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Rocket Barrage Fired From Gaza toward Israel; IDF Declares "State Of War Alert"; New York City Mayor To Visit Darien Gap, Discourage Migration; Simone Biles Becomes Most Decorated Gymnast Ever. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired October 07, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
We're following breaking news out of Israel, where that country's military is now mobilizing, including its reserves, in response to this morning's surprise rocket attack from Gaza.
The security cabinet is expected to meet in the coming hours and Israel's president said the country is facing a very difficult moment. The attacks began early today as many people were still sleeping. Hundreds of rockets have been fired into Israel with no letup so far.
Israeli officials say there were multiple injuries, some of them serious, and at least one fatality. Israel's defense minister just proclaimed Israel will win this war. The Israeli military also warns the number of militants have infiltrated Israel from Gaza. Hadas Gold joins us now from Jerusalem.
Hadas, the scale, the coordination of these attacks, what we're seeing now just extraordinary.
What's the latest?
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is completely unprecedented. And this is war, Kim. Something that Israel is not seen the likes of this coordinated attack. Many are comparing it to the Yom Kippur war, which perhaps purposely is on its 50th anniversary as we speak.
That war started in October 6, 50 years ago. That was a surprise attack on Israel and that's what we're experiencing now, starting at 6:30 in the morning. A barrage of rockets and it's been nonstop since then.
Here in Jerusalem, we've had at least, I would say, five or six air raid sirens go off. I would say, I lost count of the number, of the explosions I've heard in the air above us. That could be interceptions, that could be rocket impacts. If we get a siren we will take you with us into our protected space.
But we are just getting some new information right now, as we speak, from the Israeli military. They're having a briefing right now. They say that there have been 2,000, at least, rockets fired. Hamas has claimed more than 5,000.
The Israeli military is also saying the infiltrations, this is something that is new and unprecedented. They say that these infiltrations happened through the air, through paragliders, through the sea and through the ground.
They say, as we speak, there are fights, active firefights, going on in various Israeli cities and villages, around Gaza, including two army bases. That gives you an idea of the number of militants who have infiltrated, managed infiltrate from Gaza into Israel.
It's not clear if they were already there, whether they came in through the sea and sky as the Israeli military said. We are also hearing Israeli media reports of civilians in these villages, in these cities, saying that they are barricading themselves in their bomb shelters because they hear firefights right outside their doors.
As we, speak again, Israeli military saying that they have active firefights in several villages in southern Israel., including two army bases, including one of the border crossings, the main border crossing into Israel.
They've called up thousands of Israeli military reservists and have named this operation Swords of Iron. Hamas has called this the Al-Aqsa Storm operation and they are connecting this directly to tensions that have been building at the Al-Aqsa compound, also known as the Temple Mount to Jews.
This is a place that is so holy to both religions. While there have been tensions there over the past couple weeks, especially during Jewish holidays of Sukkoth, there hasn't been any sort of specific trigger point of an Israeli military raid or arrest being undertaken at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
While we have been reporting for a year and a half of clashes and tensions in the occupied West Bank between Israeli military and militants, there hasn't been a specific trigger point. I think that's why there's so many questions right now for the Israeli military about how it seems as though everybody was caught off guard.
Another thing that we are following very closely -- and we don't have this confirmed-- are those reports of potentially Israeli soldiers or civilians who have been captured or killed.
What we know so far for sure is that there have been at least 100 injuries within Israel itself. We know of at least two fatalities, including one who was a regional council head for the Negev. According to the Negev regional council, they say this person was killed while in a firefight with militants on the streets. But we are expecting to hear of more fatalities potentially in the
coming hours. Again, those reports of more than 100 injuries are coming from two separate hospitals. The IDF have declared a state of war alert. They've advised all Israeli civilians in the south to essentially just stay in their shelters, lock the doors.
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GOLD: All other Israeli civilians have been advised to stay close to their shelters. Because all the way out here in Jerusalem, a place that's normally kept out of these conflicts, we've already heard five air raid sirens. Tel Aviv has been affected. The area around the airport has been affected.
