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Egypt Agrees To Allow Humanitarian Aid Into Gaza; Biden Plans Primetime Address On Israel, Ukraine; US Currently Assesses That Israel Is "Not Responsible" For Deadly Gaza Hospital Blast; IDF Says It Is Striking Hezbollah Targets In Lebanon; US Vetoes UN Call For "Humanitarian Pause" In Conflict; Hamas Materials Show Killers Had Detailed Information; Biden Arrives Back In US After Trip To Israel; CNN Analyzes Video of Gaza Hospital Blast; Biden Offers Israeli Support, Urges Humanitarian Aid; Jordan Loses Second Vote Amid Growing Republican Opposition; Hate Crimes on the Rise in Western Europe. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 19, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[00:01:37]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause at the CNN Center in Atlanta. It's just gone one minute past midnight and we begin with the latest on that deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza city which officials at the Hamas controlled ministry of health say killed 471 people. Israel was quick to deny responsibility and after reviewing intelligence provided by the IDF, the US agrees.
President Joe Biden backing Israel's claims an errant rocket fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was to blame. A new video from Al Jazeera appears to show a rocket fired from Gaza, explode in flight above Gaza city Tuesday, moments before the hospital blast. A few seconds later, large explosions are seen on the ground. It is unclear at this point if these events are related. Meantime, Egypt says it will start allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. President Biden says 20 trucks will cross through the Rafah crossing possibly as soon as Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, US PRESIDENT: If you have an opportunity to alleviate the pain, you should do it. Period. And if you don't, you're going to lose credibility worldwide. And I think everyone understands that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: President Biden met with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv Wednesday. He now plans to deliver a primetime address from the White House Thursday night, updating the situations in both Israel and the war in Ukraine. The US is issuing security advisories throughout the Middle East as protests continue to spread. Huge crowds gathered near the American embassy in Amman, Jordan, on
Wednesday. Officials are warning of large demonstrations expected throughout Turkey for the next several weeks. CNN's Sam Kiley has more now on the geopolitical fallout from the hospital explosion. And a warning, his report contains some disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A blast of immediate strategic impact. Jordan canceled a summit with the US, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, as news of mass casualty in Gaza emerged.
Now, with the Hamas controlled Gaza's health ministry, saying the death toll is over 470 from an explosion in the courtyard of this church-run hospital, there are protests around the world. And in this war the truth is unlikely to emerge quickly. The US, based on its own analysis of the evidence, including secret intelligence, has supported Israel's version of events.
BIDEN: Based on the information we've seen today, it appears the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza.
KILEY (voice-over): Israel blames Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, a rival Islamist militant group. Islamic Jihad, Hamas and other Palestinian groups say Israel did it. CNN has geolocated videos and stills from the scene, and shown all the available authentic evidence to two weapons experts. They agree that the explosion is likely not caused by an airdrop bomb or even a guided missile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would initially rule out a heavy airdrop bomb. The type of crater that I've seen on the imagery so far isn't large enough to be the type of bomb that we've seen dropped in the region on many occasions.
KILEY: Could it have been a hellfire type missile, guided munitions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hellfire, I'm doubtful about.
[00:05:02]
KILEY (voice-over): Preliminary CNN analysis of the crater suggests that the projectile hit the courtyard outside the hospital from somewhere to the southwest. The Israel Defense Forces say they believe the disaster was caused by the misfire of a missile fired from the southwest of the hospital.
KILEY: Could this have been a rocket fired from Gazan territory that went wrong?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could very well have been a rocket fired from Gazan territory. But again, we will only know that when the remnants are definitely identified and compared to other types of weapons systems or munitions that are being fired in the area.
KILEY (voice-over): A senior UN weapons expert, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed. But in Gaza, many blame Israel and its allies. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People who fled considered the hospital a safe shelter for them. They didn't find any other place to go. But they struck people with those Israeli and American rockets. This is a war crime. It's a big crime killing children and women.
KILEY (voice-over): An independent investigation would need to be done on the ground to determine the cause of the blast, which is impossible under the current Israeli bombardment, and unlikely under Hamas.
KILEY: You worked in Gaza before, Chris, have you investigated rocket misfires in the past?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I have tried to investigate rocket misfires in the past, most certainly. But on the few occasions this has happened, the local authorities did not give me free access to the area, or were very unhappy that I was trying to investigate something that had clearly gone wrong from their point of view.
