good morning. it is 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific, i'm jose diaz-balart back with my

colleague and friend ana ca grar cabrera. right now, the unrelenting pounding of gaza city continues in response to the hamas terror attack. you're looking at live pictures where it is just 6:00 p.m. inside gaza. >> just outside that city israeli troops and tanks are continuing to mass at the board leading to a belief that a ground invasion is imminent. >> plus, secretary of state antony blinken is in tel aviv, affirming the united states's unwavering commitment to israel while standing along side israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. >> the message that i bring to israel is this, you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as america exists, you will never, ever have to. we will always be there by your side. >> we begin this hour with our reporters there on the ground, in israel. let's get to nbc's ali velshi.

tell us where you are and the latest. >> reporter: we're heading back to the border. we normally spend our afternoons and evenings into the night near the gaza border, about 15 miles away from it. we were, however, in tel aviv, just moments ago, we were speaking to a man whose mother is believed to be one of the captives held by hamas. that's the preoccupation right now, with israeli citizens, the soldiers have massed on the border, both the north side and around the sides of gaza, readying for an infiltration, a ground invasion into gaza. but at the same time, the israeli defense forces have said they informed 97 families their loved ones are being -- were taken is the language they're using, were taken by hamas because they don't know what the condition of those captives may be. there is probably another 50 that have not been accounted for, they're still recovering bodies from some of the areas around the gaza border. but the bottom line is those people have families who are

being held would like the government to prioritize getting those families out. and it may be that that is more successful through negotiation than through a ground incursion because they don't know where the people are being held and they could be used either as human shields or can be -- they could be killed as a deterrent to israel. that's the situation. we got a standoff right now as it stands on the southern border between gaza and israel, that's the direction we're headed right now. >> ali, i know you've been speaking with so many folks, but you spoke with a man whose mother is still missing. what did he have to say? >> reporter: well, it was a remarkable because his mother, 74-year-old woman, who lived in a kibbutz on the border of gaza was a peace activist. her entire life was devoted to not just peace in the abstract, but reconciliation with palestinians. one of the problems with gaza is healthcare is not particularly good there for various reasons. they're blockaded and have been from getting certain equipment. if you have cancer, you have to

leave gaza to get that treatment. she meets you on the israeli side to take you for treatment. i asked him if he knew the latest on the condition or the status of his mother. >> the only thing i know for a fact is that her body isn't in the house. and other than that, we do have indications, rumors, we have strong assumptions that she is being held in gaza. but i'm careful because i don't really know. >> reporter: so, he's one -- he's not one of the 97 families that have been informed that israel knows for sure that their loved ones were taken by hamas. he said they have been in the house and her body wasn't there. they're hoping that that's a sign that she is alive. >> ali, we talked with ellison barber earlier and she witnessed tanks going past her toward the border of gaza. what are you hearing at this hour about israel's expected

military activity into gaza? >> reporter: well, one of the things israel has to be careful of right now is they have been calling up reserves over the past year to deal with the brewing situation in the west bank. they have reserves in the west bank. they called back, you recall, they have asked for 365,000 reservists to be called up. they need everybody around the world who is a reservist. it is typical to live in the uk or canada or australia or the united states, and be a reservist. so el al has been sending planes from all over the world to ben gurion airport or bases in israel because a lot of commercial flights are canceled. as those reserves land, they have to be trained or retrained and equipped in all of that. so the people who are going to the southern border tend to be sort of soldiers who are already in the regulars or are currently doing their national service, and as everybody is up to speed and ready, they're sending them south. so that's why you continue to see tanks rolling down.

most of what israel would need for a ground incursion is already in place. they have expanded what they call the gaza military envelope farther out than the border of gaza. israel's got it surrounded. they say they're ready to go in at any point. they're ready. everything you're seeing going south toward gaza is extra. >> and, ali, as you were talking, we got some new reporting about leaflets being dropped in gaza today from -- it says israel defense forces. and that they are telling citizens in these leaflets because there is no power, so it is hard to communicate with them any other way, they're saying to flee certain zones, things like, quote, move against it, that they have prompted the army to move against hamas in their area of residence for your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and go to known shelter centers. this is an indication of some of the movements that israel military forces, the idf, are taking right now to try to

