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Israel Prepares For Offensive As Gaza Residents Flee; President Abbas Says Hamas' Actions Do Not Represent Palestinians; Landlord Charged With Hate Crimes After Fatally Stabbing A 6-Year-Old; IDF Says Hamas Holding 155 Hostages Seized From Israel; Israel at War; China's Top Diplomat: Israel Has Gone Beyond "Self-Defense"; Interview with IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner; Republicans Reportedly Ready to Block Jim Jordan Vote; Afghanistan Struck by 6.3 Magnitude Quake. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 16, 2023 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:26]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world as we continue our breaking news coverage of Israel at war. I'm Rosemary Church.

And we begin with new remarks from U.S. President Joe Biden, who was warning that Israel should not try to occupy Gaza, as an Israeli ground invasion now seems all but inevitable. President Biden says he believes Israel has to respond to the Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people, but issued this call for restraint.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think it'd be a big mistake. What happened in Gaza, in my view is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don't represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake to Israel to occupy Gaza again. We get to going in and taking out the extremist the Hezbollah is up north, but Hamas out South is a necessary requirement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe that Hamas must be eliminated entirely?

BIDEN: Yes, I do. But there needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Those comments as tens of thousands of Palestinians flee south after the Israeli military urged civilians to leave northern Gaza. The Palestinian health ministry says more than 2,600 people have been killed and is appealing for humanitarian aid as conditions deteriorate in Gaza.

Aid deliveries have been piling up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing the only viable way in or out of Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has promised that he quote will be open but the U.S. embassy in Israel warns the situation at the crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable.

Well, meantime Israeli troops are continuing to gather near Gaza the last time the IDF went into the Enclave to target Hamas leaders was 2014. Nic Robertson looks back at the operation then and what Israel is planning now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): 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.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Right now this is a rehearsal if and when there's an incursion, these troops could be at the front of it tanks, or for this practice model ones right now, followed by infantry and combat engineers are combined for spearheading an incursion.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): If they do Major Ofek will be near the front.

MAJOR OKEF, IDF TROOP COMMANDER (through translator): We expect to go to war, we expect to destroy the terrorist organization, Hamas, kill its governments and kill every last terrorist. That's what we plan 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 SOLIDER: Or you're just afraid that there is something waiting for you at every corner.

ROBERTSON: But his experiences then have left them questioning the tactics today. Back then he says the IDF wants civilians to leave, and Hamas told them to stay just as is happening now. But some had stayed his orders he says, assume the civilians had left.

BROWNSTEIN: So whoever you see is basically engaged in fighting or is involved in fighting and therefore we call it engaging with fire with any home you enter with any 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 you use.

[01:05:00]

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, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: What we are doing is saying privately what we've said publicly, which is that all military operations should be conducted consistent with law of war, that civilians should be protected.

ROBERTSON: The problem the IDF says it faces just like 2014. Hamas will be hiding among civilians.

MAJOR DORON SPIELMAN, IDF SPOKESPERSON: The whole situation we're talking about with Gazan civilians, forcibly embedded is another element of Hamas. Hamas has to be fully defeated.

ROBERTSON (on camera): So the responsibility is on them and not you.

SPIELMAN: The responsibility is on Hamas for their own civilians. Our responsibility is to eliminate Hamas' capabilities completely.

ROBERSTON (voiceover): Major Ofek pausing during training and a mocked up Palestinian town says they don't hurt innocents, only terrorists, but admits if he is sent into Gaza avoiding civilian deaths won't be easy.

Do you think it's possible that a fight Hamas without civilians getting injured?

OFEK (through translator): We're concerned with overthrowing the Hamas regime and killing the terrorists who are currently in Gaza. If it will be difficult, it will be difficult, not easy.