KILEY (voice-over): Amid the ongoing bloodshed, entrenched supporters of either side are more likely to believe what they want now, regardless. Sam Kiley, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me now from Tel Aviv, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus. It's good to see you again.
LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: Likewise. Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Okay, now, President Biden left Israel with this agreement for limited supplies of food, water and medicine to cross into Gaza from Egypt using the Rafah crossing. The other two main crossing points from Israel, Erez and Kerem Shalom, are closed. But Egypt's foreign minister told CNN there is significant damage around Rafah from Israeli airstrikes which needs to be repaired. Here he is talking to CNN, please listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMEH SHOUKRY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The crossing has sustained damage. The roads, access roads, between the Egyptian and the Gaza side have severe damage and need repair. And thereby we do not have as well any authorization and clear secure routes for those convoys to be able to enter safely and without any possibility of their being targeted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So will Israel allow those repairs of the roads to take place and at the same time guarantee the safety of those workers who are actually carrying out the repair job, as well as the safety of the drivers of the trucks entering Gaza because even though Israel says south of Gaza is safe or a safe zone, there's still been Israeli airstrikes in the region.
CONRICUS: Yes, well, the old saying, where there's a will, there's a way. I think that what the Israeli cabinet has agreed upon at the request of President Biden is to allow and, what we can do, facilitate the Egyptian aid to be provided to Gaza. As long as it doesnt get into the hands of Hamas.
That's the only condition that Israel set. And you know there's a very troubling history here with Hamas stealing supplies, stealing food, stealing fuel, documented just a few days ago that Hamas stole fuel from an Umrah compound which could have served for at least six days of fueling the generators that pump water for the population.
Hamas stole that fuel. So we are of course very, very concerned about the fact that Hamas would abuse this as well. So long as that doesn't happen, then yes the Israeli cabinet has approved it at the request of President Biden, and then it shall happen.
VAUSE: Yeah the lights are still on in the Hamas bunkers in Gaza it seems, but not anywhere else for the most part. In terms of what is allowed into Gaza though, the Israeli prime minister and the cabinet, from what I've seen, have mentioned only food, water and medical supplies. But right now there's no electricity in Gaza, fuel for generators is running low. Especially in hospitals. So will fuel be allowed in?
CONRICUS: Yes, it seems as if the only thing that they're not running low on is rockets. We'll have to look. I am aware of the same details that you reported. And I dont have additional information regarding fuel. I know that there are deliberations about it but what the Israeli cabinet has approved is indeed details that you've said.
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VAUSE: And what's the latest on rocket fire coming from Gaza, it seems there was a lull of about 12 hours at one point but it has since resumed.
CONRICUS: Yes, I mean they fire at what appears to be almost set times. They fire long distance rockets towards Central Israel, Southern Israel. It appears as if they are conserving, managing their supply of rockets. Firing for effect in order to terrorize Israeli civilians. I am happy to say that there had not been any significant casualties.
The Iron Dome is intercepting and doing it exceedingly well. But there are rockets fired by Hamas and the other terrorists as we spoke about just a few hours ago. The last rockets were fired and there is quite a lot of alarms in the south but they continue firing rockets.
VAUSE: Earlier this week, the head of the IDF issued a fairly blunt warning to the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah in the north, here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HERZI HALEVI, IDF CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF (through translator): We need to get to a point where there will be a victory in every encounter. If Hezbollah makes a mistake and strikes us, it will be destroyed. Destroyed. Destroyed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There had been ongoing cross border clashes in the north but has there been a noticeable uptick in clashes with Hezbollah in recent days or is it holding steady if you like?
CONRICUS: No, not steady at all I'm afraid. There has been a significant escalation by Hezbollah. They fired numerous anti-tank missiles from Lebanon into Israel, at Israeli military positions and at civilians. They have caused casualties, both civilian and military. And they have also attempted to infiltrate into Israel.
All of that has been successfully thwarted by the IDF. But I think in addition to the statement by our chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, one would point a question towards the Lebanese state. Is it really worth jeopardizing what's left of Lebanese prosperity and safety, for the sake of terrorists in Gaza? Would it really serve Lebanese interests? Because what Hezbollah is doing now is dragging Lebanon into a conflict that it has no business to be in, and it surely won't benefit from.
