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Israeli Troops Amassing Near Gaza Border In Preparation For Likely Ground Invasion Aimed At Destroying Hamas; Rockets Fired At Tel Aviv From Gaza Intercepted By Israeli Iron Dome Defense System; U.S. State Department Coordinating Charter Flights For Americans Wishing To Leave Israel; Egypt Closes Border With Gaza Preventing Palestinians From Leaving Region; Hezbollah Reports Attacks On Israeli Military Targets Near Lebanese Border; Some Concerned That Israeli Invasion Of Gaza May Increase Antisemitism In U.S.; Israeli Isolation And Bombing Of Gaza Creating Humanitarian Crisis; Intelligence Agencies Examining Reasons For Failures To Predict And Prepare For Hamas Incursion Into Israel. Aired 2-3p ET.
Aired October 14, 2023 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:00:14]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: And there's more breaking news this hour in Israel's war against Hamas. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington, along with CNN's Sara Sidner in Tel Aviv.
After days of building up troops along the border with Gaza, the Israel military now says its forces are increasing their operational readiness for the next stage of the war. The region bracing for a possible large-scale ground invasion of Gaza by the Israeli military. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rallying his front line troops today and pronouncing them ready for what's next.
A short while ago I asked a key Israeli opposition leader about the battle ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YAIR LAPID, LEADER OF OPPOSITION IN ISRAEL, YESH ATID PARTY: I think we're going to do everything that is necessary and probably an incursion is part of this in order to make sure Hamas is gone from Gaza. We have tried, as you very well know, Wolf, we have tried to live next to them, and the result was beheaded babies. So now we're going to go and do whatever is necessary to make sure Hamas is no longer in Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Let's go back to Sara right now. Sara, I understand there are sirens going off in Tel Aviv where you are.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They're very loud, as you know, Wolf. We've experienced that. It is starting to rain and now we are starting to hear sirens. I'm going to be quiet for a second so you can hear that. What usually happens is that you'll start, if there is a rocket coming in, hearing the sound of the Iron Dome trying to intercept the rocket. This is the second night in a row that we have gotten -- oh, there's tracer fire. Can we turn the camera?
I see -- oh, God, there's another one there. There's another one. Come over here to me. There's another one right above our head, right above our head. Right here. It's just gone behind the clouds. It's right above us. All right, we are seeing it right above our head. And I haven't heard that sound that we normally hear of the Iron Dome responding. But we just saw fire what appears to be from the Iron Dome trying to intercept.
There's the sound. Another one. Another boom. Car alarms now going off. That happens because it rattles, it rattles. There's two -- OK, there, there, there. See it? There's two, there's four, three, four, five. There are five incoming right now. Can you guys get me my helmet, please? There are five different -- there's tracer fire coming from the Iron Dome trying to intercept rockets. You're going to hear a boom. It's coming.
You're seeing the light. You're seeing the flashes. And you see the light first. Light travels faster than sound, of course. You should be hearing a boom shortly. I'm going to be quiet here just to wait for that sound. Hopefully there's an interception. There it is. That's one. We saw five, remember. So there should be a couple. There's another. Another. That's five. There must have been another. That's six.
All right, so this is life on the -- there's another one. Seven, eight, nine. I'm just going to put this on, because it's stupid not to have this on during all of this. All right, deep breath. This is what happens during a war.
Those are rockets sent over by Gaza, sent over into Israel. This is Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv does not have this happen often. Other parts of Israel, yes. Closer to the border, yes. I have been there and done that. So have the residents here. Anyone that lives along the Gaza border is, unfortunately, used to rockets every now and then coming over. Not this many, not this often. But they are used to being protected, going and finding a place. They have safe rooms in their homes, for example. They have shelters they can get into when they're on the street.