protect some of the civilians inside gaza. >> reporter: yes, as you know, there is more than 300,000 people according to -- sorry, go ahead. there is about 300,000 people who have been displaced so far and that's what they're telling them, get out of your houses, they're going to be hit by missiles, from the air force or the navy. >> it is one of the most densely populated areas on earth. more than 2 million people. it is very tough to think where they could go to and when they're in the dark, with absolutely nothing. and i know you've been crisscrossing israel. what is it like today to go through parts of israel? >> reporter: well, right now we're on the main road between tel aviv and southern israel. a number of communities on the coast, ashdod where i've been, ashkelon, south of that and then you get into the kibbutzim, the various kibbutz communes as they are, close to the gaza border.

nobody is going there right now. you can't get there. that is sort of a militarized zone. so at the moment this is just a regular highway with regular traffic. we have heard jets this morning, but have not had any air raid alarms or sirens or we haven't seen any interceptions. it is not dark yet. they tend to be happening more often than not in the dark than they are in the day. so i suspect within the next hour or so as the sun sets we'll start hearing those, we'll hear the planes going as we get close to gaza. you can feel the percussive effects of the missiles that the defense forces are sending into gaza and the rockets go up and the iron dome intercepting the missiles. >> take good care. thank you very much for being with us. president biden convened his national security team to talk about the situation in the middle east as israel continues to move troops and weapons to the gaza border ahead of an expected ground offense. >> israel says it will go into gaza, even though hamas is

holding more than 100 hostages and they're preparing for street to street fighting. with us now to talk more about this is retired lieutenant general steve twitty. general twitty, a short time ago, the israel defense forces chief of staff posted a video on x, formerly known as twitter, where he said, quote, idf is responsible for the security of our nation and its citizens and we failed to do so on saturday morning in gaza. and we will look into it, we will investigate. but now it is time for war. what do you make of this? >> well, i think the statement is correct. the intelligence as we know, there is intelligence failure within the israeli military. and israeli administration. and so they all deal with that, i'm quite sure.

i know the israelis extremely well. i trained with them. and been to israel several times. and they're all about ensuring that their intelligence apparatus works. so they'll get to that. now the larger issue at hand here is this ground operation that they are getting ready to endure. it is going to be a serious operation. it is going to be serious casualties on both sides. and as jose talked about, 2 million people. it is going to be hard to protect those 2 million people. and so i think you're going to see most of the casualties obviously on the civilian populace there in gaza. >> you're talking about that, and the fact is that it is going to be two forces fighting each other, but not really. i mean, we're talking about a military from one country, going into a city looking for irregular fighters that don't have uniforms and are

intertwined with more than 2 million people. how, general, do you see that being carried out and how can you in any way have a successful mission in a place where you can't see who is who? >> yeah, so, you're spot on, jose. i have five combat tours, iraq and afghanistan, and i had the same problem. and, of course, the israelis will have to use intelligence to the best of their ability, intelligence to figure out who is who, but also intelligence to figure out where the hostages are located. the second piece is key to the special operating forces in gaza first, the special operating forces can really help you shape the environment to see, perhaps, some of these terrorists in their -- where they're located. and the third thing that i will tell you is, and what you're

seeing the israelis do now is called shaping operations. if you can knock out the communication centers of hamas, if you can knock out the ammunition depots and knock out the surface to surface missiles you can pretty much go in and deal with the terrorists without having to deal with the command and control structure and the things that i just talked about. and so, the shaping operations will be key for them prior to the ground assault. >> and this area that has about 2 million people packed in is just a little bit bigger than twice the size of washington, d.c. so that speaks to really the urban warfare nature that this could become. i do wonder, if they go in with this ground invasion, general, how long could the battle, the fighting last? >> well, there is no way that they're going to be able to secure 1 40 square miles.

