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IDF Increasing Readiness For The Next Stages Of War; Desperate Palestinian Flee To Southern Gaza; IDF Slams Hamas For Telling Civilians Not To Move; Half Of Gaza's Population Told to Evacuate By Israel; U.S. Congressman Helps Get Americans Out Of Israel; Interview With Representative Cory Mills (R-FL); Israel PM: "We Are All Ready"; Hamas Using Modified AK Rifles And Soviet-Era Machine Guns; Violence Erupts In The West Bank. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired October 14, 2023 - 21:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello and welcome. I'm Julia Chatterley in New York and we continue our breaking news coverage of Israel at war.
Israel's military says it's preparing for what it calls the next stages of war against Hamas. We've already been seeing soldiers and tanks massing near Gaza for days now and we could soon see strikes by land, sea and air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON (through translator): We are getting ready in order to fulfill the goals of the war. IDF's role is to fulfill with all the tools and all the ways that we have. Everything we are going to operate, we will do it with full power. We are going to be extremely ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Israel is warning more than 1 million people in Northern Gaza to keep moving southwards, even as videos emerge showing explosions and bodies along the evacuation route. Palestinian health officials say more than 2,200 people have been killed in Gaza. While 1,300 people on the Israeli side are dead after that Hamas attack last weekend.
In the past hour, we heard from the IDF's international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus. He told me Israel is doing what it can to make sure civilians are not in the fining line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: And I would say that, you know, we have been in very difficult situations. Israel has been in difficult situations. We have fought many wars. And even though, you know, we have many critics calling us vengeful and, you know, having soldiers cross the line to barbarism, that's not usually -- that's not a criticism that has been fielded towards us. And I think that our soldiers, as emotional as the situation is, I trust on them to keep a cool and professional mindset and to focus on the job.
And we have already shown that we are not targeting the civilians. Currently, it's airstrikes. We're not targeting the civilians. We're targeting Hamas operatives, their infrastructure, their leaders, their logistics, et cetera.
Unfortunately, there are civilians in the battlefield. We are doing everything we can not to have them injured or hurt or killed. But unfortunately, they're there. Then they are at risk. By the way, we have called on these civilians to evacuate the northern part of the Gaza Strip to be out of the area, which is going to be where we are going to conduct more intense combat operations.
I'm happy to say that hundreds of thousands have heeded our warnings, despite the efforts of Hamas to stop them from leaving, which I think is taking cynicism and brutality to a whole different level. Hamas governs the Gaza Strip and they're telling people don't evacuate, they want them to stay put because they want them to be killed.
I'll tell you that on the reverse, on the mirror image in Israel, we have evacuated all of the communities around the Gaza Strip. And we did that within two days after the monstrous terror attack on -- a week ago on Saturday. Why did we evacuate? Because civilians should be as far as possible from combat zones.
Now, not everyone had the perfect way of traveling by themselves. But civil society organized itself, got together and people found solutions, whether it's hotels or living with relatives or finding temporary housing.
In war, horrible things happen, but those who want to live, find solutions. And what we are offering the Palestinians is a better chance of survival. And if they take it, they are -- they're doing the right and responsible thing, getting out of the combat zone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: IDF international spokesperson there, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, talking to us in the past hour and insisting, as you heard there, that the IDF is doing what it can to make sure civilians are not harmed.