ROBERTSON: Outside the camp gates as Israel's military ponder their next move. Troops are saying they're fond farewells. Nic Robertson, CNN, southern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: CNN's Clare Sebastian is following developments and joins us live from London. Good morning to you, Clare. So the death toll continues to rise in Gaza as the humanitarian crisis worsens, while on the other side of the border, 1,400 Israelis are now confirmed dead in the wake of those brutal Hamas attacks last weekend. So what is the latest on this ongoing war and of course its consequences.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary, the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces over the weekend saying this is a new phase in the war reference clearly, to that much anticipated counter offensive and it crops and of course covering the preparations for that.

They also claim that in their aerial bombardment of Gaza, they've killed a number of key Hamas leaders keen to show that they are meeting their goals that despite the of course, heavy toll that we're seeing on civilians in that region.

And then of course, the ground offensive still very much complicated by the ongoing issue of these hostages. The Israeli defense forces say that 155 people are being held by Hamas. Interestingly, the U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, admitting on Sunday on CNN that they don't know the precise locations in particular of the American hostages that they believe are among them. So significant concern around that.

And meanwhile, outrage and alarm is growing significantly in the international community among aid agencies and the like around the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which is spiraling the call by Israel to evacuate from the north to the south, heavily complicated, of course, by the destruction already caused by the bombardment by the siege by the lack of fuel, electricity.

The water supply, according to the U.S. and Israel was apparently switched back on to Gaza on Sunday, but the Palestinian water authorities are unable to confirm that they were able to actually pump the water because of the lack of electricity. And there is a heavy focus on the health system in Gaza.

The World Health Organization saying that more than 20 hospitals were under that evacuation order, which they say that many patients and doctors were simply unable to heed because some of these were more vulnerable patients who couldn't be moved. They describe that as a death sentence.

So clearly, a lot of focus today will be on the situation at the Rafah border crossing that southern border crossing with Egypt, whether or not it will be able to open. Secretary Blinken saying in Egypt on Sunday that Rafah will be open but it's still very unclear at this point whether that's going to happen, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, let's hope and Clare with an Israeli ground incursion into Gaza apparently imminent. U.S. President Joe Biden is warning Israel not to try to occupy the territory again. But he added that he believes Israel has to respond to the Hamas attack. So what else did he have to say on this? And of course it any other likely U.S. response?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, this is a wide ranging interview that he gave it with 60 Minutes whereas me interestingly, on the somewhat tricky and delicate issue for the U.S., which is the Israeli siege of Gaza. They obviously -- the U.N. has called that illegal and it is a difficult line for the U.S. to tread on this.

He said that he was confident that Israel was going to act under the rules of war. Confident there'll be an ability for innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water.

[01:10:05]

We know that there is pressure from the U.S. side for Israel to do more here to open a humanitarian zone. It was interesting that the -- it was the White House that announced that the water supply had been switched back on before the Israelis actually said so on Sunday.

And the second point, he talked about Iran saying, again, as we've heard from the U.S. over the past week, that they have no clear evidence at this point that Iran helped plan the Hamas attack on Israel that they were involved in it, although many have pointed out that that is potentially semantic because of the support that Iran has provided to Hamas over the years. And in terms of the concerns for the broader spread of this conflict, and particularly when it comes to Hezbollah in the over the northern border with Israel, Biden's comments were don't, don't, don't so clearly trying to send a message there.

The U.S., of course, sending a more practical message we learned over the weekend that a second aircraft carrier strike group would be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London, Well, for the first time since the murderous 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 and the release of prisoners on both sides of the conflict.

WAFA reports Abbas' comments came during a phone call with the president of Venezuela.

Well joining me now is Hasan Alhasan, Research Fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. And he's with us from melanoma in Bahrain, thank you so much for joining us.

HASAN ALHASAN, RESEARCH FELLOW FOR MIDDLE EAST POLICY, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So in the wake of Hamas's brutal and horrifying attacks last Saturday, Israel's goal is to wipe out the militant group and destroy its terrorist infrastructure with these ongoing large scale airstrikes and then a likely ground incursion.

But what are the risks and costs involved for innocent civilians. And of course, for hostages being held underground, given the Hamas knows that tunnel system a lot better than any of the idea of troops.