and so what they will have to do is isolate portions of gaza and once they isolate it, secure a foot hold into the location that they want to attack. and then they start eating the elephant one bite at a time. isolate, secure, attack. isolate, secure, attack. if they try and take the elephant whole, then what will essentially happen is they will get swallowed up in that massive city that you're showing there, or strip that you're showing, and they will not be able to amass the combat power and hamas will be able to counter, whether it be through their -- up on buildings, whether it be in the streets, in the alleys, and they'll be able to knock out the

israelis' combat power pretty quickly. they have to bite the apple one bite at a time or the elephant. >> bite by bite, either against the apple or the elephant, and i'm wondering, when we're seeing the israelis have hundreds of tanks already at the border there, and they got military -- all kinds of machinery and including bulldozers. it is kind of tough to think, and i'm wondering how these special operations forces could play a part in this, but it is tough to think that tanks and bulldozers are the ones they can carry out bite by bite operations versus a massive just going through and bulldozing it. >> well, you have to remember, i go back to the civilian population, there are 2 million people that live on this strip, and the last thing you want to do, when you go into this type of environment is create more

enemies. and when you start destroying folks' homes, their businesses, their way of life, then you start to create more enemies. and so taking in a bunch of armor, a bunch of bulldozers, and just destroying the gaza strip, it is not the way to go about it. you have to have good intelligence, you have to focus, primarily on the enemy. and you have to protect the civilian population as much as you can. >> thank you so much, lieutenant general steph twitty for epping us understand what could come next in the ongoing war between israel and hamas right now. thank you very much. still to come, the family of a missing israeli man speaks out. the father and uncle of a 22-year-old kidnapped by hamas tells us his story in 60 seconds.

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16 past the hour. we have breaking news about secretary of state antony blinken. >> let's bring in nbc's meagan fitzgerald. what can you tell us? >> good to be with you. we're learning secretary blinken will travel to qatar tomorrow to meet with senior officials. now, this is according to a senior u.s. official. blinken's meeting in doha is expected to focus on joint qatar-u.s. efforts to secure the release of the hostages and try to de-escalate the situation we're seeing play out in israel and gaza. this, of course, is according to a source with knowledge of the visit. this also -- also moments ago we know the secretary had a chance to meet with survivors and had this very emotional moment with a woman who survived the music festival, telling the secretary that she has loved ones who were taken hostage by hamas, and the secretary said he, of course,

offering his condolences to her and saying that he wants to get these hostages back. we know that a part of his visit, that the secretary is also going to be holding discussions about this humanitarian corridor in gaza. u.n. officials on the ground there, in gaza, are pleading for humanitarian aid. right now we're monitoring that situation for any updates, specifically throughout the secretary's visit to the middle east. >> meagan fitzgerald, thank you very much. right now officials say up to 150 people remain in the hands of hamas five days after they launched saturday's surprise attack. israeli officials say that its complete siege of gaza will not be lifted until hamas releases all of those being held. >> and one of those taken is 22-year-old omer. his family wants you to see the brutal reality. he is there in this video in the back of a pickup truck being taken away from that music festival that was attacked on saturday. joining us now are two members

of omer's family, his father and his uncle. thank you, both, for just taking the time to share this heart breaking story and i know you must be waiting for any news. you just returned from the funeral as well of somebody else who i know was close to your family, who was with your son when he was taken. how are you all doing? >> thank you for the opportunity to say what we are going through. it is horrible. it is difficult. i came from funerals of a friend that omer went with her to the music fest. they came to celebrate, to party, and they have been in the shelter together. and we lost connection.

and unfortunately hakim was murdered, came from the funeral and we have video, very handsome, very intelligent, manager of a restaurant, and his brilliance. we have video that he was kidnapped by hamas. we have photos that -- with arms captured. we know he's alive and sure he's alive from the video and from the photos, hamas is responsible for his health and for his -- to bring him home safe. omer has a disease, a chronic disease, he needs medicine urgent and hamas won't take red cross to come over. we're trying for all over, just to connect with omer, to give

him health. >> wow. i'm wondering how you got access to those videos, to those photos. did somebody contact you or did you just happen upon them? >> no, unfortunately the media in gaza, telegram gaza, it is -- they put all the videos and photos, it is horrible, a friend of mine saw it and he knows my son. so he told me. and before he told me i went to look for omer, i went to take my son home, because i know he's in a difficult situation. bombing and shooting everywhere. and i know he's waiting in the shelter. i tried to go there to take him out.

