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Israel Defense Forces Announces Safe Passage From Within Gaza, North To South; E.U. Leaders Visit Areas Of Hamas Attacks; Tens Of Thousands Flee Northern Gaza; U.S. Secretary Of Defense Meets With Israeli Military Leaders; Uncertainty For Americans Trying To Leave Israel; Growing Humanitarian Crisis In Israel-Hamas War; Israeli News Anchor Shares Call For Unity And Defiance; Reuters Journalist Issam Abdallah Killed In Lebanon. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 14, 2023 - 03:00 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.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade with CNN breaking news coverage of Israel at war.
The Israeli military said it will allow people in north Gaza safe passage to southern Gaza during a six-hour window, starting this hour. The IDF said an airstrike on Friday killed a senior Hamas commander, who was behind much of the carnage.
The United Nations is slamming Israel for ordering mass evacuation of Palestinians in northern Gaza and allowing those people so little time to get out. One official called it outrageous and said it defies the rules of law and basic humanity.
Tens of thousands fled south the past 24 hours. But many others are staying put. Thousands of leaflets were dropped over Gaza Friday, telling civilians not to come back until the IDF tells them so. An Israeli army spokesperson explained why the evacuation order was necessary.
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LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The sudden surge of people into southern Gaza put a lot of pressure on the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, the only place to actually leave Gaza. Egypt said they've not closed it on their side but its status is unclear due to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza side.
Israeli forces conducted raids inside Gaza Friday, searching for 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 today. 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.
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.
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ROBERTSON (voice-over): 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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KINKADE: With us from Israel is Mark Regev, senior advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu.
Good to have you with us.
MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Happy to be with you.
KINKADE: Your government announced it will give the 1 million civilians in northern Gaza safe passage the next six hours, starting this hour, to evacuate.
What exactly does that mean?
REGEV: That means we're urging people to leave an area where there will be I believe very, very severe combat. You have neighborhoods there where Hamas has built its underground tunnel fortifications and communication systems and arms depots under civilian housing.
So we're asking people to leave as best they can. We know it can be difficult. But the alternative is worse. We don't want to see civilians caught up in the crossfire between us and the Hamas terrorists and where, once again, we're urging people to move away out of what will become a dangerous combat zone.
KINKADE: Is it likely the ground incursion will occur six plus hours from now?
REGEV: I'm not going into that. You, of course, understand why. Talking about military openings before they happen. But Israel is very serious.
(CROSSTALK) REGEV: I want to say something that needs to be understood. We've had several rounds of violence since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip some 16 years ago. This is not -- this is not another round of violence. This is war.
We didn't want it. They declared war on us when they attacked us with the October 7th massacre. We are responding to protect our people. We're responding to eliminate a threat, a very severe threat.
And we're urging civilians, please, for your own safety, vacate the combat zone.
KINKADE: Is it likely Hamas terrorists will also vacate the combat zone?
REGEV: It's possible some will try to escape with civilians. We know that's how they operate. They are ruthless.
We've also seen reports that they've actually established roadblocks to try to prevent people from leaving the combat zone. That's terrible. Civilians who want to leave, first of all, are being told by Hamas to stay.
But those leaving nevertheless are held up at roadblocks. Hamas has no qualms whatsoever about using the Gaza civilian population as a human shield for its war machine. And in doing so, it's a double war crime.
First of all, when they target innocent Israeli civilians, that's a war crime, of course. And the terrible violence, the brutality that we saw in the 7th of October massacre, that just shows who they are.
But the fact they treat their own people in a similar way, that they say to them, don't move out of harm's way and we will prevent you from moving out of harm's way, that says everything you need to know about this Hamas organization. It really is ISIS type.
KINKADE: Can you explain the targets Israel has bombed so far in Gaza?
And what more can you tell us about the terrorists that you've said have been killed?
REGEV: So we've been hitting Hamas strongholds throughout the Gaza Strip. And we will continue to do so. We've been hitting arms depots, tunnels, command and control centers. Hamas will come out of this, if at all, crushed.
That's our goal. There were theories that, maybe because Hamas, as I said, they've been in power 16 years and they're ruling a territory of land with some 2 million inhabitants and that forces them, as the government, to be more responsible, to moderate their positions, to worry about their own civilian population.