Meanwhile, aid convoys are continuing to arrive in Egypt in preparation to enter Gaza. The Egyptian foreign minister says the Rafah Crossing with Gaza is open, but roads on the Gazan side cannot be used because of aerial bombardment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMEH SHOUKRY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Border crossing on the Gaza side is inoperable because of the damage that has been afflicted and the procedure for those managing the border on the Gaza side to verify the documents and the lists of third nationals that have been provided has not been fulfilled. (END VIDEO CLIP)
[21:05:00]
CHATTERLEY: And the U.N. says the evacuation of more than 1 million people in such a short space of time defies the rules of war and basic humanity. Salma Abdelaziz has more on the plight of people in Gaza that are facing just to reach safety. A warning, her report contains graphic and also disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): This is what running for your life looks like in Gaza. An ambulance with a young girl and 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 Salahuddin 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 airstrikes 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. A 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, Khan Yunis, where Israeli airstrikes 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.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: And I want to bring in CNN's Matthew Chance now. He joins us from Northern Israel. Matthew, I know you were just listening to that too. And there's I think, global acknowledgement that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza will escalate as we see the ground offensive by Israeli troops begin. But it's not the only front and concern to worry about at this moment where you are as well, tensions clearly high with skirmishes across the border with Hezbollah in Lebanon. What are you watching tonight most closely?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, I mean, I'm up in Northern Israel. It's very tense. We're very close to the Lebanese border and it's the region where there is that possibility as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
There is that possibility of a second front opening up and a very dangerous one as well, because there's concern that once that ground operation gets underway countries in the region, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is backed by Iran may decide to enter the conflict as it's done in the past and begin to fire missiles into Northern Israel, even stage a ground attack into the northern part of this country as well, which is why there are so many Israeli forces that have been concentrated up here and they acknowledge -- you know, many people you speak to in the Israeli military acknowledge that the army was unprepared for what happened last weekend in the south in Gaza, which led to those -- or which allowed those Hamas attacks to happen and allowed them to kill about 1,300 Israelis.
But what the Israeli military is saying is that they're not -- they're absolutely determined to make sure that doesn't happen up here in the north. And so, they've rushed forces in. Where with, you know, a battalion of Israeli military very close to the Lebanese border right now, but there are other battalions all over this region and they are bracing for the possibility of that second front opening up. It hasn't yet.
[21:10:00]
There's been some exchange of fire between, you know, Lebanon, Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah forces there, and Israel, there have been rockets fired from Syria and there's been an Israeli response to that.
But Israeli officials say that none of those exchanges have yet reached the level of escalation, as they call it. It's sort of pretty regular stuff at the moment. But it could get a lot worse in the hours or in the days ahead if organizations like Hezbollah decide to really intervene in the war in Israel.
CHATTERLEY: And you'll continue to watch it closely for us. Matthew, thank you for being there. Matthew Chance there. Now U.S. Congressman Cory Mills headed to Israel this past week to help dozens of Americans stuck there get out. He made the journey by air and land, and he's now back in the United States and joins us now.
Congressman Mills, thank you so much for your time tonight. I believe it's 96 Americans in total that are very grateful to you and your team tonight. Just describe what that was like and what they were saying to you.
REP. CORY MILLS (R-FL): Well, first off, thanks for having me. It's truly an honor to be in a position to have the capacity and the capability to go in and help those in need. You know, every one of these members, the, the two operations that I personally went on, whether it was out in the high foot Nazareth and the Tiberius area the second on the West Bank and Jerusalem area, we're all structurally grateful.
You know, many of these had been stuck for four or five and six days, flights canceled, no way out. no thoughts on how they were going to be able to maneuver. Had called the State Department, really received very little if no effort whatsoever from them. And so, that was the whole reason when I -- you know, I was over in Afghanistan 2021 and conducted the very first successful overland rescue of Americans for a woman and her three Children out of Texas. And I had a bit of an inkling on how this would turn out and which is why I had quickly mobilized, went over there and started to conduct the ground evacuations.
I've got a charter tomorrow that's going to go out with 218 Americans. We're now at 96 Americans through ground evacuations, of which I had done 77 of those. So, things are moving, but it's still, you know, so much left to do.
CHATTERLEY: How much more time do you think you have before the situation escalates further? And we've been talking for the last couple of hours on the show about the possible risk points and flashpoints. Congressman, are you planning to go back out there too yourself?
CHATTERLEY: I am planning to go back out. I'm here in D.C. because we have a speaker's vote, which is very important for us to be able to govern in the House of Representatives. But I will be heading back.
And to answer your first part of that question. You know, Israel in the region is really a powder keg at the moment. We know Iran's influence in the destabilization of this. We know that people like General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah in Lebanon are getting involved. We see Hamas's response as they continue to ramp up its efforts and funding.
But we also need to start looking at the Golan Heights and we also need to start looking at other Iranian proxy militias, such as the one even in Iraq, which is being pledged by Hadi al-Amiri for the Hashd Al-Sha'bi, the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, and many others.
So, this could turn into a much bigger thing than just the Gaza Strip. This could turn into a whole of region destabilization. And I think that this is where international attention and support needs to come in to start looking at how do we truly get certain things like ceasefires in place? How do we actually ensure the safety and the minimization of collateral damage of civilians on all sides? And how do we actually ensure that we cut the head off the snake on this to prevent any future destabilization in the region by these types of proxy militias?
