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At Least 70 Dead After Attacks In Israel; Interview With Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired October 07, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:01:20]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

We're following the major breaking news out of Israel this hour. Israel declaring it is at war -- war with Hamas. It follows an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil by Hamas. At least 70 Israelis are now confirmed dead, more than 900 wounded. Numbers that are clearly expected to rise in the coming hours. The attack catching Israel clearly by surprise. At sunrise, the Palestinian militant group launched their offensive by air, sea and land. Hamas fighters infiltrating Israeli towns launching more than 3,000 rockets into Israel.

Scenes of urban warfare, as gunfights unfolded featuring Israeli and Palestinian militants. And just a short time ago, I spoke with the Israeli military spokesman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. RICHARD HECHT, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: When we target someone on their side, we go for a military target.

These terrorists came in this morning, they didn't go only for military targets. They went into communities. They abducted grandmas. They abducted families. They killed children. A very, very severe morning. And we are going to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Israel is now clearly striking back, launching its own air strikes into Gaza. Palestinians say nearly 200 have been killed there. Israel also mobilizing its troops and calling up tens of thousands of reserve forces for active duty.

This is a very fast-moving situation that's unfolding.

I want to bring back CNN's Hadas Gold who's joining us from Jerusalem right now. Hadas, I know you're getting more information. What's the latest?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: The latest we're getting right now is the Israeli military is confirming that there have been kidnappings, captives -- what they're called prisoners of war. These are both Israeli soldiers and civilians.

They are not giving specific numbers, but we do believe them to be in the dozens. We do believe that some of those -- or not all of them -- have been taken to Gaza.

We do have videos of at least some Israeli soldiers appearing to be taken out of an Israeli tank by Palestinian militants. But we are now hearing confirmation from the Israeli military not only of these prisoners of war as they're calling them, we're also hearing of hostage situations.

These are hostage situations in Israeli villages and at least two Israeli villages and towns in southern Israel. So as we speak, hostages are being held by militants in Israeli villages and towns near the Gaza border. Again, we don't have specifics on the numbers who are being held, but the Israeli military clearly calling this a very, very active situation as they try to clear out the militants from these areas.

It is now entering hour 12 of this conflict. As we noted, thousands of rockets have been fired towards Israel from Gaza. And we are still receiving regular reports of air-raid sirens going off, mostly targeting southern Israel.

We had a few sirens ourselves here, all the way out here in Jerusalem earlier today. We heard several explosions overhead. Those could have been interceptions or it could have been rockets making impact.

We have not heard any sirens in the last few hours. It has been relatively quiet in Jerusalem. Not the case in southern Israel at all. And most concerning is the infiltrations of these Palestinian militants who came literally by air, para-gliding, who by land, who by sea. There's a major question, of course, of what was the security failure. How did Israel not see this first of all happening, coming? How did these militants make their way in? Were they already in Israel?

[11:04:52]

GOLD: We are also hearing of course, about the casualties. At least 70 have been killed, more than 900 wounded. This is on the Israeli side of things.

Palestinians are reporting 198 killed and more than 1,600 wounded. But some of those fatalities are said to actually be within Israel. These would be militants who had entered Israel being killed in firefights.

This is a very, very quickly unfolding situation that is continuing and moving very quickly. The Israeli military is calling up tens of thousands of reservists not only, of course, for these air strikes that we're seeing going on targeting Hamas targets in Gaza, but to reinforce Israeli communities around Israel especially in the south as they continue to contend with these militants because as we speak, firefights are ongoing in some of these towns around Gaza Sderot, which is the town most -- many people are familiar with that sits right near the border between Gaza and Israel.

Literally as we speak, fire fights continue. We are now entering hour 12. We've heard harrowing (ph) accounts from Israeli civilians essentially trapped in their homes as they hear gunfire going on right outside of their homes, calling for help, asking for help.

You see these Israeli families on air trying, pleading, trying to find their family members because there was a festival -- a nature and music festival going on not far from the border that militants attacked. And so there is a fear of a number of wounded and dead as a result of that as well.

