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CNN International: Israel Gears Up for "Significant Ground Operations" In Gaza; Aid Groups Running Out Of Food & Medical Supplies; Blinken: Key Gaza-Egypt Crossing Will Be Open For Aid; Afghanistan Struck By 6.3 Magnitude Quake; Rallies On Both Sides Of Israeli-Hamas War Taking Place Around The World. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 15, 2023 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:37]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: And warm welcome to everyone watching us around the world. I'm Julia Chatterley in New York.
And we begin with a warning from the United Nations, which says that we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East. The U.N. secretary general is calling on Hamas to immediately release the hostages it has been holding since it's terror attacks in Israel on October 7th, which more than 1,400 people were killed, according to the IDF.
In retaliation, Israel's military says they're preparing for combined and coordinated strikes from air, sea, and land. But we still have no word on exactly when that defensive may begin.
The U.N. is also calling for immediate humanitarian access in Gaza, which has been under intense airstrikes over the past week. Palestinian health authorities say the death toll has now passed 2,600 lives as tens of thousands of people moved south to safety.
Diplomats are now racing to stop this crisis from getting worse. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made visits to Egypt, to Saudi Arabia, and to Jordan. After meetings in Cairo, he promised that the crucial Rafah border crossing will be open soon, and that progress is being made.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I had very good conversations, both with the crown prince in Saudi Arabia and here in Egypt with President El-Sisi. I also heard a lot of good ideas from some of the things that we need to do moving forward, including practical ideas and giving assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who are in need, but also good and important conversations about the future, and where we hope ultimately, together, we can bring this in a much more positive way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Right now at the Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt is the only viable way in or out of Gaza. Until it is opened, there is nowhere for people to go and nowhere for aid to get in. One aid official describing the situation inside of Gaza as a, quote, complete catastrophe.
The Palestinian health ministry says that more than 2,600 people have lost their lives with around 10,000 injured. The ministry also calling on the world to send medical teams as it accuses Israel of targeting medical staff and their families. One of the most critical issues is access to clean water, which Israel closed off and response to Hamas attacks.
Israel told CNN that water has now been restored to southern Gaza, but the director of the water authority there said he could not be sure it was true, because electricity remains switched off.
Speaking to the British prime minister, Jordan's king said denying food, water, and electricity to innocent civilians in Gaza is a war crime. Israel insists it is now working with the U.N. to establish a humanitarian zone in Gaza.
(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)
MICHAEL HERZOG, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: We are in the process of establishing a humanitarian zone, a big humanitarian zone in the southern part of Gaza with the U.N. We are working very closely with the U.N. agency so that they would go there and be in that humanitarian zone. They will get all of the essential provisions, like water, medicine, food, things like that.
We are in that process. We have no desire for to rule over the lives of over 2 million Palestinians, and certainly, we want people to go back to their homes. We're talking about innocence civilians and we are doing everything we can to keep them out of harm's way, while Hamas is doing everything it can to keep them in harm's way. That's the situation we are in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: The spokesperson for the U.N. secretary general telling CNN he could not confirm whether the U.N. is working with the Israeli government to establish that humanitarian zone.
Scott McLean has a report on how one city in Gaza south of Israel's evacuation line is coping. And I should warn you, it contains graphic video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the frantic scene in front of the hospital in the city of Deir al- Balah. Constant wail of sirens and a steady stream of children carried desperately inside. Some bandaged, some seeming alert. Others, not moving at all.
[20:05:02]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a target? Is this a real target for Israel, this toddler?
MCLEAN: On Sunday, people in that same city gathered to pray over bodies wrapped in white and loaded on to a flatbed truck.
Deir al-Balah located south of the evacuation line declared by Israel and Gaza was hit again on Sunday. Afterwards, heavy machines shift the slabs of concrete, hoping perhaps in vain to find survivors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They're all women, all children, children, children.
MCLEAN: Across Gaza, Israel says it hit more than 100 military targets overnight, and more on Sunday. In the aftermath of, each people rushed to frantically find victims. Never far from danger.
This video, from Gaza City, shows the sheer chaos as distraught men, women, and children try to figure out what to do, and where to go next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is, as you can see, destruction. Destruction. They are destroying us.