[14:05:03]
But it's unusual for Tel Aviv, except for during this particular war, this surprise attack by Gaza, the response by Israel, and now there is a full-scale war announced by Israel. So you are seeing one of the reasons why Israel is going into Gaza. This is one of those moments, as a journalist, but also for the people living here. I'm just here visiting. I get to go home. The people living here don't. The people living in Gaza don't. That's their home. They are stuck with the circumstances that they are experiencing. And here what you often hear, as a tourist or someone coming in when
this happens, and there are tourists that are here, although very few, you start to hear an announcement from inside of your hotel rooms, screeching, really, saying get to safety, go to shelter, there are rockets coming in. And so there is no way you can sleep through that.
But for people who live in their homes, they don't have that. So all they can do is listen to the sirens, which, by the way, you don't always hear. You don't always hear the sirens when you're on the street. You've got music in the car, you've got things going on. You're not necessarily paying attention. So this is why the fear is so incredibly high, why the anxiety -- and you can feel it here in a way I've never felt before, Wolf. I know you've spent plenty of time here. I know you started here in Israel as a journalist. I lived here for quite some time. This is different. This is truly a different level of fear and anxiety on this side of the border, and certainly the same going on, on the Gaza side of the border.
I'm going to go now to CNN's Jeremy Diamond. Wolf, are you there with us?
BLITZER: No, I just wanted to point out, Sara, it's really important to be wearing that helmet. I was there covering a war a few years ago not in Tel Aviv, but along the border with Gaza in Ashdod in Ashkelon, and even when these rockets are coming in from Hamas towards Tel Aviv right now, as you correctly pointed out, and the Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile system goes up there, the interceptors go in, and they take out these rockets and these missiles, the debris that begins to fall down from these rockets, that could be very deadly as well.
And that's why everyone, as soon as those sirens going off, they have to go into shelter, a bomb shelter, get into an area, a stairwell, anywhere where they can be away from the outside, because all that debris coming down from the intercepted rockets could potentially be very deadly. So I'm glad you've got that helmet on at a minimum, and watch what's going on very closely. It's a very, very, very dangerous situation that's unfolding.
Jeremy Diamond is joining us from Jerusalem right now, Sara. Jeremy, so what more are we learning from the Israel Defense Forces about what's going on right now?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Israel Defense Forces are being increasingly clear about what this next phase of the military response to Hamas' terrorist attacks is going to look like and what the objectives are of those missions. The IDF in a statement today, as well as a briefing from its chief spokesman, making clear there will be a coordinated strikes from air, sea, and land in this next phase of this war. They say that they are increasingly getting ready for that next phase, that reservists have been positioning themselves in key locations around the Gaza Strip, and also saying this next phase of the war will, quote, have an emphasis on significant ground operations.
And that is perhaps the most direct reference we have heard yet from the IDF about what everybody here expects, which is that there will be some kind of ground invasion of Gaza. We have been watching all of these pieces coming into place for that ground offensive to begin taking place, whether it is the IDF ordering Gazan civilians to evacuate southward, whether it is the armored personnel carriers, tanks, positioning of those hundreds of thousands of reservists in key locations around the Gaza Strip. Everything seems to be building up towards a likely ground invasion.
What Israeli officials are still not saying, though, Wolf, is when exactly that will happen. They are making clear, though, that they are being very deliberate about these preparations, trying to be very strategic about exactly when they move forward with this next phase of the campaign, to make sure that those reservists, that the military is properly trained and prepared. And the national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, also talked about the objectives today of this next phase of the military response, and he said Hamas will not be the ruler, will not be the sovereign in Gaza after combat. Sara?
SIDNER: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.
We are hearing some movement out here, just sirens going off.
[14:10:02]
But we have been given the all-clear, and so I'm going to remove my helmet now, after we have just seen coming in and over, right over Tel Aviv, right over the city, at least 10 rockets. All of them, it appears, have been stopped by the Iron Dome. We heard them one after the other.
