oren liebermann has new reporting this hour. you broke this news last night, and now the new details, wow, nine hours, much more intense than it sounded like. what can you tell us? >> reporter: this is a larger and more sustained barrage. the u.s. is currently operating in the red sea, intercepted land missiles, as well as 15 drones. the pentagon on thursday said it was potentially possible that these were headed for israel, but according to a u.s. official familiar with the matter, there is little doubt now because of the trajectory. officials say because of the trajectory, north along the red sea, the western coast of saudi, the target quite clearly israel. little room for doubt where those drones and missiles were headed even as the biden administration and other countries try to keep this conflict confined to gaza, and the risk of it spreading seems very much to be growing. we've seen a number of rocket and drone attacks in iraq and syria. the pentagon not ruling out a mobile military response, saying if there is one, it wil

oren liebermann is over at the pentagon. but let's start with nic. i know, nic, activity has just picked up where you are. tell us what's happening, what you're seeing, what you're hearing. >> yeah, wolf. when we were talking an hour or so ago, things had been just calm-ish for a couple of hours. but in the past 10, 15 minutes here, we've seen multiple explosions over the horizon behind me, big flashes in the sky, heard the sound of very, very heavy impacts. that's gaza coming from gaza, literally some of the big detonations are really reverberating. it appears that airstrikes have picked up again. we were hearing fighter jets in the skies. above us there's been a lot of drone activity, there's been a helicopter buzzing along close to the line with gaza there. i'm hearing another fighter jet in the sky there. so the activity, the strikes do seem to have picked up over the past 15 minutes. what does it mean? will it continue at this level, will it ease off again? but certainly an indication that the israeli air force is targeting hamas positions again

now to oren liebermann at the pentagon with new reporting we are getting about the intelligence that israelis say they are providing american officials about the blast. oren, what are you learning? >> reporter: israeli intelligence shared with the u.s. counterparts the intelligence they have related to the explosion at the gaza hospital there. that's not just from the israelis. a source familiar with the matter on the u.s. side has confirmed that as well. the u.s. is now analyzing that and look at the intelligence shared to get a better sense of what truly happened there. and that's an important point to make. in terms of what sort of intelligence has been shared, the israeli official said it signals intelligence, intercepted communications and conversations passed to the uss so those could be analyze. look at intelligence has been shared with at least some members of congress who have pretty much voiced full-throated support for israel. the idf is well aware especially in times of conflict it can have a credibility issue, especially with others in the region. if the u.s. were to look

let's get straight to cnn's oren liebermann at the pentagon. tell us more. >> reporter: we've been watching this 26th marine expeditionary unit. it has been in the region and is there as part of its normal operations. we've been watching to see if it heads towards israel. a u.s. defense official familiar with the plans says it is headed that way. currently in the gulf of amman on board the u.s.s. baton, an amphibious assault ship, making its way off the coast of israel. it's unclear if it will stay on the southern coast of israel. that perhaps more likely. heading towards this region and conflict even though the biden administration says it's trying to avoid direct involvement in the fighting between the u.s. and hamas in gaza. another carrier strike group led by the u.s.s. dwight d. eisenhower is headed that way and should be there in a couple of weeks. jake, a tremendous amount of u.s. military force getting close to a hot war. >> we're also learning the pentagon is preparing another 2,000 u.s. troops who might be deployed inside straem. >> t

this was just addressed. >> reporter: reported earlier oren liebermann and i, the u.s.ff the coast of yemen intercepted multiple projectiles. at the time not sure where they were headed fired by houthi rebels, operated in yemen backed by iran. a proxy for iran similar to hamas and hezbollah. targeting someone else? now the pentagon's view those missiles were actually head and a trajectory towards israel. significant, because that would, if it's true, potentially open up another front in this war. the idea that not just hamas from the south attacking israel but the houthis from the eastern part of the country attacking israel as well. here what the pentagon press secretary brigadier general patrick ryder said about this moments ago. >> information about these engagements is still being processed, and we cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting but they were launched from yemen heading north along the red sea potentially towards targets in israel. ow defensive response was one we would have taken for any similar threat in the the region where w