CHATTERLEY: Would you like to see the United States more involved in that, Congressman, because you make some pertinent points there? I also want to talk about Gaza. Earlier, I was speaking to an American citizen, her mother's an American, her sister is, and they're caught on the opposite side of the border with Egypt, they're in Gaza and they're looking to escape to Egypt and they're struggling. They said it's been a challenge even to speak to U.S. embassy officials. Should the United States be doing more for those in Gaza, whether they're American or anyone else, quite frankly, to help protect them in light of what's set to take place and has already started?
MILLS: Well, I can tell you that one of the things that the United States needs to be doing, which is certainly one of the top priorities for myself and should be for all elected officials is the safety and security of all American citizens.
To go to your point, I think that we need to be having broader discussions with Egypt, because it is my understanding that the Rafah Crossing point is also close to even American citizens and that they're offering no safe passage whatsoever to anyone. So, I think that there needs to be definitely discussion with our allies. How do we hold our adversaries accountable and how do we actually support Israel's defense for its own sovereignty and safety?
[21:15:00]
CHATTERLEY: To be clear, the Egyptians are saying that that border crossing is open. It's just inoperable on the Gaza side. Would you be willing to see us Gaza and refugees in the United States? Should that be a conversation that's being had at this moment? I saw the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, made a suggestion earlier that refugees from Gaza should not be welcome in the United States because they're antisemitic. Can I get your views on that and whether you would be willing to see Gazan refugees in the United States?
MILLS: Well, I'll put it very clearly. No, I'm not. I am not willing to take up more space in America for Gazan refugees. We already have 10 million plus illegal immigrants in the U.S. right now on a completely open and porous border where hundreds of thousands more are spilling over.
When you think about housing affordability, availability, what services can be provided to even the American citizen of the illegals that are currently here, I don't think that America is in an economic position or in a resource and access position to be able to take in any refugees and that the Middle East should be looking at being able to help take care of the dozen refugees and be able to place them in a more suitable spot. CHATTERLEY: Congressman, I appreciate your honesty. We also, I think, appreciate your bravery in flying and to rescue those that are caught in the middle of this as well. And we wish you well.
MILLS: Thank you so much. I appreciate you time.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you for your time, sir.
Now, was Israel warned about a potential attack? Still ahead, the information from U.S. intelligence sources about Hamas and how it differed from what actually took place.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." Tens of thousands of people in Gaza are moving southwards with around half of the territory's population under an Israeli evacuation order. Doctors Without Borders is calling for Israel to establish safe zones and a ceasefire of the civilians. While the U.N. says moving that many people in such a short space of time defies the rules of war and basic humanity.
The Palestinian Authority president spoke to Joe Biden earlier calling for an immediate halt to all attacks for the sake of civilians. Many are heading to this city, Khan Yunis, despite the area already having been bombed earlier on Saturday by Israeli forces. CNN has also been seeing images of families killed along the safe passages that have been specified by the IDF.
Earlier, I spoke to Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch and a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. He said Israel has a duty to follow international law.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KENNETH ROTH, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH AND VISITING PROFESSOR, PRINCETON'S SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: What Hamas did a week ago, those were blatant war crimes, slaughtering civilians, abducting civilians back to Gaza. So, these are, you know, clear war crimes, there's no question about it.
[21:20:00]
But international humanitarian law is absolutely clear that the duty to respect it does not depend on the behavior of your adversary. It's an absolute duty. And the Israeli government has been violating that duty. We see this in its indiscriminate attacks in, you know, just decimating certain neighborhoods.
We see it in the disproportionate attacks, the, you know, destroying entire apartment buildings because, you know, I suppose an ostensible Hamas presence someplace, but, you know, in one swoop rendering a hundred families homeless. We see it in the siege imposed on all Gaza, you know, preventing water, food, and electricity from coming in. And now, this latest, you know, Israel, they are giving warnings, you know, they're supposed to give warnings before a military attack if they can, but these warnings are completely double-edged because where are these people to go? As you just pointed out, they're getting -- you know, they're getting bombed in their homes, they're getting bombed if they go on the routes to the evacuation area in the south, the entrance Rafah into Egypt was also bombed. So, these people are absolutely desperate.
