ahead this hour on special coverage, president biden set to depart today for israel, a country at war. >> his visit meant to signal america's full support for israel, but also to press for humanitarian aid to gaza and get americans out of harm's way. plus, hamas releasing the first video of a hostage, a 21-year-old taken from the music festival. her mother pleading for the

world's help to bring her home. >> i'm begging the world to bring my baby back home. >> and later, today' news in washington, the leaderless house preparing for yet another grueling vote to decide the next speaker. good morning and thank you for being with us. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting along side my friend and colleague jose diaz-balart with our special coverage. >> after today, president biden will depart washington for israel country at war after this surprise attack by hamas. his visit intended as a sign of solidarity with the israeli people. >> and it comes as an israeli ground invasion of gaza still appears by all indications imminent. and as the u.s. leads negotiations to try to get critical aid into the crippled gaza strip and get civilians out. joining us now from tel aviv, israel, is nbc's jay gray and from washington, white house correspondent monica alba.

so, jay, let me start with you. israeli troops remain along gaza's border. is there any indication that a ground assault and the intense air strikes we have been seeing may end up on pause around the president's visit? >> you know, we asked point blank the idf the possibility of that and they say they will continue their mission while they are honored the president will be here. they appreciate the support that they're going to continue with their work. look, you talked about the buildup of troops, ground troops along the border. we have seen more equipment, more troops moving in today. when pushed on that, what we are told is that basically they are going to prepare for this mission and move in when they are ready to move in. there has been a lot of talk, a lot of speculation about when this is going to happen and how it is going to happen and they say they're going to do this on their own terms as they continue their primary focus of making sure in their words they obliterate hamas, remove hamas from the equation in gaza.

>> so where do the efforts stand when it comes to opening that border crossing between gaza and egypt? i know that's another focus of the president's visit, it was a huge focus obviously of the conversations overnight between the secretary of state and benjamin netanyahu. >> yeah, and the rafah border has really been a quagmire in many instances. first of all, with the buildup there. thousands of foreign nationals waiting to try and get out. you got all of the pplies, humanitarian aid w to get in. and we have heard for the last several days there is going to be a cease-fire. people are going to move through, supplies are going to move through, no, they're not. egypt agrees to it, israel doesn't agree to it. it has been a lot of confusion, a lot of speculation, a lot of rumors. one thing we know for certain, nothing has happened and nothing has moved at this point as the buildup does continue. what the white house has made clear is that that is a primary focus of this visit from the

president. that every stop he makes, everyone he talks to will include talking about getting humanitarian resources into those who haven't seen them for the better part of two weeks. we're talking about food, we're talking about water, medicine, fuel, the basics. and that's something that is so desperately needed according to the u.n. and just no way of getting it in. and still locked down at this point. so, what we have talked about here is the buildup of troops and equipment to the south. the buildup of humanitarian aid and foreign nationals to the north and neither of those borders seeing any movement at this point. there is hope and especially when you talk to people on the ground here in tel aviv that the president's visit could help to maybe facilitate at least some of that movement at the rafah border. >> sure, and the borders, the areas between gaza and israel that blew up were part of that terrorist attack more than a week ago, but the question is what is going on with the border with egypt, and when is that going to have any movement?

i'm wondering, monica the president's visit to the area, it is not just going to be to speak to the israeli prime minister, what does the white house see as the president's role in those negotiations with regional leaders? >> yeah, and that is by design, jose. they wanted to make sure that with this historic trip, the president going into israel, he will of course be meeting with israeli prime minister netanyahu to talk about the situation there and what may come next, but the huge context and backdrop for this is the conversation around securing humanitarian aid into gaza, specifically things like critical resources, food, water, fuel, medicine, that the u.s. has been trying to facilitate, but so far has not had much luck because the other thing they need in order for that to take place is for that border crossing to open up, and that just hasn't happened yet, which also means that this number of hundreds of americans who are in gaza some of them palestinian-americans who would like to get out, have not been

