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Not All Palestinians Heeding Evacuation Order; Timeline of Music Festival Massacre; U.S. Defense Secretary Says Support for Israel Is Ironclad; Senior Veteran Leads Kibbutz to Keep Hamas at Bay. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 14, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers. I'm Michael Holmes with CNN's breaking news coverage of Israel at war.
It has been a day now since Israel issued an ultimatum to evacuate northern Gaza immediately, warning that increased Israeli military activity against Hamas could be imminent.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians were seen leaving their homes in Gaza City throughout Friday, carrying what they could. But many are deciding not to evacuate or simply don't have the means to do so. Most say they have no safe place to go and, on top of that, Hamas told them to stay in their homes.
But with so many people suddenly streaming into southern Gaza, the only place to actually leave the Strip is the Rafah border crossing into Egypt and that isn't open. Egypt says they've not closed their side but the status is unclear due to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza side.
The Israeli military says it carried out a limited raid in Gaza on Friday, primarily to seek out intelligence on the estimated 150 hostages. An unknown number of the hostages are Americans.
And on Friday U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with their families by video call. He said the U.S., in his words, "is working like hell" to get their loved ones home.
Besides sending a U.S. carrier group to the region, the Pentagon has called up a rapid reaction Marine unit in case they are needed to move closer to Israel. Nada Bashir is covering all this for us from London.
Palestinians ordered to leave a day ago and head south. Now we're hearing reports that people who did choose to evacuate have been hit by strikes. NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We are learning from the
Palestinian health ministry in Gaza some pretty distressing reports. They say those attempting to flee -- or rather some Palestinians attempting to flee from the north as ordered the Israel Defense Forces, heading southward, were targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
They said whole families were targeted as they were fleeing. At least three ambulances were also struck. We have pretty distressing footage, shared by the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza.
A warning to our viewers, this is distressing and graphic.
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BASHIR (voice-over): As dawn breaks in Gaza, now under bombardment from Israel for seven days, a sinister warning from the skies. Pamphlets from Israel's Defense Forces telling all citizens in northern Gaza to evacuate southwards.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We're seeing our children killed right in front of us. They're starving us of food, of water. We have no electricity, nothing. This is not a life. And now they tell us that we have to leave. And we don't know where we will end up.
BASHIR (voice-over): Hamas leaders have called on civilians to remain steadfast and stay put, accusing Israel of engaging in psychological warfare.
But families, desperate for some semblance of security, gather their belongings. And while they are unsure of what awaits them in the south, one thing is clear: there is no guarantee of safety wherever you are in Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It happened to our grandfathers and now it is happening to us. We are being forced out. Gaza is being destroyed. Nothing is left. It's a catastrophe.
BASHIR (voice-over): More than 2 million people live in a tiny besieged Gaza Strip, still under a blockade, enforced by Israel in 2007. More than half of those are now being told to move.
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BASHIR (voice-over): The Norwegian Refugee Council has characterized the evacuation order, which holds no guarantee of safe return, as an act of forcible transfer; in other words, a war crime.
Meanwhile, the U.N.'s Refugee Agency for Palestine says the scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling.
TAMARA ALRIFAL, UNRWA SPOKESPERSON: On the move are more than 1.4 million people in Gaza. These are ordinary Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip with their families, including pregnant women, children, children with disabilities. BASHIR (voice-over): An ongoing siege means access to food and safe water is quickly running out. The U.N. World Health Organization has warned that hospitals here have only a few hours of electricity each day, pushing Gaza's already crumbling health care infrastructure to the brink of collapse.
At the Al-Shifa Hospital, the bodies of those killed in the airstrike lay shrouded outside.
There is, doctors say, simply not enough space in the morgue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They were all innocent civilians, women, children. The airstrikes came suddenly and destroyed all our homes with children still inside and now we don't even know where we can bury our dead. Enough, please, enough.
BASHIR (voice-over): In less than one week, Israel has dropped more than 6,000 bombs on Gaza, the equivalent to the total number of airstrikes carried out during the 2014 Israel-Gaza War, which lasted 50 days.