And it shows that, you know, Israel is not responding to the Hamas attacks in a lawful way, but is violating the same international humanitarian law that Hamas plotted.
CHATTERLEY: How far do those responsibilities extend, Ken? To your point, if you're giving civilians warning, however complicated the challenges are of evacuating a certain area, how far do those responsibilities extend and how far does a principal defense of human rights go in the face of the Israeli people that are also now terrified to a certain extent?
Some of them have been murdered in their beds, some have been taken hostage. I mean, these laws and principles weren't done in isolation. They were established by the largest militaries in the world, including the United States and Israel, to adhere to. But how far does that responsibility extend when their own citizens must be protected?
ROTH: Well, you're absolutely right. International humanitarian law, the laws of war, these were not, you know, written by pacifists or human rights groups, these were written by the world's leading militaries, including the United States, including Israel. They have all formally signed on to them. And these are not rules, you know, for nice, peaceful times, these are rules for war. These are rules when, you know, you have been attacked, when your people are being killed and you're still required to abide by them.
So, you know, this says, oh, Israel just suffered this devastating Hamas attack. We should be a little easy on it when it comes to humanitarian law. No, that's not what the law requires.
Now, one thing, you know, with respect to these warnings that I worry about, the last time we saw warnings like this was in 2006 when Israel fought. Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. It issued these broad warnings, evacuate Southern Lebanon, and it then targeted and killed anybody who was left, just assuming there were Hezbollah when, in fact, many civilians couldn't flee, they were afraid to flee, and I'm afraid we may see something like that here in Gaza again.
These warnings come out. Many people won't go. They're afraid to go. They're unable to move. If Israel now starts indiscriminately bombing civilian neighborhoods, pretending that anybody left is Hamas, that's a blatant war crime. That's repeating what happened in 2006.
CHATTERLEY: You wrote an op ed in "Time" today, and the title was "Atrocities Seek Extreme Reaction. Don't Give Hamas What It Wants." When Hamas perpetrated the crimes in Israel last week, they must have known what kind of response would follow. What is the message that you're trying to pass on to those that are now looking ahead towards a ground operation to search for Hamas terrorists, to also look for hostages there? What are you concerned about in the aftermath of this and the messaging around it?
ROTH: Well, I think we have to recognize that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. In fact, Hamas could care less about Palestinian civilians. You know, it launched these atrocities in Israel knowing there would be a devastating response, and it just calculated, you know, that'll be good for Hamas. You know, who cares about all these civilian dead?
And so, yes, I think it's important for the Israeli government, not simply as a legal matter, it's bound not to target, not to fire indiscriminately on civilians, but also just as a strategic matter. You know, does it -- what's it going to do with the people of Gaza? It may be occupying Gaza. Does it want the people, you know, hating the Israeli government for having slaughtered so many civilians from the air, or does it recognize that ultimately Israelis have to live with Palestinians? They're in this one small area. The two-state solution as a practical matter is dead because of all the settlements.
So, the Israeli government really faces a choice. You know, how is it going to live with these people? And it's going to be much, much harder if there's this utter hatred because the response to these Hamas atrocities was so devastating.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Kenneth Roth there, the former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch and a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs.
[21:25:00]
Well, coming up next here on "Newsroom," tanks on the border, troops at the ready. What we know about Israel's imminent ground invasion into Gaza. That's just ahead.
And a music festival became a horrifying killing ground. New video of the terror that hundreds of young Israelis endured at the hands of Hamas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. And an update on our breaking news this hour. Israeli troops appear to be getting ready for a potential ground invasion into Gaza. The IDF says its troops are "increasing operational readiness for the next stages of war."
Soldiers and tanks have been massing near Gaza now for days. Tens of thousands of Palestinians meanwhile southwards. Doctors Without Borders is calling for Israel to establish safe zones and a ceasefire for civilians. Aid convoys are continuing to arrive in Egypt in preparation to enter Gaza. The Egyptian foreign minister says the Rafah Crossing with Gaza is open, but roads on the Gaza side cannot be used because of the aerial bombardment. And sources tell CNN that U.S. intelligence warned of a possible attack from Gaza in the days before the violence began. An update on September 28th cautioned that Hamas was ready to step up launch rocket attacks across the border.
