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IDF Appears On Verge Of Significant Ground Operations; Israel Orders Mass Evac Of Palestinian Civilians; Unknown Number Of People Missing After Attack On Israel Music Festival; U.S. Sending Second Strike Team To Eastern Mediterranean; 6.3 Magnitude Quake Hits Afghanistan Again; Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators March Outside White House; Jews Fear Rise In Antisemitism Amid Israel-Hamas Conflict. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 15, 2023 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:20]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to have us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Linda Kincaid with CNN Breaking News coverage of Israel at war.

Take your belongings and go south. That's the message from Israel to the residents in northern Gaza as it prepares to launch a military ground operation at any moment. The U.S. is now sending a second carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean as well as additional fighter jets.

The move is intended to deter Iran, Hezbollah and others are entering the conflict. On Saturday, Israel declared that it's ready to open a new phase in the war with a focus on significant ground operations. The IDF says it struck more than 100 Hamas targets in Gaza overnight, and a CNN team close to Northern Gaza has been hearing heavy machine gunfire near the border fence as well as loud explosions.

Earlier Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met soldiers on the front lines offering words of support and telling them to be prepared.

Palestinian authorities in Gaza say the death toll from Israeli airstrikes is now more than 2,300 people with more than 9,000 injured. According to the health ministry, 300 of those deaths were in the past 24 hours, the majority women and children.

Thousands of Palestinians have fled to southern Gaza since Israel issue the evacuation order early Friday. It's not known how many stayed behind. But one thing is abundantly clear whether people in Gaza City choose to stay or go, no place is truly safe. We get more now from CNN's Salma Abdelaziz and a warning her report contains graphic and disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 Salah al-Din Street, one of the designated evacuation routes in the aftermath of explosions, families killed amid their belongings.

CNN has geo located 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 accused 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 overwhelmed hospitals. And again, it's the youngest caught in the crossfire. Nearly half of Gaza's population is children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): 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.

ABDELAZIZ: The healthcare system is on the brink of complete siege making it impossible to get aid into the Enclave. And already there's a shortage of everything. Even space in the morgue.

Keeping the dead in ice cream trucks to the bodies don't run, 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, Hayunes (ph), 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 VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Elliott Gotkine covering all the details for us from London and joins us now live. Elliott, good to have you with us.

So, we know is Israel is carrying out raids. [02:05:03]

They continue to strike a Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas terror attack. What more can you tell us about this next stage of the war?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Well, that's right, Lynda. Israel carrying out more than 100 strikes overnight on everything from rocket launchers, anti-tank launches to headquarters belonging to Hamas, and also the other militant group, Islamic Jihad and also targeting specific militants. They say they took out one of the commandos from the Nukhba, elite forces of Hamas as well overnight.

In terms of a ground invasion, we've been talking about this, of course, ever since Hamas launched that deadly and brutal terrorist attack on Israel killing more than 1,300 people just over a week ago. We've been talking about this ground invasion being likely it's always been a question of when, rather than if. It does now seem to be imminent. And indeed, that is one way. One reason why or the main reason why Israel has been asking these Gazan civilians to evacuate from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, specifically Gaza City, to the south so that they can get out of harm's way and minimize civilian casualties.

Now, as we saw, there were some civilian casualties on Friday afternoon, as people were trying to evacuate, it's unclear precisely where that strike would have come from the Palestinian saying that it was an Israeli airstrike. And we just heard the Israeli IDF spokesman speaking with you saying that the Israeli Air Force wasn't striking at the time, and it wasn't responsible for those deaths.

But clearly, as we see the death toll rise in the Gaza Strip more than 2,000. Now, the feeling the fear, the expectation, is that that could rise significantly, as and when that ground invasion takes place, Lynda.

KINKADE: And Elliott, we know the U.S. is sending another aircraft carrier, a second one and fighter jets to the region explained what role the U.S. could play in this conflict.

GOTKINE: The U.S. has said that it doesn't want to be involved specifically in the conflict and certainly isn't going to be providing troops or anything. But the somewhat rare addition of another aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean really, I think is designed to deter Iran and of course, its proxy and southern Lebanon, Hezbollah from getting directly involved.

Now we've already seen some skirmishes, rockets fired from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon towards Israel, Israel retaliating. We've also seen rockets fired from Syria, and reports that Syria's airports in Aleppo and Damascus have been hit those airports, believed to be often a conduit for weapons to the radium back to a militia of Hezbollah as well.