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REGEV: Anyone who thought that Hamas maybe was moderating the October 7th massacre was a wake-up call. And the sort of brutality, the horrific brutality that we saw Hamas demonstrate in the way it murdered innocent civilians and taking scores of people hostage, kidnapping them, taking them to Gaza.
Anyone who had any allusions about Hamas, I hope that the events of October 7th were a slap in the face, that they understand exactly the enemy we're dealing with.
KINKADE: As you mentioned, Gaza is home to over 2 million people. Almost half are children under 18. Israel has cut off electricity, water, food and fuel. Under humanitarian law, it's illegal to collectively punish civilians.
At what point will Israel resume the key essential services for civilians?
REGEV: You raise the issue of electricity. I'll address that first.
First of all, we know for a fact that Hamas uses the ingredients in Gaza for its own missiles. So the missiles fired on Gaza is being facilitated by electricity.
Second, the Hamas rockets that have rained down on Israel have disrupted and destroyed parts of the electricity grid that actually supplies Gaza.
So is the international community or is there a request that we rebuild what they have destroyed in their rockets so they can shoot more rockets at us?
Is that a logical request of Israel?
KINKADE: Can you explain what this means to the civilians in Gaza, the 2 million people half of which are children, who won't be getting food and clean water into that region?
When will that resume?
REGEV: I cannot say at this stage. I can only say that we don't see -- yes, we don't want to see the civilian population of Gaza caught up in the crossfire.
Having said that, I know and you know that there hasn't been a war in recent history where there hasn't been humanitarian suffering as a result of conflicts, where innocent civilians haven't been caught up in the crossfire. It's not possible.
But what we do as a democracy, if they deliberately target innocent civilians with their brutal violence, we make every effort to be as surgical as is humanly possible. We target the terrorists.
We target those who are trying to kill our people. In so doing, we're defending our people, our own people. But Hamas has to understand they will be crushed. Their military machine will be destroyed. When this is over, there will have been a new reality in Gaza.
KINKADE: At this point in time, no one in Gaza can leave Gaza. No civilian can leave.
Are you in talks with Egypt about opening that border crossing so that that could be a potential humanitarian route for civilians to leave?
REGEV: Any conversations we're having with the Egyptians will remain confidential. I do say this. Inside the Gaza Strip, there are areas that we know will become a combat zone, dangerous combat zones.
Move out of those areas. And what I said, they will become dangerous, they will become dangerous for the Israeli soldiers who may be operating there because the Hamas has built its own defenses, an elaborate system of underground tunnels, booby traps, house to house.
I have a daughter serving down south in the IDF. I'm concerned about her. She knows and all her fellow soldiers know this war we didn't want. It was forced upon us. But now that it's been forced upon us, we have to act decisively. We cannot allow this brutal, ISIS-type terrorist organization to continue to thrive on our border.
That is unsustainable for the betterment of Israel, the protection of Israel, for the better future for the people of Gaza and for peace in the Middle East, it's crucial that Israel have an overwhelming victory here, a decisive victory. And we will.
KINKADE: Hamas killed over 1,300 people in that brutal terror attack. Since then, we know that over 1,900 people have been killed in Gaza, including almost 600 children.
What else is the IDF going to do going forward to minimize civilian casualties?
REGEV: Well, when we ask people to leave combat zones, we're trying to save lives.
[03:15:00]
REGEV: That's our goal.
Can I urge CNN to be skeptical?
Numbers coming out of Gaza are coming out of a Hamas controlled ministry of health. And those numbers don't talk about combatants or noncombatants and they have an interest in escalating humanitarian crisis.
I have no doubt that it's very difficult in Gaza. But those numbers are coming from a Hamas controlled ministry of health.
I'd also like to add, with your permission, that Hamas' policy -- Israel is making efforts to try to minimize civilian casualties. It must be remembered -- and we spoke about it a moment ago. Hamas is making every effort to maximize civilian casualties. They think it helps its -- their propaganda.
Why are they telling people not to leave combat zones, setting up roadblocks to prevent people from leaving? What's their motivation?
The truth is they don't care a hoot about the people of Gaza. They're willing to sacrifice every last Gazan on their extremist, jihadist, ISIS type agenda.
KINKADE: Finally, how long do you think this conflict will last?
What's the ultimate objective?
REGEV: The objective is a new reality in Gaza, where Israel will not face a terrorist organization that has either the will or the capability to inflict the sort of horrific violence that we saw exactly a week ago this morning. That's the goal.