MCLEAN: Even hospitals like this children's hospital have been told to evacuate from northern Gaza. But with newborn babies and children on ventilators, doctors say they can't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Where will these children go? They are on ventilators. And it's not possible to move them.
MCLEAN: The World Health Organization says that they strongly condemned Israel's repeated orders of evacuation of 22 hospitals, treating more than 2,000 inpatients in northern Gaza, saying, forcing the evacuation of patients south could be tantamount to a death sentence.
Across Gaza, aid groups say that food and fuel are running desperately low. The U.N. says most people already lack access to water.
Foreign aid is being sent by the plane load and truckload to Egypt in hopes of getting it into Gaza. But Egypt and Palestinians on the ground say that the roads near the border are too badly damaged from airstrikes, for trucks to pass. Sunday, CNN asked the IDF whether it was coordinating with the neighbors to ensure that supplies get in.
LT. COL. PETER LERNER, IDF SPOKESPERSON: The IDF and defense ministry are engaged with international communities to try and associate various different things. I think that we need to leave -- I speak on behalf of the IDF, so we are deeply involved in the combat. We are the warriors. We need to leave the diplomacy for the diplomats.
MCLEAN: In just eight days, the death toll in Gaza has already surpassed the number of people killed in the 2014 conflict, which lasted 51 days. With the Israeli ground invasion looming, and supplies running low, there is little hope that things will soon get better for the people of Gaza.
Scott McLean, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Israel's President says his nation is bleeding, and is in sorry, but insists Israel is not indifferent to the pain of its Palestinian neighbors pain. President Isaac Herzog also tells CNN he's closely monitoring the situation in Gaza on a quote, hourly basis.
Let's go to chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward now. She joins us from Ashkelon.
Clarissa, great to have you with us.
Let's talk about the humanitarian crisis. And the flurry of diplomatic efforts that we've seemed to have seen this weekend, pushing towards finding some kind of solutions. Whether that's some kind of humanitarian zone in Gaza, and, of course, a humanitarian corridor to get aid in. What hopes do we have at this stage that that can quickly be established?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that the keyword there is quickly. We've heard this idea proposed of establishing a humanitarian zone that potentially could meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people, Julia, instead of southern Gaza. But there are a huge amount of obstacles that need to be cleared before that can happen. There has been a flurry of diplomatic efforts.
And there's also been, I would say, an intensification of the language from Israel's backers in the form of U.S. and European countries, really urging Israel to, in the words of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, do this the right way, to abide by international humanitarian law, and to allow food, electricity, water, things of that nature into the Gaza Strip, where the situation is rapidly escalating out of control.
You heard the U.N. secretary general earlier, Julia, said that, you know, we are on the brink of an abyss in the Middle East. The commissioner for the U.N. Agency for Relief and Work said that we have lost our humanity, reminding people it more than 60 percent of Palestinians inside of Gaza are already dependent on food aid in order to survive.
[20:10:13]
We have spoken to people in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, that is the area that is the area that is supposed to be evacuated, that the IDF Israel's defense force has been urging people to evacuate. And we know that a number of families are still there, for a number of reasons, but primarily because there are too fearful to take the runs down south. And they don't believe or know that they have a safe place to go. The shelters and U.N. facilities in the southern part of Gaza are already completely overwhelmed, and much at capacity.
The hope is that tomorrow, we may see some movement on the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. There have been intense negotiations going on around that. But again, what kind of access or opening are we talking about? How much aid would get in? How many people would get out? These are still questions that have yet to be resolved, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, and there are so many moving pieces to this as well as we see those people that can flood from the north to the south to get away from what seemed to be, and has been advised by the IDF, the real danger zone as we await some kind of ground defensive at this stage. Clarissa, but as you've described, there diplomacy goes on behind the scenes.
We just between IDF spokesman, and he said that a cease-fire is not on the table at this stage. I had the meantime, we just wait to see when the broader offensive takes place.
WARD: And I think that -- you know, many people in Gaza at the moment, Julia, a really holding their breath. It's already a very difficult situation there to put it mildly. It's this anticipation that it's only going to intensify. The death toll in Gaza now is over 2,670. That breaks down roughly to give you a sense, one Palestinian killed every five minutes, since Hamas's bloody attacks.