And while there continues to be widespread condemnation of the collective punishment the people of Gaza are being subjected to, there is every indication that this war will only intensify. And many here feel that the world has abandoned them.
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BASHIR: A week on since these airstrikes began and the death toll in Gaza is topping more than 1,900 people, we are learning more distressing details about the airstrikes, the impact this is having on Gaza's civilian population.
Gaza's health ministry as well as Human Rights Watch has now accused Israel's Defense Forces of using white phosphorous munitions. These munitions are known to burn flesh right down to the bone.
Israel has denied these allegations. They say they are doing everything to minimize civilian casualties by telling civilians in Northern Gaza to move southwards.
But Palestinians inside Gaza have been sharing their testimonies with us, posting online. They fear, by moving southwards and potentially having the opportunity to move onwards through the border crossing via Egypt, if it does become open, many fear they will become refugees and will no longer able to return home.
HOLMES: Nada Bashir, appreciate it. Thanks so much.
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HOLMES: To discuss further, we're joined by Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, the spokesperson for Israel's Defense Forces, speaking from Tel Aviv.
Thanks so much for being with us. Ordering civilians from a city the size of Gaza would seem to signal a potential move on the ground by Israel.
How realistic is it for hundreds of thousands of people to move south, let alone with no food, water or housing if they got there?
LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: I think it is feasible. And I think it can and I think it should be done. Anybody who wants to prioritize his safety should heed our warnings and go south of the Gaza River.
I completely understand that it is far from an ideal situation. But this is the situation that we find ourselves in. And we are doing our best to minimize civilian casualties. That's why we're calling on them to leave, out of concern for their safety.
HOLMES: Israel has cut off food, water, electricity and fuel for Gaza.
Will it allow aid to come in for those who do go south and find themselves without anything?
CONRICUS: Well, the problem with the Gaza Strip, ever since 2007, is that it's governed by a crazy fundamentalist organization called Hamas.
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HOLMES: Israel controls everything that goes in or out.
Will you allow aid in for those who do make it to the south and have nothing?
CONRICUS: Yes, I was about to answer. The problem is that aid that goes in, intended for civilians, is taken by Hamas. Water pipes are turned into rockets.
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CONRICUS: Cement meant for buildings is turned into tunnels. Food for orphans and people in need is given to Hamas operatives. And fuel for the hospital is taken to Hamas bunkers.
So we are in a state of war. And in a state of war, I don't think it could be really expected or demanded of us to provide sustenance and the combat capabilities to our enemies.
HOLMES: So you wouldn't allow aid groups to take materials in, tents even, for people to stay in?
Because there isn't room for a million people in southern Gaza.
CONRICUS: I think that there is room. But let's not go into -- and by the way, I'm not saying we are categorically not going to; I'm saying, that at this stage, what we are focused on is on our combat operations.
HOLMES: OK.
CONRICUS: And again, let me please remind everybody how this started, because that's the bit missing from the coverage of the last day.
This started with a war that was forced upon us, not our initiative, and we didn't start by killing 1,300 civilians and soldiers and wounding 3,000. They did that.
Hamas bears responsibility for the situation. That is too absent from the discussion here. Hamas is sovereign in Gaza. Hamas has made the decisions here. They launched the attack against us. Now we are responding against their atrocities. And we are doing our best to execute our tasks without killing civilians.
HOLMES: And it was indeed a horrible terrorist attack. There's no doubt about that.
The order to move those people would suggest clearing the way for a ground incursion.
How long will Israel wait for that and how long could it last?
CONRICUS: Those are very good questions. I think that the answer to the first one is that we'll have to assess the situation on the ground, see how many civilians are left in the area, understand how many of them have been blocked by Hamas from actually evacuating.
We've seen active efforts by Hamas to block these people from leaving, which I think is appalling at a whole new level. Once we'll see that the situation will be permissible for significant combat operations, then they will commence.
I really urge all civilians in northern Gaza to vacate, to evacuate, to go south and not listen to the very cynical orders given by Hamas to stay in the area, because it will just endanger them and it would only serve Hamas and their propaganda purposes.
HOLMES: Israel has had five wars in Gaza, saying each time it will crush Hamas, cut the head off the snake. And yet here we are.