able to do so yet. that will be a top priority as this trip takes place over the next 24 to 36 hours with the president leaving washington this evening, but after he's in israel, he will be going to jordan with king abdullah there, to meet with egyptian president al sisi and with mahmoud abbas where the president will ask arab countries to step up and help and do more here for this crisis, specifically in gaza and the people who fled south who need this assistance. that will be a huge part of the conversation with this show of support and complete solidarity with israel and the right that it has to defend itself as the president gears up for this very high stakes trip. jose? >> and, jay, we saw this hostage video now, that hamas released, showing a 21-year-old mia schem who was abducted from the music

festival. we have pictures of her here. we're choosing not to show the video. her family has seen it. and her mother spoke with nbc's lester holt. take a listen. >> i watched the video and i wanted to die because i saw my baby so scared and so wounded and, i mean, this is the worst nightmare for every mother in the world. >> jay, what are we hearing from israeli officials and others about the latest efforts to get mia and other hostages home? >> just heart breaking when you consider what that family is going through. look, what we have heard from idf, what we heard from u.s. officials is we want those hostages out, we're doing everything, working every hour to make that happen. the reality of the situation, they will say, is that we're not sure where a lot of them are.

there are tunnels obviously where they are hidden. there are areas where they have been placed. and so getting to those hostages is a primary issue, just off the go. that's going to be the start of any type of mission, if you will, though most i think believe that this will result in the end in some type of trade. at this point, there has been no indication and you understand why, they're not going to talk about any negotiations, nor any plans when it comes to attracting hostages as they are going on. >> jay gray in tel aviv and monica alba in washington. thank you so much. >> and joining us now, erin cohen, a veteran of israeli special operations, and hagar shamali, thank you, both, for being with us. we have some new reporting this morning that israel has killed a top hamas commander in an air strike in gaza. so if these strikes are working, is there any rush by israel to launch a ground invasion?

>> well, i want to say this, we killed various top leaders in the last 72 hours. our air force in conjunction with different special operations air force assets, in conjunction with our navy in israel, we have absolutely taken the gloves off as far as operations against terrorist leaders, multiple terrorist leaders were killed, half a dozen of them. how it affects the incursion now, look, the hostages are a major priority to israel. getting those civilians back, those grandparents, those kids, mia, right now there is two units who are likely preparing on hollywood style sets as we speak doing what is called -- building mock structures of potential raid targets of where the hostages are being held. and what it does is it creates

muscle memory for the units so if, in fact, they do go they'll have a better chance of being able to be successful. let me say this, israel has a lot of experience with hostage rescue. we did this july 4th, 1976, we brought back 103 israelis who were kidnapped. we did it again at the sabina raid in 1972, units have a lot of experience. so the time right now that we have is critical. and the reason why is because intelligence is a friend of hostage rescue. it is the way that we do business in that world. we want -- it is like a cold case murder. the longer we wait, the more they can get moved around, so the incursion right now, the counteroffensive, it is almost secondary. however, there is no doubt that if that happens, those hostages continue and will remain the top priority for israel. >> and, aaron, hamas is claiming to have somewhere between 200 and 250 hostages. i want to play some of what

we're hearing from somebody who actually has been in talks with hamas just in the last few days about trying to free those hostages. listen. >> what is the potential bad news for families of hostages? is there a possibility a deal doesn't get done? >> there is a very big possibility a deal doesn't get done and the bad news is the ground operation begins and israel is then dependent on commando raids, on special forces, on using intelligence to try and find them. >> so he paints a bleak picture. you seem to indicate you think special forces may be preparing for such a mission. how optimistic are you? >> well, we have to prepare for the missions. look, if there is a way to do a deal with hamas, great. let the hostages go, great. but hostage takers like hamas, they don't take hostages to negotiate. they take hostages to use it as a -- as a way to promote social