As far as we, know Ben Gurion Airport, the main international airport, has not been shut down yet. It is still operating. We do know that air raid sirens have gone off there as well. And now, we also have confirmation the Israeli military has started its airstrikes in Gaza.
And we should expect a very, very heavy and strong Israeli military response to this because of this unprecedented attack, a combination coordinated these rockets plus these military infiltrations. Again, something that Israel has not experienced, a surprise attack, since the Yom Kippur war.
BRUNHUBER: I want to ask you about that, Hadas, just how unprecedented this is, such large scale rocket attacks. Especially, Israelis seeing these images of armed attackers driving around the streets. It must be terrifying.
What is the mood right now among Israelis?
GOLD: I think the mood right now is a bit of shock, a bit of how could this happen?
Rocket attacks have become -- I don't want to say normal but they've become a part of the equation that we expect, especially with conflict with Gaza.
But what is different is these infiltrations -- and there will be huge questions for the Israeli security establishment of how they let this happen. Just seeing these videos of militants on the backs of pickup trucks, driving through Israeli towns, militants on the streets, militants in army bases, managing to enter army bases and engage with soldiers there.
These are firefights happening in civilian towns. I don't know if Israel's ever seen anything like that. And that's what's different about this. Rocket attacks, that's something that we've been accustomed to in these conflicts with Gaza.
And Israel does have the Iron Dome defense system, that does manage to intercept most of these rockets. These infiltrations though, this is something new. I should make it clear that it's not like Gazans never go into Israel. Thousands of Gazans have permits to enter Israel every day to work. So
there will be a major question whether some of those people are the ones who are behind this. Or if they're all, as Israeli military said so far, some of these infiltrations came from the air. We saw videos of paragliders.
They came from the sea, they said, as well. And they came somehow, you know, in other ways on the ground. But really an unprecedented situation that has clearly taken Israel by surprise in some way.
BRUNHUBER: All right, Hadas Gold in Jerusalem. We'll be back in a little bit with the latest. Thank you so much.
We move now to Miri Eisin, a retired colonel in the Israel Defense Forces.
Thank you so much for being here with us. You were listening to our reporter giving us the latest. First, I just want to start with the symbolism of the timing here; 50 years, pretty much the day of the Yom Kippur war in 1973.
COL. MIRI EISIN (RET.) ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: Most definitely at the exact same time that perhaps Israel and Saudi Arabia were getting closer and a time period which has been so difficult for Israel.
You're seeing terror organization saying we're not going to allow a change in the situation. We're going to do something bombastic, not different in that sense from when they tried to blow up the Oslo accords in 1994-1995.
We are seeing something here which is unprecedented, I said before also, hopefully won't happen. But if there is an alert I'm going to have to go off the air. I too have had several alerts this morning in the Tel Aviv area. And we're all feeling the 50-year weight of what was there. I was a kid in the '73 war but it definitely feels the same.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. I do want to ask you, what seems so strange here, how these people got in, we heard there from the sea and the sky.
Paratroopers?
How unusual is this?
EISIN: So the term that Hadas was using was paragliders. And those are a kind of -- absolutely -- first of all, there's no question whatsoever. We're looking at something which is coordinated, planned, long term planning.
So I'm going to put aside for the moment the strategic surprise. I'm sure we'll talk about that endlessly. I just want to talk at the moment, when we talk about Hamas training. Hamas doing different things, they fire rockets into the sea. They do all sorts of different actions. And you watch it.
But they did not actively participate in any of the main exchanges that took place in the last two years. And I say two years of planning, two years of executing it. Let's be clear, you can always plan and execute.
Of course, the question is, how are we so surprised?
And I'll add in that we expected, in a horrific way, a very similar type of scenario up north. And one of the things that we always say about Hamas in the Gaza Strip is what they do, Hezbollah can do times 10. So right now, I'm sitting here in the Tel Aviv area.
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EISIN: And I'm more worried about the implications of something similar to what we've been seeing in these last six hours, expanding and including also the entire northern front.
BRUNHUBER: That's exactly, yet because Hamas, we heard them exhorting Palestinians, Arabs, to take up weapons and attack.