Why do you think this time Israel will succeed?
And who would run what's left?
CONRICUS: Yes, I would definitely not compare the previous five rounds, none of them defined as wars by Israel, to what we're facing now. And I think the biggest difference is how we started.
This started with an unprecedented attack, which we spoke about before. That is the biggest difference. I think Israel cannot, by any measure, end this war here without a complete dismantling of Hamas and its military capabilities. Nothing less will be applicable, not for Israel, not for the region.
HOLMES: Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, thank you so much. Appreciate you making the time for us.
CONRICUS: Thank you. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A quick break now. When we come back, a music festival that began with peace, love and joy devolved into a killing field of horror and death in southern Israel. New details of the massacre coming up.
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HOLMES: Horrific details continue to emerge about the brutality that Hamas militants unleashed on hundreds of civilians in southern Israel one week ago. CNN conducted an extensive investigation into how the massacre unfolded. We want to warn you: some of the images you're about to see might be disturbing. Here's Katie Polglase.
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KATIE POLGLASE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 6:30 am On October 7th and things are getting into full swing at the Nova Festival in the south of Israel.
GAL BUKSHPAN, NOVA MUSIC FESTIVAL SURVIVOR: We were having fun. Peace, love, good vibes. And an hour, hour.5 after, we are running from bullets.
POLGLASE: Suddenly, the music stops.
There's frustration but no sense yet of the horror about to unfold. As news spreads of rocket attacks from Gaza, people begin seeking shelter, crouching close to the ground. But even this doesn't lead to outright panic, rocket attacks visible here are a regular occurrence in this part of southern Israel.
About 10 minutes later and some start heading to their cars, the decision of when and how to leave the festival would mean life or death for many. Some fled early to nearby bomb shelters, at 7:10 am and many are crammed inside this one to the north of the festival. They've been followed.
At 7:24 am, Hamas throw a grenade inside, causing horrific damage. This man, Noem, emerges stunned into the daylight. And it's not the only shelter to be targeted.
Thirty minutes later and further down the same road, Hamas militants are caught on dash cam footage outside another shelter. They throw a grenade inside.
In total, CNN has identified four different shelters near the festival that Hamas attacked, all full of people. Over the next six hours, hundreds of civilians were killed.
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POLGLASE (voice-over): Hunted down as they try to flee the festival.
By examining over 50 videos of that morning and speaking to 12 survivors, CNN has established that Hamas surrounded the festival, blocking three approaches to the south, north and west, forcing people to flee across the fields to the east. Even then, they were hunted.
It's now 8:15 am and Gal Bukshpan survives, along with others, by running across the fields. He is pictured here in the white T-shirt. Local police and security told them to drive east across rough land, due to roadblocks on the main road. But many end up fleeing on foot.
BUKSHPAN: We were like ducks. It was arranged, people were running in the hundreds. And you can hear the bullets coming.
POLGLASE: Were you seeing anyone get shot?
BUKSHPAN: Yes. You can see people fall.
POLGLASE: It's 8:30 am and as Gal and others continued running east, others running north met with more bullets and a police blockade, causing further panic. As a result, revelers start running back down the main road toward the festival, not knowing there are more militants just a few kilometers further down. On that same road, chilling dash cam footage shows Hamas militants shooting directly at an approaching car, just an hour earlier.
Those festival goers that remained closer to the concert site hid behind anything they could find. Even behind trees, waiting while the bullets closed in.
Many did not survive, 260 are reported dead. But that toll could rise. Just three hours after the start of the massacre, at 9:39 am, videos emerge of some festival goers already held hostage in Gaza. This man, still wearing a festival wristband and another, visibly wearing the security uniform. Their fates remain unknown.
Gal and others are still processing the trauma of what they went through.
BUKSHPAN: I know people who spent 12 hours in bushes and they didn't move. People who tried to hide and they died. Humanity never has seen this in the last couple hundreds of years, since maybe the Holocaust. This is just horrific. Horrific.
POLGLASE: It would be 10 hours until help arrived for some. Others are still missing, feared dead or held hostage in Gaza. The scale of this tragedy may grow greater yet after those six hours of horror in the desert -- Katie Polglase, CNN, London.
