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Netanyahu: Gaza Civilians Should Leave Their Homes; IDF Spokesman: Hamas Holding Dozens of Hostages; At Least 350 Israelis Killed In Hamas Attack; Israel Mother Describes Children's Kidnapping; Israel Forces Continues Striking Targets In Gaza; Israeli Man Sees Kidnapped Family On Social Media Video. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired October 08, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:34]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

I want to get to our breaking news this hour. At least 350 Israeli deaths are confirmed and more than 1500 Israelis have been wounded over the past 24 hours as intense fighting rages between Israel and Hamas.

Retaliatory Israeli strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza reportedly have killed at least 313 people, that's according to Palestinian authorities. The IDF says up to 1,000 Hamas militants poured across the border early Saturday and invaded nearby Israeli towns.

Disturbing video shows civilians being rounded up in one of them, presumably, to be taken to Gaza as hostages. A short time ago, Hamas claimed its fighters were still in southern Israel. Here's the Israeli Prime Minister on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): What happened today has never been seen in Israel. And I will make sure that it does not happen again. The entire government is behind this decision. The IDF will immediately use all its strength to destroy Hamas' capabilities. And we will take mighty vengeance for this black day that they have forced on the state of Israel and its citizens.

All of the places which Hamas has deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn it into an island of ruins. I am telling Gaza's people to leave those places now, because we will take action everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: For more, let's go over to CNN's Becky Anderson, who joins us live from Tel Aviv. So Becky, what's the latest on what we're learning about the attack and the ongoing aftermath?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Well, this is a war that Netanyahu says that Israel will win. And he says that the enemy will pay an unprecedented price. And I quote him here because I think it's important to just consider what that war will look like and what sort of price will be paid on both sides because as you rightly pointed out there are Israeli hostages identified by the IDF spokesman as in their dozens currently being held by Hamas militants in Gaza and that will very much complicate what the Israeli Defense Forces do next.

Let's just row back and just consider just how brazen and shocking to Israelis and Israeli forces that attack was just a little more than 24 hours ago. Israeli land breached by air, sea and land. Let me bring up some images for example of just one scene. Music Festival goers in the desert, just in southern Israel, Saturday morning, 6:30 in the morning, an all-night festival, heard the bombing and then started being attacked by Gaza militants. These are Gaza militants who have come across what is one of the most fortified borders by Israel of Gaza, come across and started attacking those music goers. And the scenes of people fleeing through the desert are quite remarkable.

We also have images, and just before I show you the next video, I do want to just warn you, it might be disturbing to many people, but we're showing it because the people in this video, the families of those people have said that they want this to be shown.

This is a man and a woman being caught, captured, taken hostage by Gaza militants. Whereabouts unknown at present, but one has to assume they are now in Gaza. Hamas has said that these hostages in the dozens are sort of littered around Gaza in various areas, which is going to make this effort by the IDF so much more difficult because those Israeli citizens are there. And I cannot underscore just how spectacular this incursion of Israeli land was by Hamas militants. Seeming massive failure of intelligence.

[05:05:03]

People in Israel will tell you that they really feel very insecure today, given what has happened. And it does beg the question, you know, with 300 or more Israelis now dead, 350 Israelis dead, nearly 2,000 injured, more than 300 dead on the Palestinian side, again, thousands injured, 30 Israeli soldiers killed in this, including a commander. It's very difficult to see, you know, how this might be de- escalated anytime soon, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: The answer unknowable at this point, but I want to get your sense, perhaps, of what you think happens next.

ANDERSON: Have a listen to what the Defense Minister said, in the -- the Israeli Defense Minister said about what happens next in the past few hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAEL MINISTER OF DEFENSE (through translator): This phenomenon will not continue. We will change reality on the ground in Gaza for the next 50 years. What was before will be no more. We will operate at full force. I ask Israel's citizens to remain determined and to support our security forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Strong words from the Defense Minister. And we do know that there are reported clashes in the West Bank, deadly clashes in the West Bank. We also know that there is activity, an escalation of activity at the northern border, and this is absolutely crucial to report.

Hezbollah on the Lebanese side of the border, striking Israeli land at the Shebaa Farms area just inside of Israel. Important to note that analysts suggest that Hezbollah -- Iran-backed Hezbollah, who has come out with a statement of support for Hamas and the Palestinians, say at this time, have something like 100,000 to 150,000 missiles at their disposal.

