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What are the U.S., Other Countries Doing in Response to the Gaza Fighting; U.N. Security Council Calls Emergency Meeting Tonight on Gaza; Aid Worker inside Gaza Gives Account of the Fighting; Bush Condemns Hamas for Instigating Violence; Israeli Ambassadors Discusses Israeli Options.

Aired January 03, 2009 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
We have breaking news out of the Middle East. Israeli ground troops are on the move in Gaza this hour, going after targets that have enabled Hamas militants to launch rocket strikes on Israeli territory.

Israeli forces started crossing the border into Gaza just a few hours ago. And CNN has learned that the Israel military notified the Pentagon before launching the ground attacks. Hamas leaders says the Israeli forces will be met with fierce and violent resistance. Explosions continue to fill the night skies over Gaza including this huge blast. Take a look at it. It was caused by an Israeli missile strike.

Just minutes ago we learned that the UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting for tonight on Gaza. Heavy gun battles and artillery fire are reported east of Gaza City, an area where Hamas fighters have been deployed. Palestinian medical sources now tell CNN that at least 460 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,700 wounded since Israeli air strikes began eight days ago. CNN reporters are deployed throughout the renal. Our Paula Hancocks and Nic Robertson are reporting for us from the Israeli/Gazan border. Christiane Amanpour and Ben Wedeman are in our Jerusalem bureau.

Retired General David Grange, our military analyst, is in Madison, Wisconsin, and our Kate Bolduan is in Washington with us with government reaction for us this evening.

Israeli troops began pouring across the border into Gaza just a few hours ago. And our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is among the few reporters there on the border region. He joins us now with an update. Nic, what are you seeing from there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we're hearing sporadic explosions, occasional missiles being fired, helicopters flying overhead. It's not clear exactly how many Israeli troops are involved in this incursion. Is it a limited incursion? Will they be backed up shortly by other troops? We do know and have been told by the Israeli defense minister in his statement earlier today that this will be a long operation.

The Defense Minister Ehud Barak also said that they are calling up many thousands of reservists into the Army not just for the operation here but because he said they need to be sensitive about the situation in the north of Lebanon. There is concern in the Israeli government tonight that Hezbollah might launch an action in support of the situation in Gaza, and that is another reason why the Israeli government is calling up so many of its reservists.

But the operation under way behind me, this is as close as we can get at the moment. The Army checkpoint you see behind me is stopping all traffic going down the road, apart from a few Army vehicles, and access to a small Israeli village, which is just a little closer to the border than where we are standing right now, Don.

LEMON: We have been watching earlier today in the afternoon here in the U.S., Nic, we've been seeing the explosions happening all over the place. We're watching pictures now from Ramatan (ph). Some of them are live. From your vantage point, are seeing any explosions happening now?

ROBERTSON: When explosions happen in the north of the Gaza Strip, we can see those. From where we're standing right now, we're not able to see any explosions happening right now. Ramatan Studios a little further south, maybe a little more than ten miles further south than where we are right now, Don.

LEMON: International correspondent Nic Robertson reporting for us this evening. An Hamas spokesperson responded to the Israeli incursion with a defiant statement on Palestinian television. He accused the Israelis of targeting civilians and vowed that Hamas will fight to the bitter end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISMAIL RADWAN, HAMAS SPOKESMAN (through translator): To the Israeli Army, your incursion in Gaza will not be a picnic. And we promise you that Gaza will be your cemetery, God willing. You have no choice but to end this aggression and this siege without any condition. You will not live in peace until our Palestinian people live in peace. We will not abandon the battlefield, and we will stay on the thorny course, and we will fight until the last breath.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the Israelis, of course, have the opposite view. The Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a news conference just a few hours ago and said that the Israeli ground assault will not end quickly, but he said it is necessary to bring peace to the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EHUD BARAK, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: We are peace seekers. Now is a time to do what needs to be done. We are determined to afford our citizens what any citizens any you where in the world is entitled to, peace, tranquility and freedom from threats.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: CNN military analyst, former Brigadier General David Grange is with us now. He's the president and CEO of McCormick Foundation, one of the country's largest public charities, and he lectures on leadership on Army bases around the country and is a non-paid board member of a security company that has some Pentagon contracts.