media, to further their -- the fear they perpetuate. so, you know, we don't expect hamas to give the hostages back. if there is a way to the might and the power of the united states, we're open to it. the talks will be happening at the highest level. however, we have to be prepared for the fact that these situations that we face are extremely violent, they're very unique, and but i'll tell you this, the israeli special operations forces again are hostage rescue teams, the general staff reconnaissance unit, bibi's old unit, our national police counterterror unit, also the top in the world, that's what these guys do for a living, shoot thousands of rounds a week, trained in unconventional entries, they shoot straighter and faster than anybody in the world, working

with u.s. counterparts right now because there may be u.s. civilians in there as well and other third country civilians, so delta force and cag, they're down there i'm sure. everybody is looking at options and preparing a potential, not just a potential but multiple hostage rescue raids, which require a great deal of intelligence, but israel has some of the finest intelligence capabilities in the world. as far as that incursion, that incursion will go when it needs to go. right now and israel is concerned about the palestinian people. let me say this, the palestinian people are also being held hostage. they're not being allowed to move to the south. israel just leaked an audio intelligence file through the idf and that file was a gazan informant who works with the shin bet and hamas aren't letting them get to the south

and egypt won't let them in the back door through the rafah crossing. hamas has the keys to the lock on front of that door. so, this time right now, it is a friend to hostage rescue. so, a lot of preparation is being done. >> and hamas says it may release nonisraeli hostages unconditionally, when it says field conditions are right. what do you make of that? >> well -- >> sorry, let me ask hagar, i'm sorry, aaron. >> i wouldn't believe much coming from haups in general. as aaron underscored, this is a terrorist organization. they don't operate to any rules, really. and you see that time and again, whether it is how they pursue hostage taking and negotiating. i saw one hamas official on sky news say that they would trade them for 6,000 palestinian prisoners. but, again, it is -- who knows what authority he had to say something like that, who knows what that means.

and that's also why, by the way, i go with israeli number, they said 199 hostages, because it is hard to say what hamas is doing. even when they issue videos and they try to pretend someone is being well taken care of. you can't trust them. but i will say that in the time i was in government, when i saw hostages being taken, whether they were by terrorist organizations or government, when it is much, much more difficult, when it is a terrorist organization, for the reason i say, because they're not operating with the same rules. they may pretend they're negotiating, and they say, oh, well, when the conditions on the ground make sense, meaning what does that mean? so that means that israel has to stop its air strikes but hamas can continue its rockets into israel? doesn't make any sense. they are just -- that's why in u.s. we say we don't negotiate with terrorists because it is impossible and that's why israel is working and along with its partners to be a step ahead and that's why ground raids are

important, the level of intelligence as aaron said is critical and israel's intelligence is the best in the business. i know the u.s. having been on the other side will do everything it can to provide intelligence, technical assistance, aid, everything it can and ultimately perhaps negotiations to free these hostages. >> i want to point out, and for our viewers who may not be near their television screen now, we're looking at live images in gaza now. it is 5:15 in the evening there. and we see smoke billowing from buildings, apparently another air strike has hit in this area of gaza today. hagar, you mentioned the coordination perhaps and assistance by u.s. officials. we now know the president himself is going to israel, leaving america later today to have meetings with the prime minister and then other leaders in the region as well in the next 24 hours or so. the fact the president biden is going to an active war zone, are you surprised?

>> i am excited for him to go. am i surprised? i'm not really surprised because, you know, conflict in the middle east is an interesting thing where you can be in one war zone and ten miles later it doesn't feel like it as much. and so i don't have concerns of him going, for example. you remember how he took the train into ukraine, for example. i think it is important. i'm happy to see it. he has a specific goal. and he wants to show u.s. support for israel and that the u.s. stands behind israel, but it is broader than that. it is about the same reason why the carriers were sent, the aircraft strike groups were sent to the mediterranean, it is to send a message to any other nefarious actor like hezbollah in iran or those sitting in syria not to think about getting involved, that the u.s. is standing steadfast by israel and they're going to do everything they can to help. and then, of course, there is other business to handle, things like humanitarian aid, the u.s. is pressing for a humanitarian corridor which i think is very important, by the way.