So, there is a real fear as well but this could escalate if another front in the war opens. There have been a lot of activities today relatively speaking, on the border with southern Lebanon. The fear is that if Hezbollah potentially gets involved in a more meaningful way, that could also have drastic implications. So, a lot of tension, a lot of anxiety, and a lot of suffering in Gaza tonight.
CHATTERLEY: Clarissa, can I just ask, in from the Israelis that you are talking to, clearly they are very aware of what is taking place in Gaza, too. They have been through their own fears. They are still dealing with their own anger. Their lack of confidence in the government over the handling of what happened, why, and how it happened.
What are they saying to you about what they are also seeing in the images that they are seeing in Gaza? Do they want to see some kind of a cease-fire, too?
WARD: It really -- yeah, it really depends on who you talk to, Julia. There are many Israelis who, honestly right now, they feel such shock, so horrified, and they are so angered by what happened last Saturday that they do want revenge. They want to completely stomp out Hamas once in for all.
The issue becomes, how are you actually go a debate that happened? Will a ground invasion actually result in Hamas being eviscerated? If so, what comes in Hamas's place?
President Biden just told "60 Minutes" that he doesn't think that Israel should try to re-occupy Gaza. Israel's president also reiterated that to Wolf Blitzer in an interview earlier, saying that they did not have -- the Israelis do not have any interest in the occupying Gaza. I would say that there are also Israelis that feel like their
government bears some responsibility in this in terms of the intelligence failures, and in terms of the nature of this coalition here in Israel. Primarily, I think the many people are really focused on the issue of the hostages, and desperately wanting to see some kind of a resolution on that front, some kind of release of those hostages. That, of course, would be very complicated by any kind of a ground offensive.
But again, it's important to underscore, Julia, that Israel is a democracy. There are a lot of differences of opinions depending on who you are talking to. It is not a monolith, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, and that's allowed.
Clarissa, we spoke to the grandson of one hostage. He's exactly you're saying. The grand defensive complicates, and he's pushing for diplomacy.
[20:15:02]
Some kind of a hostage swap, perhaps, he hopes, or prisoner swap. We'll see.
Clarissa, good to talk to you. Thank you. Clarissa Ward there.
For the first time since the shocking and deadly Hamas attack on Israel, the president of the Palestinian Authority has condemned the militants' actions. The Palestinian news agency WAFA is reporting that Mahmoud Abbas said the policies of Hamas do not represent the Palestinian people.
He also called for a rejection of violence in the release of prisoners on both sides of the conflict. WAFA says Abbas' comments came during a phone call with the president of Venezuela.
Let's dig deeper into all of this now with Daniel Kurtzer. He's the former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Egypt, and professor of Middle East policy studies at Princeton University school of public and international affairs.
Ambassador, good to have you with us. Thank you so much for your time is even.
Of all of the things that I have seen and read over the past 12 hours really, the decision by Secretary Blinken. The U.S. secretary of state, to extending his day in the Middle East, going back to Israel on Monday caught my attention. You see it as possibly a positive sign for humanitarian efforts in Gaza, perhaps the negotiations over a cease-fire.
Can you elaborate what -- what you are reading from this decision?
DANIEL KURTZER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL & EGYPT: Oh, I agree fully. It's hard to find anything positive over the last nine days. But the fact that Secretary Blinken, who has been on this very hard diplomatic travel around the region with a very vigorous agenda is deciding to go back to Israel, suggests that there's something that's on the table that he's working with that may have some vitality.
For sure he has been focused on the humanitarian situation. He is probably also have conversations about starting a process for dealing with hostages. U.S. public diplomacy including from the president on down suggested that Israel needs to take into account of the humanitarian impact of its operations. So, yeah, in a situation where there is no good news over the last nine days, maybe the fact that Blinken is extending a little bit suggest that we may get some traction diplomatically.
CHATTERLEY: The United States and other nations are very supportive of Israel's right to defend itself in light of what's happened on October the 7th. But I just wonder about the conversations that are going on behind the scenes here.
And to your point, I wonder whether perhaps the delay that we are seeing on the ground offensive as we see the Palestinians that can at least move from north to south is all part of the pressure campaign that will only get greater due to some degree however possible restricting what's taking place here in terms of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Would you agree?