This is the situation that will likely go on for some time. Israeli military, the Israeli prime minister calling it a state of war.

The response will likely continue in intensity over the next few hours, over the next few days. Hamas is calling this the Al-Aqsa Storm, connecting it directly to tensions that have been rising at Al- Aqsa.

What's been interesting Wolf, is that there wasn't a specific trigger point. There wasn't a major raid at the Al-Aqsa compound. There wasn't a major clash. There wasn't a major capture of a militant of some sort that would have triggered this, that you might have expected.

And it is so clear that Israel was caught by surprise. But the parallels to 50 years ago to the day to the Yom Kippur War 1973, when Israel was also caught by surprise. Attacks also on a Jewish holiday. Today also happens to be a Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah. The parallels here are stunning, Wolf.

BLITZER: Very significant indeed.

Hadas, is there any evidence at least so far that any of these military reservists who have been activated, have been called up for duty right now as a result of this war, are refusing to serve because of their earlier opposition to the Netanyahu government's judicial overhaul program?

GOLD: No, not yet. And we actually did hear from one of those major organizations representing those reservists. They call themselves brothers and sisters in arm.

They sent out a statement quite early on the day calling on all of the reservists to heed the call to serve in this time and to go to their duties when called.

And according to the Israeli military, they have not had, at least they have not reported that any significant effect on their preparedness or on reservists who are saying they will not serve as a result of this. This is a major test. Everybody has been talking about, as a result of

the drama surrounding this judicial overhaul the Netanyahu had planned that these reservists said, you know, I'm not going to serve a government who's going to do this type of judicial overhaul.

And there was a question, if there is a major military operation, how will they respond. So far, what we're seeing that they are planning to respond to the call to serve, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. That's what I'm hearing as well. Hadas, thank you very much. We'll get back to you, Hadas Gold in Jerusalem.

Right now, I'm joined on the phone by Michael Herzog. He's Israel's ambassador to the United States. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. It is sad that we're talking under these circumstances right now.

The IDF, as you know, says the fighting is ongoing right now. Firefights in more than 20 various locations, as Hamas militants attack by land, air, and sea against Israel. What can you tell us, first of all, Ambassador about this rapidly evolving situation with Israeli civilians and hostages involved?

MICHAEL HERZOG, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): So Israel is under attack. This is unprovoked war on a holiday in the Jewish calendar. And Hamas earlier in the day launched thousands of rockets and they sent in dozens of militants, breaching the border fence with paragliders and other means and they are now -- there's fighting going on as we speak in Israeli villages across the border.

This is war. This is an unprovoked war. And we have to fight this war, and we have to win this war and we will do it.

BLITZER: As you know, Ambassador, President Biden has now spoken with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What can you tell us, if anything, about that conversation, and the

partnership between the two nations in this very critical moment?

HERZOG: I would say it was a very good call, and we appreciate the very strong statements of support issued by the White House and the State Department. I think everybody understands that this unprovoked attack on Israel deserves a very strong unequivocal condemnation and support for Israel's right to self-defense.

And as I said, this is war, and we have to fight this war and win it.

[11:10:00]

BLITZER: I understand the Israeli prime minister has convened his national security cabinet for an emergency meeting right now. What can you tell us about that? Has there been a formal declaration of war just announced?

HERZOG: There is a declaration in Israel that we are in a state of war, and we are calling in reservists for active duty. I think Hamas made a mistake by being overimpressed by the internal debate in Israel, but everybody who knows Israel knows that, understands that in moments like that, Israelis close ranks and join hands, and we are all in it together.

BLITZER: Israel and the world as you know, were caught off-guard by this widespread, rather sophisticated Hamas attack earlier this morning. How concerned are you, Ambassador by that? Was this an intelligence failure on the part of Israel?

HERZOG: There was an element of surprise. We'll get to that later. Right now, we have to fight a war and win, as I said. Later on we'll have time to investigate what happened.

As I say, Hamas was overimpressed by the internal debate in Israel, but I also think that their intention is to derail the joint U.S.- Israel effort to bring about peace in the Middle East, to break through to Saudi Arabia and expand its circle of (INAUDIBLE) and there will be wrong in that as well.

