let's go to karl penhaul live for us in gaza. watching you on the air last night, at moments having to stop and move out of the camera because the blasts were so close to you. it was quite a night of fighting there. >> reporter: if you had been with us just about a minute earlier, poppy, you would have seen the same -- okay, i'm going to move out of the way. >> let's have him move as far away as he can. folks, you can see how incredibly close that blast was to karl penhaul. he described a blast last night at the further white building telling us that was 500 meters away. obvious this this blast was closer. karl, are you all right and also -- >> yeah. that blast, poppy, i'll explain -- yeah, let me explain to you what's going on there. that building is about 200 yards away from where we are now. from what i can see on the corner of that building, some kind of missile has gone into the top story of that building. that building is also being used as a residential building. i can see people's washing hanging out from the balcony's lo

karl penhaul is there in gaza city.this capture took place early sunday morning, but it's only been made public through the airwaves there in gaza city just within the past couple of minutes or so taking a very long time to make that claim of responsibility perhaps to help hide or relocate that soldier making it that much more difficult for the israeli defense forces to try to locate their guy. we have now with us karl penhaul in gaza city, also a former israeli ambassador to the u.s. michael orrin and atika shubert in israel and lieutenant colonel rick francona, our cnn military analyst coming to us from new york. i want to go to you ambassador orin first, might this be a repeat of 2006 with the capture of gilad schalit who was released five years later in exchange for 1,000 palestinians? >> good to be with you, fredricka. well, there has been no confirmation on the israeli side about the abduction of any israeli soldier. there have been rumors occasionally floated during the course of the entire protective edge operat

we are joined by karl penhaul. in the midst of this, israel calling up 16,000 more reserves. >> reporter: yeah, john. i don't want to tell you about the numbers although, i will tell you yesterday on the gaza strip, more than 120 palestinians were killed. i want to tell you a couple stories. the horrific attack in the market. the reason they continue to function is the wartime mentality is drawing. any chance the farmers get in the fighting are seen rushing out to their fields to bring them food so things don't get too critical. at that time, explosives went off in the market. you are seeing pictures of those horrible scenes because two local journalists were in the thick of that market taking pictures. the explosives come in. one journalist was killed. the assistant picks up the camera and carries on filming. he believed it was so important to have testimony of what was going on. he carried on and did his job. before that, earlier on in the u.n. school north of gaza, we went up there and, again, people that had al

let's go to karl penhaul right now in gaza city. going off over the skies? we saw it half an hour or so. what's going on, karl, right now? >> we've seen a lot of illumination flares drifting down into gaza city. you can hear the sound of artillery. that is artillery that field guns sending out just a barrage of rounds. but these are illumination flares. they get about where we are now, close to our vantage point and then you hear an explosion. that is the artillery shell popping out the illumination round. that will drift down on a parachute and in the distance you'll hear the clank of metal. that's the ammunition round with the canister falling down on to the tarmac at street level. now normally those flares may be used to light the way if there's troop maneuvers or armored unit maneuvers or they could be used to be marking some kind of target. it is not clear in this area of gaza city what the target may be. we haven't heard live ammunition rounds exploding in this immediate area. so difficult to see what the strategy is going on h

let's bring in karl penhaul standing by in gaza and sara sidner in jerusalem. karl, first to you. you have new information about the explosion on thursday that killed 16 people at a shelter in gaza. what is the latest? >> reporter: that is what is occupying all of our attention tonight, a statement from the military. we have to be precise about their language. this, of course, was a sensitive issue and in that explosion, according to the authorities and what cnn team's observed and reported on that day, 16 killed and more than 200 wounded. now the military is coming forward and saying it caused the explosion. the israeli military saying that a single errant mortar caused that explosion. however, the israeli military says it was extremely unlikely anybody was killed and goes on to add that it rejects the claim that people were killed the the israeli military does accept as does eyewitnesss on the ground that there had been intense fighting going on during the course of the day. what has the reaction been? after all, that school was a designated united nations' shelter. hundreds wer

karl penhaul is live this morning.pe there will be a stop to this violence sometime soon? >> reporter: there's really no indication right now. the gaza militants seem involved because they have had, in terms of gorilla war, a certain amount of success. they have inflicted casualties on them and their tanks and staged commando raids across the worder. on the other side, israel hasn't achieved their target of shutting down tunnels or rocket launches. before coming to air, another rocket went off over our shoulders. what we are keeping our eyes on is this carnage at the school yesterday. this cannot be put down to war. it needs to be investigated. the israeli military said it is trying to investigate what went on the united nations who were running the school as a shelter. they say they are calling for a full report. both sides are playing the blame game. the israeli military says it could have been a hamas rocket fired from there. we went to look at the scene and saw no evidence of rocket debris. we saw a big sh rap nell