ALHASAN: Yes, it is, in fact, very difficult to imagine how Israel could achieve its objective of total annihilation of Hamas, without killing many more thousands of Palestinians. And that's partly because of the fact that the Gaza Strip has been placed under a blockade for about 16 years now.

And so has become one of the most densely populated places in the world, neighborhoods and buildings are tightly packed together. The health infrastructure is already woefully inadequate. So people in Gaza have a lower life expectancy by about 10 years than most people have in Israel.

And so we've got about half a million Palestinians taking shelter in schools run by the UN. But even these are inadequate. And the U.N. has warned that they are at risk of running out of water. Hospitals in Gaza are also severely at risk of being overrun.

And so, things have been made worse by the fact that Israel has also laid siege by cutting off electricity, water, fuel and food. And so this means that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is already extremely precarious. And asking 1.1 million people to move south in a place that is about the size of Seattle or Detroit is not entirely feasible.

And the fact is that Israel strategy is not only morally and legally questionable, but it's, I think, a fundamentally bad strategy, in the sense that by inflicting large amounts of civilian casualties in order to defeat Hamas is ultimately self-defeating, because by killing Palestinian civilians at scale, Israel is simply providing Hamas with its next generation of fighters by pushing people to the brink of desperation, essentially nurturing this narrative and intergenerational memory of oppression. So I think it's a self- defeating strategy.

CHURCH: Right. And your sense is that it's not a goal that's achievable anyway, that Hamas can't be eradicated. Is that what you're saying to?

ALHASAN: Well, it's can but not by military means.

CHURCH: So how? So how?

ALHASAN: Best way to eradicate Hamas is to -- of course, it's the private of its cause. And that is by pursuing seriously a path towards peace, ending the illegal occupation, and providing Palestinians with hope.

[01:15:02]

The idea of restoring deterrence hasn't worked for Israel. The ongoing conflict is the biggest illustration of that and trying to go back to it is essentially going back to the same flawed conceptual security model that has so far failed to protect Israelis. The best way to defeat Hamas, and to restore deterrence is through hope. Not through fear.

CHURCH: But I mean, honestly, how can that be done, though? Because clearly, Israel is responding to what was a murderous attack on its soil killing babies, women, children. So I mean, you understand what's fueling this, that doesn't necessarily you can't accept what's happening in Gaza as well. But I mean, you can see how abhorrent that attack was, and why a nation would feel that they would want to retaliate.

How that is done is the question that we're trying to tackle. So tell me, what is the path forward with that?

ALHASAN: So we have to remember that this is not the first war between Israel and Hamas. And every single time, Israel has responded through disproportionate use of force, resulting in many, many thousansd of Palestinian casualties. And how has that turned out? Not very well.

And so in the total absence of a viable political path, this has to be a change in Israel's orientation towards the Israeli-Palestinian issue, towards the Palestinian issue. And this means that there needs to be a reckoning within Israel that the overwhelming disproportionate use of force has failed to protect Israel so far. And without a viable pathway to negotiate a peaceful settlement that

means that the Palestinians don't have to live under total siege, that they can afford to get their rights under international law. Without that, there will simply be no hope, and future generations of Palestinians who will remember how Israel has responded to them, I think will simply be pushed to the brink of radicalization again, and we will see further cycles of violence.

So I think without a real political solution, without a clear pathway, it will be very difficult to see how we can permanently break the cycle of violence.

CHURCH: Yes, and sadly, there is no clear political pathway right now. It has to be said though Hamas apparently spent two years preparing for last week's attacks on Israel, what was their likely goal? And what were they expecting to achieve given the leadership would have known that Israel would retaliate with a force not ever witnessed before to wipe Hamas off the map? So why did they do this? What was the end game?

ALHASAN: So I think the primary endgame was to destroy Israel's invincibility narrative, the idea that even the most powerful military power in the region can be defeated and humiliated and hurt. So I think this was Hamas's first sort of psychological aim, which was really to dent the idea that Israel was invincible.

I think the other goal is precisely the trap that Israel is walking into, which is to provoke an Israeli overreaction. And by provoking an Israeli overreaction, Hamas, I think, is hoping to dent any international support that Israel might be able to garner. And, therefore, essentially, we can -- Israel's support within its western partners and allies.

