my colleague alex marquardt is there. >> reporter: hurtling through the streets of gaza, there's just been a strike. this crowd is pulling out what is clearly a very wounded man out of this mosque that was struck just moments ago. he and another are quickly loaded in. the driver is calling head to the hospital. in the back, the friend of the wounded man tells him to say the muslim prayer before death. the two men we were with just got wheeled into shifa hospital, but the cars and ambulances keep

alex marquardt, abc news. >>> a deadly stampede after a concert in mexico. three people were killed, after the show yesterday as thousands of concert-goers tried to escape the arena. a fight followed by gunshots. panic set off. so many people trying to run for cover at once that part of a wall came crashing down. >>> the oscar pistorius trial resumes this morning in south africa with final defense witnesses after a chilling new video was leaked over the weekend. the tape shows pistorius participating in a re-enactment of how he fatally shot girlfriend reeva steenkamp. the lawyer says the footage was made as part of the defense team's trial investigation. he condemned an australian tv network for showing it. >>> another high-profile trial begins today in los angeles. at issue whether donald sterling's estranged wife has authorities under terms of a family trust to negotiate a deal to sell the clippers. shelly sterling agreed to sell the team to former microsoft executive steve ballmer for $2 billion. >>> surprise in the mail for former bar owners. it is a han

>> alex marquardt in gaza tonight. alex, thank you. >>> and abc chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz has been traveling around the region and joins me tight from jerusalem. martha, you were out at that border in gaza today. what are you seeing on the ground? >> reporter: we were up on a hill today, cecilia, in a town that has been hit numerous times by rockets from gaza. it's just a few miles away from gaza. but today, standing up on a hillside with a lot of residents of that town, we saw a barrage of air strikes from the israelis into gaza, one after another. it was truly relentless. and the residents were almost like they were watching a sporting event. >> wow, and you also spent some time with the israeli army. how close, everyone is wondering, are they to crossing that border? >> reporter: well, we were with an israeli unit, very nearby an israeli unit of tanks. we saw dozens and dozens of tanks, everywhere along that border with gaza. they are certainly ready, they are waiting for an order, but we real

here's abc's alex marquardt. >> reporter: walking free, the 15-year-old american leaving a jerusalem court after being held for three days without charges, following the vicious beating by israeli police seen here. repeatedly kicked and pummelled as he was pinned to the ground. we were there as tariq arrived home, bruised, swollen, and angry. what would you say to the israeli police officers? if you could speak to them now? >> i would say why you would attack me like that? tell me why would you do that to me? if i've didn't do anything to you? >> israel's ambassador to the u.s. told abc's martha raddatz that during clashes with police thursday, tariq and five others attacked the police with molotov cocktails. >> our police are under extreme threat in the jerusalem area. they're facing mobsters, rioters. it doesn't mean that excessive force is acceptable. >> reporter: tariq said he was just watching the protest. we visited his uncle's home where tariq is under house arrest. his mother telling us she is relieved he is safe, but outraged, no one has been held responsible. >> no child sh

abc's alex marquardt on this story from the beginning joins us live now from gaza city with the latest. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, guys. well, overnight israel stepped up its air strike s targeting te homes of islamic jihad as those groups continued firing rockets into israel warning sirens warning across the south and central part of the country including tell asleeve where we understand the anti-missile shield iron dome intercepted several of those rockets. this comes after that cease-fire yesterday failed. it had been proposed by egypt. agreed to by israel but rejected out of hand by hamas. and as a result prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he had no choice but to expand operations. just before midnight the israeli military sending out to more than 100,000 people in gaza a recorded call and text messages telling them to evacuate their homes before 8:00 a.m. this morning. that was just three hours ago, that begs the question of whether a ground operation is on the way. tens of thousands of israeli troops still massed along the border between gaza and israel. t