And they've struck three sites and Israelis have struck back. But the idea of an escalation at that northern border is a real concern at present. And there are those who watch this sort of theatre very, very closely who say this seeming spectacular failure of intelligence on the part of Israeli intelligence forces may have been because they were so focused on a potential escalation to the north that they had to a certain extent their eye off the ball on that Gaza and Israeli border, once again, you know heavily fortified by the Israelis which has now been significantly breached to the tune of sort of 26 breaches at this present. Hamas, by the way say, that they are still active on the Israeli side of the border. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right, Becky we'll check in with you again. In about 20 minutes or so for an update, Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.

I want to turn now to Dr. Dina Lisnyansky, who's a lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University. And she joins me now live from Jerusalem. Thank you so much for being here with us. So first, just, you know, looking at these attacks, are you surprised by the capability and the resources shown here by Hamas?

DR. DINA LISNYANSKY, LECTURER, DEPARTMENT OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES: Hello, Kim. Thank you. I think that, first of all, I would like to show what actually happened in my own words. OK.

So being here in Israel, we know that about a thousand terrorists have infiltrated the Israeli border while rockets were launched from Gaza on Israel as a decoy.

They infiltrated and brutally murdered. We're talking about hundreds of civilians and soldiers. We're talking about thousands being injured. And we did not speak yet about the numbers of people who were kidnapped from their beds, dragged by their hair. We're talking about elderly people with dementia. We're speaking about disabled people, about women and children. We're talking about humanitarian, a huge problem that would affect us for many, many years. And I believe it would affect Hamas as well.

Now we need to ask ourselves, why has it happened? Who has the interest to do so? Who is standing behind this horrible attack? And we need to understand that there is a very interesting axis here in the Middle East. And we're talking obviously about the Iranian axis.

Now, among other aims, the aim, maybe the main aim of this horrible attack was to sabotage the possible normalization with Saudi Arabia. Now Iran, who has been investing hundreds of millions of --

BRUNHUBER: I think we may have lost connection with our guests there. Apologies for that. We'd like to thank Dr. Dina Lisnyansky for joining us there.

[05:10:01]

An IDF spokesperson says, Hamas took dozens of hostages, but Israel is still working to determine the exact number. Now, have a look at this, this disturbing video apparently shows militants kidnapping an innocent Israeli woman and taking her into Gaza. Many of the victims' families are pleading for help to get them back safely. CNN's Jake Tapper spoke with a mother whose two children were kidnapped when militants broke into their home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On 6:30 in the morning, we all woke up to the red alert, but we all unfortunately used to. Since I was away, they were alone on the security room, and fortunately they used to that as well. They were with me on the phone. And by about 8 o'clock in the morning, they said they are starting to hear shootings of -- gun shootings outside.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: They heard gunshots outside?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And I started getting messages, texts from other people telling that terrorists are walking around freely and trying to break in and get into houses. At about 8:30 they heard a door break. They said someone is breaking the door, someone is breaking the door. They were scared to death. I can't even imagine what they felt. And I wasn't there to help. I was on the phone and I said just be quiet, stay quiet, stay in the security room. They locked the door but the doors don't really lock. They are not meant to -- they're not meant to give a solution to that kind of situation. No one ever thought terrorists would walk down freely in our places. At about quarter 9:00 I heard online on the phone the door break.

I heard terrorists speaking in Arabic to my teenagers. And the youngest saying to the them, I'm too young to go there. It was like 16 and 12. So it was very, very hard to hear. And the phone went off, the line went off. That was the last time I heard from them.

It was a very, very hard day. Many, many people from our place and from places were taken. They took babies, they took two-year-olds, five-year-olds, mothers, just innocent victims, they did nothing wrong. They were just sleeping in their beds. I mean, even wars have rules. They just don't have anymore. They just -- it's something that you don't do. You know, you know, I think it was kind of -- I always tell my kids when we saw a (inaudible) I don't know, that the kids in Gaza are struggling and are having a hard life a lot more than them, and now,

I'm not sure I'm OK, to be so moral about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The White House is offering strong support to Israel, which means more U.S. military hardware could be on its way, following those attacks by Hamas militants. That's ahead.