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HOLMES: Many of you may want to help with humanitarian relief efforts. So CNN is compiling resources. Head over to cnn.com/impact. You'll find a list of vetted organizations responding on the ground. Again, cnn.com/impact.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Thousands of Gaza residents evacuated their homes on Friday but for many there is no way to leave and no hope of finding safety from the escalating conflict. We'll have more on our coverage of the war in Gaza when we come back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes.
The United Nations says tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in northern Gaza over the past day or so after Israel's military warned civilians to leave Gaza City. That's in addition to the more than 400,000 Palestinians who were already displaced by the conflict, forced out of their homes by this conflict.
Civilians who were able to, on Friday, crammed possessions into cars and trucks in a rush toward the south. Those without other options walked, carrying what they could.
The U.S. has continued to press the Egyptian and Israeli governments on opening the Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt, to allow people to get out and open a corridor for humanitarian aid to get in.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes kept up their bombardment of Gaza and Israeli forces conducted raids inside the enclave, searching for perhaps as many as 150 hostages still held by Hamas.
The raids are the latest sign that Israel is ramping up operations against Hamas after the militant group's terror attacks inside Israel one week ago. CNN's Nic Robertson reports.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Israeli troops inside Gaza for the first time since Hamas' attack last Saturday, a limited, local raid, targeting Hamas, searching for hostages, seemingly over by the time the IDF announced it late Friday.
Not far away, northern Gaza civilians are being forced into a life or possible death choice. Flyers dropped by Israel told them to flee south, now triggering concern at the U.N.
ROLANDO GOMEZ, UNITED NATIONS SPOKESPERSON: The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): No deadline given by the IDF in their effort to minimize mounting civilian casualties. CONRICUS: We are asking them to evacuate, so we would be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Thursday night, the heaviest Israeli strikes on northern Gaza yet. But Hamas is telling its residents to stay put, setting the scene for a potential blame game over the rising Palestinian death toll.
ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET.), COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Hamas actually gave a counter order, telling Palestinians in Gaza to stay at home.
Why?
Because having human shields, they think, protects them.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Puts them into places where they will be in danger. Puts them in places where they're used, in effect, to try to protect Hamas officials or their equipment and infrastructure.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): All of this as Israel's troop buildup at the border grows, signaling a larger ground attack may be getting close.
U.S. Secretary of Defense in country, making sure the IDF has what it needs.
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GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I am here in person to make something personal clear: America's support for Israel is ironclad.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): And not just military support; E.U. leaders came close to Gaza to see for themselves where some of Hamas' most brutal murders were executed. But inside Gaza, fears escalating about what the coming days will bring.
TARIK JASAREVIC, SPOKESPERSON, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel, water, food and lifesaving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Apprehension on both sides of the border growing, as troops ready for an expected longer and much more dangerous raid -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel.
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HOLMES: Now Ghada Ageel is a visiting professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta and grew up in Natan Unis (ph) refugee camp in Gaza. She joins me live from Edmonton in Canada. Professor, thanks for making the time. This is personal for you. You
have family in Gaza. You were brought up there, had relatives killed this past week.
What are you hearing about the situation, the conditions there?
GHADA AGEEL, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA: Well, first of all, thank you for having me. And let me acknowledge at the beginning that I am speaking from a place that is situated in (INAUDIBLE) territory, the land of Indigenous people and natives (ph).
And second, I want to acknowledge the horror and the devastation that the people of the besieged and occupied Gaza are currently living. It's really horror beyond belief. They are subjugated to this willful and indiscriminate, constant bombardment that actually killing them everywhere, whether they are in their homes.
And this is how I lost my cousin, Hebet (ph), together with her two children. In streets and shopping, as happened in Jabalia; killing 40 people while evacuating, as happened today. A truck full of 70 people lost their lives and 151 dead. The scenes are horrible beyond belief.
So let me acknowledge all these facts because I see that everything is, especially when it comes to the Palestinians, is underreported. I want to also acknowledge that 1,000 women and children, more than that actually, have been killed.