CHURCH: All right, Hasan Alhasan, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your perspective on this issue.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden is condemning a stabbing attack that killed a Palestinian Muslim child in the city of Chicago. Police say a 71-year- old Joseph Czuba, fatally stabbed six-year-old Wadea Al- Fayoume and seriously wounded the boy's mother in what authorities say was a hate crime.

The Council on American Islamic Relations says the mother sent text messages to the boy's father from the hospital saying Czuba, the families landlord had attacked her and her son with a knife yelling you Muslims must die. We have not heard yet from Czuba and it's unclear if he has an attorney.

And a statement President Biden said in part, this horrific act of hate has no place in America and stands against our fundamental values. As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred.

[01:20:00]

Still to come, the U.S. is eager to bring home hostages held by Hamas. Our Washington is trying to help Israel make that happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Israel's military has confirmed Hamas fighters are holding at least 155 hostages. Hamas kidnap men, women and children during these surprise attacks last weekend. Israeli President Isaac Herzog says efforts to get them back are difficult because he says Hamas does not obey rules of international humanitarian law.

It's also not clear where they're being held and under what conditions. The people taken from numerous countries worldwide. The U.S. says it's hard at work trying to secure the release of its own citizens but without military force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: There is no plans or intentions to put U.S. troops on the ground to fight in this fight between Israel and Hamas.

SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: But retrieve Americans?

KIRBY: We are actively trying to find out exactly where they are. I mean, Shannon, we don't even know how many exactly. We saw a small handful we know. There could be more than we know.

[01:25:00]

What I won't do was rule anything in or out when it comes to getting our hostages home. We're working on this literally by the hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And while the U.S. is beefing up its military presence in the region, it has no plans on sending troops to fight in Israel. As CNN's Hadas Gold reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAFAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (on camera): As of right now, the United States is giving absolutely no indication that it plans to send in U.S. military boots on the ground in any way to Israel to try and assist either in the operations in Gaza or in part of any sort of hostage rescue operations.

But what it's doing right now is a show of force, a show of unity with these carrier strike groups, sitting in the waters off the coast, a clear -- very clear message to other groups in the region. Not even just Hamas, but Hezbollah, groups in Syria, as well as a deterrence to try to keep them from getting involved.

And we do know that the Americans have sent -- have already have on the ground, a federal team who can help in hostage situations, they're assisting the Israelis, and there is reporting that a Marine Expeditionary Unit is headed potentially towards Israel. Now this is a unit of more than 2,000 marines and sailors who not only

can help in major evacuations, but they also had training in hostage rescue scenarios. Now, no indication that that is, where they're headed, or that's why they are headed or why they would potentially be headed towards the region.

But it gives you an idea of potentially the support that the Israelis may really be receiving from the U.S. military. Now, the Israeli military and the U.S. military work very, very closely together. They are constantly training with one another end.

Israeli military officials often call the American military their brothers in arms. They actually just had their largest ever joint exercise in the last few months. And during that exercise, they explained it explicitly clear that such an exercise was a very clear message to Iran, saying that if you get involved in and in a way of attacking Israel, be careful because the Americans are there to support them.

But John Kirby has already said that there have no plans and no intentions right now of sending U.S. troops on the ground into Israel and Chuck Schumer, in an interview with Erin Burnett earlier also said that the Israelis have not asked for troops on the ground. What they want right now is support in the forms of things like of munitions, ammunition, and also just the support of having those carrier strike groups off the coast to try and deter any other actors from getting involved.

But even if a hostage rescue operation is attempted, it will be incredibly complex. It will be very, very difficult, and the Israelis will likely be seeking at least some sort of support from the Americans in terms of logistics and intelligence. Hadas Gold, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, China takes on diplomacy in the Middle East with top diplomats delivering some increasingly strong words for Israel. We'll take you to Beijing for the latest after a short break.

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[01:31:24]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Israel and Hezbollah fighters have been exchanging raising fears of a second front in the ongoing conflict.