KURTZER: Well, I think Israel is trying its best to figure out how to conduct an operation which gets that Hamas and its leadership, but produces the least amount of humanitarian concern. And that's hard. As your correspondent Clarissa and others have indicated, even if you do get a mass movement of people from northern Gaza to southern Gaza, taking care of them and providing them with all their needs is a humongous task.
I think the issue of Egypt is off the table. It means that you are talking about 1 million additional people are more in an area that simply can't sustain them. On the other hand, I think that much of the world community has basically looked in the mirror and said, what would we do if a circumstance presented itself such as Hamas' attack is a massacre of civilians, you know, it goes beyond terrorism.
Terrorism is designed to achieve political goals. This was simply mass murder. I think that's what's behind the kind of uncertainty on the part of the international community with regard to whether or not they can put any pressure on Israel. I don't think the pressure is going to come right away. I think Israel understands it has to moderate its activities.
CHATTERLEY: I want to go back to what he said about Egypt, and taking them off the table. Obviously, there is our hope that Egypt in some way can be enticed and persuaded to provide greater support. I'm not talking about eight coming into Gaza. But also, to your point refugees moving there.
What do you think it takes to get Egypt on board? They have their own challenges and their own people to deal with and many refugees and surrounding nations already to deal with.
[20:20:01]
KURTZER: I really don't think it's an economic issue, although, certainly, Egypt's economy is not in great shape. I think there are two factors at play. One is the people and Gaza, many of whom are refugees from 1948 really don't want to leave Gaza because they're afraid they will never be allowed to come back. Egypt recognizes that. They don't want to be burdened by becoming a host of people who don't want to have left their homes.
So, it's a much more complicated issues and putting some pressure on Egypt. There are additional factors, it were not thinking about it. Egypt has faced a bit of its own security issue in the over the last ten years. There is an insurrection. That insurrection has been fueled in part by the same people who have been providing arms and training to Hamas. The idea of masses of people coming into Sinai, some of whom are going to be Hamas fighters, is certainly not a welcome idea for Egypt.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, not the long term solutions. Certainly not.
Ambassador, good to check, thank you so much for your wisdom tonight.
Ambassador Kurtzer there.
KURTZER: My pleasure.
CHATTERLEY: Just ahead, the Israeli president tells CNN his nation's and sorrow. I will be talking live to an American man desperate for the word of his missed loved ones believed kidnapped in Gaza.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has been describing horrific scenes he's witnessed in an interview with Wolf Blitzer. I have to warn you once again, there is distressing content.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PREISDENT: I saw the most horrific scenes. I saw -- I saw of the woman and I saw the skull of the woman in which house I visited in -- house totally destroyed, totally destroyed and they just cut her head off.
I saw a pool of blood in that house where a picture of the children is hanging, the grandchildren are hanging on the wall, with the knives and the hatches, which they went with in. I saw the most horrific scenes possible. I saw bloodshed.
And I was thinking to myself, because in kibbutz Be'eri, there was a special fund to help their neighbors from Gaza. For years, they have been paying money to help their friends and neighbors in Gaza because they advocated peace, and all of a sudden, life was shattered, and the same, life was shattered for the Israeli nation. My nation is bleeding. My nation is in pain. My nation is in sorrow.
And we are faced with an extremely cruel, inhumane enemy, which we have to uproot with no mercy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:01]
CHATTERLEY: And we're now getting confirmation from the Israeli Defense Forces that Hamas is holding 155 hostages. Efforts continue on several fronts to get them released. Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who you just heard, there is also telling CNN he's trying to determine their fate. And, of course, bring back to Israel.
Mr. Herzog also points out some of the hostages are in need of special medication and treatment.
We are joined by Mark Avsker from Oregon. He is also trying to find out more about his missing family members believed to be held in Gaza.
Mark, good to have you with me. I apologize. Arthur arts and prayers are with you and your family. Specifically it's your brother and law and your nephew that were taken.
MARK AVSKER, AMERICAN WHOSE FAMILY MEMBERS ARE BEING HELD IN GAZA: Yeah. Thank you for having me. My brother and law and my son and nephew. They go missing from the home in kibbutz Nir Oz, which is really two kilometers from the Gaza border a week ago, there are no real news of them since.