On October 5th, the CIA sent a wire warning of violence from Hamas. None of those warnings, though, indicated the type of overwhelming attack that Hamas did to carry out the events of October 7th.
Intelligent sources say these types of warnings are typical for the region. However, other sources say they tried to warn the Biden administration and Israel of the Hamas build up, but we're ignored. As Israel ramps up for this next phase in its war against Hamas, what will that entail? Let's discuss that and more with CNN military analyst retired at US Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.
Colonel, great to chat to you. Thank you so much for your time. So, increasing operational readiness. Can you put that into civilian speak for us? How close are we, in your mind, to seeing troops on the ground in Gaza?
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think, Julia, it could be somewhere between the next 24 and approximately between the next eight and 24 hours. So, we're seeing some movements in all of the different directions. We have ground forces that are poised on the northern and northeastern borders of Gaza.
[21:30:00]
And then, in the southeast of that extreme southeastern corner near that Rafah Crossing that you've referenced, there are also some Israeli troops there. So, there seems to be an effort to put all of those forces on a war footing, move them forward. And as they move in, you know, perhaps in the next few hours toward an even closer position along the border between Gaza and Israel, that would be a key indicator that they're about to jump off into Gaza territory at that point.
CHATTERLEY: I want to tap into your more precise military understanding and wisdom. If you're carrying out an operation like this, is -- and particularly given the situation with the lack of power, perhaps the lack of light and energy resources in Gaza, do you go in at night or do you go in during the day? And I think we're talking around, what, 20,000, we assume, Hamas fighters. What kind of size of force do you send in for this operation?
LEIGHTON: So, in this case, those 20,000 or so Hamas fighters could actually be quite a hindrance to a very large Israeli force because it's much easier to defend territory than to attack that territory. And basically, you need about a three to one ratio when it comes to -- personnel when it comes to attacking a particular location.
But as far as the Israeli forces are concerned, they will move in a way that synchronizes the ground movements with air movements and also, probably with naval movement, because the comments by Israeli officials have been pretty clear that they're going to use as many different elements of their military power to bring their force to bear against Hamas.
Their basic idea is to destroy -- their objective is to destroy Hamas as a political entity, as a viable political entity. And the effort that they'll make to do that will basically be to move in, capture as much territory probably temporarily as they can, and then, in essence, take out as many of the Hamas fighters as they possibly can.
So, it's going to be a brutal, I think, next few days if everything holds in terms of normal patterns. And what they're trying to do is they're trying to move forward in a way that would allow for maximum use of firepower and maximum use of time.
And of course, in all of this intelligence is key because they need to know exactly where the Hamas fighters are, they need to minimize the element of surprise and tactical engagements, which is very hard to do in a situation like this. And as they move forward, that's going to create, I think, a situation where there will be pockets of resistance within Gaza City, perhaps, and also in some of the other locations within Gaza. And I think that those pockets of resistance could serve to hinder the forward movement of Israeli forces.
CHATTERLEY: The Gazan health authorities have said, we're putting more lives at risk by moving people that are in hospitals, in particular and those that are already sick or injured. We're going to stay put. The concern, I'm sure, for the IDF then is that exactly where Hamas fighters will stage themselves, will hang out simply to use these individuals, these civilians, perhaps for their own use, for their own protection.
Colonel, if you were looking at the situation and hearing what the health authorities are saying and recognizing buildings like hospitals, how would that make you adjust your thinking on the operation? Would it adjust your thinking?
LEIGHTON: Yes, it would have to adjust my thinking, because it's very clear that Hamas will be using hospitals and even mosques and probably schools and other facilities like that as staging points for themselves. And in combat, you want to be very careful to minimize damage to civilian infrastructure.
However, if the civilian infrastructure becomes part of the oppositions or the adversaries' command structure, as Hamas often uses, these areas like the hospitals are going to be -- have to be considered targets and that will require a different kind of force to be used. You don't want to blow up a hospital when there are patients inside that hospital and you want to be very careful how you do that. But a surgical strike, probably using a commando team as an example, would be one way to go in and take something like that out and take it off the table in terms of military usefulness for the other side.