Plus, a reaction from world leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Stay with us.

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[05:17:35]

BRUNHUBER: Israel has continued to carry out strikes in Gaza a day after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack from that area.

Israeli forces say they have hit more than 400 targets, including 10 towers and a compound belonging to the Hamas intelligence chief. The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 300 people have been killed in the area.

For its part, Israel says at least 350 of its citizens have died in the attacks launched by Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pledging to eliminate the militants, saying his country faces a long and difficult war.

Washington could announce new assistance for Israel as early as Sunday, according to U.S. officials, who say the two countries are already talking about what kind of aid Israel needs.

Military aid was the subject of a phone call between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday. Kayla Tausche has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House is working around the clock to understand the scope of Israel's needs as it responds to these attacks, which the U.S. is calling appalling and unprecedented. A senior administration officials says, the focus of the U.S. is in assisting to keep the violence contained at this stage. And that there are conversations happening up and down the military chain to deliver direct support to Israel, which I'm told by sources, Prime Minister Netanyahu directly asked President Biden for in a phone call that the two leaders held on Saturday.

Officials have acknowledged that the lack of a speaker of the house of representatives in the U.S. and a permanent U.S. ambassador to Israel are unique challenges at this moment as the U.S. tries to get support in a timely and fulsome manner to Israel. But President Biden says that support from the U.S. is rock solid and unwavering.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back. We'll make sure that they have the help their citizens need and they can continue to defend themselves in the street, in their homes. Innocent people murdered, wounded. Entire families taken hostage by Hamas. Just days after they mark the holiest of days in the Jewish calendar is unconscionable. You know, when I spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning, I told him the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop.

[05:20:11]

TAUSCHE: Well, Biden did not specify the target of that particular message. U.S. officials have been clear in Iran's role as a longtime sponsor of Hamas. But when asked whether they believe that Iran was behind the Hamas attacks in recent days, the U.S. said that they could not yet draw that conclusion.

Kayla Tausche, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now, for more reaction to the Hamas attacks, we're joined by Nada Bashir from London. So, Nada, of course, there's been an outpouring of international support for Israel, but of course not from all countries. So, first let's start with the regional reaction.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, there certainly has been an outpouring of concern from regional leaders, particularly, of course, concern over the potential this has to escalate even further.

We've heard from key players in this conflict, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, all three of whom have been key players in this conflict. For decades now, all of whom have called for a de-escalation to the violence and have condemned the violence that we have seen over the last day.

And, of course, Jordan there has been a key player in terms of keeping in touch with the United States on this front as well. We've heard from the Turkish government, the Turkish Foreign Ministry, condemning the violence, calling for tensions to be eased. And also saying that Turkey stands ready to help in mediating peace and able to de-escalate the tensions that we are seeing.

But, as you mentioned there, there has also been some expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people from regional plays, including Saudi Arabia. And, of course, Saudi Arabia is in the process of exploring the possible normalization of ties with Israel.

But we have heard from the Saudi Foreign Ministry while condemning the violence, also saying that the kingdom is repeating its previous repetitive warnings of the dangers of the situation blowing up as a result of the continuing occupation and depriving the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights. And this is a sentiment and message which has been echoed by others

including the Arab League, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen. We have seen protests and rallies and solidarity of the Palestinian people erupting in both Kuwait and Yemen.

Of course, as you mentioned there, we have had expressions of support from Iran as well. I can read you just a bit from an advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has quoted on state-run media saying, "We congratulate the Palestinian fighters and will stand by their side until the liberation of Palestine and holy Jerusalem."

BRUNHUBER: All right, so that's the regional reaction. You've been monitoring the wider international reaction. What are you seeing there?

BASHIR: We know of course that a U.N. Security Council meeting is set to be held today and we have had that vocal and unequivocal condemnation from the United Nations, the U.N. Secretary-General, condemning the violence and expressing the U.N. solidarity with Israel and its rights to defend itself.

We've also, of course, heard those sentiments echoed by the E.U. We've heard from the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as well as the E.U.'s Foreign Affairs Chief, Josep Borrell, both expressing the European Union's unwavering support for Israel calling for an end to the violence that we have seen.