General Grange, how important is advanced intelligence before launching a ground operation like this one?

BG DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY, RETIRED: Well, intelligence is important in any operation. The intelligence was probably very robust at the beginning of the air strikes. During that time and as the days went on and the Hamas militants moved rocket systems throughout different neighborhoods, it was hard to track that intelligence, and it requires ground troops to go in and develop the situation to track down these sites to do away with the rockets and to take on the leadership of Hamas.

LEMON: General, we're hearing about the rockets that are being launched, now this ground attack. And I have been reading some of the accounts that I've been reading are saying that this is a David and Goliath situation, not that either side is right or either side is wrong. But when it comes to comparing the firepower of Israel with that of Palestinians or at least Hamas, that Israel is definitely in the advantage here and maybe their response to this may be a little too tough, a little too swift?

GRANGE: Well, I would rather -- if I was in Israelis' boots, I would rather have overwhelming force to immediately clear and hold an area and then develop, rebuild, and bring in the humanitarian aid, the things you have to do following a combat operation.

If you do it piecemeal, you pay for it and it lasts longer. And actually, both sides, David and Goliath, have advantages. You have a firepower and a very well-trained and large military force in Israel. The Palestinians, they have their neighborhood. They're pea patched. They have people hidden within civilians. They use irregular techniques, IEDs, mines, ambushes in alleys. And this is urban warfare. So there's a stabilizing factor there even though they're the David.

LEMON: The concern is, of course, in any war, any situation like this, civilians. And of course, children. Do you feel that by -- folks are saying, you know, once it turns into a ground war, it escalates into a ground war, that that was something that was not needed for the international community, not needed for the region. But does this at least ensure in some way that innocent civilians and children are not hurt because it is a more targeted offensive now rather than just air strikes?

GRANGE: Well, I think that that is true. I think a disciplined military force has very strict rules of engagement in regards to civilian casualties. But here you're dealing with a certain part of Hamas, the militant part, that does not mind sacrificing civilians, in other words, having them around areas that are targeted on purpose. And so it makes it a very difficult situation for forces to stabilize an area. And it's almost like sacrificing your own people.

LEMON: General David Grange, I'm being told that we have some new tape that is coming in now. It is IDF, and it is showing some troops that are getting ready at the border. I believe it's Israeli troops. Let's take a look at this, then we'll talk about it. I'm going to let you hear for a little bit. Then we'll talk about it.

So, general, this is video of Israeli troops getting ready, massing on the ground here. Now, we're hearing that today is the first, at least it's being reported, the first incursion of ground troops into the area or deployment of ground troops. But these troops at least from reports that we have gotten from the region have been at the ready and near the bordered for some days now.

GRANGE: Well, part of it is a show of force. And hopefully the idea there that it would with dissuade fighting by the Hamas militants firing the rockets. One thing about the portion you see right now they're heavily armored. So you'll have ground troops go in with armored support that provides obviously the protection for people moving through tough fighting areas in an urban setting, but also to take down strong targets where they need bigger rounds to penetrate a building, as an example.

The thing is, the ground forces have to go in to stabilize an area in order to set up some kind of an international over-watch force or to stabilize the peace. Until that area is cleared, that can not ever happen.

LEMON: I have one more quick question for you. You heard Ehud Barak say this is going to take time. How much time do you think we're looking at, general?

GRANGE: Just look at any big city. This is a very populated place. Though the buildings don't have the height and vertical structure, it's very densely populated. A lot of cities, the toughest military operation there is is to clear and hold built-up areas, urban areas.

Just think about going into any neighborhood in a United States city and think how hard it would be to control and to find people, to find things that are hidden. And so it will take weeks, there's no doubt in my mind. Then the idea is you have to hold it once you take it until the international community decides what they want to do to maintain peace.

LEMON: So it will weeks. Do you think it will be longer? I know you don't have a crystal ball, but longer than the 30-day war of 2006?