And when that happens -- and it will happen -- it will be better for the people of Israel. It will be better for the people of Gaza. It will be better for the Middle East.
If we defeat the extremists -- and we will -- if they are crushed -- and they will be -- that, hopefully, will leave room and space for more modern evidence and help us move forward in peace with our own neighbors.
KINKADE: Mark Regev in Israel, we appreciate your time today. Thank you very much.
REGEV: Thank you for having me.
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KINKADE: The Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel last weekend were unprecedented in a sophistication and their level of planning. That includes a wide array of aging weaponry accumulated over many years. CNN's Oren Liebermann takes a closer look.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An entire arsenal on display. Weapons, fashioned in Hamas'' homegrown facilities but no less deadly. CNN analyzed dozens of photos and videos of Hamas militants during the surprise assault, to identify the weapons used to kill at least 1,200 people in Israel.
MAJ. MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): The most important characteristic of the military equipment they have is that it's easily interchangeable. It's reliable, dependable. You can get parts for it.
LIEBERMANN: Many, like the Soviet built 50 caliber machine gun, appeared to be Russian or Chinese firearms, relics from previous wars that made their way into the hands of Hamas.
Ubiquitous among many of the photos and videos, the Avtomat Kalashnikova, the AK-47, the preferred weapon for militant groups capable of spewing automatic fire with horrific results.
The assault rifles, along with grenades carried by Hamas militants, made them deadly when reached Israeli towns and near Gaza.
LYONS: All they are trying to do is provide the shock effect, provide dependability, their weapons have to work. So they are very rudimentary. But based on their training, based on how they operate them, they are successful with them.
LIEBERMAN: Hamas' main weapon has long been the supply of rockets, short-range, to long-range. The terror attack on Saturday morning began with a barrage of rocket fire, a smokescreen for the imminent attack. Thousands of rockets overwhelmed Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, a tactic Hamas has refined over the years.
LYONS: That's the capability for the enemy, for Hamas, to fire them up against a potentially commercial aircraft. That, I think, is one of the major issues of these terrorist groups, if they have those kinds of weapons in their hands.
LIEBERMANN: Hamas use paragliders to cross the Gaza border. The recreational vehicles are barely maneuverable and easy to target in the air.
But in the chaos of the moment, the plan worked. Some of the weapons and equipment were decidedly more low tech. Israel built a complex underground barrier to stop tunnels from crossing the Gaza border, so Hamas used a bulldozer to try to tear down the above ground fence.
LYONS: They are just looking to create chaos, with the kind of equipment they have and the equipment has got to be reliable.
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KINKADE: Still ahead, the U.S. Defense Secretary meets with Israeli leaders ahead of Israel's expected military escalation against Hamas. His message next.
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KINKADE: U.S. President Joe Biden says his administration is working like hell to get Americans taken hostage by Hamas out of Gaza. Mr. Biden spoke by phone to family members of 14 Americans still missing after attacks last Saturday. In an interview with "60 Minutes," he spoke about his deep commitment to their release.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I say we're going to do everything in our power to find them, everything in our power.
And I'm not going to into detail of that. But there's -- we're working like hell on it because I think they have to know that the President of the United States of America cares deeply about what's happened, deeply. We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behavior. It's pure barbarism.
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KINKADE: An Israeli American citizen has been missing since last Saturday. His father was on the call with Mr. Biden and he spoke with CNN about it.
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JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, STEPFATHER OF HAMAS HOSTAGE: What I can say about President Biden, who spent about 45 minutes with us, there were about 20 representatives of about 20 families there.
As an American citizen, as an Israeli civilian, as someone whose beloved son is -- we're sure is being held alive, dead, wounded, we don't know, I could not possibly ask for more than President Biden expressed about the United States' commitment to getting these people -- not just the American hostages but all of the Israeli hostages.
And that he and the administration are in this for the long haul. As crazy as this must sound and, at that moment, as proud as I am to be an Israeli, I was no less to be proud to be an American as a result of that phone call.
And honestly most of the time, he was listening to people's stories and their desires for his action. And his answers were inspiring. Not that he could give information because I don't think there's much information to give right now. But his willingness to listen, I found it extraordinary, and to empathize with the people who are in enormous pain.