that's first time they have pressed on that in the five rounds of violence you had between israel and hamas since 2007 and the reason for that is because the u.s. is not going to publicly hold israel back. they are -- that's why there is an emphasis on humanitarian aid. >> aaron cohen and hagar chemal hagar chemali, thank you for being with us this morning. that is a pretty significant hit that a building or something took. in the middle of your screen. more special coverage of the israeli-hamas war when we're back in 60 seconds. >> we'll talk to the niece of a man still missing from the music festival. his family's search for answer, especially for his two children. tragedy in one israeli border town. residents there still reeling after the surprise terrorist attack by hamas. >> we don't want to see the area where my father and my mother --

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people in the southern israeli city are in a state of limbo. the terrorists who attacked them are gone, but the trauma of what happened there remains. nbc's tom llamas has their story from israel. >> reporter: right here near the gaza border, homes are shot up, living rooms bombed out, melted clocks marking the time that terrorists attacked, and children searching for anything that tells the story of what happened to their families. what was your name again? >> ori. what is your name? >> reporter: tom. ori is 12 years old. >> we went to see the area where my father and my mother died. >> reporter: your father and your brother died? >> yes. >> reporter: living in a war zone, he tells me what he and his friends will do today. >> i want to keep them for

feelings. >> reporter: for ori, it is a way to remember his dad and his older brother. two men this town will never forget. >> they were not just killed. they fought. they fought like lions. >> reporter: these surveillance videos from the day hamas attacked their neighborhood show the military as they cornered some of the terrorists. but for hours, regular citizens took to the streets and roofs to defend themselves. the residents here say the terrorists did something they had never seen or heard of before, they were hiding out, so when the rockets started to be fired from gaza, and people ran out of their homes, the hamas terrorists were right there, firing at people as they tried to enter the shelter. >> we have 54 families from the street over that came out of their houses to run to safe rooms and they slaughtered them. >> reporter: as they do every year, ori's father and brother started this day hosting 50 kids with special needs, volunteer

work they loved to do. but when the attacks started, moeshe grabbed his gun, rushing the children to the safe room, and headed out to fight. >> they were first ones on the scene. and they saw a unit of terrorists. so they held them in place by shooting them. my brother was able to kill two terrorists. >> he was shooting through the roof because some of the terrorists were standing on the roofs trying to -- trying to shoot at everybody that walked past the street. >> reporter: the family knows how it ended, sharing this haunting photo. they say there, on the ground, is a son, hugging his father, as they were executed. now, in ofakim you see families sitting shiva, children collecting bullets, each mourning in their own way. >> there is a war here and a war in gaza over there. why are you still here? >> this is the only jewish home

land and if we don't protect it, if we don't live freely and comfortably, all around the country we're doomed to lose and we're not about to lose. >> our tom llamas with that reporting from israel. >> it now has been ten days, ten days since the supernova music festival turned into a massacre in the israeli desert and there are 260 people confirmed killed, many more, however, are still t are getting desperate for answers. >> this man went to the festival with two of his friends. he was seen trying to escape in a car, after being shot twice, but his family doesn't know what happened to him after that. >> let's bring in his niece. thank you for your time. i just want you to know that our hearts are with you, with your family, as you are trying to find out what happened and

finding him. when was the last time you heard from your uncle? >> we heard from him last time it was the night before everything happened. he was in the area with my grandma and my grandpa and then he went out with friends and that was the last time we heard from him. >> wow. it has been now i think about ten days, right? and so i'm sure you've been trying to process all of this, what is going through your mind right now? >> yeah, it is very difficult and it is heart breaking to see and think of all the family together what is going on and what happened with him. we don't know if he's alive, if he's dead, if he's kidnapping by hamas, and it just -- it really

is hard to think about all that can happen to him and we don't know what to think right now. and we are just trying to pass the days and pray and want to know where he is and when he will come back home. >> yeah. it is the uncertainty of so much, right? it is the -- it is just where, where, where? and i know that his phone has been found, it is locked. what are you and your family hoping to learn if you can access it. and i'm just wondering, what do you cling to these days? >> we're clinging to each other. we just try to -- to think about that he will be okay and he will get back to us. and we just don't know about what to think of the time.