So do you expect this to spread?
EISIN: I don't expect it, necessarily, to spread. But this is something that was very well planned, very well coordinated. And I worry. I'm the incoming director of the Institute for International Counter-Terrorism, ICT.
Just a month, ago when we were sitting there talking about the challenges themselves, what am I worried about right now?
I'm worried about this and, yes, I'm going to say it, now, it's something that does come out of Iran. The person who has come out and spoken until now in the Palestinian arena is the ever figure that we never see, Muhammad Al-Deif. He is totally an Iranian run person.
Saleh al-Arouri, who is the Hamas person in Lebanon, used to sit inside Turkiye, another very strong Iranian connection. And in that sense, the fear here is that there is something that is broader and could yet spread.
And I want to say clearly, I have no doubts that Israel will prevail. But just like we ask ourselves on how strong are we, we're in the middle right now of battles taking place inside Israeli towns. And they're still at it right now. We will prevail. But the price is going to be horrible.
BRUNHUBER: Before I let you go, I do want to ask you about Israel's response here. Israel's security cabinet, they're meeting I think in two hours from now.
What are the options do you think in terms of a response?
And if Israelis have been captured, how does that complicate the response?
EISIN: It complicates it completely. And let's be very clear. Israel is already responding. When we are responding, we were strategically surprised. That means that our response is to the ones that we knew from before.
But this is something that we were not necessarily ready for. So right now, we're a ship in that sense. It's going to take a little bit of time until we move and change. And we will do so. But the responses are going to be, first of all, how we deter Hezbollah and make sure this doesn't also open a northern front.
Hamas itself, that they pay the price. I want to say clearly, it's not the people of the Gaza Strip; it's Hamas. Hamas just did a cross border land, air, underground attack into Israel and they sit in the Gaza Strip and they are going to be hit. And it is going to be harsh and difficult and war never looks good. And they started a war and it's going to continue.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I'm afraid so. We'll have to leave it there but we really appreciate your expertise on this. Miri Eisin, thank you so much.
EISIN: Thank you so much.
BRUNHUBER: All, right we'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: Let's get back to our breaking news this hour. Israel has launched a military operation against Hamas after the group carried out a surprise attack from Gaza. Hamas is claiming to have fired some 5,000 rockets early Saturday, targeting airports and military positions.
Israel has declared a state of war alert and is striking a number of military targets in Gaza.
Back here in the U.S., President Biden is facing criticism for moving forward with the construction of new barriers at the southern border. Critics say the president is breaking a campaign promise to never build additional border walls during his term.
But Biden says he couldn't stop the move because Congress had already earmarked funds to construct the barriers, which will go up amid a rise in migrant crossings.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was told that I had no choice, that Congress passes legislation to build something -- whether it's an aircraft carrier, a wall or provide for a tax cut. I can't say I don't like it, I'm not going to do it. If this hadn't been vetoed, this law.
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QUESTION: Yesterday you try to re-appropriate the funds.
BIDEN: We tried to ask the Congress to consider changing the law.
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BRUNHUBER: We get more details now from CNN's Priscilla Alvarez in Washington.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden came under fierce criticism this week over his administration's decision to build border barriers in south Texas.
Now the president has maintained, along with his officials, that they had to do this because of funds appropriated by Congress in 2019 for the purpose of physical border barriers.
Sources I've spoken with said the administration was essentially running up against a deadline and that they had to use these funds by the end of fiscal year 2023. Now in a notice to the Federal Register this week, the Homeland Security secretary said that he may have to break more than 20 laws to get this done in an expedited manner.
And that this is also an area of, quote, "high illegal entries." This is going to be up to 20 miles of border barriers. It also includes gates, cameras, access roads and lights. But the Homeland Security secretary maintaining as well this week that this is -- that the border wall is not the response.
The administration's posture on this has not changed. But again, it was necessary because these funds were appropriated by Congress. Of course, all of this, though, putting a politically precarious issue at the forefront and leaving the president to defend barriers which he had previously spoken out against during his campaign.