GRANGE: It will take longer because you're going to move in an international monitoring force and a lot of humanitarian aid that has to come in after this to take care of the civilian population. And that will take some time and you'll require security in order to deliver that humanitarian aid.

LEMON: All right. General David Grange, thank you very much. General David Grange is going to with us throughout the hour here, really throughout the evening here on CNN. We appreciate his expertise as a general. If you're just tuning in to CNN, you're watching pictures coming out of Gaza, and it has now turned this war from an air strike into a ground offensive, and we have continuing rolling coverage here on CNN.

We're going to continue to follow this. Our Christiane Amanpour joins us from Jerusalem and she will join us just after a break.

Also tonight, we want to know what's on your mind. Make sure to logon, send us an i-report. If you have family in the region or if you're in that region and tell us what you're thinking. We will get it on the air for you. CNN continues after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: If you're just joining us, breaking news in Gaza.

Israeli troops and tanks roared into Gaza just a short time ago for what Israel calls Phase II of its offensive against Hamas. Now, this ground assault had been expected as Israeli forces began amassing on the Gaza border. That happened more than a week ago. Now, Palestinian sources say more than 460 people have been killed in Gaza over the past eight days. And CNN has learned that the UN has called a special meeting under two hours from now, and we will report on that just as soon as we get information.

For more of these dramatic developments, we want to head now to Jerusalem and that's where our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is standing by. Christiane, you had covered this, you covered the 2006 30-day war. And much unrest in this region. Where are you seeing this heading, Christiane?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very difficult to say right now. What we've been told by the government spokespeople here and also what the defense secretary said publicly in his statement tonight was that they are not seeking to occupy Gaza again, rather, to stop the Hamas rockets from coming into Israel. That's their stated goal. Quite how they're going to do that, how long it is going to take is anybody's guess. Because, of course, this was very similar in many way to what happened in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah, and Israel believing that very quickly they could dispatch of the Hezbollah rockets.

Of course, it took some 30 days or more for that to stop, and it did not stop with an end to the rocket fire. In fact, Hezbollah had fought Israel to a draw.

What's happening here is very unclear at the moment. The ground incursion started at least three hours ago, if not more. We knew pretty much that it was going to happen because of some of the activity that was going on just before that, including for the first time fierce ground artillery from Israelis which is often a signal that troops are going to go in and also some heavy air bombardment as well just before they started going in on the ground.

Ehud Barak, the defense secretary said that it would not be swift and it would not be easy. He said that their goal was to stop Hamas hostile actions against Israel and the Israeli people. In the last eight days since their air strikes began, some four Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets that have kept coming out of Gaza, while Palestinian sources say that more than 400, somewhere around 460, Palestinians have been killed. And UN officials inside there say at least a quarter of those are civilians. The pictures of these killed and injured children and women have played a vital rote in this conflict so far.

Ben Wedeman, CNN correspondent here in Israel and really around the region for so many years is here. He's been covering it. What about Hamas and the people there? Because obviously this propaganda war with the bodies, with the victims on the Palestinian side, is playing very heavily into their hands. But what do the people say about this rocket fire that keeps going out?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are many people in Gaza who don't like the rocket fire. They see it accomplishes very little on the military side and gives Israel an excuse to come in and bomb and close borders and make life very difficult in Gaza.

But what happens is when you have this sustained eight-day air bombardment and now a ground operation is people start to think, well, yes, you want to go after Hamas, but what you're doing is punishing all of us, all Palestinians. So you have a gradual change of opinion of people not supporting the rocket fire to at this point saying, we need to be protected and the only people to protect us now are Hamas against Israel.

AMANPOUR: And how is Hamas going to be able to protect the people? The question is, in that dense Gaza, where do people hide and how do the Israelis find the terrorist infrastructure that they're looking for?

WEDEMAN: Well, the short answer to the first part is they aren't going to be able to protect them. Hamas is very busy at the moment protecting itself or running and hiding as much as possible. So these people are completely exposed. There's no bomb shelters in Gaza. You have to hide wherever you can hide. As far as Israel, how it's going to distinguish between the two, it's going to be very difficult because there are not only Hamas, there's Islamic Jihad and a variety of other factions involved.

