. >>> before we get on to humanitarian side of this, i want to ask retired colonel cedrick layton ton me now to discuss what we know about the progress of military operations on the ground in gaza. colonel, when the israeli prime minister said that this is now entered a new phase, what does he mean exactly? >> so, jim, what he's talking about is the different types of military forces that are being brought to bear at this particular moment in time. so with phase one, it was basically an air campaign. and it was designed to soften up targets along with artillery that then would be prosecuted by idf ground forces. so once that phase is completed and they figured out the israelis figure out that they have taken out many of the targets that they thought they would need to eliminate, they move to phase two which is what the prime minister announced yesterday. and that is involving the ground forces that are moving in with their tanks on the personnel carriers and other infantry fighting vehicles. that element is bringing the ground forces into the fight. it is still combined with air powe

. >> i want to bring in air force colonel cedrick layton. we know that hamas is firing on tel aviv.he iron dome is active and we've seen it on the ground. could it keep up with the latest barrage. >> that is one of the big problems and so let's take a look at some of the strikes ththat have been going on here and right now you look at what is happening with gaza with the israeli strikes right here but you mentioned the strikes up in tel aviv. that is further up north here. so if we look at a little bit of a bigger map right here, you could see that the strikes are happening in this direction, in this area right here. they could also potentially threaten jerusalem, there have been some inconformed reports that there are strikes around jerusalem as well and that could have an impact as to how the israelis respond. >> and othe attacks seem to be headed toward north of gaza, do you have a sense of why that might end being a place that hamas is targeting, and frankly as david sanger just pointed out, these are a lot of rockets. we're not seeing the kind of ground activity over the weeken

air force colonel, cedrick layton. this is happening as you well know that israel is clearly preparing for some sort of large scale campaign against hamas in gaza. >> wolf, let's take a look at what the u.s. is doing and what israel is doing here. what we expect to see with colonel layton. first, the carrier strike group. u.s.s. gerald ford. it's headed towards the waters off the kcoast of israel. >> one of the big things you have to look at with a carrier strike group like this is that it's a military presence in the re region and every time there's trouble in the region, you send the carrier strike group to show the flag of the united states. this can have up to 70 caircraf, up to 90. it's a formidable force. includes the f-35 and also has f-18s on it so it is a major player in the region anytime it goes into an a region. >> they're not expected to head to israel. who is this a message to and what role could they play if they're not going to israel? >> these aircraft, they are aircraft that are designed to in essence

here with me now, colonel cedrick layton. this has been a moment to rejoice in what has been very difficult circumstances. i want to go deeper into the why now and why the reason they've given. they have said it's for humanitarian grounds because of the mother's health. what does that say to you about this decision to release them? >> well, hostages from hamas' standpoint, are valuable as long as they're alive in good health, and can be bargained for something of interest to hamas. prisoners, conditions on the ground, et cetera. so it was not in hamas' interest to see an american hostage die in captivity. this demonstrates that they are able to deal, but now i think the negotiations will become more difficult and probably more lengthy as we go through this. >> let's tap more into that. why do you think this indicates a way to negotiate now? >> well, i think this is a signal of good faith. and obviously, they are very effective in this intermediary role. they have the able to engage with a wide array of actors in the region. s

i want to go to our colonel cedrick layton. a cnn military analyst. let's start there, if you will, about the concern in the north. obviously, the focus has been in the southern part of israel on the border with gaza. but the very real concerns about what is going to happen in the north and that is something we just heard in the last block that the defense secretary spoke about just more broadly about what that would mean for a bigger regional conflict. >> yeah. it's very true that the north is really a problem area for israel. so basically, what it's forcing israel to do from a military standpoint is divide its forces. it has obviously moved a lot of troops into the south right along the gaza border. all those troops nic robertson has been roberteporting on. there's probably a redeployment going on as the israelis try to get the right force mix they need in order to go and execute whatever mission they're going to be undertaking in the next 48 to 72 hours. as far as the north is concerned, the key thing to think about is hezbollah. party of god as it