[21:35:00]
So, it's a very complicated situation. And of course, when you speak about these things, you're speaking more or less in ideal terms, because it's very hard to actually execute something like this, to actually execute a plan that would involve eliminating a fighter unit that's stationed, say, in the bottom floor of a hospital or something like that. So, that becomes, I think, a difficult thing to do.
But the plans have to be adjusted to meet the realities of the situation on the ground. And those realities will dictate how one proceeds in terms of any advancement or any other efforts that you make in order to achieve your objectives.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. And dramatically change the risk to human life too. Colonel Cedric Leighton, sir, thank you so much for your time.
CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now from Washington. Oren, obviously, I'm talking to you now about what we're hearing and learning about the intelligence that was provided and gathered in the run up to the events that we saw in Israel a week ago.
I have two questions for you. How atypical was the evidence that was being -- or the intel that was being gathered in the run up to what we saw in Israel last Saturday? And my second question is, a part at least of this intelligence comes from the Israelis themselves, what do we know about how much sharing of intel was given between the United States and officials in Israel, too? What can you tell us?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You get at a few of the challenges here. Part of the issue is that these warnings about a potential escalation in the Israeli Palestinian conflict were not atypical at all. It's very common for there to be on essentially a list of daily hotspots, a risk coming across from intel centers that there could be some sort of conflict or some sort of tension in the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
So, even as there were reports that something might happen, it didn't stand out from the -- essentially the white noise of issues with the Israeli Palestinian conflict. It is always essentially on the back burner. And that's where those warnings stayed.
In fact, if you can remember when we got a look at the Discord leaks of highly classified documents, that showed us bullet point after bullet point, and that's how some of these reports are handed over. And one of those bullet points, perhaps, was simply the Israeli Palestinian conflict. But none of those reports warned of what we saw on Saturday morning, a large-scale, multi-pronged terrorist attack on Israeli civilians and on military bases. And that's part of the issue here.
The other issue, as you point out, is that Israel collects its own intel on Gaza and shares that with the U.S. The U.S. doesn't really do any intel collection when it comes to Gaza, instead of relying on the Israelis own information. So, all of that went into this issue of there not being either enough surveillance or enough of a warning of what was coming.
In the wake of the attack, we've had a chance to look at some of the weapons that were used. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voiceover): 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, and you can get parts for it.
LIEBERMANN (voiceover): Many, like this Soviet Bill 50 caliber machine gun, appear 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 the grenades carried by Hamas militants made them deadly when they reached Israeli towns and villages near Gaza.
LYONS: All they're trying to do is provide the shock effects, provide dependability. Their weapons have to work. So, they're very rudimentary. But based on their training, best on how they operate them, they are successful with them.
LIEBERMANN (voiceover): Hamas' main weapon has long been their 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 potentially commercial aircraft. And that, I think, is one of the major issues of these terrorist groups, if they have those kinds of weapons in their hands.
LIEBERMANN (voiceover): Hamas used 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 tear down the above ground fence.
[21:40:00]
LYONS: They are just looking to create chaos with the kind of equipment they have and the equipment has got to be reliable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (on camera): The weapons we just looked at are only what we've seen so far in the attack that came out of Gaza. But we know Hamas has other weapons. We have seen them use anti-tank or anti-armor missiles in the past, and it's weapons like that that make an Israeli ground incursion such a difficult proposition.
CHATTERLEY: And out thanks to Oren Lieberman there. Now, meanwhile, violence is rising in the occupied West Bank. Settlers are being accused of attacking Palestinians, and Palestinian officials say at least 53 people have been killed, more than 1,000 injured, as CNN's Becky Anderson reports.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR (voiceover): A disturbing sight. An Israeli settler shooting a Palestinian point blank in the South Hebron Hills. While the man who was shot in this video did survive, many others confronted with settler violence across the occupied West Bank recently have not. CNN has reached out to Israel's police for comment on this shooting, but has not received a response.
Nearly a week into the war between Hamas and Israel, at least 47 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by settlers and Israeli forces, with hundreds of others injured. Fears that the violence would spill over into this area are beginning to feel very real.
At the heart of the conflict, this place, Al-Aqsa Mosque, usually filled with tens of thousands of worshippers gathered for Friday prayers. Today, almost empty. The Israeli police restricting access to the compound, only letting in the elderly.
57-year-old Um Tamer says seeing the compound so empty is upsetting.