BLITZER: Ambassador, you're the ambassador of Israel to the United States. If Israel is now in a state of war with Hamas in Gaza and potentially this could escalate into other areas as well -- Hezbollah in south Lebanon, for example, and maybe even from some groups on the West Bank.

What, if anything, do you need from the United States right now? What is your major need, militarily speaking?

HERZOG: Right now, we are assessing the situation, assessing our needs, and to the extent that we will need some support, we will not hesitate to ask for it. And I'm confident that the administration and Congress will support Israel in this difficult moment.

BLITZER: And what happens in the Iron Dome, Israel's very sophisticated air defense system, that has been so effective in earlier confrontations. We're seeing these pictures coming in from Ashkelon and Ashdod, (INAUDIBLE), Rehoboth, other populated areas not far from Gaza, civilian areas that have literally been destroyed. What's going on with Israel's air defense capabilities?

HERZOG: Well, I think you are already seeing it in action. What happened is, as we all understand, the Hamas launched this surprise attack out of the blue. So not 0all the batteries were in a state of preparedness, but I think that is going to change very soon.

BLITZER: This is clearly a significant moment in Israel's history right now. And as you note and a lot of people have noted it comes almost exactly on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war when Egypt and Syria surprised Israel and launched the attack at that time -- it really caught the Israeli military by surprise.

Help our viewers better understand, Ambassador, how significant this moment right now is for Israel and what could come next.

HERZOG: This is a very significant moment for Israel. Israel is under attack. But I'm confident that the same as 50 years ago, we were surprised but we ultimately prevailed and won the war. I think the same will be in this case.

BLITZER: Ambassador Michael Herzog, thanks so much for joining us.

HERZOG: Thank you very much, Wolf.

BLITZER: The White House is now weighing in on the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel. We're following all the late-breaking developments.

Our special breaking news coverage will continue right after this.

[11:14:06]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're following the breaking news out of Israel right now. Israel is clearly at war right now with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. That war started earlier this morning when Hamas launched various strikes against Israeli targets.

I want to bring in CNN's Sam Kiley who has covered -- reported from Israel for a long time.

Sam, this appears to be, at least so far, a major failure of intelligence on Israel's part. What is your analysis?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it is clear that it is a disastrous failure of intelligence. but that is the backward look for historians already, I think, Wolf, because right now, there is an ongoing firefight in Israeli kibbutz -- kibbutzes (ph), plural.

In Sderot, there are hostage situations inside Israeli territory, and now Hamas, and this has been partly confirmed by the Israeli Defense Forces, claiming that it has taken hostages into Gaza, possibly dozens of them.

Now, we have seen video evidence of at least of one woman -- Israeli woman being taken into Gaza, in a captured Israeli jeep -- military jeep.

We have seen other video images of a soldier, alive, being captured after his tank was destroyed. His whereabouts or indeed whether or not he is alive still is unknown. But conceivably, he is now a prisoner of war as the Israelis would call him, and he inevitably will be treated as a hostage by Hamas.

This has been a very complex operation. Very clearly sealed off even from Hamas allies on the West Bank, where there has not been a parallel uprising as Hamas might have liked to have seen. Precisely I think because they needed to keep it very close hold. But they have been able to penetrate through the Gaza wall.

[11:19:53]

KILEY: As we know, in the past, they have used tunnels. They used them again. They used sea-borne attacks, the IDF has released pictures of them trying to stop some of those and successfully stopping some of those sea-borne infiltrations into Israel. And then even paragliders flying over the Gaza fence and into Israel proper.

So all of this adding up to a very complex attack with a lot of fore- planning by Hamas militants beginning at dawn with its massive salvo of rockets now numbering at least 3,000 rockets fired in a day. A very substantial use of rockets, causing Israelis to be at least temporarily on the back foot.

Now inevitably, that means that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, Wolf, has essentially declared a state of war with Hamas. There's mass mobilization of Israeli troop.

But the conundrum for the Israelis now is how do they go in and stop this? How do they go in and rescue these hostages? And how do they go in and break the back of Hamas, which they've tried and failed to do in the past.