Entire families, 50 families I have counted so far, have been wiped out, including one family that had 45 members.
(INAUDIBLE) certainly (ph) 17 members; the Izaza (ph) family, 15 members; acknowledge the killing of medics while trying to evacuate injured people and bodies.
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HOLMES: I wanted to ask you --
AGEEL: So this is the scene. This is the horror that I am hearing and witnessing.
HOLMES: Right.
AGEEL: From here --
HOLMES: I understand it. And our thoughts go to you with the loss of your own family members, which must be horrible.
There's been this order for people to leave the north of Gaza.
And I wanted to ask you what are the risks when it comes to large- scale displacement, potentially even out of Gaza, both in terms of people literally leaving their homes but also the symbolism of displacing people, who are only in Gaza because of previous displacement from their homes. AGEEL: Actually, you're right; 75 percent of Gaza are refugees. This
is 1.7 million people. These refugees have been displaced from their homes and land back in 1948, including my family.
My parents, my grandparents have been born in Vigderos (ph), a village that is no more on the map. I am a third generation Palestinian refugee, who have been born and raised in (INAUDIBLE) refugee camp.
Now until you ask me about the security or the safety, you should ask me if there is any security or safety nowadays in Gaza. And every single movement, when I say people are willfully targeted in their homes, in streets while evacuating.
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AGEEL: So where to go?
I really don't know. They are running to nowhere. There is no safety in Gaza.
HOLMES: Yes. Absolutely. I want to ask you this, though, because the reality is, violent actions by Hamas will always get an Israeli response and one that often hurts Palestinian civilians more than Hamas --
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HOLMES: -- because of how crowded Gaza is.
Do Palestinians, who obviously oppose the occupation, do they have to also reject Hamas actions, which have not impacted the occupation or furthered Palestinian aspirations?
What do Gazans have to do politically with Hamas running the Strip?
AGEEL: Well, this is a question actually, when you're asking about the people, let's remember that Hamas has been elected with the vast majority of the people, 75 percent elected.
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HOLMES: Well, many, many years ago and there hasn't been another election since because they won't hold one.
AGEEL: Oh, absolutely many years ago but they still are the legitimate government there. And at the moment, when you are criminalizing all legitimate, all sort of resistance and you're asking people or asking me whether this violent response of the apartheid state, it's because of the violence of Hamas.
No, sir. This has been the case and the norm over the past 75 years. I want to remind you that the blockade, the inhumane, illegal, longest- ever blockade on civilian population 16 years ago, have been imposed on Gaza.
Hamas has been in negotiations after 2012 and 2014 to mitigate, actually, to lift the blockade to give Palestinians their freedom or at least freedom of movement. But what was happening at the Israeli side, they enjoyed the freedom (INAUDIBLE).
And Palestinians stayed caged in Gaza, in open air prison, deprived from the basics, really the basics in everything.
Let's also remind everyone that Gaza population, over 50 percent are children. They have never set a foot outside the Gaza Strip. The water there already contaminated, I'm told.
It's not because of Hamas. It's because of Israel. The border is closed and this blockade is not imposed because of Hamas. It's because of punishment, political punishment by Israel as the occupying power, as the state that control everything inside Gaza Strip.
Then you want to blame the resistance, that even before is October 7th, what has been the situation in Gaza?
I visited the past summer. The unemployment, the poverty, the misery -- you know, to get a permit, to go and get medication in West Bank hospital is -- you know, so how would I take this narrative of blaming the resistance movement, whether they are Left or Right, Hamas or (INAUDIBLE) Front, Palestinian Liberation Organization or Markasis (ph) or Popular (ph) Front.
I think the problem is with the occupation. We should not be blind all the time to just, you know, this is the justification of the violence. The justification of the violence is the occupation and is the apartheid state. And (INAUDIBLE) talking about it.
HOLMES: I'm right out of time but I appreciate what you're saying. And our sympathies to you for the loss of your family members. Professor Ghada Ageel, we've got to leave it there. Thank you so much.
AGEEL: You're welcome.
HOLMES: We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: As many world leaders voice support for Israel's war on Hamas, people around the globe are standing in support of Palestinian people as well.