Of course, this time, he is saying that it is because of those funds that were appropriated before he took office -- Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Now later today, New York's mayor is expected to visit the stretch of jungle between North and South America that hundreds of U.S. bound migrants cross each day.
Eric Adams says he'll speak directly with asylum seekers moving through Panama's Darien Gap and discourage them from making the dangerous trek. He says his city is struggling to house more than 60,000 migrants who've entered the U.S. seeking refuge. Adams says the influx is a significant problem that requires new solutions.
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MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: We have been treating this major shift in human movement globally like a small cold, when in fact, it is a major flu.
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BRUNHUBER: The mayor's visit will come a day after the presidents of Costa Rica and Panama also toured the area. Both leaders said they were there to get a firsthand look at the severity of the crisis. So far, this year more than 4,000 people have crossed the gap. Migrants say their journey has been risky and full of suffering.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): What I can tell you is that it's not a jungle, it's a killing river. And it has a lot of dead people. Thank God, we came out alive.
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BRUNHUBER: Costa Rica and Panama are urging regional leaders to convene in a meeting later this month to address the crisis.
And Mexico's president has denounced U.S. plans to build new barriers as a, quote, "publicity stunt" ahead of next year's election. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday called the new barriers "propaganda" to win over voters.
But Obrador criticized the politics, saying, quote, "All U.S. presidents, with all due respect, either Republican or Democrat, have done it during their term to look good in the eyes of Americans that, respectfully, don't have all the information."
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BRUNHUBER: And joining me now is Muzaffar Chishti, the director of the Migration Policy Institute office at the NYU School of Law.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So many Democrats say they're disappointed in the president's perceived U-turn on building the wall. Biden says it was a legal requirement. He had to spend the money Congress allocated for border barriers legally. He says his hands were tied.
I mean, you're a lawyer; is that true?
MUZAFFAR CHISHTI, DIRECTOR, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE OFFICE, NYU SCHOOL OF LAW: I think his hands were tied for a very specific reason. It's that they tried to undo what then President Biden had done in terms of the allocation for building the wall.
And the state of Texas and the state of Missouri are challenging their decision to pause the building of the wall and that went to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which sent the case back to a federal judge in Texas. And that federal judge was about to rule. And from all indications, given the history of that judge on migration
matters, it's quite reasonable to believe that he would have said that the Biden administration has to build the wall. So in that regard, I think their hands were tied.
BRUNHUBER: Now President Biden says, despite this, walls don't work. That's a key question here.
Do they?
What does the research say?
CHISHTI: Research shows that, unless they're in highly dense urban settings, where there's a lot of traffic, they don't work. Other than the real environmental and wildlife protection issues, if you build them in remote areas, they tend to be ineffective.
For the simple reason that, for every tall wall, you can have a ladder that is taller. And you can already have various instruments, which can cut off the material with which defenses are built. Smugglers are very artful at these things.
So they will find a way to break the wall or break the barriers. And then, effectively, it hands people in the hands of smugglers more than deterring them. And finally, if the wall is only 20 miles long, which as this wall would be, migrants will go somewhere else where there isn't a wall.
BRUNHUBER: I spent a lot of time along the border reporting there. And you see even some of the new wall that then president Trump had built, within days, people had cut right through that. So it's a huge challenge.
There is also ongoing legal battles in Texas over these floating barriers that are meant to keep migrants from crossing the Rio Grande.
Will they have any meaningful impact on the number of migrants who attempt to cross?
CHISHTI: That's also litigation within that case (INAUDIBLE) the Supreme Court. And it's hard to believe why that would work. Most of those buoys as they use in Texas are actually in international waters.
And to believe that the state of Texas, this is not the federal government, the state of Texas which wants to build those, whether the state of Texas has even authority to do that it is quite contested.
BRUNHUBER: What does work in terms of short term options?
Are there solutions the Biden administration should be exploring now that will help in the immediate term?
CHISHTI: We believe so.
[04:25:00] CHISHTI: There is no magic bullet, obviously. But there are certain things we can do which would be more effective than a wall. And the most critical thing we can do is reform the asylum system.