So there is every danger that there could be a Northern Front opening, according to the Israeli National Security Minister that has, excuse me, the head of National Security Council, the thresholding, in their words, for an escalation has yet to be met. But there are concerns that that could escalate that another front could open up for real in the north.

And of course, at the same time, we're seeing violence rising in the Israeli occupied West Bank as well. So Israel kind of fighting on all those three fronts, things could get worse. And at the same time, there's this information war going on, and the court of public opinion, and one has seen over the past week, progressively, the more or less steadfast backing that Israel was receiving, initially kind of shifting as the civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip rises.

And it wouldn't be a surprise to start seeing things like condemnations in the United Nations coming through as well that no doubt is expected by Israel, which this time round, in contrast to previous conflicts, perhaps with militants inside the Gaza Strip. I think Israel is much less concerned about the optics of what is going on. Such was the gravity of that terrorist attack on Israel just over a week ago, Lynda.

KINKADE: Elliott Gotkine in London, good to have you with us. Thank you.

Well, as Elliott was mentioning, Israel has assembled a considerable force along its northern border watching for any incursions by militia in Lebanon. CNN's Matthew Chance caught up with an Israeli commander to discuss their mission and what the troops there are feeling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): About what you're preparing for here. What's the objective right here in northern Israel?

MAJOR DOR, 205TH ARMORDED BRIGADE: So we have mobilized our troops here deserves to be prepared for any scenario when Lebanon opened up in the northern border.

CHANCE: So when you say any scenario you mean whether this area is hit by rockets from Hezbollah, or is that what you're worried about?

DOR: That is one of the scenarios.

CHANCE: Yes.

DOR: Could be a similar scenario would happen in Gaza Strip could happen here as well. So we're to be joined, could be very direct, specific event. We don't know. Your hit repair. Be ready with our troops. We mobilize.

CHANCE: It seems that the Israeli military down south near Gaza were not ready. You're going to make the same mistake here.

DOR: We're here now so you're not doing the same stuff. And I am here to hurt you, all the debriefing what actually happened there so I don't know say that we're not prepared with they knew, they did not knew. [02:10:05]

This is war, right. We do the best we can. We prepare ourselves with all the restrictions and different ideas of what will happen if (INAUDIBLE) is more provocative would act could be presented in such a way but the other side provocative.

CHANCE: Yes.

DOR: And we find ourselves into a situation with it and now here we're doing the best we can to not be in it's (INAUDIBLE) anymore.

CHANCE: Tell me about your troops. I mean, this country has been through a trauma.

DOR: Yes.

CHANCE: It's been through so many people killed --

DOR: Yes.

CHANCE: -- such a shocking episode.

DOR: Yes.

CHANCE: What's the mood of your soldiers?

DOR: Morals are high. High. High but still very frustrated and sad. A lot of people actually have relatives are from those areas on those villages and are really gamble the situation we're in. But we are here. We're motivated and we are here to stop in any kind of attack might escalate even further into our nation.

CHANCE: Thank you very much, really appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Thanks to Matthew Chance for the interview. Well, eight days after her master tagged in Israeli Music Festival, many attendees remain missing, and may have been kidnapped. Ahead, we'll talk to one festival goer whose girlfriend was there too, and hasn't been heard from since that day.

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[02:15:20]

KINKADE: Welcome back, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Eight days ago, dozens of Hamas terrorists launched a relentless attack on an Israeli Music Festival. They opened fire on thousands of concert goers killing at least 260 people in the worst civilian massacre in Israeli history.

When the shooting stopped, Hamas fled taking up to 150 people hostage, including about 17 Americans. Among them was 27-year-old Inbar Haiman who went to the rave with a group of friends. She was volunteering as a help of people at the concert who needed a guide or any kind of assistance.

Joining me now is Inbar's boyfriend, Noam Alon. We appreciate your time today. I'm so sorry for what you're going through.

NOAM ALON, GIRLFRIEND KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS AT NOVA FESTIVAL: Thank you.

KINKADE: So your girlfriend of 18 months you believe has been kidnapped by Hamas. What can you tell us about what happened to Inbar?

ALON: From our debt (ph) we are now going from a testimonial of two guys where we there in from a video that Hamas was published we can know for sure that it was kidnapped to Gaza when she is alive. And we can only pray and to believe and to hope that she's OK. But we know that she is kidnapped which is holding as hostage. Yes.