Essentially, this is a trap that Hamas has laid for Israelis. Hamas will know that they want to send in grounds troops into Gaza, and if the Israelis do do that, no doubt, Hamas has got all kinds of operational activity planned for that.

Now, of course, the Israelis have good intelligence, normally speaking, about what is going on in Gaza, and are currently hitting a number of Hamas, at least 17 Hamas or alleged Hamas locations inside the Gaza strip.

But their real problem is going to be how they're going on the ground, and this is how it unfolded in the last few hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KILEY: Palestinian militants celebrate the destruction of an Israeli tank near Gaza. Dragging what appears to be the body of a crewman from the vehicle.

Dozens of Gaza-based Palestinian fighters have infiltrated Israel, under the cover of a massive rocket bombardment -- in what could be the biggest Israeli intelligence failure since Arab nations attacked Israel 50 years ago.

Hamas brought war to the streets. Its bullets tearing into a civilian vehicle in Sderot. Locals filmed fighters on rooftops and shooting at police.

Here, the aftermath of the gun battle, Israeli civilians lie dead on the street. Close by, what are reported to be Palestinian militants also dead.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are at war. Not an operation or on rounds, but at war.

This morning, Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the state of Israel and its citizens. We have been in this since the early morning hours. KILEY: Israel has already hit back with air strikes. But the country's

right-wing government will be under pressure to attack deeper into Gaza, as reserves are being mobilized country-wide.

AVI MELAMED, FORMER ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: It's very possible that we will witness a massive Israeli ground operation in Gaza Strip, that basically will aim to try and to change totally from the ground the conditions that have prevailed for the last almost two decades.

KILEY: Israel's death toll climbed throughout the day of fighting. Militants have claimed, so far without proof, to have taken Israeli soldiers hostage. And the Hamas-led operation is the most complex and ambitious in its history.

Here, militants in Jenin on the West Bank foreshadowed what was coming to CNN last October.

JENIN, JENIN BRIGADE LEADER (through translator): There are extensive meetings with the resistance sections in Gaza on the West Bank and with our brothers abroad about starting that fire.

KILEY: That fight now appears to have begun in Gaza, with this Hamas call to arms.

"If you have a gun, get it out," he said. "This is the time to use it. Get out with trucks, cars, axes. Today, the most glorious and most honorable history begins."

But that appeal has so far not been answered on the West Bank, or among Israel's Palestinian population. Not yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KILEY: Now Wolf, on the West Bank, the Israeli's military has reportedly up to half the capability there. So that may explain to some extent why there hasn't been a violent response yet from the Palestinians and indeed, of course, the Israel's Palestinian -- ethnic Palestinian populations doesn't have much of a record of joining this kind of very violent uprising that we've seen out of Hamas.

I think ultimately though Hezbollah will be the single biggest threat. But they're very, very unlikely to join in this until they see real vulnerability on the part of Israeli.

[11:24:52]

KILEY: Because they have been told in no uncertain terms by the Israelis of the consequences for their country, for Lebanon would be absolutely catastrophic if they will start to join in this sort of offensive, Wolf.

BLITZER: We're showing our viewers Sam, live pictures coming in from Gaza right now. Clearly the Israeli response, the military response is unfolding even as we speak right now.

And I just want your thoughts, because you spent a lot of time in Israel in recent years. The Israeli Emergency Services now reporting more than 70 Israelis, many of them civilians, are confirmed dead right now as a result of this Hamas attack. and hundreds of Israelis are seriously injured and have been taken to hospitals throughout Israel right now.

Those numbers alone, they don't necessarily sound to a bigger audience all that big, but in a small country like Israel, that has an enormous impact when the folks over there hear those numbers, right?

KILEY: It is not just the numbers, Wolf, and I think you're absolutely right. 70 is almost an unprecedented number to have been killed in operations, in fact they are unprecedented operations coming out of Gaza. 900 injured -- these are not predominantly people I suspect that have been hit by fragments of descending rockets or explosives fired out of Gaza but people who have been killed and injured in fighting with the Hamas militants or indeed simply murdered by the Hamas militants in the case of ordinary civilians.