And also, a Hamas member lives with his civilian family. How do you kill him and not the family? It's a very complicated situation. And clearly what Hamas would like to see is Israel to get bogged down in the streets of Gaza City, Jabaliya, Khan Younis and slowly they will start taking casualties as well at the same time you'll have mounting support in the Muslim and Arab World for Hamas and its struggle against Israel. They've also calculated what the end game is, so to speak.

AMANPOUR: Ben, thank you very much. And what will the end game be in terms of neutralizing those Hamas rockets that at this point is anybody's guess. The Palestinians, including the Palestinian Authority, based mostly on the West Bank, have been complaining bitterly about what they call the disproportionate Israeli response to these rockets.

But earlier today on Israeli television the Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni seemed to address that point where she said that our proportionate response or our barely any response to these rockets in the past is what's emboldened Hamas and we are going to go after them very hard so that they understand that this is too much pain and they will stop using their rockets. Don?

LEMON: And Christiane, the last time that we saw any sort of firepower like this from Israel, of course, was the 2006 30-day war. And the objective there was to take out Hassan Nasrallah and that did not happen. They're being very conservative about their objective is now and that is to diminish Hamas' power to fire rockets into Israel.

AMANPOUR: That's exactly right. And, in fact, what they're trying to do is to get that part of the territory where they think the rockets are based and launch from and try to eliminate that in the first place.

We asked the government spokesman here, I did a couple of hours ago, what is the goal? Is it just getting rid of the rockets? Or is it something greater? And he said, our goal is not so-called regime change here. We're not going after decapitating Hamas and getting rid of Hamas, although they are going after Hamas leaders. They're not going after getting Hamas out of the government. They're going after neutralizing those rockets. We'll see how it goes.

Don?

LEMON: And Christiane, again for our viewers here in the U.S., people are wondering why. Why did this start? Why did Israel start firing rockets, or at least start an air assault in Gaza? Why are there ground troops now heading into the region? And all of this is because of what one side is saying someone disobeyed a cease-fire. The other side is saying that the other person disobeyed a cease-fire.

But what this really is as far as what Israel is saying is that Hamas is moving closer, moving their weaponry, bringing in weaponry, and moving it closer to Israel and therefore would be able to fire rockets into Israel easily, into some southern cities.

AMANPOUR: Well, it has been doing that. And over the last year or so it has, and there have been about two people killed in Israel over the last year. But, again, let me turn to Ben about what is the chicken and the egg? How did this start? Why did it get to this point now? It really was triggered by the end of this cease-fire, right, on December 19th? The truce?

WEDEMAN: Right, the cease-fire started in June. It was a six-month cease-fire. For the first four months, things were with incredibly quiet in Gaza. Nothing was happening. But there was growing frustration among the Hamas leadership and the general population because Hamas thought that part of this truce with Israel was an easing of the closure, the so-called siege of Gaza. Israel controls all of the entrances into Gaza with the exception of one entrance in Egypt. And the Israelis didn't open up, didn't allow for the free movement of goods. And so Hamas started to agitate. We want you to do that. Now, we can go on for a long time discussing how it happened, but in the beginning of November there was an Israeli operation, against what they said were Hamas militants digging a tunnel into Israel. Israel hit back, killed six Hamas men. This starts the cycle, strike, counterstrike. That's how we got where we are today.

AMANPOUR: Ben, thank you very much. It just shows how difficult this is going to be to resolve because there isn't even any unity amongst the Palestinians themselves. Hamas is totally separate and divorced from the Palestinian Authority, which is holding the presidency and based on the West Bank. And that's where most of the interlocutors, the foreign heads of state who are coming here and others, that's where they go to talk. Problem is, the people who they're talking to have no control over the people they actually want to neutralize. So this is an issue here, Don.

LEMON: All right. Our senior international correspondent Christiane Amanpour and also correspondent Ben Wedeman, we appreciate your reporting. We'll be relying on your throughout the evening as well.

