acts of war, many times those that suffer the most are civilians. just looking at this picture of buildings demolished and not just one strike but by my count there are four or five. take a look at these pictures, all live from gaza city as the sun begins to set. 6:09 p.m. take a look at that building, there are towers up there and cell phone towers and all kinds of things, but this is -- this is the specifically difficult reality that everyone is dealing with, and you know, there are people in there, hamas is not entire population of gaza city.

and yet, they're there. civilians are there. and, yes, there are more than possibly 100 hostages, men, women, children, babies that are there having been taken from israel. the beginning of this assault. i want to bring in adi bozi, an israeli resident who says her relative has been kidnapped. thank you for being with us. it's so difficult, i don't even know what -- how to just begin by telling you how much i feel for you and for your family. what is the latest situation for you and your family? >> so it's very difficult and it's a very tragic time right now in israel.

first of all, it's my home. >> we can hear you. we can hear you. >> okay. so it is my home, still it is my community. it's a beautiful city. we all live together in an amazing atmosphere and a lot of friends and family and friday we had our sabbath holiday, and i have two little children, 3 years old and 2 years old. i'm 8 months pregnant, and saturday morning i was sitting having corn flakes with my kids because they wake up early, and 6:20 i hear that there's booms going on, and suddenly the siren goes off. now my kitchen window is right to gaza. i see the missile coming before the siren even goes off. we have 15 seconds from the minute there's a siren to the

moment we already have to be in a secure place like a bomb shelter. now, there's actually -- i feel like there's a huge miracle that this happened at 6:20 in the morning and not at 8:00 or 9:00 because one of our jewish holidays, it's the biggest holiday that everybody's in the streets dancing. now, the scenario of thinking that there would be women, children, men, everybody in the streets and being attacked by missiles, i can't even imagine the amount of damage and what could have happened if it would have been two hours later. and i had to take my children very fast to the bomb shelter and close the door and just within the first missile hit, there was between 15 to 20 sirens going one after another without stop. we don't use our phones on

sabbath. we're not connected to the television or computer, but a few hours into this scenario, we said we better check what's going on in order to be safe and protected, and my mom actually called us and told us that there's terrorists going in the streets and we couldn't believe it that it's already beyond like missiles, which isn't the normal reality for anybody, and i don't think anybody should live under siege or anybody should have missiles being thrown to their homes, but also have terrorists. and i saw the same truck, the same vehicle like from the news broadcasts under my house with the terrorists with their guns up and just roaming around the streets looking for who they can shoot. we have whatsapp groups that every few minutes people were writing that there's people shooting in their building. please come and help. please come and protect us, and it's -- on the one hand, there's

a big amount of fear and very, very hard times. on the other hand, the amount of people who are volunteering and enlisting and going to the army and trying to protect and coming from all around the world. my brother right now is enlisted and he's in the north of israel, and there's everybody around who's trying to do and give in different ways. bring food to the soldiers and the humanity level of the jewish nation that i think that's what shows the real truth of israel. i think my mom is 84 years old, she was taken and kidnapped right now in gaza and her daughter called her and tried to speak to her on the phone and an arab answered and said -- in that moment they understood she's in captivity. they still don't have a way to get her back. they don't know what's with her. they don't have any information. she's 84 years old. i can't even imagine how you take an 84 years old woman from

the kibbutz and take her over the border. this is only one story from hundreds of stories unfortunately. >> i thank you so much for being with us this morning. i really appreciate your time, thank you. with us now to talking more about this is challah gor ran knee, a journalist with extensive experience covering the middle east, and rick stengel, former under secretary of state for public diplomacy and affairs, and an msnbc political analyst. rick, boy, how does the world, how does israel, how does the united states react to this? and again, look at these live pictures out of gaza city, the bombings are really intense and continuous. that's a populated area, 2 million people in there. rick, i don't know how, you

know, the world, the united states reacts to this, and then also going forward. >> yes, jose. it's a three dimensional chess game, and i would say if you divide it into short-term reaction, medium term reaction, and long-term reaction, i'd say the short-term reaction is to try to have a cessation of hostilities as soon as possible. that's not very likely because the israeli defense force will start actions that will take weeks or months. hamas obviously very dedicated to continuing this assault, and they had obviously done a lot of planning beforehand. they've done planning for i'm sure what the reaction will be. in the long-term -- and i don't