And that will be very galvanizing, right across the Israeli political spectrum, to see something much more violent response coming from Israel into Gaza, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're already seeing that this war, as Prime Minister Netanyahu is calling it, is unifying the Israelis. All those reservists who were suggesting in recent months that they weren't going to honor, if they were called up for reserve duty because of their opposition to the Israeli government's judicial reform plans.

They are responding right now and responding in huge numbers. Is that what you're hearing as well?

KILEY: Yes, Wolf. They actually said, their leadership has said officially that in this case, they are calling on their members to report for reserve duty as part of their natural service to the Israeli state.

And that is because this is being perceived even by the left in Israel. And it is loud and it's militant and it is angry as an attack on Israel itself. Remember that Hamas is an organization dedicated to the destruction of what they call, in Hamas territory, the Zionist entity. This is -- they do not believe, this is Hamas, that Israel has a right to exist at all.

Now that is quite a different proposition to being asked to serve and perpetuate the occupation for example on the West Bank, which would have been a much more problematic issue for reservists being called up.

But from many perspectives within Israel, this is a straight-up existential threat and a straight-up existential defense will be coming from those reservists, Wolf.

BLITZER: Good point. Sam Kiley, thank you very much.

We are also of course monitoring all these late-breaking developments here in Washington in response to this unprecedented Hamas attack against Israel.

I want to go back to our senior White House correspondent, MJ Lee. She is getting new information. What you are hearing now, MJ, from the Biden administration?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, we have now just heard directly from President Biden himself. He has released a statement after speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

So let me read a part of that written statement. He says "The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza. And I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the government and people of Israel.

Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel taking advantage in this situation, and my administration's support for Israel security is rock solid and unwavering."

The president also saying that he, of course, is going to stay in close contact with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Wolf, here in the U.S., it is impossible to overstate just what a complicated and volatile diplomatic situation now confronts President Biden and his administration.

First and foremost, there is the issue of the strained Biden-Netanyahu relationship that we have been talking about. The fact that these two men have known each other for a number of decades but in recent years, that relationship has really been tested because of some of the actions that Netanyahu and his far-right government in Israel have tried to take.

There is also the issue of President Biden going to be criticized almost for certain for the recent decision by his administration to unfreeze billions of dollars in frozen funds in exchange for -- Iranian funds, I should say, in exchange to free Americans that were being detained.

[11:29:53]

LEE: Given the Iranian's historically supportive stance against -- for Hamas, that is going to be a criticism that is sure to come President Biden's way.

And then there's, of course, the issue of this deal that President Biden had been trying to broker to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. As a part of those talks, as you know very well, the U.S. has really been pushing for concessions to be made to the Palestinians. Given the images that we are seeing now, given the news that is breaking, and given the situation what is simply described as war by the Israelis, those talks really just appear to have gone out the window, at the very least are very much frozen, as U.S. Officials really continue to assess exactly what is going on here, Wolf. BLITZER: MJ Lee over at the White House. Thank you very much. We will

get back to you soon.

And CNN's breaking news coverage of this unprecedented situation in Israel will continue right after a quick break.

We'll be right back.

[11:30:52[

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're back with our breaking news coverage.

The war that no one saw coming. Hamas today launching brazen surprise attacks on Israel, at least 70 Israelis are now confirmed dead, and nearly a thousand -- a thousand Israelis are wounded and are in hospitals right now.

Plus, nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory strikes. This, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

These attacks from Hamas today are not just limited to rockets. Hamas militants infiltrated parts of Israel by land and sea, and by air, using paragliders we're told.

We've also heard reports of Israeli civilians barricading themselves indoors as militants opened fire outside.

We want to show you more of what it looks like on the ground, but this warning: this video is disturbing. It appears to show Hamas militants near the Gaza fence pulling an Israeli soldier out of a tank.

So many questions about how this major coordinated attack were undetected by Israeli intelligence. The fear now that Israel could be headed for a very, very dangerous ground war in Gaza.

And this ongoing situation will certainly have major international ramifications. U.S. officials are closely watching every development, and the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem is now sheltering in place.