CNN's live coverage continues, including reaction from the Pentagon. We've been hearing that Israeli officials have been in touch with the Pentagon. Also, we're going to hear from the White House. Our continuing coverage of the ground offensive in Gaza continues here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You're watching CNN continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. We have an update now on our breaking news coming out of the Middle East. Israeli ground troops are on the move in Gaza this hour. They're going after Hamas militants who have repeatedly fired rockets into Israeli territory. Hamas leaders say the Israelis will be met with fierce and violent resistance and vow to turn Gaza into a cemetery for the Israeli military.

Now heavy gun battles are reported in areas of Gaza and explosions continue to fill the skies over the region. We have learned today that the U.S. Defense Department has been in contact with Israeli officials. We want to check in now with our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. She joins us now with more. Tell us about that contact. What was said, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on phone): Well, Don, we do know that the Israeli chief of defense staff earlier this afternoon was in contact presumably by telephone with Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Washington, DC to inform Admiral Mullen that the ground action was unfolding. This was certainly not unexpected by the U.S. military or the Pentagon. In fact, General Ashkenazi a couple of days ago phoned Admiral Mullen initially to tell him that the Israelis were beginning with the air campaign following up today making sure that the pentagon knew that the ground campaign portion of this was under way.

Part of the reason, of course, is basic stability. Keep everyone informed, no miscalculations, try and let everybody know what is going on. We know very little about what General Ashkenazi said.

There's no presumption here that General Ashkenazi asked for a green light or anything like that. It was informational, we understand, to tell Admiral Mullen to tell the Joint Chiefs that this was happening. And, of course, then communicated throughout the rest of the Bush administration, the Obama team getting informed about what's been going on all day long.

Very tough circumstances. The U.S. military will tell you they themselves have been down the road of counter terrorism campaigns in Iraq, in Afghanistan. Very tough to go in. Very tough to hold territory in these types of circumstances.

So everyone will be watching to see what unfolds in the coming days.

LEMON: Because, Barbara, this happened within just the last couple of hours, you said that this talk between the Pentagon and the Israeli officials, this was just information, informational. We have not heard from the White House or from President-Elect Barack obama on this, at least with a complete statement here.

So during that call, there was no call for any stopping in the fighting here? It was just informational?

Right. I don't think that that would have been something that two military chiefs would have discussed. It would have been informational if General Ashkenazi had something he wanted to send Secretary Gates to know perhaps or on to the White House, he certainly may have communicated it.

But keep in mind there are also very active diplomatic channels going on between the Israeli foreign minister and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. These types of military to military contacts are, you know, not very visible most of the time to the rest of the world, but it is the kind of thing that goes on very quietly because, to be very clear about it, for the U.S. military, for the U.S. intelligence community, any time anywhere in the world they see military force on the move, they want to know what's going on. They want to make the calculations about what it means and if they need to respond in any fashion.

And, remember, there is a lot of concern right now about the reaction that all of this is having in moderate Arab capitals, on the Arab Street, people very upset across the Arab World, and that's certainly something the pentagon and the intelligence community are paying very close attention to, Don.

LEMON: Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, we appreciate your reporting. If you get any more information, please check back in with us.

Meantime, to talk a little bit more about the subject that Barbara Starr brought up being let's bring back in retired General David Grange, one of CNN's military analysts. Of course, when something like this happens, General, there is huge concern, and rightfully so, about unrest in that entire region, in that entire part of the world. What might the militaries in the U.S. and also overseas, what might they be doing in preparation for this, or are they standing by watching and just monitoring the situation?

GEN. DAVID GRANT, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, everybody's probably at a higher state of alert. Take the Israeli military themselves. The northern flank, mentioned earlier, what Hezbollah and southern Lebanon may do. There's concern there. There's concern along the Syrian border.

You remember, Hamas, it's not just Hamas. Hamas is part of a network tied to other terrorist organizations -- I'm talking about the militant part of Hamas -- and other states that actually support Hamas. That's where these weapons come from. They come through the tunnels. They set up cache sites. They stockpile. You have to destroy the infiltration of weaponry and destroy what's already there before you can get into a stabilization phase. That's what drives how long these campaigns take.