VAUSE: And all that said we will end it. Thank you so much for your time, Defense Force spokesperson Jonathan Conricus. Very much appreciate your time sir, thank you. Live now to London, journalist Elliott Gotkine is following these developments. It was interesting the point you made about the significant uptick in the cross border fire with Hezbollah in the north. That does seem like it is reaching some kind of crescendo.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: It does seem to be rising. And we see, pretty much every day now, we see skirmishes. We see fire coming from Hezbollah, which of course is backed by Iran, towards Israel. Anti- tank missiles as Jonathan Conricus was saying just now. Also attempted infiltration. And Israel has been firing back. Indeed in the early hours of this morning there was Israeli retaliatory fire towards an observation post, for example, and also other assets on the ground.
So, that is still simmering for now. It hasn't boiled over. It is still simmering for now. But the very real danger that this simmering will boil over into a full blown conflict. Another front opening for real on the northern border between Israel and Lebanon is still very real. And that is not something that Israel necessarily wants.
But Israel says that it is prepared for it. And as Jonathan Conricus the spokesperson for the IDF was just saying, this is something that Israel will respond to. And as we heard the chief of the general staff saying in that clip that Israel would destroy Hezbollah. Whether it could or not of course is another matter. But at the same time Lebanon has its own financial crises right now. And the spokesman for the IDF questioning whether a war is in Lebanon's best interest, John. VAUSE: Yeah, and Elliott as far as President Biden, he leaves Israel with goodwill it seems from the Israelis. He also plans to make an Oval Office address on Thursday to make the case to the US for funding for wars in both Israel and Ukraine. There are some recent polling numbers out that show Americans are not yet committed about spending more aid, or sending more aid rather, to Israel. Now that's not great news for Israel given how reliant the Israelis are on US assistance both financial and military.
GOTKINE: That is right, John. As you say, Israel usually receives about four billion dollars a year. I think that makes it possibly the largest recipient of US military aid. And as you said there was that CNN poll. If you had the kind of people that think Israel is not receiving enough or should receive more, too little, and the ones that feel that Israel is receiving about the right amount then we get to almost half.
[00:15:06]
But I think that obviously is a poll of the American people. But when it comes to lawmakers it is a bit more clear cut. If President Biden was going to lawmakers and saying, look, I want to give more money to Israel, and we're talking about I think $10 billion more in funding for Israel right now, then it probably wouldn't be a very tough ask from the administration's perspective. It's the money for Ukraine which is complicating matters. And probably why President Biden, in this address, is perhaps trying to give something for everyone.
So not just $10 billion for Israel, but in the same package, if you would like, $60 billion for Ukraine, money for Taiwan as well, and also to fortify the border wall between the US and Mexico. So in doing so, he may be able to get more lawmakers on side, especially Republican lawmakers, to approve this package because they don't want to be seen to not be giving money too, for example to Israel, or perhaps to Taiwan, or perhaps to not be approving further funding for fortifying the border between the US and Mexico.
So by trying to give perhaps something for everyone, he may feel that he has a greater chance of getting this across the line, John.
VAUSE: Elliott, thank you. Elliott Gotkine there for us, live in London. Appreciate the update. At the UN security council, a draft resolution calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting in Gaza to allow aid deliveries has been vetoed by the United States. The resolution condemned the terror attacks in Israel by Hamas and urges the release of hostages. It also calls on all parties to comply with international law and protect civilians in Gaza.
12 of the council's 15 members have approved the draft with the UK and Russia abstaining. US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas- Greenfield says resolutions are important, but American on the ground diplomacy needs to play out first. She was also critical that the draft did not mention Israel's right for self-defense.
Well it seems there was no chaotic rampage. The Jihadis from Hamas had a very clear plan. In a moment, details on how Hamas fighters knew exactly where to go and when to go. That's coming up. Also Republican Congressman Jim Jordan vows to stay in the race to be speaker of the house after failing to win a second vote. Details coming up.
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VAUSE: Well, Hamas videos, maps and documents obtained by CNN have revealed just how much Hamas killers knew before they launched that surprise attack on Israeli communities which slaughtered 1400 people. This attack had been years in the making. And now this material shows just how detailed those attack plans were. Specific information about security at homes, even the best places to hold hostages. And a caution, some of the images you are about to see are graphic, as CNN's Matthew Chance shows us some of the chilling evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN has gathered chilling new insights and details on the Hamas assault inside Israel, including disturbing video taken by the attackers themselves as they rampaged through Israeli homes, killing on sight, and then being killed. Searches of their dead bodies revealing a trove of highly specific Hamas battle plans. Including these detailed maps, now shared with CNN by the Israeli government, showing communities here Gaza like Kfar Aza targeted by the attackers.