. >>> and air strikes with palestinians -- abc's alex marquardt with the story tonight. >> reporter: under the scorching sun, thousands of palestinians gathered to celebrate the boy they now call a martyr. 16-year-old mohammed abu kheider, his body held for two days in israeli custody, his family and community furious, longing to give him a proper funeral. then, suddenly -- the body has arrived at the mosque for the funeral. this is the moment the crowd has been waiting for, has been demanding. you can feel the tension, the anger rising about his murder. they believe the teen was killed by israelis to avenge the recent murder of three jewish teens. this video, the family says, shows the two attackers approaching the palestinian teen early wednesday morning. moments later, they throw him into a car and speed off. after the funeral, the fury boils over, as young men hurl stones at israeli police. this as palestinian militants are firing more rockets into israel, whose air force answers with devastating air strikes, this region tonight more on edge that it has been in years. a tinderbox

my colleague, alex marquardt is there tonight. >> reporter: the death toll is quickly rising, around 90 people killed so far, approximately half said to be women and children and hundreds more have been severely wounded. >> reporter: 10-year-old wael is lifted gently onto the x-ray table, head heavily bandaged. he was at home with his family when the call came from israel -- evacuate immediately. a missile is coming. >> my uncle told me to pack everything. he whispers to me. i took my backpack and i went to leave when they attacked. the family now without a home, just the clothes on their backs. "we want a ceasefire," his uncle says, "to live in peace like people all over the world." there are no warning sirens here, no shelters. as palestinian militants fire volleys of rockets at israel, civilians have born the brunt of israel's response. israel claims family homes often store weapons and double as command centers and that palestinians gather on roofs to act as human shields. but deadly mistakes are being made. a funeral today for eight members of the al-haji family the target wasn'

alex marquardt, abc news, jerusalem. >>> pope francis meeting with victims of priest sex abuse. pope francis is sitting down behind closed doors with six victims, two each from britain, germany and ireland. the pope has said he would have zero tolerance for anyone in the church who abused children. >>> now to a deadly stampede after a concert in mexico. three people were killed when the show wrapped up yesterday as thousands of concert-goers tried to escape the arena. a fight followed by gun shots. so many people were trying to run for cover at once that part of a wall came crashing down. >>> high temperatures and strong, shifting winds are making it difficult for crews in northern california battling forest fires. the fire west of sacramento has burned about 10 square miles and only 30% contained and officials said it has the potential for extreme growth. the flames are being fed by thick, brittle undergrowth that's not burned in at least two decades. >>> a stormy night across iowa, up to a dozen twisters raking over the state. storm chaser captured these images. amazingly clea

alex marquardt, abc news, jerusalem. >>> and tonight, a deadly accident in one of brazil's world cup host cities is under investigation. here's the moment when a highway overpass collapsed, trapping a bus and other vehicles underneath. two people were killed, nearly 0 others were injured. >>> and to the world cup, brazil beat colombia 2-1 today. brazil now faces germany. on tuesday, and more world cup games tomorrow on our sister network, espn. >>> back here at home, we turn to an american icon. on this independence day holiday. baseball great lou gehrig. on this date 75 years ago, he delivers the most famous speech in sports history. abc's john donvan on why those 13 words still resonate today. >> reporter: the sun was hot at yankee stadium that july 4th, and the man was so sick. but in his opening words, he was not going to let that show. >> for the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break. >> reporter: yes, they had been reading about it. number 4 was out of the game for good. but even so, his very next line was so perfect. so perfectly gehrig. >> today, i consider my

abc's alex marquardt is in gaza. >> reporter: the cries of a man who just lost his brother. two cousins, 11 and 18, killed in the street today, their family said, when israel targeted a militant who got away. over the past 12 days, almost 350 palestinians have been killed, more than 80 children. five israelis have died, including two soldiers today, as they fought with militants dressed as israeli forces, who tunneled out into israel. it's hamas' intricate web of tunnels that israel says is the main focus of their offensive. an assault that has emptied neighborhoods as we saw today, families forced to flee to schools like this one. we can hear outgoing small arms fires from the militants on the rooftops around this school, incoming israeli tank shells very nearby. and we've just heard a warning from israel's military for journalists to leave this area. but for these children, they've already evacuated to this school and they don't really have anywhere else to go. nowhere to go as the fighting closes around them. dan, international pressure on the two sides for a cease-fire h