On the United States side, it's the same thing being, us being one of their allies, of Israel, that we're concerned about reaction in other parts of the world. People are going to react. There will be second, third-order effects.

LEMON: Let's talk about these weapons. By most accounts, they are crude weapons, and Israel is saying that even during the cease-fire that Hamas was bringing weapons in and amassing weapons at least close to border, trying to at least be able to fire rockets into southern Israel. The weapons that they are bringing in, might these be more sophisticated weapons? Is that the concern from Israel? Or are these crude weapons that Hamas has been known for?

GRANGE: You have to look at it two ways. Yes, the sophistication of the rocketry has improved over the years in the hands of the Hamas in this area. They have been stockpiling them just like Hezbollah did in southern Lebanon. And Israel did not forget what happened in that particular conflict.

But even a crude rocket, crude rockets that are area rockets -- in other word are not very surgical, you can see fly through the sky very easily. In fact, they're great for the TV to monitor. It has a psychological effect. Even if it doesn't kill many people, it doesn't matter. It's tied to information warfare. It's tied to psychological operations. That's the power of this rocket even if it's not sophisticated.

LEMON: General David Grange, thank you very much. We appreciate your expertise on this.

He's been giving us some good information about this throughout this conflict today and also earlier in the week.

Thank you, sir. Also, when we come back, we're going to talk to a family who is witnessing this horror firsthand. They are on the Gaza coast with very little food and very little water. And this father is concerned for his family's safety and for his family's life. We'll talk to him right after the break. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're following developing news here in the CNN "NEWSROOM." I'm Don Lemon, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

This is coming to out of the Middle East. Israeli ground troops are on the move in Gaza, going after Hamas militant targets. Israeli forces started crossing in Gaza several hours ago. The Hamas leaders say the troops will be met with fierce and violent resistance. Explosions continue to fill the night skies over Gaza, including this huge blast, caused by an Israeli missile strike.

The U.N. Security Council has called an emergency meeting tonight on Gaza. Palestinian medical sources now tell CNN that at least 460 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2700 wounded since Israeli air strikes began eight days ago.

Joining us now is Mohammed Ali. He is joining us from the border from the coastline there, I should say, in Gaza. He says his next-door neighbor was killed. He's home with nine family members. Bombs and gunshots can be heard from his home.

I understand you're there with your wife, your children and brother and parents. Tell us what you're experiencing.

MOHAMMED ALI, OXFAM AID WORKER: (INAUDIBLE). And we are here totally stuck in our homes living in one room. So scared, you know, having this feeling of insecurity. Every moment, you know, we hear explosions. Explosions shake my home. The children wake up and crying all the time. I have two babies in my home with me, 15 months old, and the other one is 4 months old. We are living in totally black out for days, no water and electricity.

I'm working actually with Oxfam International Aid organization. Since eight days we have been suspended our work due to the Israeli air strikes. (INADUBLE) 25,000 people living in Gaza and are getting benefit from Oxfam.

The situation is severe. And the girls (ph) are living in critical conditions. We are with our family and, as many people, we cannot go out to buy food. We only have, with my family, two days as backup of food because the prices of food has been doubled and even tripled since the last eight days. And the majority of the people cannot even afford even buying the food...

LEMON: Mr. Ali, I understand you're in a very tough situation, and a very dangerous situation, if you can speak closer into the phone, we would appreciate it, so that we can hear very clearly. Because we want our viewers to be able to hear what you're experiencing there. Again, I asked, you're with your wife. You mentioned your children and baby, also a brother and parents. How many children do you have with you?

ALI: As I said, I have two babies. One is 15 months old and another is 4 months old. Every time there's an air strike or there's gun fire, they wake up -- they fall asleep and then wake up crying. The situation is really dramatic. And we are living in a sense of insecurity, even in our homes as we all live in our homes since eight days.

LEMON: You've been in your home for eight days since it started?

Mr. Ali, are you there?