CHATTERLEY: You haven't heard anything? You haven't heard anything in the last eight days?
AVSKER: No, we haven't heard anything since the mother of the family and the wife was last seen or heard and wounded in the entrance of the House. Her son Etan taken on the motorbike toward Gaza. She managed to escape, with an enormous courage using a moment of confusion, and to escape and tell the tale.
We didn't hear anything. We really don't know what's happening. Again, a 12 years old child and his father has just gone missing. We do know that they're alive -- at a least were alive at that point.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, and that's something at least to hold on to.
You mentioned his mother, obviously, the wife, too. How is she holding up? She is clearly, as you, said incredibly because she managed to get away from them. Now, she has to wait.
AVSKER: I will not try to get into the head of the mother who was a young son is kidnapped and held in such conditions. She's -- physically, she's safe, she is with her family in central Israel, where her daughter, their 10 years old daughter and a baby girl, 18 months old baby girl.
So, physically, they are with the family. They are all okay. She is a strong woman. If you deduce from the way she managed to escape, but obviously, I wouldn't try to even imagine what's going on with her. I know it's hard for me and my family. It's certainly not easier in any way for her.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. Mark, what do you think is the best way to get them back? We were speaking to someone else who is in your similar position as a family member now that's suffering because one of their family members was taken and he said he thinks some kind of cease-fire negotiations, diplomacy is the best way to get them back. Would you agree with that?
AVSKER: Well, I am not in a position. My day job is very different. I was not experienced and didn't hope -- I hope not to be inexperienced in this kind of situation. I know one thing that happened is completely unacceptable.
This was a heinous crime that happened, murdered and kidnapped children and adults and women. It's completely unacceptable. It has absolutely -- my family -- I am from a family of Holocaust survivors. I heard a lot of stories -- how children were hiding in shelters, trying to hide, and so the soldiers -- the enemy soldiers going around and shooting people.
This is the only memory that came about when I heard the story. So, I don't understand how this could even get to this type of cruelty.
[20:30:01]
And I wouldn't think that -- I don't know exactly how to finish it. I certainly do know that the world leader is much now let -- use any type of leverage that they have in order to finish the situation. I think that Hamas needs to relieve those hostages without any delay. There's absolutely no justification to hold them. No reason to hold them. This will not bring -- holding to its hostages will not peace or any progress toward the Palestinians. So again --
CHATTERLEY: That's an important part, Mark. I think that's an important point. You've made I've seen it in the past that do you see this as a crime against humanity. And it's not actually just a crime against the Israelis. You believe it's a crime against the Palestinians, too.
Explain what you mean.
AVSKER: I will say that -- I will say that, yes. It's not about history. It's not politics -- it's not about politics.
I'm -- personally, I'm totally for and I really want for the Palestinian, people in Gaza, the same as Israel, to live in peace and prosperity and safety, the kind of person with a very basic compass, okay? And, this I'm more pro-Palestinian than Hamas itself than any of the so-called pro-Palestinian groups that cheer their crimes.
What happened here is nothing about well-being of Palestinians. It was said before in this very program, that except cruelty -- next, display of cruelty, and it doesn't address any grievances that the Palestinians had and I think holding the hostages also doesn't help the Palestinians in any way, not the people in Gaza, not anywhere else. I think there is a simple outlet of the situation. They are releasing hostages, and, of course, doing whatever is needed to stop this cycle of violence.
This cycle of violence needs to be stopped. We can't just continue like nothing happened and cease-fire like nothing happened. Just a negotiation and just to get back to the same situation in a year or two down the road. That's not what should happen, something should happen.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, the cycle of violence must be stopped.
AVSKER: This will just leave to more victims and to more suffering from anybody, from Israelis, to people in Gaza, for Palestinians, everybody. That's something that should stop, and the again, U.S. said that the whole world should stand by Israel against this and people and work together to stop this cycle.
CHATTERLEY: Mark, our hearts and thoughts are with you and your family. We pray that your brother in law and your beautiful nephew are back home soon.
Stay well, sir.
AVSKER: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Mark Avsker there, thank you.