let's go karl penhaul in gaza. karl, you were on the air last night here and there were moments you stopped speaking so people could hear the explosions behind you and we heard the loud, loud drones, the israeli drones over the area. what have you seen in the hours overnight? has there been a lull in this intensified fighting? >> reporter: you are actually right, poppy. we worked silent to allow viewers to hear what was going on in the air around us. there were also times when we had to duck for cover because the air strikes were going into buildings like the white one behind me, only 500 yards away. that means a big bomb was in there and shrapnel could have been tossed where we are. we have taken out the windows and window frames. if there's a shock wave, it will not send shards of glass all over the place. let's listen to the sounds of the explosions from last night. i think we have it. you know, that was preceded by the night skylightened by illumination rounds. the israelis sent illumination flares that lighted

i'm joined now by my cnn colleague, karl penhaul. he is in gaza city. karl, that was video that we've just aired of an attack on a market yesterday. today we're hearing now of people hurt at a u.n. school, another u.n. school housing gaza refugees. can you tell us what happened this time? these seem to be becoming almost a daily event there. >> reporter: they do seem to be becoming almost a daily event, jim, and that really is a reflection of how dirty this war is becoming. what happened this morning, as far as we understand, is that some kind of round landed outside one of the u.n. schools being used as a shelter and caused injuries. it didn't, in fact, fall inside the school, and that is what saved some fatalities. but it all does really go to highlight what the united nations relief organization, the organization running those schools and shelters, is saying. and that is that there is no longer any safe place, no safe haven anywhere in gaza. so it's all good and well, the israeli military trying to warn civilians to move out of the combat zone. but if

karl penhaul is with children whose guardians granted us permission to interview them. rl joins us from gaza, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. let me bring you up to date on what is going on now. since last night the israelis have been pushing an offensive on all parts of gaza, as some of the fiercest air strikes that we have seen in the course of this three-week confrontation, and just behind me, in fact, you may still be able to make out some of the smoke there on the eastern horizon of gaza, some of the largest explosions we've seen at any point during this three-week-old confrontation. it appears israelis have been dropping 2,000-pound bombs from the air. we've seen at least four of those huge bombs go up from there, difficult from here to tell what the target may be. it could be some of those tunnel complexes that israel and its military is so keen to destroy. but of course, this war is much more than air strikes about new missions, about troops on the ground. most of the casualties so far have been civilians. yesterday as you say, no different, again, child

karl penhaul has the latest. ion that has escalated every day. >> i'm afraid karl can't hear us. >> reporter: christine, today is no different. hi, christine. today is no different. gaza is being pounded, especially along its eastern flanks. we have heard naval gun boats in action. now, in the last few moments, we have seen a series of huge explosions going on in some of eastern gaza's neighborhoods. it's unclear what is causing those explosions. they could be air strikes or maybe israel's combat field engineers moved into the neighborhoods and possibly detected the mouths of some of the militant tunnels and using explozives so they are no longer used for cross border raids. that was a key aim of israel when they came into gaza. really, that is what israel is up against. a race against time to shut down the rocket launchers and hamas tunnels so they cannot come in and fight israel on their home turf. once that job is done, there's a chance of a cease-fire. right now, hamas feels in warfare terms, it's giving a goo

our karl penhaul is in gaza.is report contains some images you may find disturbing as he tells us about the price ordinary civilians are paying. >> reporter: a soft plea, daddy, don't leave me. muhammad is only 3. he's never picked a fight in his life, so he can't understand why he's being punished. just go ahead and tell the world my son was firing rockets as tel aviv or jerusalem, his father says. words loaded with irony and anger. he says an israeli missile slammed into their home in eastern gaza just before dawn. cnn team saw that neighborhood under heavy bombardment as israel launched its ground invasion. this was the gaza skyline through the night, ablaze with bombs and artillery fire. prime minister benjamin netanyahu accuses militants of using civilians as human shields. but the united nations estimates more than 70% of the casualties are innocent civilians. the ground operation is creating the worse situation in gaza from humanitarian and medical standpoint. we have hundreds of people going to hospitals

another huge explosion going on in the vicinity of our offices in central gaza right now. >> karl penhaul talking to anderson cooper. the death toll is rising higher. palestinian health officials say nearly 1100 people have been killed and 6500 wounded. >> now, in the meantime israel reports that 53 of its soldiers have been killed. mary mueller has more on these latest developments. >> flairs light the sky over gaza city tuesday. as fighting rages on between israel and hamas. at least two people were injured in the strike monday. according to gaza's health ministry. israeli defense forces spokesperson denies responsibility for the strike. according to the health ministry, at least 10 people were killed at the camp. >> israelis and palestinians have a responsibility to stop the fighting now. >> the u.n. security council echoed that appeal earlier, calling for an immediate humanitarian truce. israel's ambassador responded. >> if it's going to be quiet in israel, it's going to be quiet in gaza. the equation is simple. >> the u.s. is continuing work on a humanitarian cease-fire which could l