KINKADE: And so you two met when you were studying graphic design. She decided to go to this music festival with some friends who has told you kind of what happened what unfolded when the terrorists arrived at this festival.

ALON: So Inbar, she used to go to lots of these kinds of peace parties, music festivals, and every time she go with her best friends. And this time she didn't return and like we know since the early morning there was like alarms for rockets. So the party, the festival stopped really early and one hour even less later on Thursday arrived by cars, by motorbikes. And yes.

KINKADE: And her friends told you that she had gone to a car, and then that she was running on foot to escape the terrorists.

ALON: Yes, yes, it started like after the alarms of rockets. There were police officers there. It's a big festival. It's really known one so they were like paramedics and police officers who guided everybody to run, get inside the cars and to live away but because we couldn't like reach on. There was only one exit road from there. So there was like a big traffic.

And at some point, the police officer tell everybody to leave the cars and to run to the back to the party areas. Inbar was hiding under the stage with her friends and at some point this place wasn't safe anymore. So she ran away. She split from her friends. She ran together with two guys that she didn't knew and then (INAUDIBLE) away from the party area when terrorists are chasing them.

In some point, one of the terrorists managed to take her and two other terrorists riding on a motorized bike came and they took her away. The two other guys we managed to survive but they saw them taking away.

KINKADE: And Noam, you have seen a video posted by Hamas showing your girlfriend. Can you describe what you saw what condition she was in?

ALON: From what we can see personally I didn't watch it because it was too hard for me. People told me like my close family told me I shouldn't watch it. But from what we can see and from then that'll stand from this video, Inbar got hurt in a face probably. They wanted her not to be unconscious when taking her, perhaps she tried to resist and they decide to hit.

[02:20:00]

But it seems like she's alive. But she got hurt for terrorist holding her. And it's not easy, of course, but we want to believe that this is a sign that she is alive and really praying. We need a sign of life from her.

KINKADE: Are you hearing any news from the Israeli government about her situation? Because obviously Israel has been bombing.

ALON: Yes, we do. We do. In the first days, we got no information, but yesterday, and one person from the army who spoke with Inbar's family, and he told them that, as the army see Inbar is kidnap, notice missing, and they have the information. I think the same information as us. The testimony of the guys, the video that Hamas was published. So they have it and for them, they are saying she is kidnapped.

KINAKDE: Do -- have they given you any indication that they know where she and the other hostages are being held?

ALON: No, no.

KINKADE: Are you worried when you see the bombing that's happening in Gaza right now?

ALON: I do but I am sure that Hamas is keeping all the hostages. I guess, I think like down below the tunnels that all of Gaza is like built by tunnels, underground tunnels. So I guess they're keeping everybody there. But we don't know of course, where she is, where all the hostages are.

KINKADE: And you and Inbar have traveled together over the past year and a half. You describe her a special, as an amazing friend. What do you want people to know about Inbar?

ALON: I want people to know that timber is the best girlfriend and amazing person. Everybody can just like, everybody who loved her and she's talented. And she's brilliant. She's clever. She's funny. We just want her back and all the other hostages. She's so talented. She's like, spirit of life. And she don't -- no one deserves to have these things. But just thinking about what she's passing through, it's killing me to think about it.

KINKADE: Yes, it's unimaginable what you and her family are going through. Noam Alon, we appreciate your time. We wish you all the best. And we hope you are reunited with her very soon. Thanks so much.

ALON: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, many viewers may want to help in the humanitarian relief efforts in Israel and Gaza. CNN is compiling resources. You can head to cnn.com/impact. You will find a list of vetted organizations responding on the ground. You can go to cnn.com/impact. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[02:26:46]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. This is CNN Newsroom. This is the latest in the war between Israel and Hamas. Israel says it's preparing for the next stage of the firing including a significant ground operation in Gaza. But Iran says there could be far reaching consequences if Israel does not stop its attacks.

The Palestinians say about 300 people have been killed in Israeli aerial strikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, more than 800 others wounded. That brings the death toll there since the war began to 2,300 people. Israeli military spokesperson denied on his program earlier that Israeli troops have recovered the remains of some hostages taken by Hamas.

Multiple news outlets reported that some remains were retrieved this week during Israeli raids in Gaza. And Earlier I spoke with Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces. I asked him about their grounds operation and what they hope to achieve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. PETER LERNER, IDF SPOKESPERSON: I can inform you that over the night we attacked and killed one of the Nukhba Commandos, leaders that from Khan Younis. His name is Billal al-Qedra. He was the leader that conducted the butcher and attack in the Nirim Kibbutz and this just goes to exemplify that we have the intelligence in order to take out Hamas' leadership from Yair Zinwa (ph) the mastermind of the massacre, all the way down to the terrorists that breached penetrated and butchered our babies in their bedrooms.