oren liebermann, cnn, in the pentagon. >> earlier i spoke with the idea of spokesperson, lieutenant colonel congregate -- and any potential impact on the idf's planned ground offensive in gaza. >> what i understand from public statements, the statement made by secretary blinken, the president is here to show his support for israel and that he stands with israel. our right to defend ourselves and, of course, any enhancement of our operations as part of our right to defend ourselves. i think the president also said that hamas needs to be destroyed and that is exactly our military aim. we want to dismantle hamas and make sure that never again will any terrorist organization in gaza have the ability to perform the atrocities that hamas did on the 7th of october. >> with regards to the military operations and the exodus from the north of gaza to the south that we just talked about moments ago, that did it seem to be a very clear message to hamas that a big operation was on its way. can you say along and specifically where those operations will take place around the north and gaza city and one of

oren liebermann, cnn, at the meant gone. >>> israel's ambassador to the u.s.he's glad that the pentagon is evacuating that unit. >> that, i believe, sends a very strong message to iran, i think they're listening. i think this could be very helpful in deterring iran, hezbollah and the other iranian forces. >> and as oren mentioned, tensions are flaring on israel's northern border. israel says its fighter jet struck hezbollah military structure in southern lebanon on sunday in response to shelling towards israel. it's the latest in a series of cross-border clashes over the past few weeks as cnn's jim chute to tell reports. >> reporter: towns like this, along israel's border with lebanon are mostly deserted now. evacuated due to fear of attacks from hezbollah. this man is one of the few who stayed behind. from his roof, he shows where hezbollah fighters attempted to cross the israeli border just a few days ago. minutes after we arrive, we see the threat is constant. hezbollah shells fired from across the border, land on the hillside, just opposite us. we're on a

oren liebermann is "outfront" at the pentagon tonight. we hear about more of these every single day. how likely is it that the united states then has to respond, has to retaliate after nearly two dozen attacks? >> reporter: erin, the biden administration has certainly left that possibility on the table, although they're not going to predict how or if they will respond or in what matter. that part is up to them. but it's clear that these attacks have continued. 23 now since october 17th against u.s. forces in iraq and syria. you can see that map shows you the various locations. worth noting that some of those locations have been attacked multiple times. now, what's also important to note is that the u.s. struck two facilities in eastern syria to try to send a message to these groups not to continue attacking. and, yet, we've seen a half a dozen attacks since then. so that message of deterrence clearly not getting through in the way the u.s. would like it to. and that means the u.s. has to consider the possibility of another strike against

oren liebermann, cnn, in the pentagon. >> that does it for us, i'm paula newton. stay with us, my friend and colleague e bianca n nobilo continueues after ththe break.

oren liebermann, cnn, in the pentagon. >> we'll be right back. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. >> welcome back everyone. the u.s. president is expected to make a high stakes wartime visit to israel this week. the u.s. secretary of state says joe biden will arrive wednesday in a show of american support and israeli military spokesperson says president biden's planned visit will not complicate or delay any ground invasion of gaza. meanwhile, the u.n.'s palestinian human rights official is warning of a, quote, mass ethnic cleansing by israel. she says palestinians have no safe place anywhere in gaza and humanitarian concerns are mounting. egyptian state media reports aid convoys have been moving towards the rafah border c

cnn's oren liebermann is at the pentagon for us. talk about the this u.s. carrier strike group. >> reporter: with no a second carrier strike group is headed to the eastern mediterranean. the first one as well as the accompanying destroyers and cruisers arrived earlier this week. a second one is by the uss dwight d eisenhower deployed and other bases on friday. it will take about two weeks to get there. we learned from defense secretary lloyd austin a statement he put out a couple of hours ago and from u.s. officials that the i could will head to the eastern met. is not intended to get involved with israel' is white with hamas in gaza and anyway. that is something either the israelis nor the americans want. but it is supposed to send a message of deterrence to others who might look at this and see a moment of weakness in israel and to get involved. specifically hezbollah and lebanon as well as she had groups in syria that might try to take the opportunity to fire into israel. this is a warning to them with two carrier strike groups operating in the eastern m

