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CNN International: IDF Says it is Fighting Hamas on the Ground in Israel; U.S. Carrier Strike Group Heads to Eastern Mediterranean; IDF: No Ongoing Fighting with Hamas Inside Israel; Gaza Civilians Face Carnage as Leaders Hide. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 09, 2023 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: We're following breaking news out of the Middle East, where deadly fighting continues between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli military official says Israeli troops are still fighting against Hamas on the ground inside Israel. More than 700 people are dead in Israel after Hamas launched unprecedented surprise strikes on Saturday, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare outright war on Hamas.

Israel's own attacks on Gaza have killed more than 400 people, with the IDF claiming to have, quote, severely degraded the capabilities of Hamas in a series of air strikes.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged his full support to Israel in the wake of the attacks. He told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call on Sunday that additional assistance from the U.S. is on its way. Sources tell CNN that Israel is requesting precision guided bombs, more Iron Dome interceptors and other items from the U.S.

NOBILO: And President Biden has promised to ramp up support for Israel in the coming days. U.S. officials say the purpose of these military deployments is to deter any expansion of the fighting beyond Israel's borders. CNN's Oren Liebermann has more now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. is sending a carrier strike group, the USS Gerald Ford Carrier Strike Group, to the eastern Mediterranean Sea as it watches the beginnings of a war unfold and Israel promising to carry out a widespread prolonged campaign in Gaza.

The purpose of this carrier strike group, which includes the carrier itself, as well as a guided missile cruiser and several guided missile destroyers, is not to get involved in this fighting or take part in any way in Israel's campaign against Gaza. Instead, it is a message to others in the region outside of Israel.

[04:35:00]

President Joe Biden said on Saturday, warning other actors in the region without specifically naming whom, but telling them not to get involved or trying to exploit this opportunity without naming them. That was clearly a message to Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iranian-backed militias in Syria, a message of deterrence to them.

Not only that carrier strike group heading from the Western Med to the Eastern Med, but also several more fighter jets heading to the region as a message of deterrence to Iran. Those fighters won't go to Israel, but the other areas where U.S. fighters are based. Again, as a warning to Iran not to try to carry out any more aggression or take advantage of the situation.

Israel, we've also learned from a U.S. official and an Israeli official, has requested certain arms from the United States. In particular, precision guided munitions as well as Iron Dome interceptors and those are the two munitions the U.S. -- Israel has used at this point. Israel has carried out airstrikes in Gaza using precision guided munitions so, it makes sense that they're requesting more of that.

And then Israel's Iron Dome has been incredibly busy intercepting barrages of rocket attacks from Gaza pretty much since the moments this began with an opening salvo of rocket fire. So, Iron Dome has played a critical role there and Israel looking more -- for more of the Iron Dome interceptor missiles.

Israel, of course, has its own stocks in it and it uses those, but there's also an understanding that Israel can tap into U.S. stocks, some of which are in Israel in the event of an emergency. And certainly, this qualifies as one.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Galant spoke for a second consecutive day on Sunday. It seems they'll be keeping up a pretty steady cadence of communications just to make sure that the U.S. is giving Israel what it has -- what it wants, and what it needs. President Joe Biden and many in the Biden administration promising full support for Israel.

Oren Liebermann, CNN in Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: U.S. Senator Cory Booker was in Jerusalem when Hamas attacked. The Democrat posted this video on social media about his experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I am in Israel. About this time yesterday I was jogging behind me in the old city when I got a urgent call from my chief of staff telling me to get back to the hotel as quickly as I could that Israel was under attack. There are thousands of rockets being launched. When I got back to the hotel, I joined others. In the bomb shelter or the stairwells of the hotel.

Frightened faces there were children and elderly families, many Americans. There was a sense a fear and worry and a knowledge to many of us, that there are horrific things going on around the country at that time. Hundreds of people have been killed. Thousands of people have been wounded in a level of attacks at a scale that is staggering and really has not been seen in this country for over 50 years. We who believe in peace and freedom and human rights for Palestinians, for Israelis, for all humankind must reject those who use terror as their weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: CNN's Nada Bashir is following developments and joins us now here in London. Nada, talk to us more about the regional response that we've been getting over the last day or so. What does it tell us about the potential for this conflict to be contained or spill over?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, there is certainly widespread concern across the region that this could indeed spill over. What we have seen from regional leaders and allies, is a unified condemnation of the violence that we've seen. On Saturday we saw from Jordan, from Saudi Arabia, from Egypt, the UAE, all condemning the violence that we have seen echoing the responses that we've seen, of course across Europe and the U.S.