So the operation is ongoing. Indeed, we are taking out Hamas, and we are determined to fulfill our mission to safeguard and secure the people of Israel.

KINKADE: I've seen numbers ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 Hamas fighters, what is your understanding? How many Hamas militants are there and talk to us about the next stage of this operation, seam land, ground incursion?

LERNER: Well, there are some tens of thousands of Hamas operatives, terrorists, but it's not just the operatives, you know, the IDF is targeting the institutions of Hamas, because they have subordinated the entire government system to build support, fund, finance, and instruct and execute their terrorist activities. So effectively, what we're doing is dismantling the entire system to begin with.

With regard to the second question, what are we doing now? How are we preparing for the next stage? We are we have recruited several hundreds of thousands of soldiers of reservists, some 300,000 rallying, many of them in the area of southern Israel, on the border with Gaza in anticipation and preparation, if the instructions from the government to mobilize into Gaza does come and we need to be prepared for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: That was Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner from the IDF. Well as the Israel prepares the next stage of its war against Hamas, the U.S. and others Western nations are working to keep the conflict from spreading.

[02:30:03]

As part of that effort, the Pentagon is deploying more military resources into the region. Our Oren Liebermann has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Pentagon has ordered a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern med as a deterrence message to Iran and Iranian proxies in the region. As we see the U.S. military here bolster up its forces in the Middle East as Israel's war prepares to enter what officials there have called a bigger stage, the next stage here.

So the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which is the carrier, several destroyers in a cruiser is already in the Eastern Med arrived there earlier this week, that will now be joined by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, elements of that group, including the carrier left Naval Station Norfolk on Friday, so that will arrive in the region in a couple of weeks.

It is a very significant statement for the U.S. to send to carrier strike groups, all the force and power that entails to the eastern Med.

Now in doing so, the White House and the Pentagon have made clear, it is not the role of the aircraft on this deck or the warships here to get involved in the fighting with Israel. Israel doesn't want that. And the U.S. doesn't want that.

But the Biden administration, Israel in the region are watching this very closely and watching the fight play out in Gaza, and trying to make sure it doesn't spread beyond Israel's borders to other areas. And the key message there is to Iran. And that's what the point is of sending these forces to the region a warning to Iran not to get involved, a warning to Iranian proxies not to get involved, Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as running back she had proxies in Syria that could open fire on Israel.

So that's who the recipient of this message is. The U.S. also has other forces in the region. It has plussed up some fighter squadrons F-15s arriving just a couple of days ago here and perhaps more fighters expected. And there's also the USS Baton part of an amphibious ready group that's also in the region and could be ordered closer to Israel in case essentially as a message to Iran. And in case this escalates. Oren Liebermann, CNN in the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, U.S. President Joe Biden has spoken again this weekend with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the numerous conversations they've had since the Hamas terror attack. Mr. Biden also called the attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza at a human rights event on Saturday night. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the details from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (on camera): President Biden on Saturday spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marking the fifth time the two leaders have talked since the attacks on Israel last Saturday.

Now in that discussion, the two talks about U.S. military support, as well as protecting innocent civilians as this conflict unfolds. Now in a second call, the President also spoke with Palestinian Authority President Abbas and in that call, they talked about humanitarian supplies reaching Gaza, which is facing water shortages and food shortages.

Now, the President also spoke in at a Human Rights Campaign dinner and in his remarks he too talked about the terror attacks in Israel as well as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Take a listen.

BIDEN: We could go we saw hate manifests in another way and the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. More than 1,300 innocents lives lost in Israel, including at least 27 Americans, children, grandparents who like kidnap, held hostage by Hamas, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, innocent Palestinian families and the vast majority have nothing to do with Hamas. They're being used as human shields.