And this has been echoed by the British government. Take a listen to the statement from the British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CLEVERLY, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The U.K. completely condemns these terrorist acts against Israel, and we support Israel's right to self-defense. And of course, we will be working closely with the Israeli government. We're already in contact with them and we will continue to do so, both to protect British nationals in Israel and to try and bring peace as quickly as possible.

There is travel advise on the FCDA website. People should follow that if they are planning to travel to Israel, and they should follow the advice of the Israeli defense force if they are already in Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, as you heard, the British government as well as the European Union both vocal in expressing their support and solidarity for Israel's right to defend itself. And this is something that has been expressed by the Ukrainian President as well, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Israel has every right to protect itself from terror, so does every other state. And it is very important for the whole world to respond to terror in the united and principled fashion. No support for terrorists. Wherever they aim their missiles and whomever they attack, terrorists must lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, of course, the immediate focus right now for both regional and international leaders is really on this attack by Hamas and on the impact. This has had both the immediate violence that we have seen as well as the reports of dozens of hostages that have been taken and taken into Gaza by Hamas.

[05:25:05]

But, of course, there is also concern for the repercussions this will have later on in terms of a full-scale military response by Israel, if that were to take place. And that is certainly the suggestion and the impact this could have on Gaza. It is important to note, of course, that Gaza is under a blockade, a land, sea and air blockade. It has been as enforced by Israel since 2007. So there is huge concern from human rights groups around the humanitarian and civilian impact this could have.

But as you heard there, across the board, condemnation against the violence that has been inflicted by Hamas in this latest attack.

BRUNHUBER: All right, I appreciate that. Nada Bashir in London, thanks so much.

Still ahead, we'll have much more on the fighting in Israel and Gaza, we'll speak with a former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. about the impact all this is having on regional diplomacy. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Israeli military is confirming a significant number of Israelis were taken hostage by armed militants who stormed into southern Israel on Saturday. Hamas claimed it captured dozens of Israelis and raids on southern Israeli towns and says its fighters are still in the area.

Videos have surfaced online like this one showing an Israeli woman forcibly pushed into a vehicle and taken away. The whereabouts and condition of the victims are unknown, which vastly complicates the Israeli military response now underway.

[05:30:06]

The IDF says families of the abducted are being urged to share information, including DNA with police as soon as it's safe to do so. CNN's Nic Robertson is just a few miles from the Gaza border and has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: What we're witnessing here, the first time that we've seen it tonight, is Israeli heavy armor being transported in towards Gaza. That's the road to Gaza, about two and a half miles, three kilometers that way. And these are Israeli battle tanks. I've counted at least five. There are more trucks transporting them coming around the corner.

The night has been very active. Beyond that checkpoint there, that is the area where the Israeli Defense Forces have been contesting with Hamas militants who are still inside Israel. Where we are, this is the area that Israel controls proper. Beyond that, it is still an active military zone. These tanks are being moved into that zone. We've heard helicopter gunships attacking positions on the ground. We've seen special forces moving in and out of the area around here.

And we've seen a lot of missiles fired coming out of Gaza by Hamas militants and others, potentially fired out of Gaza and intercepted by Iron Dome defensive missile systems. The Iron Dome's been firing up from over here. The intercept is literally happening overhead. And that has happened on multiple occasions. We've been hearing as well Israeli jets flying towards Gaza. And then we've heard explosions, heavy explosions at times, flashes on the horizon through the night.

So this is a very dynamic and fluid situation. But this is the first time we are seeing heavy Israeli battle armor moving towards Gaza. Perhaps the first steps of future deployments. Nic Robinson, Zikim, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, for more perspective on this deadly attacks, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon is with us from Tel Aviv. Thank you so much, sir, for being here with us. So first I just want to start broadly with your thoughts and reaction to the horrific attacks on Israel here.

DANNY DANON, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: We are in a pain. We paid a very heavy price. We are still counting the number of casualties. Unfortunately it's hundreds. We also know about dozens of Israelis who barbarically were kidnapped in to Gaza. And we are talking about families, children of two years, three years old, elderly, crippled people. It is a barbaric situation. It reminds us, seems that we saw of ISIS a few years ago, but now it's here inside Israel.

As we speak, we are still fighting few militants in the southern border. I believe that in the next few hours, we will be able to clear the entire area and then we will start to get ready for our attack. We will not sit idly by. We will attack Hamas. We will fight him back. And I think the goal should be to eradicate Hamas. We have no other option after what we saw yesterday.