I want to go now to CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman. He is reporting live for us from southern Lebanon, another hot spot in this conflict. Ben, as Israel is preparing for what is going to be next in Gaza, which everyone is assuming will be a ground war, it's pushing for civilian evacuations while also defending against attacks from inside Lebanon. Give us some sense of what is happening where you are.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the last half-hour or so, Sara, we have heard some distant thuds to the south of us in the direction of the border with Israel. And certainly, this afternoon we heard a prolonged -- there was a prolonged period of thuds and whatnot coming from the direction of the Sheeba Farms which is a disputed area between Lebanon and Israel. In fact, we also heard volleys of rockets going out of Lebanon into Israel.
Now, according to the Israeli military, 30 mortar rounds were fired into Israel. Hezbollah has said that it hit five positions in the Sheeba Farms area. The Israelis said that during this exchange of fire, they detected a team on the Lebanese side that seemed to be prepared to fire an anti-tank missile into Israel, and that team was hit in an air strike.
Now, the Lebanese authorities are reporting that two Lebanese citizens, an elderly couple, were killed when their house in the town of Sheeba was hit, and Hezbollah is acknowledging that one of its fighters was killed in what they called the confrontations on the border as well.
So the situation is tense, but until now it doesn't seem that either side is eager for another front to be opened up. I think Hamas -- Hezbollah is doing just enough to show a certain level of participation in this war, but avoiding going so far as to precipitate a massive Israeli response, and basically begin a repeat of what we saw in 2006 when, for 33 days, Hezbollah and Israel fought it out in southern Lebanon, causing massive destruction in this area and massive loss of life. Sara?
SIDNER: Ben Wedeman, there are civilians on all sides of these borders, hoping and praying that there is not a massive loss of life. The realities could be very different, as you point out. Thank you so much, Ben, for your reporting throughout all of this.
Wolf, I'm going to toss it now back to you.
BLITZER: All right, Sara, I'm glad you're OK. Thank you very, very much. Pretty scary situation when those rockets come towards Tel Aviv, the Iron Dome sends up the interceptors, blows them up, and there's still problems even after that, as I explained.
Right now, the United States, understandably, is ramping up efforts to try to bring as many Americans in Israel home as possible. As you can see, it's a dangerous situation that is still unfolding. The State Department chartered its first flight out of Israel yesterday with U.S. citizens, and more flights, we are now told, are expected. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us once again from the White House right now. Priscilla, tell us about the coordination that is needed to bring these Americans home.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Wolf, this is an effort that is being led by the State Department, and behind the scenes that includes officials working with airlines and international partners to provide another avenue for U.S. citizens in Israel to leave because of limited flights to the region as of now.
Now, as you mentioned, yesterday the first charter flight left from Israel and arrived in Athens, and more of those flights are expected in the coming days. And they'll look similar, which is to say that these carriers will take those U.S. citizens looking to leave to destinations in Europe where U.S.-based carriers will then ferry them back home.
Now, national security spokesperson John Kirby said as there is demand, they expect to continue and to ramp up these flights. They are also looking at expanding capacity, meaning looking at other ways that they can bring people home, be it by land or by sea. Now, we have learn had more than 20,000 U.S. citizens have reached out to the State Department since last Saturday.
[14:15:03]
Not all of those Americans are looking for assistance of transportation to come back to the United States, but what it does tell you, Wolf, is that there is still a demand and a need, and the State Department is working behind the scenes to provide those charter flights as it becomes more difficult to get back home through perhaps U.S.-based airlines. Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes, those U.S.-based airlines, whether American or Delta or United, they basically for all practical purposes either cut back dramatically or completely canceled flying into Israel or flying out of Israel. That's why the U.S. government is now chartering those planes to try to get as many Americans out of Israel as possible. Priscilla, thank you very much for that update.
Joining us now is Joel Rubin. He served as deputy assistant secretary of state under President Obama. Joel, thanks very much for joining us. There are local media reports right now, as you know, that Egyptian officials are actually refusing to allow U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals to enter Egypt, the Sinai, from Gaza at the Rafah border crossing in the southern part of Gaza. Instead, they're insisting that the crossing must facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza instead of letting Americans cross the other way into Egypt.