Thousands of South Africans took to the streets of Cape Town. Nelson Mandela's grandson, who is also a member of South Africa's parliament, encouraged South Africans to stand with Palestinians because they supported the fight against apartheid in his nation.
Also demonstrators turned out in several cities across Turkiye to rally in favor of Palestinians.
With a ground incursion into Gaza seemingly imminent, tens of thousands of people in Yemen joined a mass rally in Sanaa (ph).
Hamas militants faced fierce resistance when they attacked a kibbutz near Gaza last weekend but not only by the Israeli military but by local residents, led by a stubborn 72-year-old former paratrooper. Matthew Chance has the story.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The attacks by Hamas were a bloodbath. Israelis slaughtered were taken hostage.
At the kibbutz Magen near Gaza, militants met their match.
BARUCH COHEN, KIBBUTZ LEADER: As I always was, I thought you should never catch me with my underwear in my end.
CHANCE: Never catch you with your pants down?
B. COHEN: Never.
CHANCE: He suffered shrapnel wounds and an amputated leg when dozens of Hamas fighters tried to breach his kibbutz fence last weekend, this 72-year-old former paratrooper and war veteran swung into action.
B. COHEN: I decide to take my car, I take a few magazines with me. And I decided to enter as much as soon as I can to shoot them over the window of my car.
CHANCE: So you drove toward the attackers and you started shooting at them?
B. COHEN: I try -- I shoot them.
CHANCE: Before they came through the fence?
B. COHEN: Before. In my head, that was the only way to stop them.
CHANCE: In nearby Jewish communities or kibbutzim, Hamas attackers ran amok in a vile killing and kidnapping spree.
But in kibbutz Magen, home to more than 400 Israelis, the small team of armed volunteers trained and led by Baruch, kept the militants at bay.
His wife, Mina, at his bedside, told me she has no doubt why.
MINA COHEN, BARUCH'S WIFE: The difference is Baruch because --
CHANCE: Your husband?
M. COHEN: My husband, Baruch, 20 years that he's in this position and every time that the lot of young people coming, have made the same position that Baruch in the other kibbutzim, they laugh at him. They said that he's crazy. They said that he's speaking nonsense. Nobody will come.
And Baruch defended the kibbutz year by year.
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M. COHEN: And all the people laughing. And he was --
CHANCE: They laughed at him. They said he was paranoid.
M. COHEN: Yes. He's paranoid.
CHANCE: They said it's not going to happen.
M. COHEN: It's not, it never will happen, because we have the army.
CHANCE: In fact, the Israeli army came under attack by Hamas, too. Leaving Baruch and his team to fight alone for more than six hours, way longer than expected.
B. COHEN: Where is the army?
They teach us that if something happens, I always say to my friends, that we've got 35 minutes, minutes that belong to us. After 35 minutes, the army should be here. The best units should be here, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
CHANCE: But they didn't come.
B. COHEN: It didn't work.
CHANCE: As Israelis elsewhere were taken hostage, the communities overrun. Baruch fought on. Severely injured and out of ammo, armed with just a blade.
B. COHEN: I take in my hand I said if they should come, they should find me with a knife.
CHANCE: A stubborn determination, his friends and neighbors say, helped save them from the grim fate of others nearby -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
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HOLMES: So many of you watching do feel compelled to help with humanitarian relief efforts. So CNN has compiled resources. If you wish, head to cnn.com/impact. You'll find a list of vetted organizations responding on the ground. Again, cnn.com/impact.
U.S. House Republicans are headed home for the weekend after nominating Jim Jordan of Ohio to be the next speaker. When lawmakers return on Monday to vote on Jordan, they'll have gone nearly two weeks without a leader. At this point, it seems likely they still won't have one after all of this. Manu Raju with details from Capitol Hill.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Republicans are still in a state of turmoil after a decision by eight Republicans, who joined with Democrats, to vote out the sitting speaker almost two weeks ago. . When Kevin McCarthy was ousted in that historic vote, becoming the first speaker ever to be kicked out of that position by his own colleagues. Since then, the House has been paralyzed. No legislation can be acted upon until the Speaker is elected.