abc's alex marquardt tracks down that american high school student. >> reporter: wave after wave. a barrage of rockets fired by palestinian militants all day into israel. israel striking back. and today, calling up some 1,500 reserve troops, preparing for the worst. this, on the heels of the most violent riots jerusalem has seen in a decade, triggered by the murder of 16-year-old muhammad abu khdeir. he's believed to have been burned alive by jewish extremists carrying out a revenge attack for the killing of three israeli teens, kidnapped last month, their bodies found a week ago. muhammad's 15-year-old american cousin, tariq, was at those clashes when he was viciously assaulted by israeli police, held down by one officer as the other repeatedly kicked and punched his head. we visited tariq today -- black eyes, stitches on his lip, deep marks left by the plastic handcuffs. >> they punched me the first couple of times, i was awake until they punched me a little bit more and then i went unconscious. >> reporter: have you watched the video? >> yeah. it was really messed up. >> report

>> alex marquardt in jerusalem. thank you, alex. >>> and back here at home, some powerful new revelations tonight from the woman who nearly brought down a president. monica lewinsky is breaking her silence in her first televised interview in a decade, with some never before revealed details. here's abc's ron claiborne. >> reporter: in the new documentary, monica lewinsky speaks out for the first time in more than a decade about the scandal that rocked the clinton presidency and her life. she recalls being grilled by fbi agents in a washington, d.c. hotel room. >> i don't even know how to accurately describe the shock and the trauma and the fear. they threatened me with 27 years in jail or i had to cooperate. the third option really was, i looked out the window and thought, i'll just jump. >> reporter: hounded by the media, lewinsky went into self-imposed exile. >> i was the most humiliated woman in the world. >> reporter: the online drudge report was one of the first media outlets to run with the story. >> it just w

abc's alex marquardt is in the middle of it all. >> reporter: running in terror as sirens wail. incoming rockets today over israel's biggest cities, the most brazen and provocative attacks yet by palestinian militants. over tel aviv, an interceptor fired by the famous iron dome anti-missile system knocking a rocket out of the sky. so far an estimated 150 rockets flew into israel today, targeting more than ten cities. israeli forces have streamed towards the gaza strip, preparing for a possible ground invasion. the government authorizing the call-up of 40,000 reserve troops. israeli warplanes already in the sky, saying they're striking rocket launchers and hamas militants. in gaza we saw it up close, children scattering as missles land. as we get closer, a frenzy. an ambulance pulling away with a wounded child. at least one of those strikes landed right over the wall here, you can see the massive hole. seconds later, another one just nearby, that black smoke billowing to the sky. this violence fueled in part by the murders of those three israeli teenagers. then the revenge killin

abc's alex marquardt in the region again tonight. >> reporter: cheers today as a young crowd watched hamas rockets launch. hopes for a ceasefire dashed. israel answering the fire with air strikes of their own and prime minister netanyahu tonight vowing to now step up the campaign against hamas. today, the first israel casualty -- a man hit by a mortar while in gaza. medical sources say almost 200 civilians in total have been killed. on the streets of gaza today, those we spoke with rejected any talk of ceasefire. they say israel is laying siege to gaza, denying it goods and basic rights, making life here miserable. >> i want to continue defending our rights until we get something. it's not just sending rockets without meaning. >> reporter: and david, tonight more than 100,000 people here in gaza are getting recorded calls and text messages from israel's military telling them to evacuate their homes, warning that more strikes are imminent. israel sending the unmistakable message that hamas's rejection of the cease fire will now have consequences. david? >> abc's alex marquardt in gaza