The State Department says there may be very little warning if the crossing were to open up by the Egyptians. Is there anything more the U.S. can do right now to ensure that that border opens and that U.S. citizens, many of them Palestinian, dual citizens, could get out of Gaza and potentially save their lives?
JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Wolf, it's great to be with you. And I appreciate the way you're outlining this. The number one job, as you know, for the State Department is to protect American citizens overseas, and clearly in an active warzone it's crucial that every possible ally and asset be made available for that evacuation. And regarding Egypt, this discussion now and the humanitarian corridor, the proposal of one, this is really getting into a dicey situation for the actual American citizens who need to get out. The war is imminent. Certainly, Secretary Blinken and his engagements in the region is pressing for this. There's a lot of pressure now coming from Congress as well on a humanitarian corridor.
And Egypt has been reticent to open up the gates, as I'm sure you're aware. They have their own internal reasons for why they don't want Palestinians to flood, potentially, into Egypt. But there is a way. They do have border crossings, and they just have to show the political will to actually allow the individuals who have the documentation to come through. But, yes, a lot of political and diplomatic pressure right now to get that done.
BLITZER: You would think that the Egyptians would be much more open to allowing these American citizens to leave Gaza, that dangerous area, get into Egypt and Sinai, make their way to Cairo or Sharm El Sheikh, or someplace where they could catch a plane to come home. I'm surprised the Egyptians are preventing them from coming in.
President Biden said, as you know, Joel, that the United States, in Biden's words, is working like hell to bring home Americans abducted by Hamas, the hostages. Last week -- they were abducted last week. How does the U.S. negotiate their release given the very volatile situation that's unfolding right now on the ground in Gaza? These hostages are presumably there on the ground in Gaza.
RUBIN: Yes, Wolf, this is such a diabolical nightmare scenario, quite frankly. Human shields being stolen, ripped away from their families in Israel, and taken into hell into Gaza. But regardless of how they are right now in terms of the situation, there is still life there, and so it's incumbent upon Israel to support any diplomatic efforts.
And this means with Secretary Blinken, he's in the region, we have allies like Egypt and like Qatar, in particular, that have deep contacts inside Hamas at the political level. They know the military wing. They have pressured Hamas over the years in different manners, and they have to get the word out to Hamas that this is essential.
This is not just Americans or Israelis, too. There are other countries that are affected by this. And our allies, we're looking at them right now. And they've been arguing for years that they have access to and influence over Hamas. Now it's time to show it. And if they can, that will be a significant win for everybody concerned. If they can't, there's a real danger here that these human beings are going to be treated in the most horrific way. And that's, of course, clearly on top of mind of the Israeli military planners.
BLITZER: It's so, so sad what's going on right now. To your point, we did see the Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrive in the United Arab Emirates earlier today, marking his fifth stop in recent days. Top U.S. officials are aiming to prevent the war in Israel from expanding further.
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What's your assessment of that, Joel, the effort by the U.S. to calm things down? How is that going?
RUBIN: I think there's a real opportunity here for the United States to demonstrate, once again, the importance of global diplomatic leadership. The secretary, the president doing that in Ukraine and building an international set of allies. In this case, it's essential. We can't allow this war to expand beyond the theatre that we're currently talking about. It cannot include Lebanon. It cannot metastasize and potentially have Iran engage as well. It cannot destabilize countries in the region.
So it's essential that this reassurance, not just be military reassurance as we're seeing in the eastern Med, looking at Hezbollah, quite frankly, and saying do not use your missiles, but also reassurance to our allies that there is an American program in place, and that as secretaries do by going to these capitals, saying that the United States hears you and is going to work with you collaboratively. That the kind of leadership, that's the kind of leadership that, absent that, things fall apart very quickly.
So I applaud the secretary, I applaud the administration for leaning in right now ahead of time so that all of the pieces can potentially be put together, because this could flare into a regional conflict if it's not taken care of. And so that's why we see so much activity right now. BLITZER: Yes, not only worried about Hezbollah in southern Lebanon,
what they potentially could do, and obviously what's going on in Gaza. I'm worried about Syria and Iran potentially getting involved as well. it's a real concern that I have.