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KINKADE: The Biden administration emphasized its support for Israel as the U.S. Defense secretary meet with Israeli leaders on Friday. Lloyd Austin vowed unwavering U.S. solidarity ahead of an expected Israeli ground incursion into Gaza. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the latest from Israel.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. support for Israel looks like this, a hulking U.S. military transport plane bolstering Israel's war effort against Hamas, landing at Nevatim Air Base, where CNN secured exclusive access as airmen offloaded its cargo.
DIAMOND: This C-17 military cargo plane just landed here in Southern Israel. It is bringing fresh U.S. weapons and ammunition for Israel's fight against Hamas. Today, the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, coming here to inspect the shipment, vowing that U.S. military support for Israel will continue to flow at the speed of war (ph). GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I know how hard you've been working. You've been really hustling to get this here as quickly as you could. And there's a lot more that follows this.
DIAMOND (voice-over): This was the second shipment of military equipment to Israel just this week, delivering precision-guided munitions, artillery shells and Iron Dome interceptor missiles, which help protect civilians from Hamas rockets.
AUSTIN: It's not just a show of support, it is support. And it's just the leading edge of (INAUDIBLE).
DIAMOND: We've already seen some civilian casualties in Gaza.
What kind of assurances do you have from the Israelis about how they'll use these munitions?
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AUSTIN: Jeremy, this is a professional force that's well-led. So I'm sure they'll do the right thing.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,900 people in Gaza this week, including at least 614 children, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.
Palestinian leaders accuse Israel of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. Israeli officials blame Hamas for firing rockets from civilian areas and using civilians as human shields.
Even as he made clear the U.S. stands with Israel ...
AUSTIN: I'm here in person to make something crystal clear: America's support for Israel is ironclad.
DIAMOND (voice-over): -- the Defense Secretary also reminding Israel of its moral responsibility.
AUSTIN: With democracies like ours are stronger and more secure when we uphold the laws of war.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Nevatim Airbase.
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KINKADE: Still ahead, thousands of Gaza residents evacuated their homes Friday. But for many, there's no way to leave and no hope of finding safety from the escalating conflict.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) KINKADE: Welcome back, I'm Lynda Kinkade, this is CNN NEWSROOM,
continuing to cover the Israeli war.
A six-hour window is open to allow safe passage in Gaza to move to the southern part of the territory. The U.N. is criticizing Israel's order to evacuate from Gaza City. A senior U.N. official calls the order outrageous and says it, quote, "defies the rules of war and basic humanity."
The U.N. said tens of thousands of people fled 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. CNN Clarissa Ward reports.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They grab whatever they can and set off, many of them on foot with no set destination.
After six straight days of relentless bombardment, Palestinians in Northern Gaza woke up to leaflets from Israel's military ordering them to move to the south of the densely populated enclave. The deadline given to the U.N. was 24 hours.
But there is nowhere for them to go. Efforts to open a humanitarian corridor through Egypt have so far been fruitless and shelters are completely overwhelmed.
The head of the U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency called the order "horrendous" and said the enclave was rapidly becoming a hellhole.
The streets of many neighborhoods are already ghost towns, hollowed out by ferocious strikes, those who remain, alone with their grief.
WARD (voice-over): 'My sons, my daughters, my neighbors are all gone," resident Abu Hassan (ph) says.
"I only have one message to the Arab and Islamic world, have mercy on us. For God's sakes, there is nothing left."
In several cities across the world today, there were protests in support of Gaza but the drumbeat of an invasion is growing ever louder here.
[03:35:00]
WARD (voice-over): And the price that Gaza civilians are paying for Hamas' bloody attacks is already so high.
At the Shifa Hospital yesterday, some of the youngest victims lined the hallways on a stretcher, on the floor of the hospital, a young girl pants with fear.
"You're a good girl. Praise God, you're here," the man tells her. "Don't cry, my dear."
"Everyone is dead," she says. "There's only a few left."
In another bed, a young boy lies heavily wounded, reassuring his father, "Don't be scared. don't be scared, Dad," he says. "I am fine."
But with no promise of safe refuge, fear is the only sane reaction -- Clarissa Ward, CNN.
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KINKADE: Still to come, a journalist killed by an Israeli strike in Lebanon, six other journalists wounded, marking one of the worst press disasters yet in this conflict. The details when we come back.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
A prominent Arab Israeli news anchor has gone viral with an emotional message of unity and defiance following last weekend's terror attacks by Hamas.