abc's alex marquardt is in jerusalem tonight with a report that we must warn is contains some graphic images. >> reporter: a ruthless beating, as one israeli policeman sits on the teen, another repeatedly stomps and then punches the boy's head. even when he hangs motionless, another kick. this, his family says, is the victim. 15-year-old tariq abu khdeir, born and raised in tampa, florida. this is what he looks like now. today, we met tariq's parents, in jerusalem visiting family. >> the palestinians live like this every day. they kind of say, okay, we'll deal with it. but us, as americans, it's just -- it's not human. >> reporter: it was tariq's cousin, 16-year-old muhammad, who was killed on wednesday, his wildly believed to have been set on fire and killed by israelis, who were looking for revenge for the murders of three jewish teenagers. israeli police today told abc news tariq was in the clashes that followed, masked and attacking the police. today, they called this clip edited and biased. tariq's parents say he wasn't involved, just enjoying the summer, hanging without cousins

alex marquardt say the people of gaza are desperate, saying nowhere, not even a hospital, is safely. >> reporter: evacuating the wounded, not from a house or school, but a hospital -- just shelled by israeli forces. a surgical ward and icu both hit. a stream of ambulances is pouring into this hospital to evacuate patients to gaza's main hospital. there's a fear that hospitals are now being targeted. at least four were killed. as we went to see this destruction, the hospital was just hit again by a tank shell, everyone being told to head downstairs. hospital staff took refuge on the ground floor, accusing israel of intentionally targeting them. >> we are civilian people doing our job here. we are doctors and nurses treating the patients. we are not doing anything. >> reporter: israel said it was aiming for anti-tank missiles stored near the hospital, the strike part of the ground offensive whose primary objective, they say, was to find and destroy hamas' network of dozens of underground tunnels, some over a mile long. israel now using air strikes and explosives. those tunnels used by

abc's alex marquardt is on the scene. alex? >> good morning, dan.un is coming up here in gaza and with it many questions about the size of the operations israel is planning on carrying out here in gaza in the coming days and possibly longer. overnight, israeli forces fired flares into the skies above gaza as they pummelled the strip with artillery, before benjamin nen annia hue said he was escalating. the goal to take out the network of tunnels that have been built by hamas and used, israel says, to carry out attacks. so in that respect, so far it's a relatively limited separation, but netanyahu says it could be expanded. his government has called up 18,000 more reserve troops, bringing the total to now more than 60,000. there had been a window of hope yesterday when for five hours, israel and hamas agreed to a pause in the fighting for humanitarian reasons. israel accused hamas of violating that peace, and as soon as the time limit expired, the two sides resumed firing. so far, 250 palestinians have been killed in air strikes by israel. one israeli

alex marquardt is right there in gaza with the very latest. alex?> reporter: good morning, all night and into this morning, israel has been pummeling this eastern gaza neighborhood with tank shells. we can still hear them landing every few seconds. a river of people has been pouring out of this neighborhood. men, women, children, young and old. you can see the looks of terror on their faces. this is as close as we can get to that front line. we're told there are dozens of bodies in the streets. dozens more wounded. the people here not knowing where to flee to. looking for any car to get them away from this violence. this, as ambulances carrying the wounded pour into gaza's main hospital. at the same time, hamas and the other militant groups firing rockets into israel. there have been reports of israeli soldiers being killed this morning. israel is stepping up the ground assault on gaza. back to you. >> thank you, alex marquardt, reporting from gaza. >>> and back here in the u.s., some terrifying moments in the skies over clinton, massachusetts. peop

alex marquardt is there. >> reporter: in just a few hours, the fighting has intensified. drones and fighter jets dropping missiles. and flares leading the way to this ground assault. tonight, this deafening boom. under the cover of darkness, israeli forces pushing forward and pushing palestinians back. as we saw today, driving through desserted streets. this entire neighborhood empty. everyone has fled. as we can hear the sounds of fighting nearby. their main goal, uncovering hamas' vast network of underground tunnels. this video boasting of using the tunnels to infiltrate israel. we visited this house, hit this morning by an israeli tank shell. this man told me his brother and son were killed. he wants hamas to keep fighting. and leaders expressing support, but all signs here point to the battle only growing. >> alex, thank you. >>> and still much more ahead on a friday night. the major story back here at home, the wildfires. the hospital evacuated, the major highway pileup. and we'ld the hospital evacuated, the major highway pileup. and we'ld "world new ot m two minutes