we're going to right now to cnn's oren liebermann who's at the pentagon for us, along with a cnn military analyst, retired major general spider marks. oren, i want to begin with you here. the united states striking two facilities linked to iranian-backed militias. they say, in retaliation for attacks against u.s. forces in the region. what more do you know? >> that's right, these strikes happen in just a short time ago within the last couple of hours. to you as f-16 fighter jets using precision guided missiles to target two facilities in eastern syria, in a town called album all right on the iraq syria bordeaux there. according to a senior investigative official, and a senior military official, they targeted a weapons storage facility, and ammunition storage facility. interest of how these facilities were picked, the officials say these were used by iranian-backed militias and helped, assisted in the carrying out of attacks on u.s. forces over the course of the past nine days or so. according to the pentagon, there have now been a total of 19 attacks across iraq and syria against u.s. for

oren liebermann has more now from washington. >> reporter: the u.s. is sending a carrier strike group, the uss gerald ford carrier strike group to the eastern mediterranean sea as it watches the beginnings of a war unfold, and israel promising to carry it a widespread campaign in gaza. the purpose of the group includes the carrier itself as well as a guided cruiser and several guided missile destroyers is not toe get involved or take part in any way. instead, it is a message to others in the region outside of israel. president joe biden said on saturday warning other actors in the region without specifically naming whom, but telling them not to get involved or trying to exploit this opportunity. without naming them. that was clear lay a message to iran-backed hezbollah in lebanon and iran-backed in syria. a message of deterrence to them, not only the strike group heading from the western med to the eastern med, but several more fighter groups heading to the region as a message of deterrence to iran. they won't go to israel, but other areas where u.s.

oren liebermann in the pentagon. >> and scott mclean joins us now from london with more on military moves in the region. we're seeing on one side, some saber rattling by the u.s., by others, complex diplomacy. so talk us through the politics here. >> kim, as you heard oren explain, the u.s. has made very clear it's not sending ground troops, not wanting to get involved in this conflict at all. the presence of one aircraft carrier, soon to be two aircraft carriers in the eastern tram is simply aimed to be a deterrent to iranian backed groups in the area, like hezbollah, the iranian backed military and political group which controls a large swath of southern lebanon. and we have already seen and continue to see schexchanges acs the border. but look, compared to what's happening in and around gaza, obviously, this is relatively minor despite the fact that there are casualties on both sides. the fear, as always, that these more minor incidents will snowball into a much wider conflict, which everyone has said they want to avoid, including israel. and for good reason. in 2006, it fought essenti

cnn's oren liebermann has more from washington. >> reporter: the u.s.ing a carrier strike europe, "uss uss gerald ford" strike group to the sea, and israel promising to carry out a widespread campaign in gaza. the purpose of this carrier strike jet as well as the carrier itself with guided missiles and cruisers destroyers, is not to get involved in this fighting in any part any way with gaza, instead, it's a message to others in the region outside of israel. president joe biden said on saturday, warning other actors within the region, not specifically naming whom, but telling them not to get involved and exploit this opportunity. without naming them but was clearly a message to iranian-backed hezbollah in syria, a message of deterrence to them. not only the carrier strike group heading from the western med to eastern med, but several fighter groups as a message to iran. those fighters go to israel, but other areas where u.s.-fighters are based, again, as a warning to iran, not to the carry out any aggression of the situation. israel that we learned from

. >> i want to bring in cnn's oren liebermann who has also been listening and translating along. oren liebermann, talk about what the prime minister has said. >> well, at its most basic level that was the message prime minister benjamin netanyahu had no choice but to put out right now. and we were listening as he said israel will win this war. again, that's a promise he has no choice but to make right now, warning the citizens of israel that this will not be a quick or easy victory. also of course warning hamas, which he compared to isis right at the beginning there, warning them that israel is only beginning to carry out its attacks. he said at one point that the enemies of israel would remember the strength of its response and the strength of israel for generations and that this was a mistake on the part of hamas. i'll have to go back and listen to it, and i didn't hear hadas pick up on it in her excellent translation there as she was listening. but he didn't promise a ground incursion. he didn't say that was imminent, i don't think. we'll have to go back and double check on th