and we want him back, so miss him, and his children and my parents, everybody just want -- i just want to give him big hug and want him to come back home. >> you mentioned his two children. what are you talking about with them right now? >> so, hanan has two children. one is 9 years old and emily, she is 12 years old and they ask me question, where is our dad, when he will come back, do you know where is he and it is very difficult to stand in front of them and not start crying and to tell them that i don't know where he is, i don't know where he will come back to us, and we are trying to spend as much time as we can with them to make them to be happy, even for one second, to smile, and to not think about horrible time that

you are -- we are here right now and to not think about where is he right now. >> what happened in the festival is part of that massive terrorist attack on israel. how, for us that don't live in a day by day existence where rockets could be a part of your daily experience, but what happened ten days ago changed so much for so many. how is it that, you know, how is it living like that? and living into the circumstances that you're living under now with the uncertainty but with the hope. >> yeah, nobody of us are -- was expecting that what is going to happen. nobody saw that coming. like we are so amazing to the lives we had, like, a week and a half ago, we can go out, we can do anything, we're staying at home and my family and a lot of

family in the country are in a big issue, like we don't know what happened with our loved one, and we just stay home all the time and think about them, so the unknown is worse than to know what happened to the one that you love. >> thank you so much for sharing your story with us and telling us more about your uncle hanan and our thoughts are with you and your whole family and his children. really wishing you some peace in this difficult time. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> thank you so much. when we come back, breaking news on capitol hill, the house expected to vote as soon as today on the next speaker. >> but does gop fire brand jim jordan have the votes? you're watching msnbc. stay right there. s? you're watching msnbc. stay right there businesses need 5g solutions today. that's why they choose t-mobile for business. mlb partners with t-mobile to

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. welcome back. we have more coverage of the israeli-hamas war in a few minutes. we're following breaking news on capitol hill. >> in just over an hour, the house will vote on whether to make republican nominee jim jordan the next speaker of the house. >> but jordan can only afford to lose a handful of republican votes and it is not clear how many he's been able to lock down at this point. so, nbc's ali vitali is tracking it all for us on capitol hill. ali, jordan spent last night we know whipping up support from some republicans who had initially expressed they were opposed to his speakership.

do we know if his efforts are working? does he have the support he needs? >> reporter: well, look, it is definitely paying off, ana. we know the speaker designate jim jordan whose office i'm standing outside of right now and we'll be sure to jump right to it if we see him pop out anytime soon, but he has been whipping over the weekend, and certainly last night into today, trying to corral people within his conference who are reluctant to support him or outright saying they will not support him at this time. i think you're right to point out that things start off here at noon, one lawmaker just walked by and said it is groundhog day yet again here in the house because this is not the first time that we have thought that we were on the precipice of seeing house republicans actually elect their new speaker only to see it all fall apart. i will say in my conversations with jordan allies, this is a man who is prepared to go several balloting rounds if not to let some of the more reluctant members in his conference vote against him, only to then either come back

into the fold. i think what is important for those of us watching this vote happen in real time is much like we saw back in january when then speaker mccarthy was trying to get the votes, everyone is a no until they're a present or until they're a yes. and that's what jordan and his team are hoping for at this moment, that the pressure of being public facing, of being on the house floor, will be enough to combined with the fatigue of what is going on within this conference actually get him to that magic number of 217 or something around that. because as you point out, the math game is going to be really important here. people can vote present, they don't have to vote in favor or yes for jordan. we'll be tracking that as well. >> while we're tracking that, the fact of the matter is that the house remains speakerless. and is that going to be what is the status quo going forward? who knows how many votes one way or another? >> reporter: who knows how many votes one way or another. again, i think that many of us