want to go too far ahead -- you know, the middle east was changing with the so-called abraham accords. there were peace treaties between sunni arab nations and israel. we were in the midst of negotiations between saudi arabia and israel. it's possible that hamas did this in part to torpedo those talks but obviously what this shows us and a lot of people have said including king abdullah of jordan, is that you can't have an ultimate peace in the middle east without some discon sags for the palestinians, and that was i believe netanyahu's goal, try to figure out how to have accords with their traditional enemies without making a deal with the palestinians, but you do need eventually to have some kind of deal with the palestinians. >> and clearly, rick, the let's

say influence, you know, some reports out there that iran may have -- wall street journal reporting that iran and security officials may have helped plan this attack. iran of course denies involvement. i'm just wondering, rick, iran has been a player here, and hamas certainly has benefitted by iran. what reaction or impacts could there or should there be if iran is seen to have been more than just applauding as they did on saturday night, having people go out and celebrate with fireworks what hamas was doing in israel. but if there is more direct involvement in it. is there, rick, something that should happen? should there be consequences to that? >> you know, jose, it's a very good question. i should have mentioned iran

before. i mean, i think it's indisputable and unmistakable iran's support for hamas and obviously for hezbollah, that wall street journal was very good. there was a good reuters story by iranian influence. the attack by hamas had the signature iranian military maneuvers. there is financial support for hamas. there's nothing new about that. part of the instigation might be iran is -- it would be that the odd man left out of a saudi arabian peace deal, which they tried to sabotage as well. we have been in talks, you know, during the biden administration to try to resuscitate the iranian nuclear deal. those obviously have been also sabotaged and torpedoed now. what the u.s. policy should be toward iran is a big question

mark, and you're right to point it out, and i don't have an answer to that. >> yeah, and i think that, you know there, must be some discussion about this going forward no doubt. so your reaction to what we're seeing and now we're seeing, again, the live pictures in gaza city where, you know, explosions continue to occur. there are so many mostly civilians dead and injured on both sides here. >> right, and you've been reporting that the israeli defense minister has announced a total blockade of the gaza strip. this is an area about twice the size of washington, d.c. that means cutting not just power. it also means cutting water, food, medical supplies, and you're right to say this is a very densely populated strip of land. more than 2 million people.

i also. ed -- i also wanted to add there are two views here. there's the short-term time line and the long-term time line. the short-term time line is clearer because the challenges are visible. they're visible. there are hostages insided gaza strip. the israeli military is going to have to find a way to get them out. there is an amassing of military troops and supplies at the border with gaza. this means potentially that a ground incursion is being prepared. the time line for that one is unclear. my guess is it's not as imminent as some people have said that it is simply because there have to be at this stage some negotiations to get some of the most vulnerable hostages out perhaps in exchange for some palestinian prisoners. some of the more immediate concerns are what happened in the north. the israeli military said it killed two infiltraters from

southern lebanon. are we looking potentially at a second front from this conflict, hezbollah has sent messages that are clear to anyone who covers the region that they do not intend on jumping in right now. they target add disputed area, they've done that in the past. this is symbol from hezbollah saying this is where we conduct our military operations. we're not looking farther south. they have said if they feel harassed -- and this is a quote by the lebanese foreign minister -- by israel, maybe they'll become involved. the longer terms are what rick said, i'll say this very briefly. you must change the paradigm. the way things are set up now with the occupied territories in the west bank and the blockade in gaza, you could put a band-aid on, that it will explode again down the line. >> hala gorani and rick stengel, thank you both so much for being with us this morning.

up next, israel has some of the best intelligence in the world. how was hamas able to take it entirely by surprise? we'll talk it with our four star general and an admiral who was just in the region studying israel's border security. you're watching special coverage of the war in israel. l coverage ofhe t war in israel