Joel Rubin, thank you very, very much.
Still to come here in our special coverage of Israel's war on Hamas, concerns about the conflict increasing antisemitism here in the United States and elsewhere, indeed, around the world.
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BLITZER: Welcome back to our special coverage. Israel's military now says its forces are increasing operation readiness for the next stages of this war. There are growing concerns right now that the escalating conflict could also increase antisemitism around the globe, as well as right here in the United States. It comes just as the U.S. saw the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2022, this according to the Anti-Defamation League.
I'm joined now by Ted Deutch. He's the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, a former Democratic congressman from Florida. Ted, thank you so much for joining us. How concerned are you about this conflict increasing antisemitism here in the United States?
TED DEUTCH, CEO, AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: Well, I'm concerned just because I'm watching what's happening. We're monitoring what's happening, obviously, but looking at the news that CNN is broadcasting, we had just over the past week, after Hamas slaughtered 1,300, took over 150 hostage, killed dozens of Americans, injured over 3,000, Israel has a right to defend itself. The president has been clear about that.
What has the response been in certain places, Wolf? On some college campuses, we saw protesters standing on the side of Hamas terrorists. That, of course, puts the Jewish community on edge, Jewish students who are sitting in class next to their classmates who may be out marching in support of the Hamas terrorists who want to kill them.
Around the world we've seen the same thing. We saw the protests around the world featuring hundreds, in some cases thousands of people, again, standing on the side of Hamas terrorists who want to kill Jews. That's why Hamas exists.
And if you look at Germany, this is perhaps the most poignant of all, Wolf. In Germany there are those who have responded to these attacks on Jews by going to Jewish homes and putting Jewish stars on their doors. And when the authorities are sought out, their response is that they're too busy. And if you can just try to wipe those off with soap and water, that might be your best bet to stay safe.
Of course, we're worried about rising antisemitism. It all started as a result of this brutal attack by a terror group bent on the destruction of Israel and the massacre of Jews. BLITZER: What kind of security or safety precautions, Ted, are taking
place at synagogues and Jewish schools and Jewish community centers around the country right now?
DEUTCH: Wolf, as you know, the Jewish sabbath starts on Friday night and continues through the day today. Last night I went to attend sabbath, sabbat services. You had to have your name on a list to get through the gate to be able to pray. Let that sink in, especially for friends outside of the Jewish community who find that, rightfully, impossible to imagine.
This morning when I went to a different synagogue, we had to go past enhanced security and through a metal detector when we went in. This is what we're seeing all over the country. And I know, sadly, because of rising antisemitism in America and around the world, some in the Jewish community have just come to accept this.
But with this added threat that comes with the protesters -- the protesters in Times Square protesting in support, marching in support of Hamas terrorists and holding up swastikas, when it comes in the form of a day of jihad being announced around the world, then the measures have to become more pronounced, more secure, more security, making it harder for Jews simply to live their lives as Jews, which is why we're so grateful, Wolf, to so many of our friends and allies outside of the Jewish community who acknowledge the threat, who feel awful about what Israel has endured and who want to stand with Israel on the side of humanity and decency against this terror, and with their brothers and sisters in the Jewish community who, more and more, find ourselves at risk.
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BLITZER: What is to depressing, when I drive around here in Washington or suburban Maryland or Virginia, and I drive by a Jewish center or a Jewish synagogue, and I see cop cars, a lot of cop cars right in front. I say, is this the United States? Do you need cop cars in front of synagogues like this? It is so depressing to see that. It's not just in the Washington, D.C. area. It's all over the country, especially where there are large Jewish populations. I'm sure down in Florida where you are, you're seeing that as well.
What concerns, Ted, do you have right now about how a drawn-out conflict in the Middle East will impact American Jews?