BRUNHUBER: By eradicating Hamas, do you mean sort of regime change within Gaza or eliminating them completely as a as a governing entity?

DANON: I mean eliminating them completely, exactly, chasing them, hunting them down in the tunnels where they're hiding, you know, what they did yesterday was an unprovoked attack. You have no reason for that to -- to enter Kibbutz, a peaceful community and to commit such a massacre during daylight. You cannot explain it. There is no reasoning for that.

So we have to protect our people we have to fight back and I think, you know, in the past we postponed this decision. We always try to negotiate to find some kind of a compromise, a ceasefire where we are today. We are united in the position that we have to fight for our lives and -- and -- and the goal is to hunt down those militants, the leadership of the militants. And I'm calling the people of Gaza, we have nothing against the civilians in Gaza, they should move away from the headquarters of Hamas. They should move away from the tunnels where the militants are hiding because we will get to those places and we will hunt them down.

BRUNHUBER: We've now seen attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon fresh clashes today in the West Bank is this on its way to spiraling into a wider conflict do you think?

DANON: Well, we heard the call of Hamas calling other radical militants to join the fight against Israel. I would advise Hezbollah not to check our conviction and I would advise them not to join the attacks against Israel, because we lost patience in the last few hours, you know, where -- I cannot describe you the feelings in Israel today but we were celebrating a Jewish holiday and in the middle of the Jewish holiday when we heard those horrible attacks. It reminded us of what happened in Yom Kippur 50 years ago.

[05:35:11]

So we will not let it happen again and we will use our might against Hezbollah. We will bury Hezbollah under the rebels of Lebanon if they will join the fight against Israel today.

BRUNHUBER: So you're talking about Israel using its might, burying Hezbollah. But I want to sort of pivot to more diplomatic solutions here if there are any indeed. The U.N. Security Council is supposed to meet today to address this. What response are you hoping for here?

DANON: I think we expect to hear a very clear condemnation and support for Israel to restore security in the region. So yes, we know it will not be easy. It will be costly. But we have no other option. You know, I have to explain it because in the next few days we're going to talk more and you're going to ask me about casualties in Gaza and about civilians. God forbid, it will be hurt from our attacks. But you have to understand that there is no other option for us. You know, we saw what we are dealing with, and we expect the international community to understand that we are fighting evil. The same way the U.S. fought al- Qaeda and the Western countries fought ISIS. Today we are fighting Hamas. It's a fight that we cannot avoid and we would have to go all the way with that.

BRUNHUBER: Many countries, and especially in the region around Israel, are calling for de-escalation. What diplomatic efforts, if any, are happening right now on that front? DANON: Well, it's very naive to call for de-escalation after what we

experienced in the last 24 hours. You know, when they dragged those kids and women into Gaza, I don't think Hamas will release them because of the calls of the international community. So the international community should not expect us to be naive as well and to sit and wait for Hamas to decide to release our families and people who were abducted. We will take the necessary steps.

We will use force. Unfortunately, that is the language that you have to use in the region. You know, it's very, very strong, open, liberal democracy. But the neighborhood where we live forces us to use force and to show our strengths every few years.

BRUNHUBER: Bigger picture then in terms of relations with Israel's neighbors. I mean, there's been so much momentum there, sort of repairing those relations. But in response to this, Saudi Arabia has said that they've warned an explosive situation as a result of the continued occupation and deprivation of the Palestinian people's legitimate rights. So, you know, in some ways blaming Israel for what's happened here. Does this attack and the potential aftermath now jeopardize normalization with Saudi Arabia?

DANON: I'm still optimistic. I think the majority of the Arab world, our moderate Muslim, want to achieve peace with Israel and to live peacefully. And when they see those pictures of horrific footage, I don't know if you actually broadcasted those horrific pictures to your audience, but when you see those horrible footage, you understand that you're dealing with animals.

And it doesn't represent Muslims or the majority of the Muslim country that we are dealing with. So for the long run, I'm optimistic. But I agree with you. I think one of the goals of this operation was to block the negotiations and to block the negotiations we had with Saudi Arabia. And I'm sure you can find the fingerprints of Iran. They are the ones who are actually feeding Hamas with technology, with funds. They are the ones who are actually involved in many of the attacks we experienced yesterday.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll have to leave it there. We really appreciate your perspective on this, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon. Thanks so much.