Almost all people coming to the border are invoking the right of asylum. They don't run away from Border Patrol. They arrive at the border, lift their hand and say, hi, we're here seeking asylum.
And that asylum system today processes cases in an immigration system that is so backlogged that it takes years. We believe it would take up to seven years for your case to be heard.
During that time, people get the right to stay here and they get the right to work here. That has become a magnet for people who actually are not eligible for asylum. We think we should reform the asylum system so that cases are adjudicated within months as against years.
And that can be done by sending cases not to a backlogged immigration code system (ph) but to asylum officers at U.S. Immigration Customs Services, who are country specialists and who can really manage to get a control on determining cases within months as against years.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, everyone agrees the system is broken but we can't agree on how to fix that. We'll have to leave it there but, Muzaffar Chishti, thank you so much for being here with us. Really appreciate it.
CHISHTI: Thank you so much for having me.
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BRUNHUBER: We're keeping an eye on developments in Ukraine, which is reporting new strikes on its grain infrastructure. It says Russia hit grain facilities in the Odessa region for a second straight day on Saturday.
Its attacks also damaged apartment buildings and left four people wounded. But across the border, Russia says its air defenses shot down a Ukrainian drone near Moscow without causing damage or casualties.
That comes a day after Russian missile attacks on Kharkiv, where two people were killed and at least 30 wounded and after a devastating attack on the village of Hroza. At least 52 people were killed on Thursday, which prompted the U.N. to send its human rights investigators there.
The U.N. human rights coordinator said the strike amounted to a war crime. For more, Barbie Nadeau joins us from Rome.
So let's start there with that strike.
What more can you tell us, Barbie?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are some of the numbers that we haven't seen since the beginning of the war. These are civilian targets as well. The United Nations commissioner, who went there, is calling this a war crime.
And this is a war that has been filled with war crimes. This is going to be especially important after the war ends, when they start really investigating what happened. Let's listen first though to what she had to say
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ELIZABETH THROSSELL, SPOKESPERSON, U.N. OFFICE OTHE THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: At this stage it's obviously very difficult to establish with absolute certainty what happened.
But given the location, given the fact that the cafe was struck, the indications are that it was a Russian missile. But must underscore, as we said previously, that this needs to be looked at further.
But the absolutely clear thing is that there was horrible loss of life. And of course, that is to be deplored in all circumstances.
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NADEAU: You know, Kim, this is all happening as the world, especially people supporting Ukraine with military hardware and financial aid, are becoming increasingly hesitant. We see that in the United States, we see that all across Europe. And this is a time when Ukraine needs the support more than ever, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, Barbie Nadeau, thank you so much.
In Syria, at least seven people were reportedly killed Friday in a wave of strikes on rebel held areas. That's according to the volunteer group known as the White Helmets, which is blaming the Syrian government and Russian forces.
The strikes happened a day after a drone attack killed at least 89 people at a Syrian military college. So far, no one has claimed responsibility. The Syrians say terrorist groups were behind it and they will respond with force. Funerals have been held for victims and Syria's declared three days of mourning.
All, right still ahead, much more on the military operations in Israel and Gaza. We'll have a live report from Jerusalem with the latest. That's coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I want to get back to our breaking news this hour. Israel is carrying out military strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza
after the group launched a surprise attack early Saturday. Hamas militants are claiming to have fired some 5,000 rockets, targeting airports and military positions. Israeli officials say at least one person has died and several people have been wounded.
I want to bring in CNN's Sam Kiley, who is standing by in London.
Sam, you've covered the region extensively.
What do you make of the scale of this attack?
And the means Hamas is using here?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kim, I think that this is almost unprecedented. The previous level of, frankly, intelligence failure from Israel would've been the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago almost today, when they launched a surprise attack against Israel.
Now we have a surprise attack using the cover of a claimed 5,000 missiles. Israelis say 2,000 missiles. But of course, those missiles are still flying out of Gaza.