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LUCY AHARISH, ISRAELI NEWS ANCHOR: I'm sorry but I'm using my microphone to send a message to the world. As a journalist, this is my only weapon.
Since Saturday morning, the state of Israel is under attack. Our beloved country is under attack. We are under an attack of a brutal, barbaric, inhumane terror organization, not an entity, not a government not a leadership but a terror organization. Don't be mistaken.
[03:40:00]
AHARISH: We experience difficulties, disagreements and major disputes like any other country on this globe. But it does not mean that we will not protect ourselves and our children, our homeland.
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KINKADE: Israel is broadly referred to as the Jewish homeland. Arabs make up about one-fifth of the population. Lucy Aharish was the first Muslim Arab news presenter on mainstream Israeli television. On Friday on CNN, she was asked how her experience with the terrorist attack shaped her views.
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AHARISH: For me, it's personal. In the last few days, since everything happened on Saturday morning, everything that I went through because, when I was 5 years old, on a Saturday morning, we went to the Gaza Strip.
When back then, in 1987 when Israelis had the ability to get into the Gaza Strip, I went through, me and my family, a terror attack.
Two Molotov cocktails were smashed into our car. And two minutes just before that happened, I saw the terrorist. I saw the terrorist when he got close to the car. I saw something in his hand. I didn't recognize what it is. But I immediately felt here.
So I started scrolling down my seat and I continued watching and looking at him. And in one second, he looked me directly into my eyes. And he saw that, in that car, there were two young children and two families.
And he just smashed these two Molotovs into the car. And my father was brave enough and was clear enough to be able to save us. My cousin was burning in front of my eyes. And thank God he was saved.
But the evil that I saw in the eyes of that terrorist, I never forgot that. So when people are telling me and when I hear that people are saying that what is happening in Israel is a lie, I cannot stay silent.
It's not a lie. It's not a lie. What is happening in Israel is truth, an awful truth, a barbaric truth, a catastrophic truth. Never in my life I thought that I would live to experience and listen to these kind of testimonies. It's unbelievable.
You know, you probably saw the image that was put today in the "Daily Telegraph," of a baby, an innocent baby. Babies were burned.
You know what I'm saying?
Even if it was one baby, how can you -- how can you rape women and just pummel their bodies?
How can you do that?
How can you burn an entire family, a mother, father, two young daughters and a baby?
How can you do that?
This is a genocide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: In southern Lebanon, a journalist for Reuters has been killed and six others wounded in an Israeli strike while covering the war between Israel and Hamas. All of them wore body armor, clearly labeled as press. Issam Abdallah was the Reuters' videographer who died, according to a CNN analysis of statements and videos.
[03:45:00] KINKADE: The blast that hit the group happened when Israeli forces struck Lebanon Friday. The Israeli military has not responded to CNN's request for comment. Israel's military said it fired artillery at Lebanese territory after a border fence exploded near an Israeli kibbutz.
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KINKADE: I want to return now to the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. I'm joined now by Musheir El-Farra, a civil engineer and human rights activist in Gaza.
I appreciate your time.
MUSHEIR EL-FARRA, CIVIL ENGINEER AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Thank you very much for having me on.
After Hamas launched its terror attack, Israel announced a siege of Gaza, cutting off electricity, water, food, fuel. The IDF has also been bombing what it says are Hamas targets ever since.
How would you describe what you and the people of Gaza are experiencing?
EL-FARRA: Can I kindly correct you to start with?
The idea for the Israeli army, what we call the IDF, is launching an attack on (INAUDIBLE) Palestinian people. Every aspect of the Palestinian life has been hit. The Gaza Strip was Hamas.
But now people are being hit in every aspect and every single detail of their life. I'm now talking to you from the second largest city in the Gaza Strip. And the streets are filled with thousands of people, who will have to flee intense bombing, indiscriminate bombing or be threatened to leave or be bombed and killed.
This is the commitment they have to make. They're not launching an attack of Hamas. Not at all. It's an indiscriminate attack. Over 600 children have been killed so far, 2,000 people killed.
I just came back from the scene of bombing of two houses, where people I know personally have been killed and pulled from under the rubble. To say this is an attack of Hamas is another distortion of fact, if you allow me to say so.