are primed from our sources, from our conversations with our sources that we're going to see at the very least several rounds of balloting today, if jordan is able to lock up the speakership. if he's not, then, again, we see this process go back behind closed doors, the conference once again huddles, tries to figure out a path forward. i think on the democratic side as we track what that looks like, there is the question of hakeem jeffries continuing to coalesce support from within his caucus. we have seen democrats remain united. i've heard from people who are front line democratic members, those members in reddish or purplish districts that maybe they could be open to some kind of outreach from republicans. so far that outreach hasn't manifested in any kind of significant way. but i think when you point out, jose, that this is now week three without a house speaker, this is a building that is effectively rudderless and the frustration that i hear from rank and file republican and democratic members is really hard to quantify, but for

republicans, there is so much concern that both this is what their majority has devolved into, the idea that they're sort of proving democrats' point that a republican majority is chaotic, certainly not having a house speaker is the definition of chaos, especially at a moment where on the world stage there is so much urgency, especially for congress to mobilize at the very least around a resolution condemning hamas and the actions that we saw from that terror group in israel over the course of the last week. but then also, in trying to send humanitarian and military aid to our ally israel, all of that is percolating in a very urgent way. it has not shaken loose the votes on the republican side, hasn't made the process go any more quickly, but that is in the background here an urgent landscape to a speakerless house. >> and, ali vitali on capitol hill, right outside the office of jordan. you know, look, there is an invitation, come on out and talk to her, if you're watching. she's right outside your door.

ali vitali, thank you. great seeing you. >> countdown is on. >> thank you. we also are following developments on several fronts in donald trump's ongoing legal fights. today, he's back in a new york city courtroom, watching witnesses in the testimony that is happening in his $250 million civil fraud trial. and that visit was timed with the anticipated testimony from trump's former personal attorney michael cohen, but cohen is absent due to health issues. now, trump is also scheduled to be deposed today in a pair of lawsuits from a couple of former fbi officials. peter struck and emily dupage. and there is a development in trump's federal election interference case, the judge h now imposed a limited gag order and ts gag order restricts trump from commenting on potential witnesses or disparaging prosecutors, including jack smith himself. so we'll be keeping an eye on all of these cases. >> indeed.

up next, we'll return to our coverage of the israel-hamas war as the president prepares to travel to israel. >> we'll also speak with an israeli government spokesman, is a ground invasion of gaza still imminent? you're watching special coverage. be right back. re watching speci coverage beig rht back.

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39 past the hour. in just hours, president biden will leave washington for israel, but even before he arrives, new details of his administration's response to the war. here is secretary of state antony blinken. >> the united states and israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in gaza and them alone, including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm's way. >> war time trip also comes as we learn close to 2,000 u.s. troops have been told to prepare

to deploy for possible support to israel. joining us now is nbc's pentagon correspondent courtney kube. good morning. 2,000 u.s. troops told to prepare to deploy. where would they go? what would they be doing? >> so these are troops that already were living on a short leash. they were already on a 96 hour deployment order, prepared to deploy order. now that's been -- that's moved down to 24 hours. that they have to be ready. what that means is for the time they get a call they have to go somewhere, they have to be on the air field in 24 hours later to actually leave. no one has actually gotten any orders to go anywhere, but according to u.s. officials if these orders come in, they will likely move into the region around israel. now, that doesn't mean that ultimately they couldn't end up inside of israel, but we're talking about a whole cross section of different troops here. so, it is not just infantry. there is also medical support, there is explosives support, so these are the kinds of people who would be able to go in, if called upon to do so, they could go in and they could support the idf, the israeli defense forces

from behind the scenes, behind the front lines. so filling in where there may be more idf forces, soldiers forward up toward gaza or in gaza when this ground offensive begins, it would be support. but i really have to stress here, these troops are on prepare to deploy orders, and even at this do go forward in the very near future, for now they would just be moving to the region and not into israel. >> do we know about special forces, u.s. special forces? do we know if there has been a sending or communications of some of the special forces? >> so, we don't. in a word we don't have any sense that any of them have been moved forward. but the reality is we may not be told about that. that's one of the questions, you're so smart to ask about the 82nd, that's allowing people to remember from ukraine, from other conflicts, they are -- they tend to be what the military calls either a quick reaction force or immediate reaction force, and what that