OK, apparently, we lost Mohammed Ali. Obviously, this is an overseas connection and because of the unrest there and the situation that's going on. We'll check back in with him later.

The gist of it is he's been holed up in his home for eight days since this started. He's with his family, two babies, a 15-month-old and a 4-month-old. I think what he said -- it was a little tough to hear -- that he only had two days left of water, he believes, and food for his family. His next-door neighbor has been killed. You can hear bombs and gunshots heard from his home.

My next question to him was going to be, if his next-door neighbor was killed, where was he? Why does he believe he was spared? How much damage to his home? We'll try to get him back.

Also, again, he was on the Gaza coastline. This is very interesting, because this is the reality of war, no matter what side you're on here, there are innocent people who are affected, and the many people, children, civilians who are affected here. He is on the Gaza coastline. He says his home has been besieged by gunfire and there was destruction near him home. Again, his neighbors were killed.

We'll continue to follow this developing story and also to get some reaction from the Pentagon, also from the White House. President- elect Barack Obama will obviously be weighing in on this, as will many other national and international figures.

And also we'll be hearing again from the Pentagon and also from the United Nations. There has been a special meeting called at 7:00 p.m. tonight to try to figure out how to deal with the situation, which is escalating in Gaza.

Much, much more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Continuing coverage now of crisis in the Middle East. The U.N. Security Council has called for an emergency meeting just about 90 minutes from now. We'll make sure that we follow that and bring that to you just as soon as we get the information out of that. We want to go to the person who will probably be bringing us some of the information this evening, our senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth. He joins us from phone.

Richard, what is the response from the United Nations so far?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this meeting is called obviously in result of the Israeli move into Gaza. The Arab delegations will now be pushing strongly for a statement of condemnation against Israel. A statement that will also be saying there should be a withdrawal of Israeli forces, stopping the aggression, and there is a need to protect the Palestinian people.

Already the Palestinian supporters have introduced a resolution a couple of days ago that was designed to, in their view, stop the fighting. However, the United States, Britain, said this was a one- sided resolution. It was not balanced. It did not include any mention of Hamas attacks on Israel.

So what will happen at 7:00 New York time, we will have closed-door consultations? And there may be some contentious debate in there. Diplomats knew this type of military action could occur. Second straight Saturday night we'll be there for an emergency session. Last time, it went until 3:00 in the morning. We'll see what happens -- Don?

LEMON: It's interesting because last time you were there and you said it was a second week, and, of course, what came out of that? I mean, there was a resolution that said that it should stop, but nothing came out of that. What should we expect this evening, Richard?

ROTH: Well, last Saturday was an initial statement to the press, the lowest form of clout type of response. Then things got more substantially through the week.

But basically Israel is not heeding the calls of the Security Council or the secretary general to stop. The United States says Israel is defending itself. President Bush says it's a war against terror. And I don't think the Arab delegates really expect Israel to listen to whatever will happen here.

In the coming days, Palestinian President Abbas is supposed to be here. One U.N. official says he hopes the Arab officials are coming with new proposals. The U.N. would like to see some kind of comprehensive overall settlement, not just some temporary fragile cease-fire that breaks down soon after approved.

LEMON: This evening, once this meeting happens, and let's just say there are calls for cease-fire from the United Nations, in your experience in dealing with this, Israel -- will they abide by that? Or will they continue to defy what the United Nations and NATO and all of the U.S. allies -- will they continue to defy those orders or at least what the United Nations will come up with?

ROTH: I think -- in the past, whether it's Israel or Russia with Georgia and a few others, powers that believe they're acting in self- defense, they will not listen, as long as they don't have to, to the united nations, unless the diplomatic -- whether it's sanctions or safeguards or threats. You know, they have to weigh what that risk is for them on the global stage. Right now, Israel thinks it can do great damage against Hamas and secretly probably believe there are some in the region, including Arab governments, that we like to see Israel make inroads against Hamas, to bring back perhaps the Fatah wing of the Palestinians led by President Abbas. And maybe that could lead to some sort of road to a peace settlement.