d dan, oren liebermann, thank you both for that analysis and that reporting. >>> tonight you saw presidenten talking about what this means, what could happen next. he also was referencing how he has struck a deal to try to get aid finally into gaza, as dan was referencing there. it was supposed to start flowing from egypt over that rafah crossing. we are hearing from sources tonight that it is not likely to be the case. we'll see when that could potentially happen. anderson cooper is here right after this. >>> today, jewish family worry about being targeted in school, wearing symbols of their faith walking down the street, or going out about their daily lives. and i know many of you in the muslim american community, arab american community, the palestinian american community, and so many others are outraged and heartened, saying to yourselves, here we go again, with islamophobia and distrust we saw after 9/11. just last week, a mother was brutally stabbed, a little boy, here in the united states, a little boy who just turned six years old was murdered in their home outside chicago. his nam

we also begin with -- oren liebermann at the pentagon. i do want to start with you, though, nic along the gaza border. as i mentioned, we have these new photos of mia shared with us by her family from before she was captured. what is the very latest you could tell us about what's going on? >> reporter: well, it is the first video of hostages, as you say. it was always anticipated that hamas would use the hostages and videos of them, and it would put out a steady drip feed of videos to put pressure on either israel or the international community, and the nature of this video appears to be already in that vein. this is, you know, we understand that her family has authorized their release of this video. but it's not instructive about the big picture of where the hostages are or anything beyond a piece of propaganda coming from hamas. hamas itself says that it has been 200 and 250 hostages. the idf say they believe the figure is 199. and hamas says as well that it has already, or, rather, already 22 of those hostages have been killed, they im

cnn's oren liebermann has already tails. >> the u.s. carried out air strikes in eastern syria against two facilities used by iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps, unaffiliated groups. misuse of taxi or seen over the course of the past we can have a, so against u.s. forces, new pentagon says two of 16 fighter jets precision guided munitions to target these facilities, ammo storage facility, a weapon storage facility. officials say these facilities were used and assisted in a series of attacks we have seen since october 17. the pentagon says we have seen 19 attacks, drone attacks, rocket attacks against u.s. forces in these countries, resulting and more than 20 minor injuries, and one -- killed as the result of a false alarm because of a belief of another one of these attacks. given the situation, the u.s. felt it had to respond, but the u.s. and defense secretary lloyd austin or very clear this, morning describing this as self-defense strikes that were narrowly targeted to protect u.s. forces, losses and a message there would be more

more details now from oren liebermann reporting from the pentagon. >> a u.s.navy destroyer operating in the red sea intercepted three cruise missiles and a number of drones that the pentagon says may have been heading towards israel. that indicates the potential opening of a new friend, or at least a new actor, in what the u.s. fears may become a growing and regional conflict. according to the pentagon on thursday, houthi forces in yemen, and it's worth noting that houthi forces are backed by iran, launched the drones and the cruise missiles north along the red sea towards israel. the u.s. is -- a u.s. destroyer in the red sea intercepted those drones as the pentagon promised it would continue defend not only the u.s. but also its interests and its partners. and this isn't the only region, or the only area in the middle east, where were seen around ian back proxies potentially targeting u.s. forces. there were a number of drone attacks in iraq over the course of the past 48 or 72 hours, targeting u.s. and coalition forces. and although the pentagon hasn't give

>> oren liebermann, thank you so much. >>> let me share an absolute nightmare. on october 7th, abbi and his family woke up in their home. they were preparing as to celebrate his daughter's tenth birthday. in the course of that attack, he was separated from his family. since then, he has not heard from his wife and from his three young children. can you imagine that? can you imagine that? can you imagine being separated from your wife and your three young children after terrorists attack your house? he is here with me in tel aviv. i can't imagine it. i have a wife and i have two children. i cannot imagine the pain you're going through. >> i don't know what i'm feeling right now as well. at the beginning,ed first day, i thought they were dead. i just thought my whole life was over. i was thinking all sorts of thoughts. then the next day i found out they were seen alive, you know, walking toward gaza. >> reporter: how did you find that out? someone told you? >> someone in the kibbutz saw them walking. >> reporter: with hamas people? >> that's correct. it was the ha