alex marquardt is in gaza. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, george. today is the deadliest day yet. and it's still early. the shelling by israeli forces in eastern gaza so bloody that israel and hamas agreed to a two-hour cease-fire to evacuate the dead and wounded. but in under an hour, it was broken. now the fighting continues. the booms of israeli artillery raining down this morning on eastern gaza. tank shells are landing every few seconds. people are streaming out of this neighborhood. you can see the looks of terror on their faces. they don't have anywhere to go. they're getting in any car they can to get out of here. i don't know where i'm going, this woman told me. all we have is this white flag. fleeing on foot with his family, this young man said they left the dead and wounded behind. inside, scenes of carnage. mangled bodies lying in the streets. at least 60 killed. gaza's death toll now over 400. around 100 are children. >> this morning, it is nothing short of a massacre. a deliberate massacre. war crimes committed daily. now there's a del

alex marquardt, abc news, gaza. >> i was fascinated.t hours after the humanitarian cease-fire had happened that israel went in with this ground invasion. and seemed like the white house was even caught off guard by this invasion. >> that's right. they were. and just yesterday, the president was calling for a cease-fire, expressing optimism that a cease-fire could be reached. these are pictures from moments ago, looking into gaza. you see the smoke there from the operations under way right now. we also have been watching live pictures this morning there. the operations continuing today. israel saying just a little while ago that they have now captured 20 launchers. they've neutralized them and been attacking nine tunnels. 14 hamas leaders killed, they say, reena. >> we will be watching this developi developing story, both in the middle east and the malaysian airlines situation. >>> coming up, we're going to turn to our top story. the malaysian jumbo jet crash. >> and we'll take an in-depth look at the difficulties investigators are facin

that happened just yards from abc's alex marquardt. >> reporter: a deafening blast.t 1,000 yards from our hotel. on the beach, a group of boys that had been playing. running away in terror. you see them fleeing in this video. then, another strike. the boys are hit. at the scene, we found chaos. here, here, shouts one man. there's a severely mangled body of a dead boy, put on to the stretcher by this paramedic. four boys were killed, two brothers and two cousins, between 9 and 11 years old. their parents, in anguished disbelief, as they were laid to rest. president obama addressed the conflict. >> we've all been heartbroken by the violence, especially the deaths of innocent civilians in gaza. men,omen and children caught in the crossfire. >> reporter: the strikes come after a truce failed to take hold. israel insists it takes great precautions to avoid civilian deaths. the military says the investigation shows the target of the strike was hamas operatives. they call the boys' deaths a tragic outcome. the military and hamas have agreed to a u.n.-sponsored humanitarian

abc's alex marquardt has more on the exodus. >> reporter: escape from gaza. this convoy heading to the border. on board, almost 150 american citizens. allowed by israel to flee their relentless bombardment. >> whoa. >> reporter: we met the ashaka family from baton rouge, louisiana. they were here visiting family, a summer vacation, now in a war zone. >> the bombs would come randomly. you wouldn't know where they were bombing or why they were bombing. >> reporter: they walked down the long tunnel to the border with israel, the first stop on their journey home. once out of gaza their relief is bittersweet. >> it's so sad because my family over there, you know. >> reporter: her family and so many here not as lucky. we visited a school, classrooms now shelters for the displaced. who fled here after israel dropped leaflets, saying they were going to bomb their neighborhood. i hope to god we can break israel and win, this woman told me. in the name of god, we will beat them. but no one is winning. the funerals for 18 members of one family after the home of gaza's p