The IDF have confirmed, that's Israeli Defense Forces, that Palestinian militants then infiltrated or, as part of this complex operation, have infiltrated Israel from the sea and the air using paragliders, motorized paragliders, to get across the fence and defensive lines separating Israel from Gaza into Israeli territory.
Now the local media -- and indeed, we've confirmed this -- at least two kibbutzes have been infiltrated close to the Gaza Strip. Israeli media also reporting gun battles are ongoing in Sderot. That is the biggest town closest to the Gaza, Israeli town, where reportedly hostages were taken, even reports of hostages being taken into Gaza, back into Gaza, possibly including dead bodies along with them.
This is an extremely complex, long in the planning attack. Almost exactly a year ago, I was in Jenin on the West Bank, when militants there were saying that there were plans for a conflagration of this kind.
Muhammad Al-Deif, the leader of the military wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has indeed called for Arabs in the region to take up arms, any type of arms. He said rifles, clubs, axes, whatever is handy to rise up against the Israelis.
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KILEY: Now that is a real problem for the Israelis. If there is a forest fire that catches, first of all, inside the occupied West Bank in Palestinian Territories there, where there've been increased levels of militant activities over the past two years.
Above all, inside the Palestinian population inside Israel proper, where the Knesset, the Israeli parliament reported years ago that there were at least 400,000 weapons already in the hands of ethnic Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship.
If that was all combined, clearly that's what Hamas is hoping for, this could put Israel severely on the back foot.
With that, Israel is now mobilizing a war alert state, not a declared state of war but something close to it, with the prime minister now calling imminently a Security Council security cabinet meeting, where they will decide what their response on the wider scale will be inside Gaza.
Now clearly, if there are hostages inside Gaza, that could complicate their operations. But there will be a great deal of pressure from -- I think across the Israeli political spectrum for a very powerful military response from Israel against Gaza.
But as I say, that will be complicated if this catches fire among militant groups elsewhere, particularly on the West Bank and, above all, inside the Israeli body politic itself.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, certainly with the fears of this conflict widening, we can expect it will be a robust response from Israel.
I mean, what impact do you think that might have on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip?
KILEY: Well, they've seen and endured many, many Israeli military incursions. And of course, aerial bombardments even more frequently as a consequence or as a response to not just Hamas but Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group, firing rockets out of Gaza into Israeli territory.
But I think we can anticipate that, whatever happens in Gaza, it will be on a nearly unprecedented scale. We have, in the past, seen ground troops going in, tanks, heavy weapons being deployed by Israel inside Gaza territory.
But in some respects, that's kind of what Hamas is looking for, because that brings the war face to face for -- between their militants, highly trained militants, and Israeli soldiers, putting Israeli soldiers at greater risk.
So there will be an option here for the Israelis to rely almost exclusively on airpower, where they have total dominance, effectively, over the Gaza Strip, to try to break the military back of Hamas and the other militant groups inside Gaza.
And that means for the population of Gaza, things are going to get awful lot worse over the next few days, to be sure, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Certainly the fear. Sam Kiley in London, thank you so much.
I want to go to CNN's Hadas Gold, who is in Jerusalem.
So Hadas, you're back in the stairwell there. I know you've sort of had to go in and out of taking shelter. A fast-moving story, certainly.
What's the latest?
GOLD: Since 6:30 am, essentially, there's been this barrage of rockets from Gaza toward Israel. But this is what's unprecedented, is not only the number of rockets and the fact that Jerusalem has been targeted.
I think we've had at least five or six air raid sirens, that's why we had to come in right before we came on air with you, we got another siren, which means go seek shelter. We've been hearing interceptions or impacts all day long from these rockets coming into Israel.
Now according to Israeli military, we just had a briefing with them, more than 2,000 rockets have been fired just in the last five hours or so. And they continue as we speak.
To put that into context, in that 2021 11 day war between Hamas militants and Israel, something like 4,300 rockets were fired. So that was 11 days. This is just five or so hours since this started at 6:30 am.
The other unprecedented thing, I think, this is probably the most alarming aspect of all this, is these infiltrations of Palestinian militants into Israeli communities in the south.