means is they tend to be the force that if there is some sort of something that happens, some sort of incident that happens around the world and the u.s. military needs to move people from the united states forward, they tend to be the ones who are called in. so it is a very fair question, it is one that frankly we were asking yesterday when we first heard about this as well. but the reality is officials are not saying where the troops would come from, the assumption is most of them would come from the u.s. and i think it is a fair assumption or fair belief that some of them may include the 82nd airborne. >> courtney kube, thank you so much. >> the president is set to arrive in israel in a matter of hours. a growing list of issues, he'll be confronting as he meets with prime minister benjamin netanyahu from the hostage situation, to humanitarian aid to gaza, to containing the broader threats from iran and lebanon and hezbollah there. the agenda for this visit, to say the least, is already jam packed. let's bring in israeli government spokesman elon levy

now. thank you for taking the time. what are your expectations for president biden's visit tomorrow? >> thank you for having me on the show, jose and ana. israel is very much looking forward to welcoming president biden to israel tomorrow on an extraordinary solidarity visit. let's remember the context, the president of the united states to fly into an active war zone to express solidarity is really a gesture by a true ally. a president who said right at the beginning of the attack after the october 7th massacre when hamas butchered 1,400 israelis, 200 in captivity, immediately ordering the u.s. army to make sure israel has all the supplies it needs, moral support we need by making clear to the world that hamas is isis, hamas is worse than isis and we view the visit by president biden as a loving embrace, a loving embrace for every family whose life has been destroyed by the october 7th massacre, every soldier on the front, every citizen in israel who is worried about what comes next and that

support really speaks immense volumes, moral support and as we just heard from your correspondent, the material support that the united states is expending to israel at its darkest hour. >> will this visit have any impact on military plans? could it delay a potential ground invasion of gaza? >> i'm not going to speculate about the precise time frame for the next stage of israel's operation, but we have been very clear, this is a war that hamas has dragged israel into, with the active war, the war crime of the october 7th massacre. and israel's response is that we will destroy hamas. we will totally dismantle its military and governing system inside the gaza strip. we will go after every single hamas terrorist who played a role in perpetrating that massacre. we will go after them. because israel has made a strategic decision. we can no longer live next to this isis style terrorist organization that controls a strip of territory, and hour away from tel aviv, but meters away from people's homes as we saw during that awful massacre,

that's not a reality we can live with any longer. we're going to go after hamas and destroy it, just like the international community destroyed isis because we want the same security that the west achieved by destroying isis and because we deserve nothing less. >> israeli government told palestinians in north gaza to evacuate to south gaza. we have seen air strikes in southern gaza. how can civilians get to safety? >> that's a very interesting observation. israel is indeed asking residents in the northern gaza strip to move south temporarily fo their own safety because we know that in the northern gaza strip, where hamas has its biggest concentration of military power, there is going to be very difficult fighting. and we want them to g out of harm's way. we don't want to see any more civilian casualties. by the way, israel has also evacuated its own civilians from the area immediately around the gaza strip. the area t witnessed the massacre on the 7th of october and evacuating all the communities within two

kilometers of the lebanese border, trying to getians on both sides of the border as far away from the fighting as possible. this was an evacuation the idf encouraged on fray. you can see that we're giving time for palestinians to vacate. the idf aounced safe roads as well, in which the palestinians would be able to move. and we're encouraging them to go south and we're working together with our international partners including the united states, the secretary blinken said in what we just heard, to create the humanitarian frameworks to get the aid we need. that aid that the international community wants to send palestinian civilians doesn't end up in the hands of the hamas terror machine. >> i'm not sure you answered the question about why the strikes were happening in the south, where you just said you wanted people to go. >> first of all, israel is not saying that the south of the gaza strip is totally off limits to israeli retaliation against