DANON: Thank you very much.

BRUNHUBER: All right, still ahead, more rockets are fired into Israeli communities near Gaza. Why Hamas says it carried out the latest attack.

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[05:42:16]

BRUNHUBER: Hamas says, it has fired 100 rockets towards the southern Israeli city of Sderot after accusing Israel of targeting homes in Gaza. Israel says the latest attack has left at least four people wounded. It happened a day after militants from Gaza stormed into the nearby Israeli communities attacking security forces and civilians. One witness describe what she went through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Suddenly out of nowhere, shots are coming in. They started shooting in every direction. And I took the car keys and just drove and started moving forward to get out of the shots. And at some point, they overtook us. We were overtaken by the shooters. They started shooting at our vehicles. We got out of the vehicles. I didn't keep driving. We took cover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The former head of Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, tells CNN there was no warning sign before Saturday's attack. He calls it a total surprise.

CNN's Tom Foreman has more now on how it all unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This extraordinary series of attacks began at 6:30 in the morning when Israel was asleep with this massive barrage of rockets flowing out of Gaza. Note, this would be the level at which their most rudimentary rockets would hit, about six miles or so. Then you reach out to maybe 25 miles. And their most advanced rockets, the ones that would most seem to rely on probably on some technology beyond them, Iran as many intelligence people would say, would reach up here to Tel Aviv, that is about 45 miles from here.

Whatever the placement of them was though, there were an awful lot of them. We don't have an exact count, but it appears to be in the thousands. That would matter because that would make it easier to overwhelm Israel's missile defense system, the Iron Dome system, and make sure that some got through even if many were stopped.

More importantly, by doing this, all indications are that laid the groundwork for what came next, at 7:40, an hour and 10 minutes later, thar's when armed soldiers, fighters, started coming out of Gaza into Israel. Some by knocking by walls and barriers here, some coming in by air with powered parachutes, some by boats going around here. This was something, again, that indicated it was a very planned attack, and soon you saw people with rocket launchers and rifles running in the streets.

They even went and engaged military bases, where you would think they would expect the most opposition, gives an idea of their degree of planning and confidence as they went in to attack the Israelis. And of course, we've seen those videos of the towns that have been raided near that area where we had reports of people being taken hostage and other people being killed.

[05:45:03]

All of it speaks to this very notion we've been hearing about from the beginning that this represents a level of planning and execution that is far deeper than what has typically been seen before. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: In Iran, thousands of people gathered in the streets of Tehran on Saturday to celebrate Hamas' attacks in Israel. Now, former Israeli Special Envoy to combat anti-Semitism is speaking out about the attacks. She was ousted by Prime Minister Netanyahu after she was critical of the reason judicial overhaul and she makes it clear, she considers the regime in Tehran played a role in the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOA TISHBY, FORMER ISRAELI SPECIAL ENVOY FOR COMBATING ANTISEMITISM: I want to say one thing. The fingerprints of this attack are on Iran. Iran is the greatest sponsor of terrorism in the world and is a state that is the greatest sponsor of anti-Semitism in the world. We've been saying this for a very, very long time. Iran is out to get Israel. Iran is out to destabilize the entire region. And this attack is exactly what they had intended to do.

We're not sure what it means for Iran, but Israel could not sit still after an attack like this. No country would sit still. The thing to remember as well, every time there are conversations about peace in the region, Palestinian militants are sabotaging this. This is exactly what happened around the Oslo Accord and why the Oslo Accord failed, because the Palestinians unleashed terrorist attacks all over Israel. So, it's not surprising that this is happening again while we're discussing peace with Saudi.

I have to be clear here. There are no whataboutism about what happened today. There is no defending it in any way, shape or form. Democratic Socialist of America is hosting a rally tomorrow in New York City in order to support whatever just happened today.

When you put women and children on trucks and elderly and babies and you take them into Gaza and parade them, there is no defending this.