. >> cnn's oren liebermann has what those weapons were and where they came from. >> reporter: weapons fashioned in hamas' homegrown facility but nonetheless deadly. they worked to identify the weapons used to kill at least 1,200 people. >> the most important is that it's easily interchangeable, it's reliable, dependable, and you can get parts for it. >> reporter: many like this machine gun appear to be russian or chinese firearms, relics from previous wars that made their way into the hands of hamas. the ak-47, the preferred weapon for militant groups, capable of spewing automatic fire with horrific results. the assault rifles a long with the grenades carried by the hamas militants made them deadly when they neared villages and towns of gaza. >> all they're trying to do is provide the shock effect. they're very rudimentary, but based on their training and how they operate them, they're successful with them. >> reporter: hamas' main rep weapon has been their rockets, short-range and long-range. the terrorism that began on saturday began with a barrage of rocket file, a smoke screen. it

i want to start with my colleague here, oren liebermann. you spent a lot of time on the ground reporting for cnn in israel. you are very much in touch with sources there. what should our audience know right now? >> i want to emphasize what we heard nic robertson say earlier, this is a quantum step in a different direction. i have seen many rounds in my nearly six years of fighting between israel and gaza. these two opponents know each other well, stare across the border at each other, just hundreds of meters of apart. israel is supposed to now how they think and hamas does the same for israel. there's apparently a gaping hole that hamas noticed and exploited. as nic robertson pointed out, that has been thrown out. i want to quote a line from a couple of israeli ministers say, what was will not be. a way of saying whatever the arrangements were before and whatever agreements they could come to between israel and hamas, using turkey or egypt as mediators, that's in the past. the question, what does israel do now? they're very much at the begi

oren liebermann is at the pentagon. o oren let's start with you. we heard the state department urging americans to get closer to the border with egypt. what are you learning? >> reporter: the state department along with the biden administration are doing what they can to get american citizens out of gaza. this requires a level of coordination from not just hamas in gaza to allow the border crossing to open from their side, but for egypt to allow those americans in and at least tacit understanding from israel that they will allow safe passage. the state department says american citizens should head toward the rafa crossing between gaza and egypt and warns there may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time. it seems the state department not even sure when and if the border crossing will open, only trying to make sure american citizens in gaza are as close as possible if it does open. the challenge is that the egyptians seem unwilling to open the border from their side unless israel allowed aid into gaza for

. >> oren liebermann at the pentagon, thanks so much. how much say does the u.s. have on israel's plans for a ground invasion? my next guest knows very much how these negotiations play out. stay with us. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. here s and all of our stuff where we want to go. but, our cars can't take us e with unpaid tolls. vehicles with overdue, unpaid tolls may not be able to renew their registration until outstanding balances are paid. payment assistance is available. visit bayareafastrak.org/ase so go pay your unpaid tolls y and keep your wheels on the ! live in tel aviv. we're getting some brand new video of the two hostages who were just released by hamas. you can see, if you look, paramedics tending to nurit cooper and yo

oren liebermann has more on this. what will you learning? >> they are trying to keep this separate from the gaza and israeli conflict, but they are not able to do so. ten days after the hamas attack, they are tracking a total of 23 times there have been attacks. though they have not given reasons for this, they are holding iranian-backed troops responsible for the attacks. what is important the note here is that the u.s. has carried out strikes in syria against groups affiliated with iran in an attempt to deter the groups from continuing to attack the u.s. forces in the region, and also as a broader message to iran, and you can see here with at least six more attacks since the u.s. carried tut strikes that the message of deterrence certainly has not had the intended effect which opens up the question if the u.s. is going to carry out more attacks and better at deterrence or if that is an escalation. and as it is working on more in that situation, they are moving the marine rapid response group to the mediterranean, and this is important, bec