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28 past the hour, the deadly violence in israel was launched from gaza, one of the most densely populated and

impoverished strips of land in the world. you're seeing on your screens there, gaza city is just after 6:00 p.m. local time, and there have been explosions pretty consistently now for the last hour and a half that we've been on the air, it's raising questions about how hamas was able to pull off his attack and bypass israeli and western intelligence agencies. with us to take a closer look at this, msnbc military analyst retired general, barry mccaffrey, and mark montgomery, senior director on the center of technology innovation. thank you for being with us. rear admiral montgomery, you were in the region not too long ago looking at security that israel has on the border with gaza. what's that like? and you're seeing another massive explosion right now in gaza city. i'm sorry, rear aadmiral, go ahead. >> thank you for having me.

i was down there, i was down by the border. i have to tell you to my unpracticed eye that there was a significant level of israeli security down there, you know, in terms of fencing, patrols by tanks, camera systems, guns slayed to camera systems and a brigade of army infantry there. obviously at some point that became something that was accessible by hamas, and they were able to neutralize a significant amount. in fact, while i was there, i think there was a higher level of concern about the tunneling that was happening up on the lebanese border by hezbollah than probably there was associated with the chance of a breakout from the fence line around gaza, so obviously there was a real strategic failure of intelligence here, and it was able to take advantage of some tactical weaknesses that hamas had assessed over the last few years along the gaza fence line. >> yeah, just it's just -- it

seems as though they -- it was so planned and it was, you know, air, sea, and land. is it just that they were caught off guard? i mean, it seems as though all that security that you mentioned was pretty easily foiled. >> well, obviously they had a lot of resources here, and i mean iran has provided a lot of resources over the years to hezbollah and hamas, quite a large number of rockets were fired, you know, in concert with this, and a large amount of equipment. so you know, when you have adequate resourcing, you have time and you have an intent to do ill will, you know, there's a potential for being successful, and if israel and the united states wasn't listening to the right circuits, if israel wasn't monitoring the right people, it didn't have enough agents inside to explain what was going on, then this kind of tactical

surprise was probably inevitable. >> general mccaffrey, you know, you and i spoke over the weekend, and as we're seeing now what is a sustained, you know, bombing campaign in gaza city, general, what is it that security and military experts have to take into consideration when you're talking about, you know, bombing an area where there are, you know, huge civilian population and where there may be, you know, hostages that are held in buildings or underneath those buildings. >> well, clearly it's a challenge to the idf that has no easy answers. they're calling up their reserves right now, it's 170,000 israelis on active duty, but they've got the better part of a half million reservists they can call up. i think right now the one

solution that the idf will consider is massive, on the ground invasion of gaza to control the surface, sit there for a month to 90 days, and then have their intelligence agencies and special ops try and find these hostages. it's a dim prospect, but i can't imagine. israel is a family, you know, and when i visit the idf, they take me around and underscore any loss that's felt painfully by the entire nation, small nation, so they're not going to allow 100 hostages to go unanswered. i might also add that the admirals point, the scale of deception and surprise that the hamas achieved in a strategic level as well as tactical is simply astonishing. the idf really let their guard down, why there weren't counterattack forces readily manned, probably a result of a

holiday spirit in israel. so that's something to take into account, not just for israel but the united states as well. >> and general mccaffrey, there are talks, the fact that there wasn't an immediate response, or you know, at the moment special forces on call. could it have something to do with the, you know, expanding the west bank saddlements and the forces that have been sent to protect those settlers there, could it be that, you know, the government simply didn't listen to possible allied countries giving them advanced warning about something about to happen in gaza? in other words, is it that it just happened in a vacuum? >> well, i'm going to assume that the iranian did a lot of the development of this operation, had a deception plan

of considerable sophistication, probably trained many of these forces not in gaza the para gliders but back in iran, and studied the vulnerabilities of the israeli intelligence system, you know, obviously they had cameras. so forces a thousand fighters across the frontier weren't rehearsing this in public over the last several months. so it was a very well done operation by hamas. they're going to lose most of the people they put across the border, and by the way, the idf still has not gained control of the local situation. there's still fighters inside israel. so it was a well-done operation and caught the israelis off guard. they're now facing a situation in which there is no good answer to. jose, we talked about this before, this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,

but the israelis have no choice in my view, they're going to have to go into gaza, while worrying about the principle responsibility of the united states at this time is prevent escalation of the war, both by diplomatic means and by a show of force moving substantial u.s. navy and air force assets into the region. >> rear admiral mark montgomery and general barry mccaffrey, thank you both so much for being with us this morning. meantime, volunteer groups in israel have stepped up to deal with the massive human toll on the ground. one of the organizations is united hatsala which has been helping provide emergency medical care at the border. joining us nous emt and international media spokesperson for united hatsala, he is currently in the safe room in his house. thank you very much for being with us today. what are you seeing and what are you hearing?