unfortunately i didn't get to the shelter. a friend called me, told me i have a video, omer is alive, but is probably kidnapped. so we have to come home. your family needs you. and we are trying to do everything to bring omer back. alive. >> you know, how do you process something, this young man who went with his friend to a concert, and then is -- this happens to him. how -- ricardo, what do you want us to know about omer and what do you want to say to him? >> i'm the father of omer. i want to say to omer, maybe i

say in hebrew, if it is okay -- [ speaking in a global language ] it is a message for omer that we are strong, we are waiting for him to come back home alive, and we are waiting. >> the geneva commission, they are obliged to supply medicine to captives. he's kidnapped in gaza. he has a disease. and we try to send his medicine through the red cross in the field to hamas. we have hundreds, hundreds of terrorists that killed israelis.

however though after killing israelis, we supply to them all the medicine, we give them opportunity to learn at university, they have televisions, they have all the facilities that are internationally recognized. we treat hamas killers as prisoners. they are taking civilians, not a soldier, didn't do anything wrong, he didn't pass the border to gaza, he didn't do any damage, just in the beginning of his life. he was supposed to be going to university, starting the life. he goes to festivals every couple of weeks, so young, beautiful lady. there was no justification to go to this concert with machine guns, closed area, shoot all the

guys, all the ladies, families together, no rationale. they didn't do anything wrong. the only thing they need to do and i strongly recommend to do it to give back all the kidnaps to israel. they are messing around with the wrong enemy. we were not sensitive enough to the risk of hamas. right now if you don't give back the captives that they took, it will not end well. this is what we understand. this is what we hear in the streets. >> and -- >> israel is very small and i think that you know exactly what will happen. so they need to be smarter, give back omer, give back all the

other kidnapped people well and safe. >> shai, i know the israeli government has been in touch with some family members of those being held hostage. i'm wondering if you had any contact with them and what are your thoughts about the possibility of the israeli defense forces going into gaza in a massive way here shortly potentially? >> i was contact on monday by the israeli government. they told me that they know that omer is kidnapped. he is kidnapped. they can't tell me the situation, but from the video and the photo i know he's alive. and i'm not politic. i'm not military. i don't have the knowledge to say what should we do now. i trust the government.

i trust all over that they are doing their best. and i think they know what to do. they are building it now. they have a big mission to do. it is very complicated. there is a lot of hostages that probably are underground, in the gaza strip. for my opinion, they need to do the best to bring my son home. >> well, we hope -- >> and all hostages. >> absolutely. we hope you can hold your son closely very soon. shai and ricardo, our hearts are with you in this moment. thank you for sharing your story and your grief and your concern and what you can tell us about your son and your nephew. wishing you the very best. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. we are unbreakable. thank you very much. >> thank you.

we have a heart breaking update on a family we spoke with earlier this week on tuesday. i spoke to the mother of 21-year-old abi who had gone missing in the attack at the music festival. they now learned that she was killed. he last heard from her daughter on saturday morning, when shots could be heard in the background of the phone call. her funeral was today. >> up next, we're going to talk with a u.n. official working with palestinian refugees about the humanitarian crisis in gaza. you're watching special coverage of the israel-hamas war. g specie of the israel-hamas war. [city ambience sounds] [car screech] [car door slam] [camera shutter sfx] introducing ned's plaque psoriasis. [camera shutter sfx] he thinks his flaky, red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. [ned?]

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the afternoon. israel continues to bombard the area in response to the hamas terror attacks. the u.n. now warning of dire water shortages as israel's blockade cutting water, fuel, food and electricity enters the fourth day. >> that is we have new drone video showing entire sections of gaza, you can see, reduced to rubble from the air strikes. the u.n. says at least 340,000 palestinians are currently displaced inside gaza. meantime, emergency personnel are facing extreme risks as they try to help those civilians. the red crescent said four palestinian medics were killed yesterday on the ground. joining us now is juliette touma, communications director for the u.n. relief and workers agency for palestinian refugees. juliette, thanks for sharing your time with us and the knowledge of what is happening there in gaza. what are your teams seeing and hearing there inside the city? >> thanks for having me. and also for showing these

shattering images. our teams on the ground continue to work around the clock to respond to immense humanitarian needs. we have sadly lost under 12 colleagues who have been killed since saturday. the needs on the ground are huge. we have running out of supplies. we do not have any access, we are not able to bring in any supplies inside the gaza strip. >> you know, just what you just said at the top right now, you've lost 12 colleagues of yours just in this week, that are trying to help people. what happened to them and what is the situation right now on the ground and we're looking at the pictures and there are still explosions going off. what is that situation like right now? >> well, these colleagues of