The Palestinian, as a national movement, need to figure out what it is that they're after. They need to figure out what it is that they want. Because if they are after living side by side with Israel, I'm sure there is a conversation to be had about that at some point, not any time soon. But if they're going to continue chanting from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, which is essentially ethnically cleansing the Jews from their ancestral land and wiping Israel off the map, we're going to keep having these issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right, I want to turn now to some other headlines from around the world this hour. More than 2,000 people are dead following a powerful earthquake this weekend in western Afghanistan. Then the Taliban say the toll could rise as rescuers work to free people still trapped under the rubble. The 6.3 magnitude quake struck in Herat Province, Saturday. The earthquake comes as the country is already dealing with an economic crisis.

Ukraine is reporting a new attack on its Kherson region, saying it left 11 people wounded. Officials say Russian artillery struck homes and gas distribution facilities. The injured include a nine-month-old baby and her mother, who were hospitalized in moderate condition. Russia has stepped up attacks around Kherson in response to Ukrainian assaults on its troops in the region.

The U.S. House of Representatives will reconvene at the Capitol on Tuesday after a long weekend. Republican lawmakers are still scrambling to choose and elect a new Speaker of the House. A hold a closed-door meeting Wednesday to select a new leader, then the entire House of Representatives will vote. Republicans hold the majority, but they'll need almost all their members to rally around their new candidate.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams says he saw close up the reality and the scale of the migrant crisis after a stop in Ecuador on Friday. He spent time at the Darien Gap, Saturday. It's a huge

rainforest that connects Central and Southern America. It's also a major transit point for migrants trying to reach the U.S. to escape violence and poverty.

Adams called his visit a fact-finding trip to counter misinformation he believes is to blame for migrants traveling to New York in record numbers.

All right, more on the fighting in Israel and Gaza just ahead. Coming up, we'll hear from an Israeli man who says his family was taken hostage by Hamas. Stay with us.

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[05:53:02]

BRUNHUBER: As we've been reporting, an unknown number of Israelis have been taken hostage by Hamas militants. Hamas claims the total is in the dozens. Israel says, it's trying to work out the exact number.

Disturbing videos have surfaced online like this one, showing an Israeli woman forcibly pushed into a vehicle and taken away. The whereabouts and conditions of the victims aren't known, which vastly complicates the Israeli military response that's now underway.

The IDF estimates up to 1,000 militants crossed the border into southern Israel on Saturday and seized civilians in nearby towns. Hamas claims its fighters are still in some of those towns.

And heartbreaking stories are emerging from the conflict, an Israeli man tells CNN's Erin Burnett that his wife, his two daughters, and his mother-in-law were kidnapped by Hamas militants, and that seeing them on this video that had been shared on social media confirmed they'd been seized. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YONI ASHER, FAMILY TAKEN HOSTAGE: I have no idea where they are right now. But earlier this morning they were visited in Kibbutz near Oz. In my mother-in-law house on the Kibbutz. And they were taken by Hamas to Gaza Strip. My mother-in-law, my wife, my two daughters, which are five-year-old and three-year-old, and I lost contact with them about 11 a.m.

When my wife was me on the phone, she told me that the terrorists of Hamas entered the house, and later on, the conversation was disconnected. Later on, I managed to track her mobile phone by using Google, and I tracked her mobile phone, and I saw that the location is in Gaza Strip, in Gaza, in Khan Yunis.

And later on, I saw the video which confirmed that my wife and my daughters were taken, like you see in the video, that is on social media, that everyone saw.

[05:55:06]

And I -- I -- all day long, I talked to press and I tried to talk to officials from the state but no one talked to me yet. I don't even know what is the situation regarding the hostages and the situation is not looking good.

My wife and mother-in-law also have German citizenship. So with your permission, I would like to approach the German government, the German prime minister, dear Mr. Olaf Schultz, and the German ambassador, Mr. Steffen Seibert, my wife, Doron, German citizen who was taken with her mother, a German citizen, today by Hamas terrorists to Gaza.

I beg you, if you can please help us, we are begging for your help, if you can do something to succeed to take my kids and my wife out of there as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And before we go, a number of countries around the world are lining up some of their most famous landmarks in support of Israel.

In Berlin, the Israeli flag is now projected on the iconic Brandenburg Gate. Chancellor Olaf Schultz posted on social media, quote, "in solidarity with Israel."

Italy is also showing its support. Israeli flag is projected onto the official residents of the Prime Minister. And in New York, the Freedom Tower is lit up in the blue and white of the Israeli flag.

All right that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. CNN's This Morning is next.

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