ALVAREZ: Now the focus for officials at the White House continues to be that this conflict not widened in the region. But they are sending a message of deterrence in the region as well and focusing their efforts to on bringing those Americans who are held hostage by Hamas home. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Earlier, CNN's Erin Burnett spoke with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for his assessment of the current situation, take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're still licking our wounds and have not identified all of the slaughtered Israelis. So that's one process. Right now in the south, it seems that we're on top of things and here and there, there's a bunch of terrorists jumping out but we by and large Killam (ph). We're in alone right now in waiting for the next phase. The next phase is going to be our counter attack on Gaza. The biggest murder event is behind us and now we're going to hit back within days.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Within days. And I guess that is the question because it does feel here. We try to explain to everyone around the world just there's this, this sense of waiting, but an ominous waiting right and businesses aren't fully opening. Kids aren't in school and then troops are on the border that you can't wait like that for long and it sounds like you're not anticipating waiting like that for long.

[02:35:07]

BENNETT: That's right. You know, I can say exactly how long but what I can tell you is that across the board in Israel, everyone, wall to wall are eager to hit back. I've been visiting various units, I myself was a combat soldier and the enrolment rates then listed rates are at about 130 percent, which mean people who already were discharged years ago from reserve service are insisting to join and fight because Israel took a huge hit. But make no mistake while our hearts are shattered, our spirit is strong and we're going to hit back.

BURNETT: And you know, you talk about 130 percent. I've met a few of them once who said, yoga instructor Andan (ph). Andan (ph) is resource. I came back in so they are --

BENNETT: They also wanted to do it but they didn't let me because I'm prime minister, you know, former prime minister.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, thousands of people are on the move in Gaza, Israel warned them to evacuate south. One International Refugee official says they're not safe if they heed the warning. We're told to talk to her about the situation on the ground when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. We're following a developing story out of Afghanistan where a 5.4 magnitude aftershock has hit the north of Herat. The latest trauma came just hours after a new 6.3 earthquake. That earthquake was centered northwest of the city of Herat, and came one week after another quake of the exact same magnitude. Authority say at least 50 people were injured in Sunday's quakes.

The scores of people were displaced by last week's quakes which Taliban government officials say killed more than 2,000 people.

Well, I want to bring you up to speed with the latest on Israel's war with Hamas.

[02:40:00]

Israel says it's preparing for the next stage of the fighting, including significant ground operation in Gaza. It says it has killed a top Hamas commander responsible for the massacre in Nirim Kibbutz. But Iran is threatening far reaching consequences if Israel does not stop its attacks on Gaza.

But the ongoing Israeli strikes have killed about 300 people in the past 24 hours. That's according to the Palestinians. 800 others they say were wounded. Most of the casualties, children. Officials say more than 2,300 Palestinians have died since the crisis began.

With us now via Skype from East Jerusalem is Shaina Low, Communications Adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council. We appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us.

SHAINA LOW, COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So I understand you have a team in Gaza, many of whom have had to flee from the north to the south. What are they telling you? How are they doing?

LOW: I mean, life is a struggle for all Palestinians in Gaza. I just moments before I got on this call, was speaking to my colleague in this -- who had relocated to the south of Gaza after fleeing with his family. He said there's a complete shortage of bread, bread lines are two hours long, and now he's looking for alternatives to feed his children. Finding other basic needs like water is proving to be incredibly difficult.

He also told me that last night, despite that him being relocated in the south, that there were airstrikes near him. And just to prove that, you know, there is no safe place in Gaza. The Israeli authorities have told Palestinians in Gaza that they need to flee to the South for their safety.

But as you -- as -- was indicated in the report, just before I started speaking, some people were killed while trying to make that journey to the south, and others are still facing bombardments, even once they're relocated to the south.

KINKADE: Yes, it seems nowhere safe right now. But for those in your team, how many are going south, how many is staying behind and for those staying behind? What are their reasons?

LOW: I'm not sure entirely this -- the breakdown between those that that fled and those that stayed behind. I do know that we have a handful of staff that at least that have chosen -- that have stayed behind some because they have nowhere to go in the south. They're worried because there's a lack of facilities able to accommodate mass influx of people. Others are having trouble even finding transportation because the size of their families is so large.

I've heard about colleagues who've been forced to flee on foot. Other colleagues who haven't been able to leave because of sick relatives, and needing to try and get them treatment at hospitals in the north. There's a variety of reasons people aren't leaving, and aren't able to leave.

KINKADE: And of course, even before this war, Gaza was facing a humanitarian crisis, the poverty rate over 50 percent, one-third of the residents living in extreme poverty. Describe the work that your team have been doing on the ground now and what will happen in the coming days.

LOW: Prior to this last week, our team was focused on providing cash support to families in need, helping to repair substandard housing for and bring it up to standards, helping to work with children, to help them improve academically and overcome trauma that they face due to conflict or displacement.