It's an attack on the Palestinian people. We saw it before. We're seeing it now. Cutting power lines, water supplies, people's resources is a crime. But sadly, Israel is above the international law (ph).
If I am a human being, I have to feel the suffering of a civilian. On either side of the oppression that this is going on and I feel sorry for if any civilian has been killed on the Israeli side. But let me make it clear.
Those civilians are the victims of long, long decades of Israeli aggression almost every day, almost every moment of Palestinian lives. And this is why Israel should rethink the way they approach this.
And think their army, not only since 1940 but recently, nobody talks about 270 Palestinians that were killed since the start of 2023, including 79 children in the West Bank.
Nobody talks about displacement of people or colonial settlements that are taking Palestinian lives. Nobody talking about the theft of Palestinian waters and the pollution, attacks on hospitals. Let me give you something today.
A hospital in the north part of the Gaza Strip have been threatened to evacuate.
For goodness sake, how can you evacuate a hospital?
All departments; 10 hospitals have been hit. And (INAUDIBLE) lives. You can come, CNN or BBC or whatever other channel. Come to the Gaza Strip and see the (INAUDIBLE).
(INAUDIBLE) the statement about (INAUDIBLE) of babies in Gaza because these lives have changed the world against the Palestinians, where the Palestinians have been victimized for 75 years.
Come here to the Gaza Strip and see the suffering on the streets, of people, orderly people, not even supporters of Hamas, the collective (INAUDIBLE) is a war crime.
And we must understand that, if the world continues to (INAUDIBLE) the fears of the Palestinians and blind eyes of the Palestinians' suffering, all they will have is more suffering for the Palestinians and more violence that will be imposed on the Palestinians and more reaction from the Palestinians as well.
You cannot expect to put people under such circumstances for so many years and we expect them to throw roses at you. This is the reality of the matter.
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KINKADE: I just want to ask you --
EL-FARRA: -- Israel has to be (INAUDIBLE) sadly, the United States government, the European governments are taking the side of Israelis blindly without investigating the situation on the ground as if they were prepared to do that.
[03:50:00]
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EL-FARRA: It was part of a bigger plan to play a global warfares in the area. Come to the Gaza Strip, see the suffering for your own eyes. Come to (INAUDIBLE) family, who lost 10 civilians. Come to (INAUDIBLE) 10 civilians. Come to (INAUDIBLE) family in Gaza, 44 civilians.
(CROSSTALK) KINKADE: -- I just want to ask you, you spoke about --
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KINKADE: Can I ask you a question?
EL-FARRA: (INAUDIBLE). Not a very expensive --
(CROSSTALK)
EL-FARRA: -- price for the Israelis and nothing for the Palestinians.
KINKADE: I want to ask you about support for Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007.
How much support is there from the people of Gaza for Hamas?
And what was the reaction after the attack on Saturday?
(CROSSTALK)
EL-FARRA: (INAUDIBLE), I'm going to tell you the whole truth. Before that attack, support for Hamas was dwindling and Hamas wasn't popular at all because people weren't happy with the way Hamas was running the Gaza Strip. They weren't happy with the siege and what's happening with their lives, which was miserable as a result of the (INAUDIBLE) siege.
But following the attacks, the severe, intense attacks, the Palestinians are united. We don't think of Hamas and not Hamas. I'm never, ever supporting Hamas in my life. But as I'm talking to you, Hamas is now part of the Palestinian social fiber because we're all under attack.
Support for Hamas was dwindling. Thanks to Israeli, support for Hamas is sky high now because of the severity of the crimes that the Israelis are committing, not because of the popularity of Hamas.
When they hit us in every aspect of our lives, Palestinians get united and don't think of Hamas but Popular Front or jihad or whatever. They think of their suffering.
KINKADE: All right, that was Musheir El-Farra.
We're losing a connection.
We'll have to leave that there for now. That was Mishir Elfara in Gaza. We'll take a break and be right back.
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[03:55:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING) KINKADE: The Israeli military said five hours are left of a window
that has been open to allow the safe passage for civilians in Gaza to move to the southern part of the territory.
The United Nations is criticizing Israel's order for the 1 million civilians in the north to evacuate from Gaza City. A senior U.N. official calls the order outrageous and says it quote, "defies the rules of war and basic humanity."
That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. More on our breaking news out of Israel after a quick break. Stay with us, you're watching CNN.