Now, we've heard from the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has said that Turkey stands ready to do whatever it takes to stop this violence escalating. They are offering to play a part in mediating some sort of peaceful resolution to this conflict. And we know that according to President Erdogan, he has been in touch with allies trying to intensify diplomatic efforts on that front.

And that has certainly been echoed by others in the region. We know that Egypt, a crucial player in this conflict for decades now, has been in touch with allies trying to find a way to deescalate these tensions, the foreign minister there, Sameh Shoukry, saying he is speaking with international partners who he believes have influence in this conflict. To try and bring about some sort of resolution.

But of course there has also been expressions of solidarity from regional players with the Palestinian people. And of course, while this was a completely unprecedented attack on Saturday with devastating consequences, the Saudi Foreign Ministry has issued a statement saying this was somewhat inevitable. That they have been warning their Israel -- warning Israel that they -- that this could be an eventuality with possible consequences and risks involved in prolonging the occupation of certain Palestinian territories. As well as depriving the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights -- in the words of the Saudi Foreign Ministry. And of course, that is interesting given the fact that Saudi has been exploring potential normalization with Israel.

FOSTER: Is that over?

BASHIR: Well, look at this stage, it's all, you know, no one really knows where they stand at this point. Saudi could play a crucial part in mediating some sort of resolution, if indeed they are continuing to look and normalizing those ties with Israel. But of course, Saudi has normalized ties with Iran as well, and Iran has expressed full support for Hamas.

FOSTER: So complex. Thank you, Nada.

NOBILO: Still to come, many passengers stranded at Tel Aviv's airport. Most airlines are in a wait and see mode before resuming flights in and out of a war zone.

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FOSTER: Just into CNN. The IDF says there is no fighting now going on between Israel's Defense Forces, their troops and Hamas inside Israel, and the IDF has retaken control of all communities around the Gaza Strip. This obviously comes after two days after the militant group launched a surprise attack that killed hundreds. The Israeli military is also keeping up its strikes on Gaza, saying it has severely degraded the capabilities of Hamas. Palestinians in that area, saying more than 430 people have been killed since the Israeli strikes began.

Overnight Hamas claimed to have launched a missile attack on the southern city of Ashkelon -- the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Militants say 100 rockets were fired in response to Israeli Defense Forces targeting their safe houses. But it does seem as though the fighting within Israel at lasts is over.

[04:45:00]

NOBILO: The conflict with Hamas is, of course, having a bigger impact on the passenger flights at Israel's main airport. Dozens of flights in and out of Ben Gurion have been delayed or canceled out of security concerns. American Airlines says that it has canceled all flights from Tel Aviv to New York JFK through Monday. Air Canada is canceling all flights to and from Israel until further notice. Delta Airlines cancel flights to and from Israel through the weekend.

So to talk about this, CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us. Clare, so we've had several airlines canceling flights, security concerns. "The Times" of Israel saying that Israelis around the world are scrambling to get back home. What is the status of that and what is likely to change it?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So look, we have most airlines I think have either adjusted their schedule or canceled or suspended flights. We have some open-ended suspensions. For example, United and Air Canada say they will just review it as a situation unfolds. Others have a time horizon on it. In terms of the flights that are still operating, British Airways is still operating. They say they're constantly reviewing the security situation.

Several others, Emirates, one of them Virgin, El Al, which is of course the major Israeli carrier, continues, they say with their scheduled flights. But they're operating only out of one terminal and they're letting passengers cancel for a voucher. It is -- it's unnerving. I mean, we've seen the scenes on the tarmac filmed by our own Nic Robertson, people taking cover. This is less than 50 miles from the Gaza Strip, this airport.

But I think, look, we have potentially reservists coming home. Israel has called up reservists. The report that those people are scrambling to get home, others perhaps doing the same. And then there have been some emergency flights operated by some airlines. Korean Air is going to operate one tomorrow. United did over the weekend to get their workers and citizens of other countries out. So that's why you see some continuation of air traffic, of course, heavily disrupted.