>> so our teams of as soon as the fighting started at 6:30 in the morning on saturday, our local teams did everything they could to protect the populous. some of our members unfortunately were actually shot and killed, others were injured while trying to protect and stabilize of innocent civilians and military and police officers who were injured in the field. immediately the organization started getting into a, you know, full operation mode. we have 7,000 volunteers across the country who usually provide emergency medical service before the arrival of an ambulance, so we're used to stopping everything we do and running with whatever emergency is going on. we often also respond to international emergencies around the world. we just came back from morocco with the earthquake, and we mobilized 1,500 volunteers in a very short time, and over the course of a few hours on

saturday morning, they were all down in the south, southern gaza periphery region, which was the hardest hit, and the area where most of the incursions took place, working together with the idf, with idf medical teams to provide medical services for both civilians and military personnel who were injured in the fighting. and here in my town where i currently live we're a little further away from the fighting but our teams are still, like myself, taking care of the home front and all the rest of the medical emergencies that are taking place on day-to-day basis. here we've also had a number of rocket flying overhead, sirens sounding, even one just an hour ago where i live and in a town right next to me, there were a number of people injured and our volunteers treated them within seconds, saving lives, there was a huge rocket barrage towards jerusalem, and a number of cities were hit. one of them being very close by

to where i am now. me and my family ran into the safe room where i am now, and took shelter, and then obviously went out to help with the injured and the people in the community. just last night we also had some attempted terrorist incursions into towns in the area here, both one to the south of where i am and one to the west of where i am responded to those, so it's a very tense situation across the country. people no matter where they are are feeling the tension. we've obviously had, like i said before, about half a million reserve soldiers called up, so most of the people in the community are serving in the military, leaving those of us behind who are still working in the field of ems or other security forces around the city or cities to take care of everything else that's going on

right now. >> rafael posch, i thank you very much for being with us, i really appreciate your time. up next, overnight members of congress were given a briefing on israel, how the lack of house speaker could impact any action they could try to take. you're watching special coverage of the war in israel. of the warl this is spring semester at over 13,000 us school districts, which have become top targets for ransomware attacks. but there's never been a reported ransomware attack on a chromebook. which is why thousands of schools like the fairfield-suisun unified school district switched to google tools for education. so they can focus on teaching and 22,000 students can focus on learning, knowing that their data is secure. ( ♪♪ ) okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health.

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their first unclassified briefing on hamas's surprise attack on israel. the briefing comes amid a new push for congressional aid and support for israel, but the matter could become complicated as there's still no speaker of the house, a week after lawmakers voted to oust kevin mccarthy from the post. joining us now nbc's ali vitali on capitol hill. ali, this morning, is there anything on movement? i mean, isn't there any concern about the fact that essentially the house is frozen? >> there's a lot of concern, but nothing to change that, at least not right now, jose, because we know that for the house, they're not back in town until at least tonight. republicans are set to coalesce tomorrow. before then ultimately holding what they're going to do is an internal conference vote on wednesday. not clear that any one person running for speaker would have the votes to make it out of that conference meeting and ultimately to the floor, but the problem here is not just one of

politics, jose. it's one of needing the house to be able to function and do business at a time when the world needs america to show leadership, resolutions, and potentially send aid. they can't do that because the acting speaker is not empowered to move legislation on the floor. anything as simple as a resolution to condemn hamas and the actions that we've seen in israel would be impossible for this person now currently patrick mchenry, to do. and what's striking is i just spoke with former, now congressman mccarthy whorks who seemed to leave the door open when i asked him what he would tell his conference to do in these trying moments? would he tell them to elect a temporary speaker. he clearly left the door open to himself resuming the post. watch. >> i'm going to allow the conference to do their work, but the one thing i would ask my conference, you have 96% of the conference in one place, and