ours that we lost, they included five teacher, one gynecologist, one engineer, several support staff from guards that work in our facilities, it is a very, very sad day for us and it is only happened in five days. we have people on the ground who continue to respond, but they themselves have been impacted. unrwa is the largest u.n. agency working in the gaza strip. we have 13,000 staff. these are teachers, doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, emergency personnel, but they also are terrified and exhausted already. some lost houses. some lost loved ones, friends. some lost their own lives. >> are there any stories in particular that you're hearing from these workers that stand out to you about what they're experiencing? >> they're terrified. they told me yesterday this

could be the end for all of us here in gaza. they're terrified. this is unprecedented. it is nothing like they have ever seen and these are colleagues who have been through this maybe six or seven times in the past let's say 20 years. this is nothing like we have ever seen, like we have ever seen. for me i've been in this field for more than 20 years now. i worked in syria and yemen, and libya and iraq, gaza, of course. i go in and out of gaza quite frequently. this is unprecedented. and has got to stop. >> there are already the u.n. says about 340,000 people displaced already. and it is so important to say that, you know, previous to saturday, the situation in gaza is one of difficulties. a daily existence is difficult, you know, previous to saturday, but there are refugee camps in

gaza already. it is like how does all of this -- how can people be expected to move to camps or egypt when this is the reality they're living through? >> gaza has been under blockade for 16 years and so movement, restriction, has been in place. it is very difficult for people in gaza to get in and out of gaza, extremely difficult and in some cases absolutely impossible. people in gaza depended on food aid coming from unrwa, the agency where i work, dependent on assistance from other agencies. they lived in poverty, more than 80% lived in poverty and unemployment among young people is some of the highest in the world. so the situation was already very, very bad. and with all of this happening, it is a tragedy in the making. >> juliette, i wonder, are you

hearing anything about efforts in the works right now to allow safe passage for civilians and for members of your team, for example, to get out of gaza? >> well, unrwa is calling for humanitarian access for immediate humanitarian access so that we are able to deliver much needed supplies to people in need in gaza. we haven't been able to do that since saturday morning. we need to get stuff in, we need to get food in, we need to get people in to help those colleagues of ours who have been working around the clock. we are also following the situation of the water shortages. i think we are on the brink of a water crisis in the gaza strip because people, you see in the gaza strip relied on water supplies that came from israeli suppliers. and that too has stopped. >> juliette touma, thank you for your time and best of luck.

>> thank you. >> in your efforts. >> appreciate it. any minute now we expect to hear from secretary of state antony blinken in israel. i just met with israel's prime minister earlier this morning. these are live pictures of that podium, it has been set up in tel aviv. we're going to be hearing from the secretary of state in just moments. te in just moments. (sean) i wish for the amazing new iphone 15 pro! (jason) sean! do you mean this one - the one with titanium? switch to verizon, you can trade in any iphone, and get the new iphone 15 pro on them. (vo) it's your last chance to trade in any iphone for a new iphone 15 pro on us. only on verizon. (♪♪) we come from a long line of cowboys. (♪♪) when i see all of us out here on this ranch, i see how far our legacy can go. (♪♪) we've got questions i see how far our legacy about medicare plans. well, we've got a lot of answers! how can i help? well for starters,

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too will hamas be crushed. and hamas should be treated exactly the way isis was treated. they should be spit out from the community of nations. no leader should meet them. no country should harbor them. and those that do should be sanctioned. >> with us now to talk more about this is george burnbalm, former chief of staff to benjamin netanyahu. so, george, you know netanyahu

well. what is he thinking at this time and, you know, this whole issue of gaza and the apparent ground movement that may be happening shortly, what do you think he's thinking? what are his considerations? >> well, there are lots of considerations and believe it or not the first one is protection of human life, civilian and israeli military. the endgame here, you hear a lot about strategy and what is coming. i think the endgame quite frankly and it may sound a little ridiculous at this point is peace. israel in the past has shook the hands of people who had blood on their hands, yasser arafat, anwar sadat, 1979, we made peace with them. why? he chose peace over war. king hussein had blood on his hands. we shook his hand in 2006. why? because he wanted to choose peace over war and blood. we had three israeli prime ministers, netanyahu, ehud