For the last week, we've been able to do any of that work. It's just simply not safe for our colleagues to be out in the field working with people providing aid to those in need. That's why we desperately need at least at the very least of humanitarian pause, and a humanitarian corridors to be established so that we can go back out and do the work that we do providing assistance to vulnerable Palestinians.

And now I think we just see how much greater our workload will be once it's finally safe for us to be able to go and serve Palestinians in Gaza.

KINKADE: We know Israel supplies the region with basic necessities, but after the Hamas terror attack, it stopped the flow of food, water, fuel, electricity. Do you have any indication of the reserves in Gaza in terms of food and clean drinking water?

LOW: I mean, we've seen that there's already worries about illness -- waterborne illness from people being forced to drink brackish water in agricultural wells. I read this morning that the U.N. has announced that basically with the fuel that remains inside of Gaza for -- in 48 hours or so.

[02:45:00]

Hospitals will no longer be able to operate. It's a crisis with us even our own, just bringing it to a personal level with our staff, that lack of electricity and people's reliance on generators which are quickly running out of fuel and solar means that headcounts, which used to take 15 minutes to check in with our staff are now taking four hours because of difficulties with people having their phones charged, being able to connect to mobile networks.

I mean, the life in Gaza was challenging, with only about 12 hours or 14 hours of electricity per day for in good -- and so called good times. Now we're facing a complete blackout and the inability to for people to get basic necessities. I think food it's from what I understand the stocks on the shelves are quickly being depleted. And there needs to be an influx of food and water and electricity and fuel in order for this civilian population of 2.3 million people to survive.

KINKADE: You're an American living in East Jerusalem, just give us a sense of the feeling that what are you hearing? How is life that changed in the past week?

LOW: I mean, the situation in my neighborhood, my neighborhood is a bustling neighborhood. It's very busy. I have a school at the end of the street. For the last week, it's just been eerily quiet. Early in the week it was punctuated by sounds of the Iron Dome intercepting rockets.

Now what I hear besides this eerily quietness is often just the sound of war planes going overhead heading towards Gaza are surveilling the area. Life here does not feel normal. It feels that people are anticipating the worst. When I go to the supermarket while the shelves are stocked, there's a depletion of all of kind of the basic pantry items rice, grains, beans, those shelves are empty and I think as soon as they fill them up, they're being depleted again, because people are anticipating that this could go on for a long time and want to make sure that they have enough food to take care of their families even here in Jerusalem.

KINKADE: Wow. Shaina Low, we appreciate your time and your perspective and the work that your team are doing in the region. Thanks so much.

LOW: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, if you would like to help with the humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza and Israel, CNN can assist you, you can head to cnn.com/impact. You'll find a list of vetted organizations responding on the ground. That's at cnn.com/impact.

A rise in antisemitism around Europe has Jewish communities on edge fears of unrest in France, of course, the government to raise its security level to the highest level possible. That story and more still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:52:04]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Palestinian sympathizers marched in Washington Saturday gathering Lafayette Park and on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. Rallies in support of Gaza are expanding across the U.S. this weekend, taking place in San Francisco and outside the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles.

On Friday, thousands took to the streets in New York gathering in Times Square and demanding Palestinian independence.

In Europe a rise in antisemitism is worrying the Jewish community. French police say they have detained at 65 people for dozens of antisemitic acts since the Israel-Hamas conflict began. And the U.K. is increasing security after they say there was an uptick in antisemitic activity. CNN's Melissa Bell is more from Paris.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Far from the frontlines 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: 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 use 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 and past week has increased by more than 300 percent compared to the same period last year.

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Tensions a time spilling out onto the streets of London were flyers of Israelis reportedly kidnapped by Hamas were torn down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is more Palestine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're not mutually exclusive, it's children. It's children, it's innocent people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. What about the children in Palestine?

BELL: Germany, meanwhile, says it has a zero tolerance policy towards antisemitic acts and will ban all activities supporting Hamas, which is on the EU'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 as 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.

BELL: Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

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KINKADE: Well, the impact of the Hamas-Israel conflict can be found throughout the world even on the soccer pitch. On Saturday, players and fans took a moment to remember the victims at a U.S. versus Germany men's match here in the United States. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The moment of silence will begin and end on the referee's whistle. Thank you. Fans please rise and remove your hats.

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KINKADE: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Lynda Kinkade, thanks for being with us. I will be back with much more on the breaking news out of Israel after a short break.

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