cnn's karl penhaul joins us from gaza. karl, we know israel says it's resuming military activity. what are you seeing there this hour? >> krchristi, they have resumed the pounding. we have seen pounding across gaza's eastern border and in the eastern neighborhoods. we've also seen black plumes of smoke rising up into the gaza skyline as those shells once again go down on to gazaen soil and much closer to home, i don't know if you can just see to that side a large white building there just as we were waiting to come to air what appeared to be a couple of drone strikes going in on that building as well. very loud bangs, indeed. but what is also key to look at here today is the reasons why this continued, why this extension to the cease-fire is just not working out. and, of course, all sides will be looking to portion political blame for what seems to be like a lot of stubbornness on the part of the warring sides. yes, israel did make the offer to extend the cease-fire by 24 hours but nevertheless the israeli military said it would continue to try and destroy militant tunnels and wou

karl penhaul joins us now live from gaza city. , you're seeing f-16ss flying overhead right now? >> absolutely. we have seen a number of f-16s flying overhead and the reason i can tell is because as they go, they're pumping out decoy flares on either side of the plane. that is because they clearly fear that gaza militants on the ground may have some kind of surface-to-air missile that could potentially bring them down and trying to avoid that. they are taking relatively low runs over the city. we haven't heard any close quarters bombing so far but in the course of the afternoon, we saw them in action over across the eastern border. they were dropping massive 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs down there. i would guess, although we have no confirmation that they were trying to destroy some kind of tunnel complex across there, jake. >> israel has been claiming that some of the strikes in gaza are actually botched hamas rocket launches. we're going to hold on one second. are you okay there? >> yeah, just listen. sorry i stopped you there

karl penhaul live from eastern gaza this morning, karl, residents are being told get out for your own safety. >> reporter: absolutely, john. i wanted to bring you here to show you really what is going on. right now, we can't go too much further into the neighborhood as you see just behind the israeli air campaign is under way. these are the neighborhoods in the eastern gaza strip that the israeli military are dropping leaflets on last night. they're also making the so-called robocall, the automated voice calls, to tell residents get out your your own safety. this morning, true that their own word, those air strikes began in the last hour, we've seen and heard at least ten israeli air strikes going in. we hear the roar of an f-16 jet overhead. and then the explosion, plumes of smoke. we don't know if there are any wounded or any kind of casualties from those attacks. what i can tell you, the ambulance services, the emergency services are trying to get on top of this. what they've done is reposition themselves around these neighborhoods. they parked a couple of blocks out from the neigh

cnn's karl penhaul live for us in gaza city. you've been watching this above your heads, starting to multiply. what are these flares? >> reporter: yeah, right now, brooke, there is a lot of action going on, especially along gaza's eastern border with israel. that is what you see over my shoulder. that is where you see those flares going up in the sky. those were illumination flares. and if we look at those, that green, eerie, night video footage we saw of israeli troop movements last night, you'll see none appear to have night vision goggles on. it could be they're putting up illumination rounds so the israeli troops as they advance forward into gaza can see where their targets are, and where they need to push in. it is certainly an indication, though, that a large troop movement is under way. we did see flares go up last night, but on a fairly restricted part of the border. now we're seeing this on a much larger stretch of the eastern border, indicating that more troops are coming across that border. now, throughout the last ho

cnn's karl penhaul is standing by for us live in gaza. karl, you have just returned from this refugee camp where this explosion killed those kids we were just talking about. tell me what you saw. >> reporter: brooke, before i bring you to that, i want to bring you another piece of information we just are getting from our producers from the rest of the team here on the ground. things could be about to take a turn for the worse, to palestinians, cell phones and sms text messages being sent right now. it is signed idf. it is warning palestinians, stay in your homes. do not go out. this is the first time that we have had an sms message of that type in the last three weeks. the first time that we have had a blanket message to palestinian cell phones, telling the people of gaza to stay home. now, that has been combined in the last hour or so, with a lot of fire. you may see that over my shoulder. you may see some illumination flares coming down through the night sky. we have seen what appear to be tank rounds flashing across the sky. some red tr

homes and that's why according to the united nations 75% of the casualties have been civilians. >> karl penhaul crew on cat naps and sugar highs. karl, we truly appreciate it. thank you for standing by. let's broaden the direction. let's bring in fareed zakaria. i justing talked to david ignatius about a column he wrote. the headline was this john kerry's big blunder. take a listen. >> but in some ways more damaging he in the process undercut not simply israel which is furious with him as you said in your introduction, but also moderate palestinians who hoped that egypt approach would work and other key friends of the united states in the middle east such as saudi arabia, such as jordan, such as the united arab emirates. i've been talking to diplomats the last two days and i hear real unhappiness with the way that secretary kerry went about this. >> so, i'm sure you've seen the column and talking about, you know, israel accusing the u.s., more solidifying the role of hamas, the fact that, you know, the u.s. has talked to their friends, qatar and turkey. is that a fair assessment of the criticis