DEUTCH: Well, look, first and foremost, my concern is making sure that the incredible support that Israel has received from the White House and Congress, the speech that the president gave the other day, the speech from Secretary Blinken, the speech from Ambassador Thomas- Greenfield, all of them speaking with such moral clarity about the importance of this moment and standing up to terror, that that support, and the support from other friends and allies around the world and from the broader community around the world, that it will continue as we continue to remind people that, just like the United States and any other country, Wolf, when a country is attacked by a terrorist group that comes across -- right across from the land next door, and that comes across with a goal of wiping you out, with a goal of massacring thousands of Jews, that any country would expect their military to defend themselves.
And that's the case here, and that means standing with Israel until Hamas is defeated. That's what has to happen here. Hamas must be defeated so that it can no longer wage war like that brutal attack, the worst day, the most violent, brutal attack against the Jewish community in one day since the holocaust.
BLITZER: Yes, so depressing to think about it. Former congressman Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Community, thank you very much for joining us.
DEUTCH: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: Our special coverage of the conflict between Israel and Hamas will continue just ahead. We'll be back right after a quick break.
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BLITZER: Welcome back to our special coverage of Israel at war. My colleague and good friend, Sara Sidner, is in Tel Aviv. That's where, just moments ago, we heard sirens going off over Tel Aviv. Then, as we were live on the air, rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome in Israel. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: It's starting to rain, and now we are starting to hear sirens. I'm going to be quiet for a second so you can hear that. What usually happens is that you'll start, if there's a rocket coming in, hearing the sound of the Iron Dome trying to intercept that rocket. This is the second day -- night in a row that we have gotten -- oh, there's tracer fire. Can we turn the camera?
I see -- oh, God, there's another one there. There's another one. Come over here to me. There's another one right above our head, right above our head. Right here. It's just gone behind the clouds. It's right above us. All right, we are seeing it right above our head. And I haven't heard that sound that we normally hear of the Iron Dome responding. But we just saw fire what appears to be from the Iron Dome trying to intercept.
There's the sound. Another one. Another boom. Car alarms now going off. That happens because it rattles, it rattles. There's two -- OK, there, there, there. See it? There's two, there's four, three, four, five. There are five incoming right now. Can you guys get me my helmet, please? There are five different -- there's tracer fire coming from the Iron Dome trying to intercept rockets. You're going to hear a boom. It's coming.
You're seeing the light. You're seeing the flashes. And you see the light first. Light travels faster than sound, of course. You should be hearing a boom shortly. I'm going to be quiet here just to wait for that sound. Hopefully there's an interception. There it is. That's one. We saw five, remember. So there should be a couple. There's another. Another. That's five. There must have been another. That's six.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Sara, thank God, is OK. She did put on her helmet after a while. Very, very scary situation. Remember, Tel Aviv is Israel's largest city. Normally it would be bustling, but clearly folks over there are, understandably, very concerned about what's going on right now. Hamas still has a lot of rockets and missiles potentially capable of going up to Tel Aviv. They've been going into Askelon, Ashdod, further to the south, closer to Gaza. But they have rockets that can clearly reach Tel Aviv, and it's a very worrisome situation that we're watching unfold right now.
Meanwhile, the United Nations is calling on Israel now not to target its shelters, warning those who are unable to flee, including pregnant women and elderly people, need to be protected.
[14:40:06]
I want to bring in our CNN reporter Salma Abdelaziz who is joining us from London right now. Salma, we're learning a plane actually carrying health supplies from the World Health Organization has landed in Egypt. What are you hearing on this?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Yes, and the World Health Organization says that plane has landed in El Arish in Egypt, so that's right up near the border. They say that it has medical supplies to treat potentially hundreds of wounded people, and the World Health Organization is saying that every hour they're unable to get those supplies into Gaza means more people can die. The World Health Organization saying that the Egyptian side is open, but the Israeli side is inaccessible. You'll remember, Wolf, that there seems to be a standoff here right on the Rafah border crossing where Egypt is insisting that aid must go in before they allow for nationals, such as Americans, out.