Just ahead, why America's top diplomat is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:35:51]
CHATTERLEY: U.S. President Joe Biden says he believes Israel will follow the rules of war in its conflict with Hamas in an interview with "60 Minutes". Just listen to part of that interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm confident that Israel is going to act on its major -- the rules of war. There is a standard that democratic institutions and countries go by. And so, I'm -- I'm confident that there is going to be an ability for the innocence in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: And as we have been reporting, Israeli troops are continuing to Hamas near Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas militants. The last time the IDF went into Gaza to target Hamas leaders was back in 2014.
And Nic Robertson looks back at operations and you see what lessons have been learned and now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Close to Gaza, preparations underway for a much anticipated ground offensive. Troops from different units training together. There is an urgency here. They have to be ready fast.
Right now, this is a rehearsal. If and when there is an incursion, these troops could be at the front of it. The tanks, or for this practice, model ones right now, followed by combat engineers -- a combined force spearheading the incursion.
If they do, Major Ofek will be near the front.
MAJOR OFEK, IDF TROOP COMMANDER (through translator): We expect to go to war. We expect to destroy the terrorist organization of Hamas, kill its government, and kill every last terrorist. That's what we planned to do, and that's how it will be.
ROBERTSON: The last time the IDF went into Gaza, targeting Hamas's leaders was 2014. Ariel Bernstein was 21. In the special forces, one of the first to cross the border.
ARIEL BERNSTEIN, FORMER IDF SOLDIER & PEACE ACTIVIST: We're just afraid that there's something waiting for you at every corner.
ROBERTSON: But his experiences then has left some questioning the tactics today. Back then, he says that the IDF wanted civilians to leave, and Hamas told them to stay, just as it is happening now. But some had stayed. His orders, he says, assume the civilians had left.
BERNSTEIN: So, whoever you see is basically engaged in fighting, and is involved, and therefore, we call it engaging with fire, with any home you enter, with nay kind of shape of a person that you see from afar.
ROBERTSON: In many ways, Israel's actions are playing out just as they have in the past. 2021 gun positions, freshly dug back in use. And in Gaza, the civilian death toll, according to Palestinian health officials, already higher than in 2014.
And like then, Israel is already facing huge international pressure to avoid more civilian casualties.
JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: What we are doing is saying privately what we have said publicly, which is that all military operations should be conducted consistent with the law of war, that civilians should be protected.
ROBERTSON: The problem, the IDF says it faces, just like in 2014, Hamas will be hiding amongst civilians.
MAJOR DORON SPIELMAN, IDF SPOKESPERSON: The whole situations we're talking about with Gazan civilians forcibly embedded is another element of Hamas. Hamas has to be fully defeated. ROBERTSON: So, the responsibility is on them and not you?
DORON: The responsibility is on Hamas for its own civilians. Our responsibility is to eliminate Hamas's capabilities effectively.
ROBERTSON: Major Ofek pausing during training in a mockup Palestinian town says they don't hurt innocents, only terrorists. But admits if they are sent to Gaza, avoiding civilian deaths won't be easy.
[20:40:02]
Do you think that it's possible to fight Hamas without civilians getting injured?
OFEK: We are concerned with overthrowing the Hamas regime, and killing the terrorists in Gaza. If it would be difficult, it would be difficult, not easy.
ROBERTSON: Outside of the camp gates, Israel's military ponders their next move, troops are saying their fond farewells.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Iran's president is warning that the war between Israel and Hamas could spread to other parts of the Middle East if the crisis in Gaza is not resolved soon. In a call with France's Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, Iran's president called for an immediate end to the bombardment of residential areas in Gaza and demanded that efforts be made to lift blockade on the territory.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spent the weekend holding talks with leaders across the Middle East and hopes of preventing exactly that, a spread of the conflict. He's warning Iran and other planners could not take advantage of the crisis. Noting that the U.S. is sending a second carrier strike group to the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLINKEN: We back that up not only with the words that we are saying, but with what we are doing, including the deployment of these aircraft carrier battle groups. Again, not to provoke everyone, but to send a very clear message of deterrence that no one should do anything that widens the conflict in any way or that furthers aggression against Israel from any other direction. So, we've been clear about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: And following those talks, CNN has also learned that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has invited U.S. President Biden to visit Israel. And that both countries are discussing the possibility of a visit soon.
Now, a massive earthquake has hit the western part of Afghanistan. We've seen other deadly quakes in the same region just days ago. All the details and the impact ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM, where we continue to follow the latest developments on the war between Israel and Hamas.