According to the Israeli military, when we spoke to them within the last half an hour or so, they say that they are actively fighting in firefight with militants on the ground in several Israeli communities, including two army bases as well as the border crossing, the areas crossing between Gaza and Israel.
So active firefights on the streets. We're hearing harrowing reports of Israeli civilians essentially been trapped in their homes. And my producer now just handed me, it seems as though the prime minister saying this is war. He is saying that Israel is in a state of war. That is coming from the
prime minister himself. Earlier today, we heard from the Israeli military, saying they were in a state of war alert.
[04:40:00]
GOLD: But it appears now they're declaring this essentially a state of war. What's also amazing in all of this is the fact that these militants infiltrated -- now, some of them might have already been in Israel, because thousands of Palestinians have permits to work in Israel every day.
According to the Israeli military, some of these infiltrations came through the air, through paragliding as well as from the sea and the ground. This was clearly a very well coordinated and planned attack.
Hamas is calling this the Al-Aqsa Storm and they're connecting this directly to what's been happening at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. What's fascinating is there hasn't been a specific trigger moment.
There wasn't a major raid or incursion into the Al Aqsa mosque compound, which is also known as the Temple Mount to the Jews, a place so holy for both of them. There was no other significant event that triggered this.
This is essentially a surprise, attack and there's a lot of questions for the Israeli military and security establishment about how they were caught so off guard, especially when you look at the parallels. Almost 50 years exactly, the Yom Kippur war started in almost the exact same way.
BRUNHUBER: Yes and, Hadas, Israel's security cabinet meeting in a couple of hours.
What do you think the options are in terms of a response here?
GOLD: Well, we already know that thousands of Israeli military reservists have been called up and that the response has already begun with airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
And I think we will see a very, very heavy response from the air, the ground and elsewhere. I don't think -- I think that the Israeli government and military is preparing itself for an extended war. They're calling this war an extended conflict.
Another major question is not just what's going to be coming out of Gaza but whether other fronts will be activated as well, whether something will happen on the north with Hezbollah or with the other Palestinian militant groups there.
In my time, here I've spoken to Israeli military officials or former officials. They always say that what worries them the most is what happens on the north because a conflict like this, the one we're in right now between Hamas and the Israeli military, a conflict like that with Hezbollah would be on a completely different level.
So that is a major concern as well, is whether the north will get involved, whether Hezbollah or those other Palestinian military groups will get involved. We should expect a very, very heavy military response. Already, thousands of military reserves being called up to serve.
BRUNHUBER: All right, we really appreciate the update there. Hadas Gold in Jerusalem. Thank you so much.
We'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: Israel is retaliating swiftly and with force against Hamas at this hour targeting sites in Gaza and engaging the militants on multiple fronts. This comes after an hours long barrage of rockets took the country by surprise.
Sirens as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Numerous casualties have been reported. It's worth noting that this is also the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war of 1973. Most alarming for Israelis near Gaza, confirmed reports of militants infiltrating Israeli territory.
Prominent humanitarian rights activist Narges Mohammadi won this year's Nobel Peace Prize from behind bars and may not even know that she has been given the prestigious award. Mohammadi has been sentenced to 31 years in prison.
The Nobel committee says they are honoring, quote, "her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights."
She has been cut off from her family for continuing to speak out. The Nobel committee says she has been arrested 13 times and convicted five times and sentenced to 154 lashes.
Amazon has officially joined the space race to blanket the globe with internet access from satellites. The company has set up its first two satellites on a rocket that launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday.
It's all part of the tech giant's Project Kuiper. Long range plans call for more than 3,200 Amazon satellites to beam internet connectivity to the ground. Elon Musk's SpaceX and Starlink already have more than 4,500 satellites providing internet to most of the Americas, Europe and Australia.
Earlier, I spoke with technology consultant and president of TMF Associates, Tim Farrar. He gave his perspective on what Amazon has to do to be a player in the satellite space race.
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TIM FARRAR, TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT AND PRESIDENT, TMF ASSOCIATES: Amazon has a long way to go. It's trying to launch over 3,000 satellites. That's going to take an awful long time. There are dozens of launches.