we have our own karl penhaul there he has been there throughout, in very dangerous conditions. carl, if this claim proves to be true and hamas has indeed captured an israeli soldier, how different will the situation be there in gaza when the sun comes up? do you expect, you know, more forthright israeli advance, more bombing, are we going to see more action? >> reporter: jim, i think first of all, what we've got to do is really drill down these claims. we have really got to get at the bottom of this, try to get some independent confirmation, got to try and get some reaction from the israeli military. certainly, the military wing of hamas say they captured an israeli soldier crossing northeastern gaza sunday morning, they have had him now, according to their own statements, more than 12 hours. this could be a game changer. remember, this is not a confrontation between two large conventional armies. this is asymmetric warfare. this is urban guerilla warfare around the kind of tactics that we're seeing, al qassam and hamas using this time around, much more sophisticated, much more

karl penhaul for us in gaza city. keep yourself safe out there thank you. >>> we want to go back to cnn military analyst, lieutenant colonel rick francona and former cia officer, bob baer. one question, colonel, i want to ask, is thank is that israel said, yes, we dropped a mortar. perhaps they should have gone one step further around subjected if there were people there, then there would have been a high degree of possibility that some of them were injured and perhaps killed. would that have been the sort of middle ground, because it seems like we are splitting hairs here, yes, they dropped it, but nobody was hurt, nobody was killed. >> well, they don't know. they admit they had dropped a mortar round in there, but how could they possibly know if anybody was further away from the blast than what they could see there? and karl makes a good point there are areas of -- that area of that school that we can't see from this overhead. now, maybe they have other sensors that they are relying on, but from what we're seeing he

gonna bring back in karl penhaul. karl, we see the images, they are extraordinarily difficult to see. i know you have probably seen more than you want to see out there. people are trying to -- looking to blame somebody. you've been to that school, you've been to these hospitals. how great is the suffering there and is it well known to the israelis where these various soft targets or soft areas are? nch>> certainly is really known the israelis according to the united nations. the united nations says it routinely supplies the israeli military with the coordinates, the precise coordinates, of each of its schools that is being used as a united nations' shelter for displaced people here in gaza. now, there are about 83 schools currently being used as shelters for displaced people and housing more than 160,000 gazans right now who have had to flee their homes because of fighting around their homes and also because their homes have now been demolished. those coordinates are routinely provided to the israeli military and one

let's get right to gaza city, where charl where karl penhaul is. it is the middle of the night and we see people cheering that news that hamas has, they say, taken an israeli -- member of the israeli military prisoner. if that claim is verified, let's talk about how that may alter the situation between hamas and israel, because we know how dear these soldiers are to israel. when you think back to 2006, an israeli soldier captured, held in captivity for five years, released in 2011 in exchange for more than 1,000 palestinians. does this change the equation? >> reporter: well, let me just bring you up to date with something else, because over the last few moments, palestinian colleagues that we work with have been receiving phone messages, text messages like many other palestinians right now, and that text message from an unidentified sender says -- names a spokesman of hamas' military wing and says he is a big liar. we are supposing that this could be part of an israeli intelligence effort to again try and denounce these claims as not true, although

let's go to our correspondent now, in gaza city, karl penhaul. karl, tell me what's happening there. >> reporter: brooke, tonight a major israeli assault is under way. it depends what they're doing right now as to what kind of activity is going on. but in the course of this evening, we've heard heavy artillery bombardment over my shoulder there. that's the eastern border of gaza, with israel. we've heard possibly tanks firing from there, or other artillery pieces. what we've also seen is a lot of illumination rounds going up there. now that could indicate either that the israelis want to mark targets and then open fire on them, or it could be that now israeli infantrymen are advancing through that area, as well. because when we saw some of that green night scope video of the first night of the israeli ground incursion into gaza, not a lot of those soldiers seemed to be wearing night vision. that is why they might pop the illumination rounds in the last moments of their advance so the soldiers can either identify a target or look around and see the

let's go to karl penhaul, live from gaza city. , if israel says this is from hamas, presumably originating from where you are in gaza, what do they base that on, and what is hamas saying? >> reporter: there's a lot of information to sift through here, brooke. i'll tell you what we know and what we don't know. first of all, this school, it was a u.n.-operated school. it is approximately a mile and a half from the border between gaza and israel. it was being used to shelter hundreds of civilians who had fled the surrounding areas, because their own homes had been caught in the cross fire in this confrontation. for the last few days, there had been confrontations between gaza militants and it's really forces, both from artillery positions and also we know that the israelis had boots on the ground in that area as well. now, what we know since then, the united nations put out a statement saying that they had formally advised israeli forces of the position of this school that was being used as a shelter for displaced people. they also te