However, right now, Israel is going to do what it feels it has to do. It's never been great friends with the United Nations. It thinks it's a biased organization. Many of the countries aligned up, a simple majority would naturally take the position of the Arab side no matter what the issue.

LEMON: And there is your answer. Richard Roth, it's going to be very interesting to see what comes out of this emergency meeting, which will happen in just under 90 minutes from now.

Thank you, Richard. We appreciate your reporting. If you get any more information, please check back in with us.

Now, we'll get the latest on what the White House is saying about Israeli troops crossing into Gaza.

CNN's Kate Bolduan is in Washington.

Kate, I understand we have just gotten something, a response from the White House?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. We did just heard from the White House spokesperson who tells me that president Bush was briefed this afternoon on the current situation in Gaza, and the actions of the IDF. U.S. officials have been in regular contact, this spokesperson says, with the Israelis as well as officials from countries in region and Europe.

Earlier in his weekly radio address, President Bush condemned Hamas for instigating the violence. He and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have called for a cease-fire, but one that comes with a long-term solution. In the president's own words, achieve a meaningful cease- fire that is fully respected, as the administration calls it, one that is durable or sustainable.

Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Another one-way cease-fire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable. Promises from Hamas will not suffice. There must be monitoring devices in place that make sure the smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BOLDUAN: Just receiving on my Blackberry -- sorry, Don -- to read this to you, but also a statement from the State Department spokesperson, Shane McCormick. I'll read it in part as I'm reading through it. I apologize again. "We're working toward working toward a cease-fire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo, where Hamas can continue to launch rockets out of Gaza and to condemn the people of Gaza to a life of misery. It is obvious that that cease-fire should take place as soon as possible. But we need a cease-fire that is durable and sustainable, and not time limited."

Now that's just part of it. I'll continue on. It says, "The United States is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation, and the protection of innocents. In this vein, we have expressed our concerns to the Israeli government that any military action needs to be mindful of the potential consequences to civilians."

Just on the surface, I can say we have heard these comments before. Durable and sustainable is something we've heard from administration officials earlier before this ground assault started.

LEMON: How long is that response? A couple pages?

BOLDUAN: This response, I have right here, three paragraphs.

LEMON: Three paragraphs, OK. I'm going to ask you this, because it's a very interesting time for us, Kate. In just a couple of days we're going to swear a new president into office. It's a time of transition. What are we hearing from the President-elect Barack Obama?

BOLDUAN: I have here a brief statement from my colleague in Chicago, Brianna Keilar, and this is a statement that comes from a transition spokesperson, Brooke Anderson, for the president-elect.

It says, "The president-elect is closely monitoring the global events, including the situation in Gaza. There is one president at a time and we intend to respect that."

And that is kind of a mantra that we've heard since Barack Obama won election, that there is only one president at a time, and that he intends to respect that. That he is definitely aware.

And we were told by a White House spokesperson yesterday at the White House briefing that the president-elect is receiving the same intelligence briefing that president Bush is receiving. That's something that president Bush gave the nod to shortly after the election.

LEMON: And that is something that is very interesting because, as I said, in a couple of days, a matter of weeks, we're going to swear in a new president, Kate.

Thank you very much for that, Kate.

We're going to swear in a new president here in the United States. He's getting the same briefings as the current president, President Bush. So the question is, really, who is in charge? It's president Bush now, but within a couple of weeks, and if this escalates -- I want to bring in Ambassador Mansour, Israeli consulate -- if this escalates into something and lasts longer than a couple of weeks, it will be Barack Obama who is in charge and it will be a very unusual and a very quick handoff.

I want you to hold your thoughts on that real quickly.

He's joining me here in the CNN "NEWSROOM." We'll get his response in just moments. Plus, new information on this ground offensive in Gaza. Moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, after a week of air strikes, Israeli soldiers are on the ground in Gaza. The offensive now in its eighth day, has already left 460 people dead. That's according to Palestinian sources. But Israel says it hasn't reached its goal of crippling Hamas. Palestinian leaders warn Israel Gaza will be your cemetery. That is a dire statement.