you're allowing 4% with the democrats playing politics, now putting the doubt inside this body. that is wrong. >> reporter: so mccarthy there saying what's obvious and what's always been true is that he does have the support of the majority of his republican conference here in the house, but that's not what the rules are. it's what we watched last week unfold for the first time in history, a speaker being ousted from within his own party. people like matt gaetz and others, of course, coalesing to vote alongside democrats to oust mccarthy from this role. i know that this seems like it's small or petty politics, but the way the house functions is critically important in a moment like this, and we're watching that play out in realtime. >> yeah, the way the house functions or doesn't function. >> reporter: doesn't, you're right. >> ali vitali, thank you so much. in israel, families are desperately searching for any signs of their loved ones still missing. israeli defense forces say more than 700 israelis were killed in saturday's attack.

the times of israel reports that more jews have been murdered in this attack than in any single day since the holocaust. joining me now is former congressman ted deutsche, he is now the ceo of the american jewish committee. congressman, it's always great to see you. this is such difficult moments. how has this been for you and what was your reaction to this? >> well, i was in abu dhabi for a celebration of the abraham accords and a look to the future of greater integration of israel within the broader middle east and the world, the direction that everything was headed, and less than 12 hours later, we saw this horrific, brutal, barbaric attack by a terrorist organization that slaughtered now over 800 israelis, 2,400 wounded, 260 people killed at a

music festival, 5,000 rockets fired. terrorists going into towns, into houses taking kids, women, grandmas, and slaughtering them or dragging them back to gaza. there's a holocaust survivor, at least one, a holocaust survivor who's currently being held hostage by these monsters. i reacted the way i think any person with a sense of decency and morality anywhere in the world would react, which is sheer outrage to what we've seen and the reactions from the president and world leaders, it's what we've seen from religious leaders and leaders of other communities. this is a moment to stand on the side of what is right and to stand against this kind of barbarism that's so dangerous not only to israel, but to the world. >> and you have seen it, there have been celebrations, i mean, you know, iran had a celebration

on saturday bringing people out to enjoy fireworks to celebrate this. and there have been events in new york city and in san francisco and in london and in paris of people saying this is the consequence of israeli action. >> yeah, yeah, i'm -- look, i'm not at all surprised that the iranians are celebrating. the iranians are supportive of hamas. their effort, their focus is on trying to destroy israel. we know that. so that's shocking, but it's not shocking. still, outrageous. but to see americans in new york and other places celebraing acts of barbarism. what is it that's a victory that they're talking about? is it the rape of women?

is it abducting kids? is it going into neighborhoods and shooting people as they walk down the street? like who are these americans who stand on the side of terrorists? were there rallies after 9/11? were there people going out when 3,000 americans were killed? by the way, thus far in terms of the equivalent, the number of dead in israel would be the equivalent of close to 30,000 americans in one day. but on 9/11 terrorists attacked our country, and everyone came together to stand against terrorism just as everyone here should come together and do the same. it is shocking to me that there are people who would be celebrating the outrageous attack that hamas has launched and continues to launch with the sole purpose of killing jews. it's who hamas is, and i cannot

believe that anywhere in america there is someone who would think that they should stand on the side of monsters, and that's what they're doing. >> former congressman ted deutch, i thank you so much for being with us this morning. appreciate it. up next, we're going to talk to a human rights attorney and palestinian american activist about what civilians in gaza are going through right now and a whole lot more. you're watching special coverage of the war in israel. and get rewarded. get 50% off any footlong when you join subway mvp rewards. so many all star options. it's just for subway mvps right? you catch on quick herbert. join now and get 50% off any footlong.