The atmosphere was so tense, it was difficult getting in, she says. We are just going there to pray. We're not going to fight. We're not going to war. What is a worshipper expected to do?
Meantime, piles of prayer mats as younger Palestinians were forced to worship on the streets. Abbas was one of them. He says, this feels like an inflection point in this decades-long conflict.
It's very different this time around, he says. This time feels more difficult. May God grant us relief.
Fridays can be fraught here. Over the years, all too often these streets have witnessed clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police. And today, stun grenades, tear gas, and skunk water used to disperse local residents and worshippers.
Munir Hamal (ph) was reportedly one of them. His nephew, Qassem, said that his uncle was attacked by Israeli police as he tried to pray close to his home after being barred from Al-Aqsa. Like many civilians here, Qassem fears for his family's safety.
What's happening is very ugly. I can't explain it to my kids. I'm trying to distract them so they don't get scared, Qassem says.
So many people here scared about what happens next.
They robbed us of our homeland and now they punish us here in Al-Aqsa, and they punish the people of Gaza. They annihilated this small tight space. Why? Why do they deserve that? She says.
Becky Anderson, CNN, East Jerusalem.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Meanwhile, Jewish communities around Europe are increasingly concerned after a rise in antisemitic acts, both the U.K and France increasing their security. A live report from Paris when we return.
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[21:45:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. Jewish communities around Europe are on alert. There's been reports of increased antisemitic acts. French police say they've detained 65 people for dozens of antisemitic acts since the Israeli Hamas conflict began. And in the UK, it's increasing its security after they say there was an uptick, too, in antisemitic activity.
CNN's Melissa Bell is following all these developments now from Paris for us. Melissa, good to have you with us.
Let's talk about what's happening in France. First and foremost, 65 arrests since the conflict began. And of course, authorities must be aware of the reality that the loss of life here is set to continue.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Of course. And the longer this goes on and the longer the Israeli incursion into Gaza goes on, the more, of course, blood will be spilled and the more anger there will be on the streets of European capitals.
As you said, here in France the pro-Palestinian protests have actually been banned, but that didn't stop hundreds from gathering on Thursday night. And another gathering held today in Republique, at the Place de la Republique, where 19 people were arrested.
A reminder, really, Julia, that however much they may be banned there is still this very strong desire of people to take to the streets and make their feelings plain. There is also, as you mentioned, this rise in antisemitic acts and speech, and this Europe wide, as measured in several different European countries. And what we've seen over the course of the last 20 years, and we've seen a rise creeping antisemitism over the course of those 20 years, is that each time there is a spike it is very closely linked to tensions in the Middle East, and this time has proven no exception, Julia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BELL (voiceover): Far from the front lines of the Israel Hamas war, many European Jews say they're not just feeling the pain of what's happening there, but also fearing the potential ramifications much closer to home.
In France, at the Great Synagogue in Marseille, a prayer is held for the people of Israel. It's a fervent prayer, after reports of antisemitic incidents in parts of Europe, after Hamas launched its assault on Israel more than a week ago and Israel's subsequent bombardment of Gaza.
MARC MELMOUN, WORSHIPPER (through translator): First of all, it's important to be present whenever the Jewish people are in danger. Unfortunately, we're used to this kind of gathering, this kind of prayer. We're tired of it all. Nevertheless, we have to respond in unity.
BELL (voiceover): France is home to Europe's largest Jewish population, as well as the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron has urged his citizens to remain united, though French police used water cannon and tear gas to break up a recent rally in support of the Palestinian people, which had been banned by French officials, citing concerns about public order.
But there are fears of further unrest in France. 10,000 police officers have been deployed to protect synagogues and Jewish schools. And on Friday, France raised its security alert to the highest level after a knife attack at a school, the French interior minister, says was linked to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The U.K is also stepping up security after reports of increased antisemitic incidents. The Community Security Trust, a British nonprofit organization that monitors antisemitism, says the number of incidents reported to them in the past week has increased by more than 300 percent compared to the same period last year.
[21:50:00]
Tensions at times spilling out onto the streets of London, where flyers of Israelis reportedly kidnapped by Hamas were torn down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is for Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're not mutually exclusive, it's children. It's children. It's innocent people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Well, what about the children in Palestine?