The IDF says its fighter jets strike Hezbollah's military infrastructure on Sunday, and say they were responding to fire coming from Lebanon.

Meantime as fighting intensifies in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of civilians are fleeing south. The U.S. embassy in Israel said a short time ago that the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza may open at short notice for, quote, "a limited time". The crossing has been closed since the fighting began. Our Wolf Blitzer spoke earlier with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Herzog talked about some of the horrific scenes he has witnessed since Hamas attacked Israel.

And we have to warn you, some of the content is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: I think for entire humanity -- you know, I just got back from Kibbutz Be'eri. Be'eri Kibbutz and the kibbutz as you know is an epitomization (ph) of socialism, equality -- a very pro-peace place. You should know that in that kibbutz, they lost 10 percent of their members from young to old.

I saw the most horrific scenes. I saw -- I saw the skull of the woman in which house I visited, a house totally destroyed, totally destroyed. And they just cut her head off.

I saw a pool of blood in that house where are the picture of the children is hanging the grandchildren hanging on the wall with the knives and the hatchets which they went in.

I saw the most horrific scenes possible. I saw bloodshed. 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.

All of a sudden, life was shattered. The same life was shattered for the Israeli nation. My nation is bleeding. My nation is in pain. My nation is in sorrow. We are faced with an extremely cruel, inhumane enemy which we have to uproot with no mercy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: When asked about Prime Minister Netanyahu's vow to eliminate Hamas, President Herzog said his country is trying looking to move civilians to a safe zone. And that Israel is not indifferent to the pain caused to Palestinians.

Well, China is weighing in on the war between Israel and Hamas. The country's top diplomat says Israel now has gone beyond self-defense with its action since the Hamas attack.

CNN's Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang joins us now from the Chinese capital.

So Steven, what more can you tell us about China's response to Israel's airstrikes in Gaza and what it plans to do?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Rosemary, that line you just mentioned from the foreign minister Wang Yi has gotten quite a bit of attention because some see it as an indication of Beijing's hardened stance towards as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens.

[01:34:49] JIANG: But in all of their official statements sometimes what's not being said is equally important if not more so than what is being said. The one word that's been missing in all of this is Hamas. They have not named Hamas in any of those condemnations or pronouncements and that is also very much reflected in their state media coverage. Very much focused on Palestinian suffering after the Israeli counterattacks instead of mentioning the initial Israeli casualties after the heinous acts launched by Hamas on October 7th.

And that of course has not gone unnoticed by Israel and its allies. Chuck Schumer the U.S. Senate Majority Leader who was actually visiting China last week which also happened with a bipartisan delegation told us, he made a point of raising this issue, expressing strong disappointment with Chinese leader Xi Jinping when they met. And after that we have seen the Chinese foreign ministry tweaking their statement by condemning violence against civilians, and also saying it was saddened by the loss of civilian lives.

But despite their claim of neutrality, and their insistence that China has no self-interest in this conflict other than be on the side of -- side of peace and justice, in all of the readouts after phone calls Wang Yi held with regional powers, not just the Palestinians but also Iran (ph), Turkey and Saudi Arabia, you can see they are very much focused on the Palestinian cause. That is, of course, something China has supported for decades.

You know, for all these years they have been messaging both domestically and internationally as a champion of oppressed people while portraying Israel as a puppet state of the U.S.

So that is very much a lot of (INAUDIBLE) to say they have -- that is why they kind of default to this position when they feel like they lack the expertise and experience to deal with perhaps the world's most complicated and sensitive issue.

And that, of course, is also reflected in the public reaction to Israel's plight in this conflict. Not a lot of support or sympathy for the Israelis if you read Chinese social media, Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Steven Jiang joining us live from Beijing.

And we will be right back.

[01:36:54]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Aid groups are preparing for the worst as the humanitarian crisis in the region intensifies with each day of the conflict. The director general of the Palestinian Red Crescent says hospitals face imminent shutdowns since there is very little fuel left to run generators.