But, first, let's get you caught up on some of the other major stories making news this hour.
Polls are closed after a hard fought parliamentary election in Poland. And an exit poll suggest that the populist wing party's reign maybe over. It shows the Law and Justice Party will lose its majority in parliament. It will however need coalition support in order to retain power. The results of this election were expected to have major ramifications for Poland's direction, the balance of power in the European Union and the future of the war in Ukraine.
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan Sunday morning followed by another strong aftershocks. It happened just over a week after another quake hit the same region in the west of the country killing some 2,000 people.
Anna Coren has all the details.
[20:45:07]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Beneath crystal blue skies on the outskirts of Herat in western Afghanistan, the sound of vanished hope fills the air.
Under mounds of earth, lie countless bodies, there are no survivors here. Only evidence of Mother Nature's wrath and fury, unleashing further misery on a traumatized country.
Last Saturday, around 11:00 a.m., a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the district of Zinda Jan, completely flattening 11 villages.
You can see the state of my home, it's now in ruins, say 56-year-old Sahir. There is no need for words.
Zahir wasn't home when the earth violently shook for only a few seconds. But when he returned, he found 13 family members crushed to death, including his daughters, sons, and multiple grandchildren.
Simple mud brick structures supported by wooden polls, with the homes in villages on these dusty planes. They have already been reduced to rubble, aid agency tents are now their new homes.
Thirty-year-old Sha Bibi (ph) lost two daughters when her house collapsed. The only reason she survived was because she was standing under the door framed.
My children were buried under the wall, she explains. Everything is gone. Nothing remains for us.
The Taliban government and international organizations estimate more than 2,000 people were killed across the region during Saturday's earthquake. According to UNICEF, more than 90 percent of the victims were women and children.
U.S. charity too young to web, part of the humanitarian relief effort on the ground say there is a clear reason for this staggering statistic. It's because women and girls are forced to stay at home under Taliban rule, denied their basic rights, banned from education and work, and being part of society.
STEPHANIE SINCLAIR, CO-FOUNDER, "TOO YOUNG TO WED": They have been systematically stripped of the rights over the last two years. So, instead of being at school and at work on a Saturday, which is when they have their school week and work week, they were home, confined to their homes, imprisoned in their homes. It is a country where half of the population is under house arrest.
COREN: At this hospital in Herat, makeshift wards have been erected in the courtyard to cater for all the injured.
Lying on a bed, 35-year-old Fatima, who is knocked unconscious when her home collapsed on top of her. While being rescued from the rubble, she worked to discover her seven children, age four months to 14 years were all dead.
I have experienced a lot of pain and sorrow, she says. We've lost everything in my life. Nothing remains.
With the world firmly focused on the war in Israel, aid organizations are pleading for the international community not to forget the earthquake victims in Afghanistan.
SIDDIG IBRAHIM, CHIEF OF FIELD OFFICE, UNICEF: The children in Afghanistan deserve equally as all children in the world. Things happening in the world are not going to stop. It doesn't mean we abandon them.
COREN: Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Coming up, taking into the streets, a sign of solidarity. Thousands held rallies in cities around the world raising their voices in support of both Israelis and Palestinians. We'll show you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:50:34]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
U.S. diplomacy center to hopes for a de-escalation in a war between Israel and Hamas, and the world is watching America's top diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said repeatedly, Israel has the right to defend itself. But that's not all he's saying. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life, and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: For its part, Cairo is facing pressure to open a humanitarian corridor and Blinken is processing the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt will be open. It seems the only feasible route to get aid in and people out of Gaza, and that includes Americans, too.
We're also hearing from the United Nations now. It seems no one was hurt after a rocket hit its peacekeepers headquarters in southern Lebanon. The U.N. officials say there are still trying to determine where the rocket was launched from.
There was an intense exchange of fire on Lebanon's border with Israel earlier. We're also getting an update from the Israeli defense forces. The IDF says its fighter jet hit Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon earlier Sunday. An uptick in clashes with Hezbollah is also raising fears that the conflict could spread further.
It's important to remember that human tragedy at the center of the war between Israel and Hamas. Israeli newspapers are doing just that, by featuring pictures of children on its front page. They are believed to be missing or held hostage in Gaza.