my colleague alex marquardt is there. >> reporter: hurtling through the streets of gaza, there's just been a strike. this crowd is pulling out what is clearly a very wounded man out of this mosque that was struck just moments ago. he and another are quickly loaded in. the driver is calling head to the hospital. in the back, the friend of the wounded man tells him to say the muslim prayer before death. the two men we were with just got wheeled into shifa hospital, but the cars and ambulances keep coming. inside, some of the more than 20 wounded in this attack. but despite the rising death toll on the streets of gaza today, strong support for hamas and their rockets. gazans telling us it's a matter of self defense. >> we are thanks hamas, and we put our hands over hamas hands. they're supporting the people here in gaza. >> reporter: the united nations said today that more than 500 palestinian homes have been destroyed. displacing more than 3,000 people. >> thank you alex and martha. >>> back here at home to texas, and a dramatic scene inside a courtroom in houston. the suspect collapses

alex marquardt is in jerusalem with the latest. >> reporter: walking free. 15-year-old american tariq abu khdeir leaving a jerusalem court today after being held for three days without charges following the vicious beating by police seen here. repeatedly kicked and pummeled as he was pinned to the ground. we were there as tariq arrived home still bruised and swollen and angry. what would you say to the israeli police officers? if you could speak to them now? >> i would say why would you attack me like that. tell me why would you do that to me if i didn't do anything to you? >> reporter: israel's ambassador to the u.s. told abc's martha raddatz today that during clashes with the police thursday tariq and five others attacked the police with molotov cocktails. >> our police are under extreme threat in the jerusalem area. facing monsters and riders. doesn't mean that excessive force is acceptable. >> reporter: tariq says he was watching the protests. tonight we visited his uncle's home where tariq is under house arrest. his mother telling she's she leaved his safe but outraged no one has

alex marquardt, abc news, jerusalem. >>> pope francis meeting with victims of priest sex abuse. sitting down behind closed doors from germany, britain and ireland. he will have zero tolerance for anyone who abused children. >>> now to a deadly stampede after a concert in mexico. three killed at thouz of concert goers i tried to escape. there were gun shots, so many people were trying to run for cover that part of a wall came crashing down. >>> high temperatures and strong, shifting winds are making it difficult for crews in california battling forest fires. west of sacramento, it's burned 10 square miles, 30% contained and has potential for extreme growth. it's being fed by brittle undergrowth that's not burned in two decades. >>> a stormy night across iowa, over a dozen twisters raking over the state. amazingly clear images of this tornado touching down not far from cedar falls. you can see the swirling winds picking up debris and tearing apart trees. several homes damaged, but no word of any serious injuries. >>> time now for the weather across the nation. more severe storms i

alex marquardt reports from there tonight. >> reporter: here sometimes there's a warning. this man's three-story home is a pile of rubble. they got a call in the middle of the night from the israeli military giving them ten minutes to leave. one small rocket was fired to make sure they fled and then the next one completely leveled up. we're civilians, innocent people, they told me. there are no militants here, no rockets being fired. in gaza, amid the ground-shaking booms of israeli air strikes are there are no sirens, no shelters to run to. there's crying amid the devastation that follows israeli missiles. here, five members of one family killed when a leader was targeted. ambulances tearing into gaza's hospitals, discharging bodies, they're piling up in the morgue. those sounds of war continuing late into the night in gaza as the death toll grows. of the more than 60 killed so far only about ten were militant. fueling the anger here and the support for those groups firing into israel. >>> now tonight, nsa whistleblower edward snowden is back in the news. a new report cla

abc's alex marquardt has more on the exodus. >> reporter: escape aza.e rael to flee their relentless bombardm >> wa. >> rorter: wmet the haka family, a summer vation in a wa bs are coming randomly and you wouldn't know where they were bombing or why eyere bombing. >> reporter: ty walked down the longunnel to the border with israel, the first stop on their journey home. once out of gaza theirelief is bitterswt. sad behd because myamily you kn >> reporter: her family and so many here not as lucky. visited a school, clarooms now shelters for the dplaced. who fled here after israel dropped leaf leis ying they were going to bomb their neighborhoods. "i hopto god we cabrk israel and win" this woman told me "in the name of god we will no one is winning. the funerals for 1members of one family after the home of gaza's police chief was hit by israel. he was wounded joining more than a thousand others, the death toll now more than 170. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he regrets any tacks on civilians but accused hamas of hiding behind t said they w