. >>> oren liebermann, please stand by. let's get to kayla touche at the white whoa.e's been very vocal about his support in israel. what are we anticipating he will say? >> reporter: we expect a very familiar message from president biden in philadelphia, talking about bidenomics. even though that are wars rages overseas, there are still political battles to fight here at home. americans are viewing the economy poorly, and his advisers believe his message on the economy can and will break through. we do expect him to lead his remarks by talking about an emotional conversation he convened virtually with the family of americans who are believed to be held hostage in the region. that is something that the white house has told us to expect, but it just shows you the juxtaposition of president biden's week. on the one hand, you have these routine events look the speed on the economy, a rose garden event talking about junk fees, and these force of aniand poignant messages he's delivered to the american people and the country of israel, as the u.s. issues a forceful response

want to bring in cnn pentagon correspondent oren liebermann now.hat is the pentagon's view on how this fighting will unfold over the next few hours and days, potentially even weeks, who knows? >> reporter: first let's be clear that the pentagon's statements and statement from defense secretary lloyd austin makes it clear they believe it's more the latter of that. this is not playing out over hours but over days and potentially weeks. defense secretary austin spoke with his israeli counterpart to give u.s. support for israel as this process plays out, and prime minister benjamin netanyahu promising a prolonged campaign to deal with hamas and gaza after the terrorist attack. how specifically this plays out remains an open question, whether and how israel will carry out a ground incursion, so far we have largely seen israeli air strikes. but there's an expectation and more than that a promise that this will very much expand and israel's needs through that will become clear as the idf's plans, israel's military plans play out here. what is clear to thi

oren liebermann, cnn in the pentagon. >> lynda: u.s.nt joe biden has spoken again this weekend with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. one of the numerous conversations they have had since the hamas terror attack. mr. biden called -- caught the attention to the crisis in gaza at a human rights event saturday night. cnn's priscilla alvarez has the tools. >> reporter: president biden spoke with benjamin netanyahu. in that discussion, the two talked about u.s. military support as well as protecting innocent civilians as the conflict unfolds. and a second call, the president also spoke with palestinian authority president abbas to talk about humanitarian supplies reaching gaza which is facing water shortages and food shortages. the president also spoke in a human rights campaign dinner. he talked about the terror attacks in israel as well as the humanitarian crisis in gaza. take a listen. >> president biden: a week ago, we saw hate manifested in the worst massacre of jewish people since the holocaust. more than 1,300 innocent's live

i should also add that our pentagon responder oren liebermann reports that u.s. troops are all accounted for in israel. as we continue to look at pictures of tel aviv this morning, again, this is not on the border, this is inside tel aviv, a very, very large city, metropolis, the metropolis, other than jerusalem, of course, inside the country of israel, i want to go the white house and our m.j. lee is there. m.j., we heard from president biden earlier today saying multiple times that the u.s. stands with and stands by israel. the question, of course, going forward, is, what does that mean, and what the posture of the u.s. is, as israel undeniably will counterattack? >> yeah, dana, it was clear that the president wanted to use these brief remarks to first and foremost resoundingly show support to the government of israel and the people of israel, and to condemn these attacks. he said that the scenes pouring out of israel were unconscionable and he heartbreaking. just take a listen to a little bit of what he had to say earlier. >> when i spoke to prime minister net

oren liebermann, cnn, in the pentagon. >> cnn military analyst and u.s. -- cedric leighton is with usow from washington. it's good to see cedric. >> good to be with, the john. >> okay, so the israeli response so far, just over a week, it looks very familiar to previous conflicts with hamas in gaza. high number of palestinian civilians, especially get children are being killed by the israeli airstrikes which have targeted hamas infrastructure as well. residential areas have been shattered and destroyed. this time, though, when the air strikes stop, that won't be the end of the military operation has been in the past. next come is a ground incursion, or expected ground incursion. one of the israelis been doing from the air for the past week or so with regard to that looming ground offensive and what is your sense of timing here? how much longer will the air campaign last before they go in on the ground? >> yeah, john, those are great questions. really what is happening is they are softening up the target, as we would say in the military, and what the israelis are doing with their air ca

