. >> abc's hamish macdonald joins us live on the phone right now from southern israel. hamish, thanks for being here. what is israel hoping to achieve with this operation that it couldn't with air strikes? >> reporter: well, its objectives are very clear, and what the military, the israeli military has said to us in the last few hours is that the operation that they've been conducting for the last ten days from the air and from the sea simply was not working. they were not destroying the infrastructure that hamas has. they were not destroying the underground tunnel network, and, therefore, the decision was taken to go in on the ground. a significant number of troops. a total of 64,000 reservists have been called up. we're seeing many of them in evidence here on the border of gaza this morning, and there is ongoing heavy bombardment. >> hamish, we can hear the audio behind you. can you describe the activity right now in southern israel? is there any shelling or explosions? >> reporter: what we've been seeing over the last few hours is constant bursts of artillery fire com

abc's hamish macdonald live in tel aviv, thanks so much, hamish. >>> a palestinian-american teenager allegedly beaten by israeli police returned home. tariq abu arrived two weeks after the incident. tariq told the crowd he'll never think about freedom in the same way and said no child whether palestinian or israeli deserves to die. >>> now to another foreign policy crisis facing the white house. president obama is sending a strong message to russia over its continued support of militants in the ukraine. mr. obama announced a series of new economic sanctions. >> we're freezing the assets of several russian defense companies and we are blocking new financing of some of russia's most important banks and energy companies. >> russian president putin appeared to brush off the new sanctions sighiaying the white e was hurting american companies. >>> six western states are battling wildfires with hundreds of homes in danger. one fire in washington doubled in size in a few hours cutting off a major highway that may be needed for evacuations. smoke from that fire could be seen in downtown seatt

abc's hamish macdonald starting us off on the ground in tel aviv. >> reporter: this is life today under the iron dome -- israel's defense system against rockets from gaza. >> so, this is what happens when the siren rings out. you can hear it. wow! >> reporter: for some, it's a difficult choice. run for cover or stay and watch. >> does it feel like there's a war to you? >> of course. i know there's a war, but i'm not afraid. i feel sorry for the gaza strip, for gaza citizens, because they really suffer a lot. >> reporter: at least 150 of these rockets were launched out of gaza today. the israeli military has fired back many more missiles. not a single israeli life has been lost during this operation, while in gaza, scores having killed. at this high school in ashkelon today, they're taking exams. >> teachers from the school are guiding students into the shelter. it's also the exam room. >> reporter: eden is 18. this is her last exam of her senior year. she says she was nervous about coming today. >> because of the situation here. >> reporter: once this is over, she'll join the army. 20,0

abc's hamish macdonald reporting in tonight. >> reporter: the blazing night sky above gaza was the give away. after hours of heavy shelling, confirmation israel has begun the ground phase of its operations in gaza. this strip of land is being bombarded from the air, sea and land. artillery units, infantry, the army corpse all being deployed. another 18,000 reservists being called up, a total of more than 60,000. the past week we've seen the steady buildup towards this moment. we're seeing two, three, four tanks now moving across. there's another long line of them waiting in this field to move in. israel's military is telling abc news there is no time limit on this operation. the mission, to bring calm and quiet back to israel. that is, stop the rockets and prevent hamas from conducting operations like this. today heavily armed militants used underground tunnels to get into israel. for five hours earlier there was a window of hope, a temporary cease-fire, but expectations of an imminent lasting truce are now shattered. at least 240 people have been killed in gaza so far. this afternoon t

>> our thanks to alex marquardt and hamish macdonald. >> reporter: now a note. i want to put up these pictures. during a story on the conflict between the israelis and palestinians, i misidentified a photo. these are palestinians, not israelis as i mistakenly described them. we want you to know we are truly sorry for the error, and as always, we'll keep you fully up to date on the ongoing conflict. >>> next tonight, severe storms on the move and a weather curveball, a cool blast headed our way in the middle of july. ginger zee is studying the radar and she tells us what is happening. >> brian:. >> reporter: hail, damaging winds and at least one tornado, reported from south carolina to virginia, while thousands of miles away, this explosive scene post typhoon in japan. what was that majestic monster from space, almost 5,000 miles away from us in the united states but it will in part affect our weather next week. think highs in the 50s and 60s. overnight lows for parts of minnesota and michigan in the 30s. how will this all go down? well all hurricanes, typhoons a