barak, ehud olmert, all shake the hand of yasser arafat who had the blood of women and children on his hands, we shook his hand in the hope that he wanted peace too. what is clear is hamas doesn't want peace. what israel wants is peace. the only way palestinian people will achieve peace with israel and the ability to live their lives the way they want with self-determination is to get rid of hamas. that's the answer to peace. the consideration is how do we do that? and it means going in, wiping them out, yes, there will be collateral damage, and that is unavoidable and regrettable, but with hamas, the palestinian people will not have peace. >> you talk about collateral damage. how much of a role does hostages being held by hamas play in the planning for an israeli ground invasion of gaza? >> it is certainly part of the equation. and, you know, it is i think one of the reasons why, although i

assure you the people in gaza don't think the israeli army has been restraining this far, it has been restraining because of the hostage situation. but, you know, if the palestinian people want water and they want food and they want the blockade to end it very simple. release the hostages. all hamas has to do is release the hostages. that's it. >> as you know, hamas will use innocent palestinians as human shields. that's been their mo in the past. so, the palestinian people are powerless in this situation. it is hamas, the terrorists who are controlling those innocent lives at the moment. >> you're exactly right and that's why the only solution is for the israeli army to go in and wipe them out. that will free the palestinian people. that will allow them the self-determination, the peaceful co-existence we both want. only with that kind of action we will achieve the solution that

everybody wants. >> george, i'm wondering, and, you know, where the balance is when you're looking at things from a cold perspective of what needs to be done, right. and i'm thinking where -- how do you fine tune that balance of going in and destroying an organization that has attacked you and that wants the destruction not only of israel, but of jews, and then the civilian population that is in hamas through no fault of their own, how do you -- where is the balance in that when you go and bulldoze and bomb, that that population could in a way be a key ingredient in never wanting peace with israel. >> it is hard. and no doubt about it, but there is no choice. hamas left us no choice. my father was an auschwitz survivor.

his father was shot in front of him before he was sent off to auschwitz. we saw children shot in front of their parents, parents shot in front of their children. this is unacceptable. at every level of humanity. and so, yes, there is a price to be paid. and, yes, there is a hard, hard calculation to be made. and, yes, there is a visceral reaction to want to make them pay. but israel has always, in the past, and will continue today and into the future do its best to mitigate collateral damage. but hamas as i said left the israeli people and the jewish people no choice. we have to go in, we have to wipe them out, until every last one of them is dead, the palestinian people will not have peace and they will not have peaceful co-existence because as you said, they are suffering due to hamas. >> george, thank you very much for your insights and your perspective during this difficult time. major efforts under way to bring americans stuck in israel

back home. the founder and ceo of project dynamo, which is helping with those evacuations, is going to join us next. you're watching special coverage of the israel-hamas war on msnbc. g special coverage of the israel-hamas war on msnbc (sean) i wish for the amazing new iphone 15 pro! (jason) sean! do you mean this one - the one with titanium? switch to verizon, you can trade in any iphone, and get the new iphone 15 pro on them. (vo) it's your last chance to trade in any iphone for a new iphone 15 pro on us. only on verizon. this is spring semester at over 13,000 us school districts,

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that the state department was in active touch with americans still in israel in part to find out whether they are looking to leave. joining us now is brian stern, the founder and ceo of project dynamo, which is an organization made up of combat veterans who work in disaster areas and conflict zones to try to help evacuate folks who are looking to leave and who need help. thanks for the work you're doing, brian. what does your work look like right now in israel? >> right now things here are very complicated and developing rapidly. we kind of have three tranches of americans that were looking to get out. one is -- the first is the hostages who are the most severe. the second are the americans that are stuck in the palestinian territories who are in between hamas and the pending israeli army ground assault. the third group are americans who are trapped here in israel as flights are being canceled. the airspace will probably close. the insurance carriers -- the