bring in cnn's oren liebermann. what are you hearing? >> reporter: we understand the "uss kardian" navy destroyer operating in the red sea passed south in the suez canal and intercepted three missiles the pentagon confirmed a short time ago. according to the pentagon, iranian-back ed rebels s who launched the attack. heading north along the red sea and don't say givtentatively th target. they can continue to defend itself, u.s. interests and its partners. worth noting this isn't the only hot spot outside gaza. a series of drone attacks on u.s. and coalition forces in iraq. two days ago one caused minor injuries to coalition, and a second, pentagon noting during one of the alarms because of a suspected threat a u.s. contract her a cardiac episode and died as a result of that. this is what the pentagon and biden administration are trying to watch closely preventing it from becoming a regional conflict even as you see protests across the middle east directed at both the u.s. and israel, defense secretary lloyd austin held a number of talk w

oren liebermann has the details on that. >> reporter: the u.s. carried out airstrikes in eastern syria against two facilities used by iran's islamic revolutionary guard core in a series of attacks we have seen over the course of the past week and a half or so against u.s. forces in iraq and syria. the pentagon says two f-16 fight er jets use munitions to target these facilities. officials say these facilities were used and assisted in this series of attacks we have seen since october 17th. we have seen 19 attacks and rocket attacks against u.s. forces in these countries resulting in 20 minor injuries and one contractor who was killed as a result of a false alarm because of a belief of another one of these attacks. given the situation, the u.s. felt it had to respond. but the u.s. and defense secretary lloyd austin were very clear this morning describing these as self-defense strikes that were narrowly targeted to protect u.s. forces, but also to end is message there would be more strikes. i will read a part of the statement. attributing these to

oren liebermann is "outfront." oren, what more have you learned about this show of force from the united states? right now that's what it is, it's a show of force, as opposed to actual force. but that's the question, what could it mean for a much deeper and more serious involvement in this conflict? >> reporter: erin, the biden administration has made clear that it is not getting involved in this fight right now between israel and hamas in gaza. that's not the purpose of the "uss gerald r. ford" and the carrier strike group that's coming with it. but it is a message to other iranian-backed proxies in the region, hezbollah and lebanon. we've already seen some firing at the lebanese border with israel. this is who that message is directed at, a message of deterrence warning iran of its proxies not to get involved. it's not just the carrier in the eastern med. the u.s. is sending more fighter aircraft to the region, realizing iran might try to take advantage of the situation in other parts of the middle east. so this i

cnn's oren liebermann has details. >> he was carried out air strikes in eastern syria against two facilitiesn's islamic revolutionary guard corps, and affiliated groups, as -- attacks we've seen over the course of the past week and a half or so, against u.s. forces in iraq and syria. the pentagon says two f-16 fighter jets use of precision guided munitions to target these facilities and ammo storage facility and a weapon storage facility. officials say the facilities were used and assisted in a series of attacks we have since seen in october -- the pentagon says we've seen 19 attacks, drone attacks and rocket attacks in u.s. and -- resulting in more then -- and when u.s. civilian contractor was killed as a result of a false alarm, because of a belief of another one of these attacks. given the situation, the u.s. felt it had to respond. with the u.s. and event secretary lloyd austin were very clear -- describing these as self-defense strikes that were narrowly targeted to protect u.s. forces and also sent a message that there would be more strikes if the attacks on u.s. forces continue. the -

cnn's oren liebermann has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: the pentagon watching the situation in gaza very closely as what appears to be a larger ground incursion is taking place on the part of the israeli military into gaza as it goes after hamas. but the pentagon and the white house have been clear this is israel's war to fight and they will not dick tate or order the israelis on how to fight it. instead they will offer advice and have offered counsel on their best practices, including the recommendation that instead of conducting a large-scale ground incursion, israel goes with precision-guided munitions as well as smaller special operations forces raids. is advice the israelis have heeded? that's an answer that will be clear in the hours and days ahead. meanwhile, the u.s., a big concern is whether the conflict in gaza, if the ground incursion spreads to the rest of the region. we have already seen some spillover, even if the u.s. doesn't see a connection between gaza and iraq and syria, other groups do. that is a key concern here. take a look at this map. you'll get a sense