These were the terrifying scenes inside. This Hamas gunman recorded themselves moving freely through the gardens of Israeli homes. Code red, code red, the Israeli loudspeaker blares and Hebrew, punctuating the sporadic gunfire. After the attack, Israeli first responders saw bullet holes and blood stains in room after room in what looks like a coldly methodical killing spree.
CHANCE: But while hundreds of Israelis were killed, some Israeli communities managed to repel the Hamas gunmen and save lives. At kibbutz Mefalsim near Gaza, residents pushed back at Hamas attacks and found documents on the bodies of the militants they killed with disturbing highly accurate intelligence on their homes.
CHANCE (voice-over): Including precise numbers of armed guns there. Regional defense force, at least 20 residents, one document reads, and 10 soldiers.
YARDEN RESKIN, KIBBUTZ MEFALSIM RESIDENT: They knew basically the size of our security team, they knew about another three or four entrances to the kibbutz.
CHANCE: It sounds like they knew everything.
RESKIN: They knew everything. Where the generators are. They knew where the armory is. They knew about rural roads around the kibbutz.
CHANCE (voice-over): Security footage shows how a Hamas gunman killed an Israeli outside the kibbutz gates before being repelled. Even with detailed intelligence on their targets, not every Hamas objective was achieved. Nearby kibbutz Sa'ad wasn't even attacked, although we now have documentary evidence that Hamas intended to inflict the maximum possible human casualties there, and to hold hostages.
A highly detailed street map found on another Hamas gunman and obtained by CNN showed individual buildings in Sa'ad, identified and assessed for their military value. The communal kitchen for example is described as the main place suitable for holding hostages. Inside the guard room, the soldiers must be neutralized, the Hamas instructions say. While the kibbutz dental clinic is designated a place for first aid for both enemies and friends. Israeli residents of Sa'ad say they also found that level of detail astounding.
[00:25:10]
SARAH POLLACK, KIBBUTZ SA'AD RESIDENT: Shockingly, the details are very accurate. The map is a map of our kibbutz. It's very accurate. It's horribly accurate.
CHANCE: If they had come to your settlement, they would have known exactly where to go and exactly where to cause the most damage.
POLLACK: Yes, and we now see that their goal was to take hostages, including children.
CHANCE (voice-over): Israeli officials say they found other documents too, that advise attackers to kill anyone posing a threat or causing a distraction. To keep captives away from arms or means of suicide. And to use them as cannon fodder. It is a dark turn.
Even for a group, seen here parading before the attacks, that's come to symbolize the uncompromising face of Palestinian resistance and violence against Israel. Israeli officials say a document referencing ISIS and Al-Qaeda, which CNN has not been able to authenticate, was found on one Hamas gunman killed during this attack on kibbutz Be'eri.
The document given to CNN by a senior Israeli government official praises Jihad against Jews and crusaders. Israeli officials say that is evidence Hamas is increasingly influenced by global Jihadi ideology, an assessment many experts have dismissed. But in the wake of the unprecedented brutality of these attacks, US officials tell CNN the Hamas threat may now be re-assessed. Matthew Chance, CNN, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Just moments ago, Air Force One touched down in Joint Base Andrews in Maryland just outside Washington, DC. The US president returning from the trip to Israel. He spent seven and a half hours on the ground in Tel Aviv with Israeli officials, but it was a trip which he says brought back an agreement to open up an aid crossing into Gaza that could happen as soon as Friday.
He also gave the Israelis reassurance that the United States would stand with Israel as it carries on with its military operation in Gaza. There has however been some criticism of this trip after the Arab leaders in Jordan as well as the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas canceled a meeting with Joe Biden over an explosion at a hospital in Gaza, which many has blamed the Israelis for.
But now the US backs Israel in their claims that it was not an Israeli air strike which killed 471 people at that hospital, but it was in fact a misfired rocket by a militant group in Gaza. The president now plans to do a national address later Thursday to convince the American public of the need to show further support for Israel as well as Ukraine in their war with Russia. We will take a short break.