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authorities coast to coast are ramping up security at mosques and synagogues amid growing threats. nbc's maggie vespa joins us from little palestine, the neighborhood there in chicago. maggie, you've been talking to people there. what are they saying? >> reporter: yeah, jose, i mean, just first and foremost, the conversations here have been really striking both in little palestine as you point out, this is suburban neighborhood anchored by this family-owned restaurant, and those demonstrations yesterday, the one where we had crowds

supporting the israeli people coming face-to-face with pro-palestinian protesters or demonstrators. that was in new york city. we here on the ground were at a march, rally turned march, hundreds of pro-palestinian demonstrators in downtown chicago. they actually started outside the israeli consulate in downtown chicago, and then marched through major thoroughfares downtown. basically what we're hearing from those who support the broader palestinian movement is while no one they say wants to see violence, wants to see what's happening, they say the actions, they tell us of hamas did not surprise them given the history of violence between these two demographics. when we pressed to some degree about the tactics that we're seeing this weekend, that hamas, according to reports on the ground targeting women, children, civilians, kidnapping, killing, women, children, and civilians. people again here on the ground supporting the palestinian movement say while no one wants to see that, they were quick to

steer the conversation back to violence against palestinians in and around the gaza strip for the past, you know, multiple decades. so you're going to hear one such clip where a person kind of zeros in on that, and then you're going to hear from the consul general of israel to the midwest specifically talking about the chicago demonstration that, again, start instead front of the israeli consulate. here's that sound. take a listen. >> we have been the civilians that have been harmed for over 80 years now, and it has built up to this point where people are somewhat happy that our frustrations are, you know, being released. >> local palestinians that come to support these actions, these massacres, i'm appalled by that. i'm horrified by that, and you know, some things i think that the freedom of speech does not protect, and this is one of them. >> reporter: so amid all of

those conversations happening across the country, jose, you're right. authorities as you point out are upping security, upping police presence outside mosques and synagogues. we've heard this from miami beach to salt lake city to beverly hills saying they have seen an increase in threats against those religious institutions. jose. >> maggie vespa, thank you so much. and joining us now is nora ericot human rights attorney, a palestinian american activist and associate professor at rutgers university. thank you for being with us this morning. i just want to hear your concerns, your reactions and what you think we should be focused on? >> thank you for having me. i want to highlight even the title of the segment that says war on israel is obscuring a context. it's creating a moment of crisis that obscures a context of structural violence against palestinians and the daily war that they endure. in 2020 several human rights organizations including human rights watch and israeli human rights organizations have said

that israel oversees an apartheid regime. that is a crime against humanity. palestinians in the gaza strip have been held in open air prison, the largest ghetto that has been circumscribed by naval blockade and land siege, sujtd to caloric food intake, restriction of their movement, no electricity, no gas, and yet the whole world has stood aside and watched those palestinians die quietly. so while this is a very horrific moment, right now we're all asking for peace, everybody wants to live, all civilian life should be protected, but in pursuit of that peace, we should be addressing the structural violence, the root cause of this violence, which is israeli apartheid, which is settler colonialism, which is prolonged military occupation, and not forget that context -- on what will be one event in a long series -- crises unless we

address the root cause of it. >> and there are many things you mentioned and i think it's important that you do mention all of these and certainly the settlements in the west bank and what's the reality in gaza, and we're showing these live pictures, noura in gaza that is sustaining pretty consistent bombings, and it's important as we've been doing all morning to mention this is probably one of the most just packed areas on the planet. you know, more than 2 million people are living there and that's men, women, and children. but i just want to be clear on something. you know, you say you take offense or issue with it's a war that we put. it's a war. i mean, there was an attack. the israeli -- i'm not taking offense at that, but what it is is a constant war against palestinians. we're obscuring the structural violence. when this is over and before it started, palestinians endured daily attacks on their life.

they are going to continue to endure attacks against civilians, home demolitions, cutting off of electricity. the israeli general literally said to an audience in public that there is a complete siege on gaza, that they have cut electricity, which means no electricity to homes, to water generators, to hospitals. they are carpet bombing apartment buildings. they have done this four times in the last ten -- less than ten years since 2008. so that war is protracted. i am appealing to a public that cares about all civilians that in order to achieve peace, we can't just be concerned with this moment of crisis. we have to address the root cause, which is the biggest crime against humanity. we dismantle that, we end occupation. we achieve peace for all peoples. >> noura erkat, vr much appreciate your time. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm josé -b