oren liebermann and alex marquardt. thank you so much. >>> as we see and hear the explosions in gaza clearly intensifying, what the area looked like before the sun went down as the people on the ground there try to live through this hellscape. stay w with us. >>> we're back live from tel aviv where we are witnessing israel expanding its operations in gaza lighting up the night sky with air strikes such as these adding to a situation that was already quite dire for the innocent palestinian people who unfortunately are withdrawaled by hamas. we will be back with what's currently unfolding in gaza but first i want to you watch this report from cnn salma abdelaziz talking about the controversy about the death toll. some of what you're about to see is quite disturbing, we want to warn you. >> reporter: families are mourning and counting their dead. near endless stream of funerals echoes throughout gaza. and as palestinians bury their loved ones, doubt is cast by the u.s. and israel on the death toll being released by hamas.

oren liebermann, cnn, in the pentagon. >> in the context of the israel/hamas war, u.s. president joe biden denounced hatred in all its forms. in a speech on saturday, he stressed that anti-semitism, islamaophobia and transophobia is also connected. his speech came after he spoke with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. cnn's priscilla alvarez has more. >> president biden on saturday spoke with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, marking the fifth time the two leaders have talked since the attacks on israel last saturday. in that discussion, the two talked about u.s. military support as well as protecting innocent civilians as this conflict unfolds. now, in a second call, the president also spoke with palestinian authority president abbas. in that call, they talked about humanitarian supplies reaching gaza, which is facing water shortages and food shortages. the president also spoke at a human rights dinner and he too talked about the terror attacks in israel as well as the humanitarian crisis in gaza. take a listen. >> a week ago, we saw hate manifested another wa

oren liebermann, thanks so much. you have another potential for escalation here and enormous show of force from the u.s., the intention, as president biden said in his address after the october 7th attacks, he directly had a message for others in the region saying if you were thinking about getting involved, don't. those were his words. we'll continue to watch events here in northern israel and in southern israel, as we cover israel at war. please do stay with us. we'll be right back after a short break. >>> israel is warning of a long, difficult conflict to take out hamas and ensure its security. but it's a brutal response to what took place on october 7th, the terrorist attack in israel. more than 1,400 israeli civilians were killed and more than 200 people taken hostages. israel's military campaign is having devastating consequences on the ground. >> reporter: this building was flattened overnight by an israeli air strike. roofs were ripped right off. everything now covered in a pail shade of gray. more than a doz

oren liebermann, cnn, at the pentagon. >> much more to come here on cnn, including an in-depth look at the u.s. assessments of what caused the deadly hospital explosion in gaza city. what we now, and what we don't, in a moment. >> u.s. officials have released more information about the deadly explosion at a gaza hospital. israel was caused by a rocket misfired by rockets in gaza and not an israeli airstrike. and as were killed in the explosion, which triggered angry protests across the region. here's cnn's reporter with a closer look at the intelligence and what it reveals. >> we have now seen the unclassified intelligence assessment that was put out by the upset the director of national intelligence about the strike at the al-ahli_baptist_hospital, and their analysis echoes what israel was saying, that israel is not responsible for the strike on the hospital. the u.s. bases that are different intelligence streams, saying that some palestinian militants suspect that it was palestinian islamic jihad, another militant group in the gaza strip, and this analysis has a rocket caused limited

out front, oren liebermann, who has done extensive reporting and spent a lot of time in jerusalem and tel aviv is a reporter yourself. six years as a correspondents there. so -- as a correspondent there. so what are you hearing about this intelligence failure tonight? >> reporter: the key question here is how american officials got no warning about this, but primarily a warning such as that would come from the israelis. america may have some intel gathering and surveillance capabilities there, but it is primarily the u.s. relying on israel using its own state-of-the-art tech, its own advanced capabilities to monitor gaza, something israel does from the navy on one side and army on the other two, as well as signals intelligence, its cyber capabilities, and yet for all of its vaunted abilities in doing so, israel it seems was caught completely by surprise. and that's something that israel will have to figure out and the u.s. will also have to figure out. a u.s. official telling cnn there will be after action reviews to try to figure out if there is a gaping hole in intelligence which ha