Let's go to CNN's Natasha Bertrand watching all of this unfold. First of all Natasha, what are we hearing directly from U.S. State Department.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Wolf, so we did get a statement from the Secretary of State Antony Blinken who said quote, "The United States unequivocally condemns the appalling attacks by Hamas terrorist against Israel including civilian and civilian communities.

There is never any justification for terrorism and we stand in solidarity with the government and people of Israel."

He also said that "the State Department extends our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks and that we will remain in close contact with Israeli partners." Emphasizing again that the United States supports Israel's right to defend itself. A common theme that we have heard across all of the messages coming out from the United States.

Now, we also have learned that the secretary of state is at the White House right now attending meetings and calling his foreign counterparts about the situation in Israel.

The CIA director as well has canceled a planned trip to a national security conference this weekend in order to remain in Washington and, quote, "help provide support" to the president and national security discussions as the crisis in Israel unfolds. That is according to a CIA spokesperson.

Now this is obviously an all-hands-on deck effort really by the Biden administration to get a hold -- to get a handle on what is going on in Israel and how they can best support the Israelis.

The secretary of defense also issuing a statement this morning, saying that he is closely monitoring developments in Israel, and reiterating again the U.S.'s commitment to Israel's right to defend itself, saying that that remains quote "unwavering".

Now, importantly, the secretary of defense said that the Department of Defense is over the coming days going to work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians, Wolf, from these indiscriminate -- this indiscriminate violence and terrorism.

Now that raises questions about whether the U.S. Is going to allow Israel to tap into the U.S. stockpiles that exist in Israel to potentially replenish their supplies and equipment, if this war does continue and if it escalates even further.

The U.S. has one of the biggest war reserves in Israel. So the Israelis could certainly take advantage of that.

But so much uncertainty right now, Wolf, the national security team around President Biden huddling now, to figure out what comes next, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Natasha, we will see what happens. Thanks very much. Natasha Bertrand reporting.

We are following all the late-breaking developments out of Israel. Our special coverage will continue right after this quick break.

[11:38:53]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're following the breaking news out of Israel, there is a war going on right now. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is reinforcing U.S. support for Israel after today's attack by Hamas in Gaza that has left -- that has killed at least 70 Israelis so far. And wounded some 985 other Israelis who are being hospitalized. Secretary Austin met with top U.S. military officials just a little

while ago, including the commander of the U.S. military's central command.

Let's get more on what is going on right now with retired Colonel Cedric Leighton is joining. He's a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. He's a CNN military analyst. And CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier is with us as well.

Colonel Leighton, what do you think the U.S. is doing right now to help Israel? From the president on down, there have been very strong statements of support for Israel in this war with Hamas?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, in concrete terms Wolf, we will speculate a little bit here. But the basic things that we end up doing are logistical support if the Israelis need it, and sometimes there will be intelligence sharing that will take place and anything that the Israelis will need in terms of even diplomatic efforts that might be ongoing say with the Egyptians or some of the Gulf States.

So a lot of these issues will take (AUDIO GAP) to perhaps help with the logistics aspects of this. And they will be moving things in perhaps to areas near Israel, in case the Israelis need to have their stockpiles replenished.

BLITZER: Kimberly, an Israeli IDF military spokesperson told me a little while ago that fighting is ongoing right now, still ongoing in more than 20 different locations. Special Forces have been mobilized as Israeli civilians are being held hostage as well. That's what he says.

[11:44:50]

BLITZER: Just how complicated is this response from the Israeli military?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Complicated and it could potentially stretch out for days, if not weeks. Once you have a hostage situation where militants are barricaded with Israeli citizens, civilians, not just some of the troops that have reportedly been taken, it becomes very difficult for the Israeli defense forces.

They've got to move slowly, and precisely. They're already facing a massive blowback of anger from the Israeli people for missing this and for not responding quickly enough to the attacks in the south.

That's what I was hearing from some former Israeli and U.S. officials that it is not just bad that they -- bad level of -- you know, almost horrific that they missed signs of this potential complex attack, but that when it started happening, they didn't respond fast enough to catch the militants faster and to keep them from infiltrating some of these communities.