The headline reads: This is how hell feels. CNN cannot independently verify the fate of each child featured.
And around the world, people are taking to the streets to show support for both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Jewish communities in the United States have held rallies in solidarity with Israel and several western nations have stepped up security at synagogues and Jewish schools.
At this gathering in Sydney, Australia, there were calls for peace and justice and condemnation of Israel's military action against Gaza. In other countries like France, pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been banned.
I want to get to Melissa Bell in Paris. Melissa, I think that front page explains everything that you and I were discussing in the last hour. This is how hell feels like the humanitarian crisis, the human cost on both sides here raising anger around the world, in defense of both the Palestinians and the Israelis.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Julia. There are a few conflicts that excite emotion way beyond the borders of the areas we're talking about. That historically, this lasts more than a week now and has proven no exception, with the world glued to the images of what's coming out of this unfolding tragedy in and around Gaza. Of course, the initial kidnapping of the Israelis, but everything that is ensued. Everything that's likely to follow over the coming days, the most recent over the weekend.
Protests held in morocco in favor of Palestinians, but also in London and across the United Kingdom. Tens of thousands took to the street to call for more attention to be paid to the plight of the civilians across Gaza. And this is a cry we've heard for much of the last week now in many different cities around the world, Julia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PROTESTERS: Palestine will be free!
BELL (voice-over): In Sydney, thousands turned out to express solidarity with Palestinians and oppose Israel's military action in Gaza. The police out in full force as well, with organizers warning that antisemitic behavior that had been seen at previous protests would not be welcome.
No signs of that chaos here, but the crowd's message to the Palestinian people was loud and clear.
LIQAA, DEMONSTRATOR: What's a protest going to do except to win us support? We have no legitimized, legalized, any possible power to do anything to protect them. Shame on the government who do and don't do anything.
BELL: Pro-Palestinian rallies have been held in cities around the world.
[20:55:02]
In France and Germany, where they have been banned, demonstrators gathered regardless.
Some of the largest rallies for Palestinians were held in the Arab world. Thousands attended a rally in Turkey, where crowds vented anger at both Israel and the United States.
Similar scenes of solidarity in Pakistan.
SALMA REHEEL QAZI, DEMONSTRATOR: We are saying from our rallies and all over the Pakistan, that Palestinians are not alone.
BELL: And in Tunisia, anger that more is not being done to protect Palestinians.
SAHER ELMASRI, GAZAN LIVING IN TUNIS (through translator): My people are facing extermination. And Gaza is being devastated. Where is the international community? Where the Arabs? Where is the Arab conscience?
BELL: In Tokyo, a smaller crowd with a similar plea.
AWEED SADEED, DEMONSTRATOR: I am here to show that we are united now with Muslims. They're very tired of war. Everyone is very tired of conflicts. And everyone wants justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL (on camera): Of course, Julia, with every day, given what we know to expect to unfold over the coming days, those voices are likely to grow louder. Fears about what's happening to the civilians of Gaza and what more can be done to try to get them out through the Rafah crossing and prevent any more being done to traumatize people. A lot of people around the world are concerned about what's happening there, and a sense of outrage as you heard there together. More is not being done to protect them and condemn what Israel is preparing to do.
CHATTERLEY: And that's the hope for the diplomacy that took place this weekend.
Melissa, I mean, as you and I were discussing earlier, including the French President Emmanuel Macron, the Iranian president. You heard an individual saying where is the Arab conscience at this moment? The hope is that collectively, these leaders can come together. And at least if it's only about humanitarian aid corridor, somehow, and providing some zone for aid, it will alleviate some suffering at least.
BELL: At a loss of pressure, you speak of the diplomatic maneuvering, negotiations going on. So much pressure now brought on Egypt specifically about the Rafah crossing. As you mentioned, we heard from Secretary Blinken today that he believed after his meeting with the Egyptian leader that this crossing would be open. It's just a matter of time. But, of course, until this, all eyes very much on what's happening just on the other side of it, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. So, the pressure will continue to build.
Melissa Bell there, in Paris.
That's all we have time for this hour. I'm Julia Chatterley, but I'll be back with more on the Israel-Hamas War in just some few moments time.
Stay with CNN.