. >> cnn's karl penhaul live in gaza city. karl, the israelis appear to be hunkering down for a long fight. i hear there's some activity near you right now. >> reporter: i was going to say, actions speak way louder than words these days, don. just as we were coming to air, we looked around blauz bauz through the black of gaza city we heard what sounded like a jet fighter screaming out from the ground. it was, in fact, rockets being launched by the militants heading off to israel. i would guess in the next few moments we'll get some reports as to where they landed and if they did any damage across here. that really fits in with what the leader of hamas' military has been saying now that there is no middle ground. what does he mean by that? he and the political wing of hamas is saying for there to be a cease-fire that will last, israel would have to agree to a series of conditions set by hamas, and that would include lifting what he calls the blockade of gaza. what he means by that is that the borders of gaza would have to be fre

cnn's karl penhaul is standing by. karl, we were showing images of a big explosion in gaza to our viewers around the world. do we know what that was? >> reporter: it could, if you're saying those images were coming from the israeli side, as you were talking, there was a large explosion, probably a mile, mile and a half just southwest of where we are now. sounds like that could have been some artillery strike on a building in gaza city. throughout the night, throughout the morning, we've that strikes coming in from all sides. we know there are self-propelled howitzes, so israel is using those. we've also had naval gun boating pounding as well. this offensive very much going on. we've heard in the last few moment as well the israeli military saying they stillment to press their offensive in the eastern neighborhood of gaza because that is where they believe hamas fighters are on the ground. they are meeting ground resistance in hand-to-hand fighting and they believe there are hamas tunnels which militants are using to inf

even if new fuel does come in, there's nowhere to put itivities karl penhaul, thank you. >>> as karl mentioned there is huge controversy who actually fired the missile into the school. richard roth reports from the u.n. >> reporter: it's the missiles of july in the gaza strip. israeli bottom bartments coming in, and hamas rocket fire going out. the united nations is caught in the crossfire, military and political. the latest attack this morning in the jabalia school shelter. it was the sixth time a u.n. school was hit with scores of casualties, according to the u.n. >> sometimes you run ute words. >> exasperated u.n. officials blame israel for the most recent carnage on their grounds in gaza, but the u.n. has a problem. missiles keep turning up within schools in gaza. three different u.n. schools that were supposed to be closed for the summer contained missiles, according to the u.n. in one school, a lone guard was left to look after the rockets. a day later, they disappeared. >> what is the link between increasingly missiles found in schools run by the u.n. and attacks on facilities

let's go to karl penhaul right now, he's joining us from gaza city. karl, how damaging is the stepped-up israeli military offensive we've seen right now? what does it mean for palestinians living there in gaza city where you are and elsewhere? >> well, it's absolutely dem stating on a number of levels, wolf. on the one level, you have thousands -- tens of thousands, in fact, now displaced by the fighting in united nations shelters alone, more than 180,000 people, and then, you know, we've seen these calls by the israeli military by palmlet or text message for people would clear out of northern gaza, that head to gaza city, where it should be safer. and then of course the uptick in violence here last night. so that means in a lot of these ordinary apartment buildings, multiple families are crammed into one single building. and then you add to that the strike on the fuel storage tank at the gaza power plant and the head of the power plant there told us he believes it was an israeli tank shell that set those fuel tanks on fire. so you've got power outages

karl penhaul, thanks very much. karl was talking about what the israeli government is saying about those deaths in the u.n. school, calling it, quote, a shocking tragedy, but they're saying hamas is to blame and building the group as a base. >> but the question that has to be asked, is why has a u.n. facility been turned into a comb combat zone. and the answer is clear. hamas has had a deliberate policy of abusing u.n. facilities. >> all right, mark regev, spokesperson for benjamin netanyahu. and this is a line we have heard before from the israeli government, that, in fact, when these schools used as shelters from people fleeing more dangerous neighborhoods in gaza are hit, it's because hamas probably misfired a rocket. but in the case of the school yesterday, you heard from karl there, they believe with some degree of certainty that it was a u.n. hit. now, let's give you a bit of context as far as gaza is concerned. imagine -- i don't know, something the size of washington, d.c., with 1.8 million people in it. you

karl penhaul is live with the latest from gaza this morning. od morning, karl. >> reporter: as you point out, twin developments, one on the diplomatic field in cairo, but there's little trust by hamas of the egyptian government. they have been hostile in the past. no love lost between the united states and hamas, either. so, really, what they have to do this is do a huge task in confidence building. here on the battlefield as well as the gaza strip, you have to raise the question, why would i want a cease-fire now. when they launched into the gaza strip, the stated aims were to shot down the rockets and the militant tunnels they have been using to barrel into israel and launch raids there. israel has not achieved those aims. we have rockets going out from the gaza strip and hamas continues to get its commandos on to israeli soil and engage the soldiers on their own turf. if you look in gorilla warfare terms, hamas is giving a good account. so far, among the casualties, 27 israeli soldiers killed. that is more than twice the number killed in 2008

our karl penhaul is in gaza right now. karl, these are one of several strikes we've seen hit civilians in gaza. a lot of criticism for israel on this. what's the latest on the ground where you are? >> reporter: john, as you say, just looking at those pictures, you can't imagine the thoughts and the fear that would have been going through people's minds there. it has to be said as well that those street markets are essential. that is what is keeping the people of gaza going. we've even seen some of the farmers when there is fighting around their plot of land or greenhouse, they will race out and harvest what they can, come back and put it on the market stalls so people do have something to eat even though now as we know things like electricity and water are running low because of the situation. the blame on israel while the united nations investigators with were down there as the united nations school got hit, they've done their crater analysis and shrapnel analysis that vai believe firmly that israeli artillery shells are b