The question is, can the Republicans, who are in the majority but barely, get behind a consensus candidate?
So far the answer is no. Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, was elevated as the nominee to become the next Speaker of the House. But he decided to withdraw because he did not have the votes to move forward.
You need 217 votes in the House. That means you cannot afford as a speaker candidate to lose more than four Republican votes.
Then Friday, Republicans nominated Jim Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, to be the next Speaker of the House. But this was his problem. When he put the question to his conference, saying how many of you would vote against me on the floor, 55 of them said they would.
So he's going to spend the next days over the weekend, trying to convince 51 members to somehow come to his side. If he can't, then he'll have to confront this issue all over again.
There are fresh concerns from a wide range of members about how this reflects on the GOP and whether this can affect their ability to hang on to the House in next year's elections.
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REP. AUSTIN SCOTT (R-GA): We'll get a very strong group of people, that they have to have everything their way.
RAJU: How does that make you guys look?
SCOTT: Makes us look like a bunch of idiots.
REP. MIKE WALTZ (R-FL): Look, I'm angry for -- I'm angry for our troops.
REP. DON BACON (R-NB): We had five individuals today who said they would only vote for Jim and not Steve. So many of us in there feel that's rewarding bad behavior if we do that.
REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): This is a continuation of a pretty dysfunctional disease of the 118th. We have a lot of members, who just feel like that they will let perfect be the enemy of the good. That is not how any functional government or any functional marriage or any functional business works.
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RAJU: Now the question is what's next for the GOP. They're still trying to assess if Jordan can go forward. Tuesday would be the vote on the House floor. If Jordan pulls out, they have to figure out if another candidate emerges or if that person can get 217 votes on the House floor.
Or maybe they try to prop up the powers of the interim speaker, Patrick McHenry, to allow legislation to move forward. But at the moment, aid to Israel cannot be acted upon. Aid to Ukraine cannot be acted upon.
They cannot take steps to avoid a government shutdown. All hugely significant issues. Many proponents here in Congress to try to deal with that but no legislation can be acted upon until they figure this out. Because of this Republican dysfunction they have not been able to.
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RAJU: But these are the questions over the next few days.
Can they resolve it?
Can they move ahead?
Republicans hope they can but unclear if they'll be able to do so -- Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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HOLMES: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: Victims of the Israel-Hamas war were honored at a football match between England and Australia on Friday. It comes as football's governing body, FIFA, speaks out on the conflict after facing a backlash for its silence in recent days. Patrick Snell with more on that.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Friday night, a moment of silence ahead of kickoff in England's 1-0 international friendly victory over Australia at Wembley. Having opted to not light up the Wembley arch in the colors of the Israeli flag, England's Football Association with this pre-match tribute.
"Tonight, we remember the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine. Our thoughts are with them and their families and friends in England and Australia and with all the communities who are affected by this ongoing conflict. Tonight, we stand for humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear and suffering."
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SNELL (voice-over): Players from both teams wearing black armbands, standing shoulder to shoulder throughout. The poignant gesture, impeccably observed.
Meantime, football's governing body had received widespread criticism for its silence in recent days. On Friday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino offering his deepest condolences to the Israeli and Palestine Football Associations.
Infantino adding, "It is as heartbreaking as it is shocking to see a region whose people have known such profound suffering over far too long, suffer even more. The footballing world stands firmly in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Israel and with all the innocent victims that have paid an unspeakable price."
Israel were set to play two Euro qualifying games during the current international break. Both now postponed while Palestine's fixture (ph) with Tajikistan on Friday did not go ahead, either. With that, it is back to you.
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HOLMES: Patrick Snell, thank you.
Now New York City landmarks shining in support of Israel and those killed in last weekend's deadly attacks. The Empire State Building lit up in blue and white Friday night. This is a live look at the landmark. You can see it there, the colors of the Israeli flag.
According to the site's social media pages, the colors honor the victims of the Hamas attacks on Israel last Saturday. The posts say the colors will light up the building's tower from sunset Friday until sunrise on Saturday.
Thank you for watching this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I am Michael Holmes. Our coverage will continue after a short break.