But all of that, of course, doesn't bode well for the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza. I have a report on the latest for you, and I warn our viewers, the images in this report are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: This is what running for your life looks like in Gaza. An ambulance with a young girl and a wounded woman inside, rocked by explosions as they attempt to flee. It is unclear what happened to the pair, but they're among the tens of thousands of people on the move after Israel's military called on nearly half of Gaza's population, some 1.1 million people, to get south in a matter of hours.
But along the safe passages specified by the IDF, utter horror. You're looking at the carnage and chaos on Saladin (ph) Street, one of the designated evacuation routes. In the aftermath of explosions, families killed amid their belongings. CNN has geolocated this video and four other clips from the horrifying
scene. The U.N. calls Israel's evacuation advisory impossible and a violation of the rules of war. And Palestinian officials accuse the IDF of bombing civilians even as they fled. Dozens of evacuees were killed or wounded by Israeli air strikes, according to Hamas. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.
The victims are flooding into Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals, and, again, it's the youngest caught in the crossfire. Nearly half of Gaza's population is children. "What did the children do to deserve this," this woman says. "Did they fight you? Did they fire rockets? My niece and her whole family are dead. The only survivor is a two-year- old girl."
The health care system is on the brink, the complete siege making it impossible to get aid into the enclave, and already there's a shortage of everything, even space in the morgue. "We're keeping the dead in ice cream trucks so the bodies don't rot," this doctor says. "Gaza is in crisis. Gaza needs help."
For those still able to move south, this is one of the neighborhoods families are expected to flee towards, Hanunez (ph) where Israeli air strikes have wreaked havoc. "This is a genocide, not a war, it's genocide," this man says. "And it's an attempt to force all Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip."
Finding refuge is proving dangerous and deadly. And for the many families desperate for shelter, the fear is there may be no safe places left.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: Now, the Israeli military's stated goal, of course, Wolf, is to destroy Hamas. They say they are targeting Hamas terror sites. But rights groups are warning that the civilian cost of this with 2 million people trapped in that enclave is simply too high. In all of this, Prime Minister Netanyahu says it is only the beginning. As you know, hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops are sitting on that border preparing for a potential ground incursion. Just in the last few hours we heard from the IDF that the preparedness level is ramping up. Wolf?
BLITZER: It certainly is. We are anticipating that invasion, that incursion into Gaza by the IDF will happen to try to deal with the Hamas group over there. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you very, very much.
Still to come, U.S. intelligence warned of potential violence days before the Hamas attack on Israel. We have details, new information coming in right after the break.
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[14:48:51]
BLITZER: Right now, the world is watching a deepening crisis unfold in Gaza, but there are very big questions about how that attack was able to happen, the original Hamas attack on Israel, and what happens now.
Here with us, the former senior director for the U.S. National Security Council, Robert Greenway. He was the principal architect, by the way, behind the Abraham Accords that were signed back in 2020 which sought to normalize relations between Israel and various Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Robert, thanks very much for joining us.
It appears Israel is poised for a massive ground invasion into Gaza, 300,000 Israeli reservists have been mobilized and they are amassed along the border right now. Do you believe Israel will be able to root out Hamas completely, and what happens if they can't?
ROBERT GREENWAY, PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT BEHIND ABRAHAM ACCORDS: Thanks for having me on, Wolf. I think there's no choice but that a ground incursion is required. Their stated objective, the destruction of Hamas, requires it. It's one of the most complex operations that can be imagined, but I do think that there is, again no choice.
[14:50:00]
And I also think that it's incumbent upon the United States, our partners and allies, to start preparing for what happens afterwards, not just the humanitarian relief that's going to be required, but, also, what form of government is going to be left on the other side of this has to be something that's developed now, inevitably. And I think it's going to require U.S. support to do it.
BLITZER: Yes, that's what some experts are suggesting. Clearly, the Israelis don't want to go in and take charge of what's going on in Gaza right now, and the Egyptians clearly don't. We'll see what happens. The U.S. is going to have a major issue trying to put together some sort of formula, if, in fact, the Israelis succeed in rooting out Hamas and destroying their infrastructure.