hamas. all hamas military targets are legitimate targets, we are saying, however, that the most intense fighting is going to be in the north, that's why we're encouraging people to get away from the nth and we're working together with our international partners to create safe zones in the south where people will be able to get more safety than in the north, but that absolutely does not mean that israel is giving blanket immunity to the hamas terrorist infrastructure that exists in the south of the gaza strip. we have been very clear, hamas is isis, worse than isis and we're going after the totality of its military and governing structure to destroy it while doing everything we can to minimize any harm to -- any harm to civilians within the gaza rip. >> and when we show that map, i think it is important to put it into context, and into perspective, the fact is that all of that border between gaza d israel was the one that was attacked and destroyed parts of so that the terrost could get

into israel and kill men, women and children. there is the part of the map there that shows egypt. where is the solidarity of the people of egypt and qatar and other countries that should be as a priority organizing all kinds of efforts to getting in and opening that gate? >> first of all, i want to thank you for drawing attention to the horrific atrocities we saw on the 7th of october. it is very important to continue shining a spotlight as your teams, international media around the world continue to uncover evidence of the atrocities that hamas perpetrated. israel wants to see humanitarian aid being delivered to the people in the gaza strip. we don't want to see people being hurt. this is a war that israel is fighting, not against the palestinians, not against the gaza strip, against hamas, against the evil terrorist regime that is holding the people in the gaza strip hostage. we want to see that aid reaching

civilians. we're happy for the world to donate humanitarian aid. we have to make sure it doesn't get to hamas. yesterday, unrwa, a u.n. agency, admitted that hamas had stolen fuel and medicine from its own stockpiles for its war machine. and our army confirmed that is enough fuel that could keep gaza's desalination plants running for days. international aid for the civilians of gaza, that is absolutely fine as far as israel is concerned, but we and the international donors as well must have safeguards that that doesn't reach the hands of the hamas terrorist regime. >> the world food program said there are four or five days left of food right now inside gaza and hamas regime. >> right now, humanitarian aid is not flowing in, and people who are trying to escape are not getting out. next, horror in brussels.

what we are learning about the suspected terror attacker and his social media tracker, next. t oh, hello! hi! do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as $300? really? and your clothes just keep getting more damaged the more times you wash them. downy protects fibers,

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this morning belgian officials are now confirming that police shot and killed a 45-year-old tunisian man suspected of opening fire near a soccer game in the city center killing two swedish nationals. keir simmons has the latest. >> belgium's justice minister providing his name, saying he's a 45-year-old tunisian man, and many feared the incidents in israel would spark violence, and it's not clear if this attack is connected.

this morning hours after this killing spree, people running for cover as the shooter fires directly at victims. an overnight manhunt ending with the suspect shot dead. i was frozen. i couldn't move, this witness says. he came back out and shot another bullet. two were killed. swedish soccer fans in brussels for a soccer match, and the game was called off. >> everybody was quite scared. >> it's a hate against democracy. >> the belgium prime minister saying a man who posted 0 social media claiming responsibility for the attack said he was inspired by isis. >> last night three people left for what was supposed to be a wonderful soccer party. two of them lost their lives in a brutal terrorists attack. >> in september, a riot broke out in sweden over the burning of a koran, while in 2016,

suicide bombers at brussels airport killed more than 30. the french president saying europe is shaken, and brussels has been hit by an islamic terrorists attack, and again, europe already on edge with the war in the middle east wrapl ramping up. >> terrorists will never defeat us. >> meanwhile belgium's interior minister says the possibility of accomplices cannot be ruled out, and the terror threat levels have been raised and they are unlikely to change that while the situation in israel continues. we will be speaking with democratic senator, jacky rosen, of nevada. the only jewish woman in the senate. plus, we will speak with a palestinian representative to the united nations about what the civilians of gaza need.

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good morning. it's 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. eastern. i am josé diaz-balart along with my friend, ana cabrera. all eyes are on the white house as president biden prepares to depart today for israel where he wants to show the world america's unwavering support for ic