And the rockets need to be ready to launch those satellites as well as the satellites being manufactured, which is also going to take at least two or three years to complete all of that.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And of course, Elon Musk's Starlink has thousands of satellites already in space.
So how significant is this competition going to be for Amazon?
FARRAR: Well, Amazon has got a long way to go. Starlink has been in full commercial service for about two years. So Starlink is going to have something like a five year lead by the time Amazon comes to market.
And it has got billions of dollars of revenue and millions of subscribers already. So that is a lot to catch up on. Amazon has got a lot of resources that it can (INAUDIBLE) but, still, you know, it's going to be a challenge.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, a five year lead.
Is that too far back to catch up, do you think?
FARRAR: Well, it really depends on how big this market is. Elon Musk has said he might get tens of millions of subscribers around the world. Some analysts are even more optimistic than that. But to date, he only has got a couple of million customers.
If that market doesn't increase very fast, there won't be many customers left for Amazon to catch him.
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BRUNHUBER: We will have the full interview in the next hour with more on what to expect as this new space technology race continues and what it could take for these interconnections to truly take off. Be sure to stay tuned for that.
Amazon's launch wasn't the only recent liftoff. A Spanish company successfully launched the country's first reusable rocket on Saturday after two previously scrubbed attempts. The spacecraft ascended more than 25 miles above the Gulf of Cadiz.
After five minutes of flight, it landed in the Atlantic Ocean to be retrieved by the company. This was the scene inside mission control. Engineers cheering, as you can see, congratulating each other as the rocket took off.
Well, she is tumbling her way into the history books. U.S. gymnast Simone Biles sets another record for her unprecedented new medal count, next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A small painting with a $15,000 price tag just two years ago turns out to be the work of the 17th century Dutch master, Rembrandt. Now it could fetch $18 million at auction in London. Have a look here.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Christie's auction house sold "The Adoration of the Kings" two years ago in Amsterdam. They originally believed it could've been created by one of Rembrandt's students or an artist close to him. But after 18 months of X-rays, examinations and extensive discussions
with scholars, the work was deemed the real deal. So the painting, now consigned to Sotheby's, is set for auction on December 6th in London.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, she struck gold yet again. American gymnast, Simone Biles, has won another all-around title at the world championships. That makes Biles the most decorated gymnast, male or female, of all time. CNN's Patrick Snell has the details.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Friday, the Belgian city of Antwerp, the 26 -year old Simone Biles making her own very special piece of history by winning the women's individual all-around gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics championships.
This for the sixth time in her already storied career. Simone, to get things started, not doing the Biles II but a nearly perfect vault, 15.100 the score. And that puts her at the top of the leaderboard after one rotation. From there, she simply never looked back.
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SNELL: Absolutely majestic. An uncharacteristic stumble though on the floor but not a consequence as it was not part of a major move, the American nailing these. Still finishing a half point better in the floor exercise than her closest competitor.
Biles' performance all the more remarkable, having taking breaks from the sport after both the Rio and the Tokyo Olympics. Now she is the most decorated gymnast in competition history.
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SIMONE BILES, U.S. GYMNAST: I don't know, I think I'm always shocked. You guys are so good with the stats. I'm just here along for the ride, to contribute to the U.S. and just have fun.
OK, I was emotional because it was my first worlds here 10 years ago and then now my sixth one. So it is crazy. But I swear I do have something in my eye that's been bothering me for like four hours and I cannot get it out. So while I was looking up there, it was like a combination of both.
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SNELL (voice-over): By winning gold, Biles also becoming the most decorated female or male gymnast ever, surpassing the Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo's record of 33 overall medals across both the Olympics and the worlds. Biles extending her own record with her 27th world championship medal, 21 of them gold.
SNELL: Simone will have a chance to add to her medal haul this weekend as she competes in women's vault and uneven bars finals on Saturday and the balance beam and floor exercise finals on Sunday. For now, though, it's back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Kim Brunhuber. I will be back with more breaking news out of Israel, where prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the country is at war. We will have live reporting from Israel, coming up in just a moment. Please do stay with us.