At the same time, CNN has learned that U.S. intelligence, the U.S. intelligence community provided specific warnings of an increased risk for conflict to Israel before the Hamas attack occurred last week. Why wasn't Israel able to anticipate such a sophisticated a brutal assault? There were signs out there, right?
GREENWAY: That's a great question, either from the Israeli or U.S. perspective there was an intelligence failure to recognize it. In my judgment, there are two reasons this happens. One is you're blind, you don't have the collection available, so you don't get the pieces of the puzzle in advance. The second reason, which is more common, is the information is there. It's pieces of the puzzle are evident, but you're not putting them together because of a potential bias.
Interesting on the U.S. side that we didn't recognize Hamas as a threat in the worldwide intelligence assessment in February, and in October the State Department pushed through aid to the Palestinian territories including Gaza, understanding the risk was there. And so that leads me to conclude that there was a judgment at the highest levels that this was not likely, and it strikes me odd that we're now trying to determine whether or not Iran was, in fact, involved when I think it's utterly apparent, and "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal" reporting, I think, have largely confirmed it.
BLITZER: Yes, there's going to be a lot of fallout from this. But first of all, both the Israelis and the U.S., they have to learn precisely what happened, learn those lessons, do a full commission of inquiry, whatever you want to call it, to make sure that they've learned those lessons and not allow it to happen again.
We've already seen Hezbollah get involved with rocket fire coming into Israel from southern Lebanon. How does the U.S. ensure that this war doesn't spread to other Israeli fronts, whether from Lebanon, from Syria, from the West Bank and other areas?
GREENWAY: That is the question, Wolf. I think right now the U.S. role here is to allow Israel to focus its attention and resources on the problem in Gaza and to prevent the conflict from escalating to the point where it's beyond Israel's ability and capacity to address it. That would draw the U.S. and, frankly, the region into a conflict and an escalation, and that is the risk that confronts us now.
I think the presence that the U.S. has introduced in the form of the Ford and soon the Eisenhower carrier strike groups are the marine readiness group in the North Indian Ocean are steps in the right direction. But deterrence has to be restored or regional conflict and global disruption to energy market ss likely to follow. This is the U.S. principal contribution to the equation right now.
BLITZER: Yes, that deployment of that aircraft carrier, the Ford aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean with a lot of fighter aircraft, that's a very significant deterrent potentially to others in the region. Robert Greenway, thank you so much for joining us. And thanks for being an architect of the Abraham Accords which are so, so important.
And to our viewers, for more information about how you can help humanitarian efforts in both Israel and Gaza, go to CNN.com/Impact or use your mobile device to scan the QR code right on your screen. You see it at the bottom there.
Still to come, we're learning new details about how Hamas prepared and trained for the terror attack on Israel. We'll have that right after a quick break.
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BLITZER: Right now, there are still very big questions about how that attack by Hamas against Israel was able to happen without Israeli or western intelligence picking up on the warning signs. A CNN exclusive investigation found at least six Hamas training camps inside Gaza, one of them very, very close to Israel's border. CNN's Clarissa Ward has more on this investigation.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Propaganda videos put out by Hamas reveal chilling details about the years of preparations that went into Saturday's bloody attacks right under Israel's nose. Analyzing metadata from the videos, a CNN investigation can reveal the presence of at least six training sites inside Gaza, one just 720 meters from the most heavily fortified and patrolled part of Israel's border. In that camp, Hamas recreated an Israeli compound with elements of the nearby border crossing, including an insignia of the Erez Battalion. The video showed they even practiced taking prisoners and zip-tying their hands at the camp.
Satellite imagery indicates the camp was constructed within the last year-and-a-half. At two other locations in the southern part of Gaza, Hamas trained for their audacious paraglider assault, rehearsing takeoffs and landings. At all six sites two years of satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows no indication of offensive Israeli military action. The imagery instead shows that in the last two years, some camps even expanded into surrounding farmland, and that there was activity in the last several months of the camps.