I think that's why you've seen the Israeli prime minister call up more reservists, because they're going to have to do something pretty dramatic to respond to this, and to find all of the conspirators and how this was plotted and carried out.

And that likely means a ground incursion into Gaza. That means bringing a lot of active-duty forces to that theater to attack there, which means they'll need reservist troops to back-fill them and keep the rest of the country secure.

BLITZER: They certainly will. Colonel Leighton, Israel formally saying that the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces is preparing for a ground incursion into Gaza and that quote all options are on the table. Give us a sense what that looks like.

LEIGHTON: So, the most likely scenario, Wolf, just like Kimberly mentioned, is the ground incursion into Gaza. That is going to be a really, really tough thing for the Israelis to do.

They have done it before. But this is urban warfare. And Gaza is the most crowded place I think now on the face of the earth in terms of dense population per square mile, and given that fact, there are a lot of different things that they will have to consider.

They want to go after the military targets, in essence the Hamas targets, but there are going to be situations where there will probably be collateral damage, in other words civilian casualties.

And that's going to make it really tough on the Israelis, not only from a military standpoint, but also from a public relations standpoint.

The other thing of course, that they're going to do is they're going to use air power to go after these areas. There's already been some of that that we've seen around Gaza, but I think the bombing attacks are going to be more intense and they're also going to try to cut off any more Hamas fighters from coming into Israel itself.

So that I think is what things will look like, at least for the next 24 or so hours.

BLITZER: And Kimberly, what is Israel watching right now when it comes first to the West Bank and then up north, the border with Lebanon?

DOZIER: Well, they're watching for basically all their other opponents tor two things. Any attacks from the Iranian allies, in the so-called Ring of Fire, which is how Israel describes the enemies that ring it. Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the militants in Syria. Both of whom have stockpiled rockets, missiles.

Hezbollah missiles are said to be more than 100,000 and they can reach most of Israel. Also, they will be watching -- the Israeli Defense Forces will be watching for this attack, to spark some sort of popular revolt inside the West Bank.

In the last two uprisings, the last two Intifadas, the one in the late 80s and then the one in the 90s, the first one got sparked from a car accident, two truckloads of Palestinian workers were hit and then killed, and that sparked off the popular protests that then militants took advantage of.

In this case, they're likely -- they're trying to do it the other way around. They're staging a big splash attack and calling on others to pick up weapons and attack Israelis wherever they are.

The second Intifada started after Ariel Sharon, the Israeli leader then visited the Al Aqsa Mosque on what you call the Temple Mount, a sacred to Jews and Muslims in the Old City. The Hamas military leader did say that this latest attack was partly because of recent incursions by Israeli ultranationalists into the mosque part of the sacred area, which has made major headlines across the Arab world though it hasn't been covered much in the West.

[11:49:57]

DOZIER: So from their perspective, they had cause, and they're hoping other Palestinians, ordinary people, will pick up that cause and attack.

BLITZER: Kimberly Dozier and Colonel Cedric Leighton -- guys, thank you very, very much.

We're staying on top of the breaking news. The reaction from the region, much more coming up, after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:01]

BLITZER: World leaders are reacting to the shocking violence in Israel this morning with many calling for calm and restraint. In the Middle East Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are calling for a stop to the escalation while Iran is expressing support for the Hamas attack on Israelis.

In Europe Spain and Italy are also condemning the attacks and both sides of war in Ukraine are also commenting. Russia's deputy foreign minister calling for a cease fire and Ukraine expressing in a statement quote, "support for Israel in its right to defend itself and its people".

Here in Washington, there's strong support coming from Democrats and Republicans up on Capitol Hill in terms of support for Israel, right now. We're also getting statements so far from several of the Republican presidential candidates including Trump and DeSantis expressing strong support for Israel in this war against Hamas right now as well.

To our viewers thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. I'll be back for a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" later today, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Stay with us for that.

In the meantime, CNN's breaking news coverage will continue right now with Christiane Amanpour after a very short break.

[11:56:13] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)