karl penhaul is joining me. we know right now there is not a cease-fire in place. what have you seen there today? >> reporter: no, there is no cease-fire and any cease-fire talk has collapsed. but really that is not the news coming out of gaza or israel tonight. the many piece of news that we are tracking right now is a statement that is in the last few moments come out from the israeli military where they claim responsibility for that shocking explosion at a u.n.-run school. that was on thursday. according to the united nations and according to eyewitnesss and medics, 16 people were killed in that explosion and over 200 others were wounded. that's very important to get the language of the israeli military statement right the israeli military accepts that a single mortar dropped into the school courtyard. but the israeli military follows up by saying it is extremely unlikely anybody was killed in that explosion. it also goes on to say it rejects the claim that people were killed. the people in that shelter when the single errant mortar fell into that school. the un

my cnn colleague karl penhaul was on the air this morning from gaza city when a missile hit right behind him. take a listen. >> -- that you would ever see -- [ explosion ] >> karl joins me live. we've seen smoke from the power plant fire all morning. what is the latest on that? how extensive are these power outages caused as a result? >> well, really, from what we understand, there is, now, no power being generated by that gaza power company power plant, after an israeli tank shell hit the diesel fuel tanks that is storing the fuel that powers that power plant. that is the chief of the gaza power company that gave us that. just south of where we are now, you can see the smoke billowing from that power plant. it is out of service. by all accounts it could be out of service for a year now. so really what that means is now the people of gaza have to survive with their own small generators. and that has added already to the fact a lot of the infrastructure has been hit. so it really is increasing the suffering on the civilian population. and of course the civilian population is something tha

. >> karl penhaul for us in gaza, thank you. >>> blood spilling in libya. 47 people killed in the lastilitia's fighting for control in the capito city, tripoli. this is the worst in three years. >>> dna matches the body of a fugitive billionaire who owns the ferry that sank in april. he disappeared after the ferry disaster in which 292 people were killed, many of them high school students. his body was found last month. he was wanted for questioning. prosecutors say it could have contributed to the ferry tragedy. >>> texas sending 1,000 troops to the scene as congress gridlocks what to do with thousands of children crossing into this country illegally. what's happening today? that's coming up next. >>> all right, russian president, vladimir putin is declaring his support calling for a full investigation of the downing of flight 17. they continue to blame ukraine and the west for the attack. the world will be watching when putin delivers a speech later on. meanwhile, the bodies are being taken to kharkiv. from there, flown to the netherlands to their loved ones. >>> rick perry calling 1

karl penhaul, being careful in gaza. the high death toll is provoking a strong backlash around the world. muslims are marking the last friday of the ramadan with demonstrations of solidarity with the palestinians of gaza. the marches are likely to grow if the fighting in gaza continues. israeli police have boosted their presence in jerusalem. the jerusalem post reports the officers have been told to expect violence in and around jerusalem. the gaza fighting has sparked some anti-semitic attacks. a soccer game in austria was suddenly interrupted when people with palestinian flags ran to the field and began abeittackin israeli players in austria. the military confirmed one of its soldiers listed as missing in action was killed in action. the soldier, hamas had claimed it was holding him after capturing him during an ambush, but a committee led by the committee's shechief rabbi says he's been classified as a soldier killed in action whose burial site is unknown. the israelis say he is dead. >>> still ahead, we're going to g

our karl penhaul has been there through some of the worse of it. he joins us again from gaza city. karl, as wolf just said, this is not the first time weapons like this have been found at a u.n. facility. >> we have had direct communication with the united nations saying that rockets had been stored in u.n. facilities in the schools and on one occasion in fact the rockets that had been placed there that had been discovered there, u.n. staff left them unattended. and when they got back, the rockets had been removed. >> it's obviously been incredibly eventful 24 hours. highways the latest tonight? >> the latest tonight, we have seen across in eastern gaza in the tafar area. some heavy ordnance being dropped from f-16 fighter bombers. in fact, just now in the distance you can hear the thud that was down in southeast gaza, it seems to me. but what i saw across in the tafur neighborhood in eastern gaza appear to be 2,000-pound bombs being dropped from the f-16s. and the f-16s made several passes over in the course of the afternoon as well. large bombs of the same size being dropped in th

karl penhaul visited an emergency room. we want to warn you, some viewers may find the images in this story disturbing. >> reporter: dead on an rival. the horror, civilians and medics at breaking point. >> feel exhausted. we feel depressed. >> no time to rest. it's a scramble to rescue survivors. surgeons told us not to film this casualty. a hint perhaps he was a militant fighter. but most on the operating table at south gaza's european hospital are clearly noncombatants. >> their patient is a 23-year-old female. they showed me on the x-rays she has a basic fracture on her leg. they say that was caused by a rocket blast. the surgeons focus. the blink of a patient's eye. the beep a vital sign. dr. hassan is sick of it. sick he tells me of stitching bodies mutilated by shrapnel. sick of war. ? in the last ten hours, we received 61 injured patients. so we don't have enough here to work on these patients. >> down the hallway, surgeons patch up a toddler. they say the rest of his family is dead. bone and brain surgeons do skin g