Some only have enough fuel for Monday, and possibly some of Tuesday. Food, medicine, and water also are in short supply. Water from Israel has been cut off in many areas with pople lining up for hours hoping to refill their bottles and canisters.

This amid fears the IDF may be following up a week of air strikes with a ground invasion of Gaza.

Joining us now from Tel Aviv is Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces. Thank you so much for talking with us.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL PETER LERNER, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: Good morning, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So desperate Palestinians are amassing at the Rafah border crossing, right hoping to escape out of Gaza into Egypt. And now we are hearing rumors this border could open soon, perhaps even in the next hour. We are also hearing a cease-fire may be put in place at that time. What are you able to tell us about this?

LERNER: The IDF is currently continuing its assault against Hamas, its infrastructure, its terrorist leaders -- all of the components of this terrorist organization. That is what the IDF is doing.

The issue you are asking about are more on the diplomatic level of discussions, and I say we leave the diplomacy for diplomats and the fighting for the IDF, indeed if instructions come down for a humanitarian recess, or opening crossings, we will of course implement those instructions.

CHURCH: Now if the crossing is open today, in the coming hours, will Israel let humanitarian aid in?

LERNER: Again, we have to wait and see what happens. I don't want to hypothesize about it. We are currently striking Hamas, pursuing their leaders, we killed and targeted (INAUDIBLE) -- with a Hamas commander in the southern Gaza Strip. And indeed we are taking our actions to Hamas in order to remove the threat of butchering our babies in their bedrooms ever again.

Hamas has taken the Gaza Strip hostage, and is hiding behind its civilians. And this is the reality. The humanitarian operations even this morning again, we continue to call on the people of the north of the Gaza Strip to evacuate towards the south. We know that and have confirmed that around 600,000 or so, maybe even more have evacuated towards the south. And that is actually a good sign because we intend, and we are determined in order to destroy Hamas and their capabilities.

CHURCH: And I appreciate you updating us on the military situation. But I do want to return to the humanitarian situation because that is a deteriorating crisis that is happening, not only in the north, but now as Israel asks people to evacuate people, and they move towards the Rafah border crossing. There's a lot of tension and desperation being felt there, as people gather and hope that they can actually get out.

So it is an important question to figure out whether humanitarian aid will come in and whether some of those people who are very desperate will be able to cross that border.

We don't know why Egypt is holding off on that. But if you could please give us a little more detail on this issue, we would very much appreciate it.

LERNER: Of course, Rosemary, the situation on the ground is dynamic. We did not start this war. We will win it. And indeed the IDF operates within the realm of the laws of armed conflict.

And I would like -- you know, this humanitarian situation is of course of concern to us. Like you, we do not seek to target or harm civilians, which is unlike Hamas that actually do.

We are operating in accordance to the laws of armed conflict, on the basis of distinction, military necessity, and proportionality. The humanitarian developments on the ground are of concern to us.

But we are determined to destroy Hamas. We are determined that the (INAUDIBLE) Shinwa (ph) the mastermind of the massacre, and all of the institutions of Hamas that have been utilized in order to conduct and organize and orchestrate the attacks against Israel will never ever be able to do so.

So while I understand that you are pressing on the humanitarian concern, and we are indeed concerned about humanitarian issue, that is why we are calling on people evacuate -- this is for your own good. Get out of harm's way.

[01:44:51]

LERNER: While Hamas on the other hand are interested in delaying that and making sure people stay in the line of fire because they want and that serves them.

So we are pushing for the humanitarian issue more than Hamas. And our message to the international community, you need to help evacuate people to a safer zone in the south, as we have instructed and as we are encouraging in order to facilitate the humanitarian mission in the Gaza Strip.

I know there are lots of deliberations between the relevant authorities in Israel. And we will of course facilitate that as this issue develops.

CHURCH: Yes, because of course, we cannot emphasize enough, the Palestinian people are not Hamas. Hamas are there huddled in the north --

(CROSSTALKING)

LERNER: Absolutely. And I will say the Palestinian people and then people I would add, I absolutely agree that the Palestinian people are not Hamas. Many of the people, and obviously the people of Gaza themselves are not our enemy.