abc's alex marquardt is in gaza. >> reporter: wild celebrations tonight in the streets of gaza after hamas claims to have captured an israeli soldier, his name and i.d. number read triumphantly on hamas tv. israel has not commented and it's unknown if he's alive or dead. if true it's a potential game changer. the last israeli soldier hamas took captive was traded for 1,000 palestinian prisoners. it comes on a day when 13 israeli soldiers were killed, including two israeli americans, as israel presses deeper into gaza. street after street unprecedented scenes of devastation and carnage. a flood of palestinian families running, but not knowing where to go. >> what did you see in there? what was happening? >> reporter: the israelis hit us from every side, this man told me, no distinction between militants and civilians. over 100 palestinians were killed today. at the morgue, the smell of death overpowering. bodies have been streaming out of this morgue all day. this is just one of six killed in a single family in the assault on the eastern gaza neighborhood. amid a sea of tears, the gri

tonight israel taking action and alex marquardt is there with a picture. >> reporter: striking back. israel hitting hard overnight with 34 precision air strikes on a hamas compound in the gaza strip. suddenly this region, these two sides possibly on the brink of war. israel said the strikes were a response to a barrage of rockets fired into israel by palestinian militants. israel also accuses hamas of abducting and killing those three teenage boys, breaking the heart of the country. we were there today for their funerals. everyone that we've spoken to saying it's deeply personal. it could have happened just as easily to them or to their families. >> suddenly there's a feeling of helplessness. >> reporter: today israeli police released the emergency call by 16-year-old as they were being abducted. we've been kidnapped he whispers. keep your head down, a kidnapper shouts, followed by the sound of repeated gunshots and cries of pain. hamas has denied being behind the abduction, but behind israel's prime minister threatened to expand the crackdown against them. >> alex, thank you. >>> no

my colleague alex marquardt is there. >> reporter: martha, fear tonight as thousands of palestinianslee their homes in northern gaza after a warning from israel. american citizens getting out as the death toll rises. >> reporter: escape from gaza. this convoy heading to the border early this morning. onboard, almost 150 american citizens, allowed by israel to flee the relentless bombardments. we meet the ashaka family from baton rouge, louisiana. they were here visiting family, a summer vacation that is now in a war zone. >> the bombs would just come randomly and you wouldn't know where they were bombing or why they were bombing. >> reporter: they walked down the long tunnel to the border with israel, the first stop on their journey home. once out of gaza, the relief is bittersweet. >> little bit sad behind me because my family over there. you know? >> reporter: her family -- and so many here -- not as lucky. today we visited a school, classrooms now shelters for the displaced who fled here after israel dropped leaflets saying they were going to bomb the neighborhoods. i hope to god

. >> alex marquardt was just 100 yards away. four boys ageses 9 to 11 were killed. the israeli military said it launched the strike aimed at hamas militants and called the boys' death a tragic outcome. >> right now the five-hour truce is under way. here's a live look in gaza right now. the question, though, remains. will this truce open the door to for a permanent cease-fire. >> hamish macdonald is live in tel aviv with the latest. what's the latest? >> reporter: good morning to you. well, at the moment i can tell you the cease-fire is holding so far. it went into force at 10:00 a.m. local time and it will last until 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. clearly the pressure is on hamas not to fire any rockets during that period. israel is saying that if rockets are fired then it will respond forcefully. in the last few hours israel says it has attacked and killed a number of hamas militants using underground tunnels to effectively infiltrate israel. but, of course, really today the focus is on the aftermath of the killing of those four boys on the beach in gaza city. they were