FOSTER: Let's have a look at the oil price because it does play into anything that happens in this region. Because it's an oil producing region, even if Israel isn't. And the prices are up. But you were making the point earlier that we need to put that in the context of them coming down over the last week anyway.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, really sharp declines we've seen over the past week. Nothing to do with this particular situation to do with concerns about global demand and the fact that they had risen by some 30 percent in the three months to the end of September. So it's a hugely volatile market going into this. Some of this is knee jerk, anything in this region despite the fact that Israel itself is not an oil producing country, it sparks concern usually. Usually tends to spark price rises.

And of course, beyond the initial knee jerk, there are concerns that this could spill over. There are questions around how it could affect supply from Iran, which is of course a major backer of Hamas. The question over the normalization of Israel/Saudi relations, which has now been thrown into doubt by this conflict. Of course, that might lessen the likelihood that Saudi Arabia could be willing to increase production to stabilize prices. So there are a lot of layers under this. I think what's going on with oil really shows sort of the potential tentacles of this conflict.

NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you so much.

FOSTER: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared war on Hamas. We'll find out what that means for Palestinians living in Gaza as well. That story and much more still to come.

[04:50:00]

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NOBILO: The Israel Defense Forces say there is no longer any fighting going on between IDF troops and Hamas inside Israel, and the IDF has now retaken control of all communities around the Gaza Strip. This comes two days after the militant group launched a surprise attack that has killed hundreds. The Israeli military is keeping up its strikes on Gaza, saying it has severely degraded the capabilities of Hamas.

FOSTER: Iran's president has congratulated Palestinians after the attack by Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) EBRAHIM RAISI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is a manifestation of resistance and standing up against the fake Zionist regime, Palestinian people, Palestinian soldiers, all Palestinian groups and the Islamic Alma who really should be congratulated for this victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Many officials and analysts in the U.S. are deeply suspicious that Iran played a role in the Hamas incursion, but the Biden administration says, it's yet to find evidence directly linking Iran to the attack.

NOBILO: Inside Gaza, Israel has been unleashing devastating air strikes on numerous sites that it says are tied to Hamas and other militants. And while the militant leaders are hiding out, Gaza civilians are trapped in the strip's narrow confines with nowhere to run. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz takes us inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the first moments of what Prime Minister Netanyahu warned will be a long and difficult war.

Airstrikes in the densely populated Gaza Strip that the Palestinian Health Ministry says left hundreds dead and thousands more wounded. Israel's military says it is targeting headquarters belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad and released this video.

Netanyahu vowing to avenge the hundreds of Israeli lives lost with more ferocious firepower to come.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): 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.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): But destroying or severely deterring Hamas will prove extremely challenging for Israel's army. A significant and unprecedented number of Israeli citizens were captured by the militant group according to the Israeli army. This disturbing social media video, geolocated by CNN, shows one of those victims. Hands appear to be bound and in captivity. And Hamas claims the hostages are distributed across the strip. Israel believes to be used as human shields.

Still, Israel's military is pressing on with air assaults already underway, the IDF says it is preparing for a potential ground incursion and that all options are on the table. Thousands of Israeli reservists have been called up for the task.

Israel's army telling Gazans to clear the way for operations, ordering families to leave their homes and providing locations for evacuation. But with the conflict sure to engulf the whole of the strip, for most, there is no way out.

[04:55:03]

Gaza is largely isolated from the world by an Israeli air, land, and sea blockade and Egypt's southern border closure.

Electricity, which is mostly provided by Israel, was cut off to the enclave and internet disrupted, unclear how long services will be severed. And with Hamas leadership reportedly going underground, the two million people living in the 140-square-mile territory have nowhere to turn. Fears that an unprecedented attack on Israel could yield unprecedented bloodshed in Gaza.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The New York competing rallies by supporters of Israelis and Palestinians, the pro-Palestinian rally, got underway on Sunday afternoon near Times Square. Organizers described it as a way to stand with the people of Palestine and their rights to, quote, resist apartheid, occupation and oppression.

New York's governor condemned the event, calling it abhorrent and morally repugnant. While New York's mayor said people have the right to protest, even though he strongly disagreed with it, claiming it celebrated an horrific incident.

Nearby, counter protesters showed their support for Israel and the hundreds killed during Hamas's attack on the country.

Thanks. Joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster.

I'm Bianca Nobilo. "EARLY START" is up next right here on CNN.