>> karl penhaul, thank you so much. let's talk about the u.s. role in israel and the middle east at large with stephen hadley, a former national security advisor to president george w. bush and now a principal at rice hadley gates which is an international consulting firm. mr. hadley, good to see you as always. let's talk about these rounds that the u.s. is supplying israel. the latest shipment was tank rounds and illumination rounds. this delivery comes at the same time that both the pentagon and the white house have expressed concern that israel could be doing more to alleviate all the civilian casualties in gaza. explain to us, translate for us, if you will, what it means when the pentagon and the white house say they're very concerned about this, here's some more ammunition. >> the white house is trying to walk a line between making it clear that it supports israel and supports israel's right to defend itself against terrorist groups like hamas, but at the same time, it expresses concern for the humanitarian cost of what israel is having to

i'm going to bring karl penhaul in right now. he was just at the scene. and he just arrived to kind of describe what he saw at the camp. >> well, we went, ian, down to the beach area, i believe that neighborhood is called, and talked to eyewitnesses there. were were pools of blood on the street. it's a narrow residential street. the buildings go up three and four stories. the whole area is pot marked with shrapnel. i managed to put my fist in a shrapnel hole that went through a car door. just imagine the damage that has done to children. there were children there playing in that street. there was a little super market there, a little store apparently according to eyewitnesses. the children had gone to the store there. others were in the street playing with plastic guns. it's a game here. i talked to a young girl, with the permission of her father. she was 12 years old. she said, along with other eyewitnesses, both adults and children that they heard a drone, a drone they call in arabic zanana. even if you don't speak arabic, you hear these kids say zanana

karl penhaul is live. what can you tell snus. >> reporter: well, john, it was an intense night throughout the night in central gaza city. we saw israeli illumination flares lighting up the night sky. it was a moonless night and israelis need to get their drones up in the air to see what was going on down ton ground. now the illumination flares went off for two hours. gaza city and all points north, south and east. we saw explosions going into buildings 500 yards away from where we are now forcing us to take cover because of the size of the bombs. the shrapnel could have easily flown into the office where we were. a number of explosions were close by. hamas was at least one of the targets. the israeli minister says they believe it was a firing point for rockets. hamas leaders were targeted. the building behind me, that is the hamas radio station. it appeared to be 500 pound bombs. you mentioned yesterday, also in the afternoon, that terrible explosion that killed ten people on a residential street, includin

karl penhaul in gaza city. i want to again with you, karl. do we have that shot back? sorry. i know where you're standing there have been flares. the fighting has been going on and on. that's why there's been difficulty with the shot. what are you seeing now? >> right now, erin, even if i step just a little bit out of shot, that's the picture. it looks like a big black hole out there tonight. and there's a reason for that. it's because gaza's main and only power plant, in fact, just south of where we are now has been hit. it's been damaged. for much of the day. the diesel storage tanks were on fire. it's out of action. the chief of the power plant says it could be out of action for up to a year. now like so many other incidents in the confrontation, there's controversy over who fired the piece of ammunition who destroyed the storage tanks. the israelis say that was not on our target list. but they say that they are checking into it. to see if it may have been another round, erin. >> karl, in terms of the cease-fire, you talk of a cease-fire where you are. have you been seeing

karl penhaul is in gaza city. he's joining us now live. karl, bring us up to speed on what's happening right now. >> reporter: you know, just when you thought things couldn't get much worse, they do seem to be getting worse by the hour almost. of course, a continuation of the fighting on the battlefield. we've heard israeli artillery in action throughout much of the day, pounding targets in northern and eastern and in southern gaza from what we can hear from our vantage point and also south of where we are, probably about 2 1/2 hours ago, a barrage of four militant rockets being fired skyward off towards israel. the fight is very much on. there is no off-ramp. it seems quite clear that the israeli military hasn't yet achieved its targets of shutting down hamas military infrastructure, and for its part, no sign that hamas is ready to put its head down and give up this fight either. but, of course, it's the civilians who are bearing a lot of the brunt. my colleague was out there this afternoon looking once again at the issue of power. and he'

karl penhaul in gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will be here on cnn discussing the latest efforts toward extended cease-fire. we'll see if this will hold for 24 hours. he will be candy crowley's guest. >> witnesses say there was, quote, a lot of movement with fighter jets and helicopters as u.s. embassy staff left tripoli in libya. >> i want to show you some of the pictures from the defense department that show u.s. marines aiding the departure of embassy workers yesterday. about 150 personnel including 80 marines were driven to neighboring tunisia as militia fighting intensified. >> what is the u.s. government saying about embassy operations there now? >> reporter: victor and christi, both the state department and the white house are stressing that this evacuation is only temporary. they are also pointing out the white house was involved in the decision. i received a statement from a senior administration official just yesterday saying that the president approved the state department's rec