>> our thanks to hamish macdonald reporting in from the region. i want to bring in abc's chief westinghouse correspondent jonathan karl. i want to take our viewers back to the images we saw, the explosions, the ground incursion under way. what is the white house saying if anything? >> reporter: they seem to be blind-sided by the israeli invasion. yesterday the president came into the white house briefing room and before the cameras said he was working with world leaders to get a cease-fire. just hours before the invasion, the spokesperson for the state department expressed optimism that the cease-fire would take hold. now, of course, you have an escalation, not a cease-fire, although it's important to say the white house has said over and over again that israel does have a right to defend itself. >> optimistic just today about a cease-fire. i wanted to get back to the plane. we heard the president today say he would support the investigation, but the white house also waiting for word tonight on whether there were americans on board? >> reporter: n

we begin with abc's hamish macdonald in tel aviv. good morning, hamish. what's the latest there? >> reporter: good morning to you. well, the situation is pretty murky, but the events are fast-moving. now, as you mentioned, egypt has put forward this proposal for a cease-fire. the israeli cabinet has met within the last few hours, and they said that they accept that cease-fire. they've instructed their military to stop its raids over gaza, however, hamas initially the military wing, the qassam brigade, said that it had not been consulted and did not accept this, then the hamas political spokesman have said also they do not accept this proposal for a cease-fire. it seems that the egyptians and the israelis have done this without including the hamas leadership. there's some reporting suggesting that the fatah leadership, mahmoud abbas, that being, were involved in the talks. of course, the palestinians say that they have a unity government. this is a real test now. we'll need to watch over the coming hours to see whether or not any cease-fire can hold. >> thanks so much, hamish. >>>

hamish macdonald starts us off on the ground in tel aviv. >> reporter: this wedding south of tel aviv is interrupted by sirens. we see the bride and groom running, knowing they have one and a half minutes to find cover. overhead is the rockets. for israelis this is by now a well rehearsed response. i want to show you the biggest shelter here in tel aviv. normally it's an underground parking garage. if there's a strike tens of thousands of people can run down here. there's enough of these spaces for the entire population of tel aviv to move underground. today three long-range rockets were launched towards the israeli's nuclear reactor. a successful strike could have been catastrophic. as the sun set tonight, they streaked across the skyline. the prime minister promised those firing them would pay a heavy price. 40,000 reservists having called up towards a possible ground invasion of the strip. the divisions between israel and the palestinians are wide but the geographic distances are tiny. rockets traveled just over 40 miles, around the same distance between baltimore and washington d.

here's abc's hamish macdonald. >> reporter: the blazing night sky above gaza was the giveaway.er hours of heavy shelling, confirmation. israel has begun the ground phase of its operations in gaza. this strip of land is being bombarded from the air, sea and land. artillery units, infantry, all being deployed. another 18,000 reservists are being called up. a total now of more than 60,000. for the past week, we've seen the steady buildup towards this moment. we're seeing two, three, four tanks moving across. there's another long line of them waiting in these fields to move in. israel's military is telling abc news, there is no time limit on this operation. the mission, to bring calm and quiet back to israel. that is, stop the raucous and prevent hamas from conducting operations like this. heavily-armed militants use underground tunnels to get into israel. for five hours earlier, there was a window of hope. a temporary cease-fire. but expectations of an imminent 240 people have been killed in gaza so far. they buried four boys that were killed as they played soccer on the beach. th

hamish macdonald saw it up close. >> we're seeing two, three, four tanks moving across. there's another long line of them waiting in the fields to move in. if there was any doubt about israel's willingness to mount a ground offensive, you only need to take a look. >> reporter: an invasion that would cause the death toll to soar. almost 170 palestinians dead so far. most of them, the u.n. says, civilians. overnight, 18 members of a single family killed. the violence now causing an exodus. early this morning, we met some of the 144 american citizens who israel is allowing to leave. on the bus, this family from baton rouge, louisiana. on vacation in gaza. now fleeing a war. are you disappointed to be leaving? >> no, no, i'm happy. i miss america. >> reporter: you want to get home? get out of the war zone? >> yeah. >> reporter: at the border, they dragged their heavy suitcases off the bus, starting the long, but thankful journey back to the u.s. >> i'll feel like i'm home safe. >> reporter: you're relieved to be leaving? >> reeve relieved. relieved to be leaving. >> reporter

hamish macdonald, abc news. >>> germany is telling a top u.s. intelligence offer so to get out.ing listening in on merkel's cell phone calls. germany says it hopes expelling the cia station chief in berlin conveys its displeasure without permanently damaging relations. >>> the trial to decide the future of the los angeles clippers is now on hold. the judge deciding matters between disgraced owner donald sterling and his estranged wife shelly delayed proceedings yesterday because two attorneys have vacation and wedding anniversary plans. the case will resume in ten days, well after the deadline set to complete the $2 billion deal to buy the team reached by shelly sterling and former microsoft exec steve ballmer. that deal could be extended another month. >>> and then there's the free agency of lebron james. fans in miami are waiting with baited breath to hear if he stay with the heat. those in cleveland, well, they're hoping james chooses to return to his native ohio and rejoin the cleveland cavaliers. james is attending sunday's world cup final. an announcement of his decision c