Hamas is the enemy. It is the enemy of all decent people, an organization that feels free to butcher babies and parade women in the streets, and humiliate elderly in a way and celebrate it, cannot be protected. They need to be denounced. And they need to be rooted out. And we intend on doing so.

CHURCH: And of course, with fears this conflict could spread beyond Israel's borders, what can you tell us about the latest exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel in the north? And is Lebanon now officially the second front in this war, would you say that?

LERNER: No I wouldn't. I would say that Hezbollah is being encouraged by Iran to escalate the situation in order to challenge the reality, and our activities against Hamas.

We are following it very closely. Indeed we had throughout the course of the day yesterday several anti-tank guided missiles fired at forces along the border, including killing some civilians and this is -- you know, how concerned -- we are strong on the border. We have reinforced our troops. We have the air force on call. And the naval forces also prepared.

So we are prepared for any eventuality on the border with Lebanon. We did not know, we don't hope, we do not want that to develop into another front. We are prepared for it. In the military we state hope is not a method, and that is why we have precisely distributed our forces on the ground in order to be prepared for that eventuality.

CHURCH: Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

LERNER: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And still to come, Afghanistan is rocked by a series of deadly earthquakes and aftershocks. We will have details on the latest on as the 0country grapples with the aftermath.

Back in just a moment.

[01:47:47]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: When House Republicans gather behind closed doors in Washington Monday evening, they will be in the 13th day of operating without a leader. Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan is expected to force a floor vote on Tuesday, as he tries to become the next Speaker of the House.

But a number of Republicans are reportedly in talks to keep the votes from happening. One senior House member who opposes a Jordan speakership told CNN, he thinks there are roughly 40 votes against Jordan and at least 20 members who are willing to go to the floor on Tuesday to block Jordan's path if he tries to compel a roll call.

Exit polls show Poland's populist ruling party is set to lose its parliamentary majority after Sunday's hard-fought election. The opposition bloc led by former prime minister Donald Tusk appears on course to gain control if it strikes deals with smaller parties. The results of this election are expected to have major ramifications for Poland, 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, days after another deadly quake hit the same region. Taliban government officials estimate more than 2,000 people were killed in that tremor on October 7th, most of them women and children.

CNN's Anna Coren reports.

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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Beneath crystal blue skies in the outskirts of Herat in western Afghanistan, the sound of vanished hope fuels the air. Under mounds of earth like 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 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 is now in ruins," says 56-year- old Zaher (ph). There is no need for words. Zaher 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 poles were the homes of villages on these dusty plains. They have all been reduced to rubble. Aid agency tents are now their new homes.

32-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 frame.

"My children were buried under the wall," she explains. Everything is gone. Nothing remains for us."

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CORREN: The Taliban government and international organizations estimate more than 2,000 people were killed across the region during Saturday's earthquake. And according to UNICEF, more than 90 percent of the victims were women and children.

U.S. charity Too Young to Wed, part of the humanitarian relief effort on the ground, says there is a clear reason for the staggering statistic. It is because women and girls are forced to stay at home under Taliban rule, denied their basic rights, banned from education, work, and being part of society.

STEPHANIE SINCLAIR, CO-FOUNDER, TOO YOUNG TO WED: They have been systematically stripped of their rights over the last two years. So instead of being at school and at work, on a Saturday, they -- which is when they have their school week and their work week, they were home, confined to their homes, imprisoned in their homes. I mean it's a whole -- it's a country where half 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 (ph) -- who was knocked unconscious when her home collapsed on top of her. While being rescued from the rubble, she woke to discover her seven children aged four months to 14 years were all dead.

"I have experienced a great deal of pain and sorrow," she says. We have lost everything in our life. Nothing remains."

With the world firmly focused on the war in Israel, aid organizations are pleading to 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 happen and you know what, they're not going to stop. It does not mean we abandon them.

COREN: Anna Coren, CNN -- Hong Kong.

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CHURCH: And we appreciate you joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church.

I will be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break. Do stay with us.

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