karl penhaul joins us now from gaza city where he has been reporting throughout. they are going to go, they cannot cross over the border into israel, most can't cross the border into egypt what are they telling you in terms of where they are going or are many of them simply staying and hoping for safety? >> reporter: poppy, what you're asking me now is really the biggest question in gaza. we came across today hundreds of people, we put to them where are you going? one man looked at us, tears in his eyes, he said i just don't know. these are refugees with mo where to flee. the borders are closed. they have nowhere to go. a couple of days ago, and i caught up with him last night as well, a man taking his whole family on a donkey cart. i stopped him and i said, you know, are you afraid of this situation? he said, afraid? he says, i feel like i'm already dead. for that reason, i call these people gaza's walking ghosts. they really have nowhere to go, except now to huddle into some of the schools that the u.n. is opening and now, since the israeli ground invasion start

cnn's karl penhaul is on the scene for us. what's the very latest, karl, from where you are? >> reporter: well, wolf, there have been mixed signals tonight from hamas. we heard from one of their international representatives based in the gulf that hamas was ready to match israel's initial offer of a four-hour extension to saturday's cease-fire, but then on the ground here in gaza, we heard that one of the other hamas representatives said there could be no such deal. there was, of course, as atika is reporting one message that was loud and clear, and that was once again hamas' brigades firing rockets out of the strip and into israel. in fact, at one point just two hours after the expiring of saturday's cease-fire, the brigade are saying they fired more than 12 rockets. but in the course of the day, of course, the cease-fire did hold. and this provided an important opportunity for many displaced gazans to take a look. exodus from the front line. almost nothing left to lose. >> where do i live now? where i go now? >> reporter: bits and pieces bundled on their heads. his mother's

karl penhaul is out front in gaza city. you were there and you saw that. thins around the world, i'm sure, though, this is something you won't forget. is there any indication of who did it? >> it's stumped us a little bit, as you say, both sides playing the blame game. we went back to the school about three hours after it had been evacuated to see if we could get any evidence about what caused this blast. there was a small blast area on the ground. it wasn't very deep. it was only about an inch deep. nothing to speak of in terms of the large crater or anything. we saw shrapnel that had pockmarked the walls of the school from a very few inches off the ground right up to 25 foot in the air. the blast radius looked to be 30 to 35 yards around but unclear what type of weapon would be used. also on that front, unclear who would have fired that weapon. now, we know that the israeli military suggested that possibly this was a hamas rocket that misfired. our security consultants tell us if it had been a rocket, we could expect to find rocket parts at the blast sit

karl penhaul is in gaza city right now. what are you seeing there now? >> reporter: i wish i could tell you but is there no let up in the fight for gaza. a flurry of activity going on overnight. down south the israeli military told us hamas militants sent a donkey bomb towards them. you heard it. a donkey ladened with explosives. they shot into the donkey and exploded the bomb without it doing any damage to their forces. later on this morning, we heard from a military wing of hamas saying that despite the israeli ground incursion, they had once again burrowed under the border and attacking tanks on the other side. we haven't heard what the israeli military had to say there, because they say the incident is under military censorship rules. on the northern part of the country clashes on the ground and morning is punctuated by the sounds of bombs and artillery fire and before coming on air, we saw five hamas rockets coming out from about the position 400 meters across there. but don't forget the civilians. according to the united nations estimates, more tha

and karl penhaul covering the latest violence from gaza city. so karl, let me begin with you since this happened in gaza. again, israel says it is investigating how this school was attacked. but first the u.n. said it came from israel. then it backed away from that, saying it couldn't be sure. israel saying maybe it came from hamas. what are you seeing and hearing? >> reporter: yeah, i think we have to be very precise and very concise here. too easy to get caught up in the confusion, too easy to get caught up in conflicting versions from the war inside. the united nations in its initial three tweets reported there has been multiple bed in its initial tweets. it also said it had given the precise coordinates of this u.n. school to the israeli military. it then went on to say that the u.n. had requested on two occasions during the day permission to israel to allow those civilians shelter at that school, to leave and said that permission was denied. however, whatever the inferences were made from those initial three tweets, at no stage did the unite

karl penhaul, cnn, gaza. >> tuesday's escalation in gaza comes after international cease-fire talks accomplish virtually nothing. >> this attempt to get a cease-fire doesn't succeed, prime minister netanyahu warns his nation to be prepared for a long war ahead. >> we knew that we would have difficult days. this is a difficult and painful day. stamina and determination are required in order to continue in the struggle against a murderous terrorist group that aspires to destroy us. >> i said and i repeat, we must be prepared for a protracted campaign? >> coming up in about 10 minutes, some israelis are calling for the complete destruction of hamas. >> the pentagon's top intelligence officer tells cnn that could actually make matters much worse. >>> we want to get you up to speed on the day's other big stories. a convoy of international investigators will try again to reach the crash site of malaysia airlines flight 17 in eastern ukraine, it's 11 days since the plane was allegedly shot down. >> the 45 person team of dutch and australian experts were forced to turn back monday because of heavy fig