insurance companies are dropping carriers so planes can't land and those things. there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of american citizens trying to get out. >> three very difficult and in a way different missions, right, that you have to carry out. i'm wondering, the most difficult one clearly are the hostages. then there are also the people stuck. we were speaking with a doctor in this hour, an american doctor stuck in gaza where she continues to try to see how she can get out. then, of course, the people in israel. how do you pinpoint or put in a list your priorities on these three missions? >> all three of them are of the utmost important. these are american citizens. they have a blue american passport that says "we the people" on it like i do, like you do. every life is valuable as the next. a single american being killed or being held at risk, be it locked in a closet with hamas or

waiting for missiles to land in tel aviv, it's not the same, but there are americans that deserve to come out and need our help. there are many of them. there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, as i mentioned that are registered with us. we are a donor-funded organization. everything we do costs money. planes cost money. buses cost money. everything costs money. projectdymamo.org is where people can help us. i have been here for days in israel. my case managers in america have been working very hard. most of us haven't slept trying to do whatever we can. >> the complexity of the situation is unique in a lot of ways, compared to some of the other work you have done in the past. i'm wondering really how it works. the fact that you are trying to access hostages and people who are inside gaza, which we know

is so isolated right now. communications with individuals there let alone the terrorists there, i can only imagine, is very difficult. do you work in conjunction with the government? are you working in conjunction with any other entities in these types of communications and strategizing how to get people out? >> you know, i think it's important to understand, this is the fourth war zone that project dynamo has been called to where americans have been left behind. we started in afghanistan where we are still pulling americans out. we expanded into ukraine. you covered us. we did an operation inside russia. then we expanded into sudan where the embassy left behind thousands of americans. now here we are in israel. in the middle of that, we did maui, too. each one of these things are different. each category of american that's

stuck is very, very, very different. how we handle each of those is fundamentally different. no different than any other thing that grows, lives and ultimately closes is that there's a beginning, a middle, and the end. each one is very, very, very different. how we deal with hostages being held by hamas is how we break people out of jail in russian-occupied ukraine. it's all very hard. it all does cost money. we are entirely donor funded. our ability to operate is directly correlated to the generosity of good people who help us. >> there's so many people that are just waiting. we have been speaking to family members of people who their son and daughter has been taken by hamas and is probably in gaza. are you coordinating with the u.s. government, with the israeli government on these

efforts? >> we don't like to give away the nuts and bolts of how we do things. the people that need to know who we are and what we are and where we are and what we're doing, they know. i will leave it there. that's true both inside israel and outside of israel. >> any successes yet? >> we are getting there. there's more problems -- there's more challenges than good news. we are getting there. >> good luck with those efforts. thanks for sharing with us. >> thank you. >> keep us posted. >> thank you very much. still to come, why social media's role in getting us information has never been more important and dangerous. >> you are watching special coverage of the israel-hamas war on msnbc. ♪) we come from a long line of cowboys. (♪♪) when i see all of us out here on this ranch,

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57 past the hour. as the conflict between israel and hamas escalates, so too has the misinformation around social media. >> accounts mixing with false information making it more difficult to separate fact from fiction. jake ward is joining us. you have been diving into this. researchers are calling this information pollution. why is there so much misleading information out there right now? what do we need to be aware of? >> reporter: it's such a mix of overlapping factors.

information researchers are telling us, this is the worst they have ever seen it. it has to do, of course, with the weaponization of misinformation and disinformation, violent videos on the part of hamas and others, and just a totally overwhelmed set of social media platforms. the eu has given x and facebook 24 hours to come to grips with the incredible amount of misinformation across those platforms or face legal and financial jeopardy. what i think you guys -- we need to focus on in the last moments we have here is common sense. everyone needs to slow down and not simply repost whatever comes their way. it's going to look like things you might agree with. it's going to look like things you might expect to be true, but it's not true as often as it is. we have to check more credible sources. we have to look at the evidence. right now, we are literally being besieged by misinformation

and disinformation. it's so important we stop it at home. >> so important, jake, what you are saying. video can be easily manipulated right now. it's so difficult to be able to determine that. jake, thank you for being with us this morning. it's an important issue. i think we have all been seeing this. >> it's an important reminder not to believe everything you see online, even when stories are so horrific you think anything could be believable. don't do that. obviously, we are very careful here in vetting and making sure that we only pass along information that has been verified and images that have been verified. thank you for joining us this hour. >> thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up our special coverage of the israel-hamas war right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," overnight, relentless israeli bombing of gaza in preparation for an expected ground