BELL (voiceover): Germany, meanwhile, says it has a zero-tolerance policy towards antisemitic acts and will ban all activities supporting Hamas, which is on the E.U.'s list of terror groups. German officials say they can do no less.
FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, GERMAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Protecting Jewish life in Germany is part of the identity of our democracy. The security of Jews in Germany is our democracy at its core. Only if our Jewish citizens live in peace and security can our country as a whole do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL (on camera): I mentioned a moment ago there, Julia, that knife attack in the north of France, which left one teacher dead and several other teaching staff wounded. A frenzied knife attack by a man who was of Chechen origin, only later linked actually to those events in the Middle East.
The rest of the day of jihad remained relatively calm here in France, but today, we've seen the evacuation of both the Louvre and Versailles as a result of bomb threats. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Melissa Bell there. Thank you so much and very early in Paris. We appreciate your time. We're back after this.
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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." The European Union has sent Google and its subsidiary, YouTube, a warning over how they handle fake or graphic content linked to the Israel Hamas war.
It's not the first time the E.U. has stepped in, with social media platform X having already received a similar letter. One week since the conflict began, fake videos claiming to show the fighting have been going viral with worrying results. As CNN's Donie O'Sullivan reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): One video shows a rocket purportedly fired by Hamas. Another video claims to show Israeli jets bombing Gaza. But neither is real. This video is actually footage from a video game called Arma 3. And this is actually video of soccer celebrations in Algeria. It's all part of a tidal wave of viral mis and disinformation circulating around the Israel Hamas conflict.
Adi Cohen works with Memetica, an online threat intelligence service. He's been monitoring misinformation like this, a fake BBC News report that falsely claimed Ukraine had provided weapons to Hamas.
O'SULLIVAN: This is relatively sophisticated stuff. I mean, it's got even the same kind of graphics set as the BBC News normally would have.
ADI COHEN, COO, MEMETICA: Right. And I think what happened over recent years is that it becomes very easy, affordable to mimic those graphics, visualization.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): In response to the false news report, the BBC told CNN in a statement, in a world of increasing disinformation, we urge everyone to ensure they are getting news from a trusted source.
Just hours after the Hamas attack began on Saturday, this began circulating on social media, a fake White House memo falsely claiming the U.S. was immediately sending billions of dollars in new aid to Israel.
[21:55:00]
O'SULLIVAN: This is like some more old school disinformation, a fake White House document circulated pretty widely online.
COHEN: Right. I do want to point out though, it is an old school tactic that we've seen, you know, for multiple years by now. But with the current tools you can also create it very quickly and make it more believable.
GRAHAM BROOKIE, DIGITAL FORENSIC RESEARCH LAB, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: There's new information every second, every minute, every hour. And so, there's a lot of room for error as things develop on the ground.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Graham Brookie tracks disinformation with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.
BROOKIE: And this conflict is hyper connected. Israel is a very, very connected country. And so, we're seeing an enormous amount of misleading content coming out of this conflict as the world's eyes are watching it.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Twitter, now known as X, is a major source of misinformation. In part because of the changes Elon Musk made to the platform since he took it over, including laying off key employees. On Thursday, the European Commission announced it was opening an investigation into disinformation on X about the Israel Hamas conflict.
COHEN: Another component of it, I would say, is that because Several platforms of scaled back and moderation. It's much easier to spread rumors, unsubstantiated rumors, false information very quick.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): But this isn't just an information war. It's a real war, and false information can be fatal.
BROOKIE: And that disinformation is extraordinarily harmful, including putting folks lives at risk.
O'SULLIVAN: Now, X, formerly Twitter, says that it is moving resources around at the company after, of course, it had all those layoffs under Musk to try and address some of these issues. But look, this is not a problem that is exclusive to X, it is happening on other platforms as well, but right now, it's quite pronounced on X. You can see false videos, misleading videos getting hundreds of thousands, millions of views on the platform before anything is really done about them.
And, of course, the real tragedy is here, you know, there is no need to post these fake videos and images. We have seen the tragic footage, the real footage from Israel and Gaza. And, of course, it is upsetting enough these fake videos and images really just adding to the chaos, confusion, and concern.
Donny O'Sullivan, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And that wraps up this hour. Thank you so much for joining us. And our breaking news coverage picks up with Michael Holmes after this short break. Stay with CNN. [22:00:00]