When we come back, UN national security officials have reached their own conclusions about that deadly hospital blast in Gaza. They tell Joe Biden now what they came up with during his brief visit to Israel. More on that in a moment.
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VAUSE: Thirty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back, everyone.
[00:31:33]
U.S. President Joe Biden says he's -- has publicly supported, rather, Israel's claims that a rocket misfired by the militant group Islamic Jihad was the cause of a deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza City.
Hamas officials, though, in Gaza say an Israeli airstrike hit the hospital, killing 471 people.
President Biden just returned to the United States from Israel, Air Force One touching down moments ago. And now, the president is planning a primetime address Thursday to make the case for continued funding for both Israel and Ukraine.
In Washington, though, on Wednesday, 300 people were arrested. They were members of the Jewish Voice for Peace, and they were calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
CNN is conducting an independent analysis of that horrific hospital blast in Gaza. Both sides blame each other for the explosion, which Palestinians say killed almost 500 on Tuesday. CNN is now looking into video of the incident, captured by a news camera that was rolling at the time of the blast. CNN's Alex Marquardt has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The explosion rocked Northern Gaza and lit up the night sky, another angle appearing to show, according to a CNN analysis, a rocket fired from inside Gaza. It explodes in the air, and seconds later, a blast is seen at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
CNN has not determined definitively that the rocket and the explosion are related, but in Tel Aviv today, President Joe Biden said U.S. intelligence matches Israel's version of what happened.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Based on the information we received today it appears the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza. MARQUARDT (voice-over): Biden didn't name the group, but Israel says
it's Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas and linked to Iran.
The American assessment, less than 24 hours after the deadly strike, was based on what the White House now says is "intelligence, missile activity, and open-source video and images of the incident," the statement adding that "some Palestinian militants in Gaza themselves believe it was carried out by Islamic Jihad."
SETH JONES, DIRECTOR, CSIS INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM: For the U.S. now to weigh in and the U.S. president to weigh in on this, this does strongly suggest this was likely not the Israelis.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): The Israeli military published recordings it claims are audio intercepts of Hamas militants, acknowledging the rocket came from inside Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: It's from us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: It looks like it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Who says this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: They are saying that the shrapnel from the missile is local shrapnel and not the Israeli shrapnel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: They shot it coming from the cemetery behind the Al- Ma'amadani Hospital, and it misfired and fell on them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: There's a cemetery behind it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Yes, Al-Ma'amadani is exactly in the compound.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): CNN cannot independently verify them.
It's part of a vigorous Israeli effort to prove it wasn't their rocket, arguing the damage from the strike was far lighter than the bombs they usually drop from the air. Assaults that have left buildings across Gaza flattened and huge craters in the ground.
At the hospital today, charred vehicles littered the parking lot, which is pockmarked and has a small crater.
Sources tell CNN that Israel shared its intelligence with the U.S., and taken together, the U.S. now believes that the body of evidence paints a solid picture.
JONES: You have to piece it together with other sources of information, not just from that ally, because that may be biased.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): But the public outcry and blame of Israel were swift and fierce. Biden's summit in Jordan with Arab leaders was canceled as crowds in the streets grew.
BIDEN: We can understand why, in this circumstance, they wouldn't believe. I can understand that. And -- but I would not -- you notice I don't say things like that unless I have faith in the source.
[00:35:07]
MARQUARDT (voice-over): The theory now threatening to deepen the crisis, even before Israel launches a possible invasion of Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Not to Tel Aviv. We're joined by Gideon Levy, columnist for Israel's "Haaretz" newspaper. Thank you for being with us.
GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, "HAARETZ": Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: So while the U.S. president has publicly backed the idea of assessment by using both Israeli intelligence and U.S. intelligence, that the hospital blast was not from an Israeli airstrike at the hospital, but rather, it was an Islamic Jihad misfired rocket.
So in terms of easing tensions, you know, the only country which has less credibility than Israel in the Middle East at times is the United States.
So even before the hospital explosion, anger had been growing across the region because of the ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and the surging Palestinian death toll, and the humanitarian crisis there. So, you know, the big picture in all this, what did Biden's visit actually achieve in terms of, you know, trying to avoid escalating this conflict beyond Israel and Gaza?
LEVY: I think, John, that Biden conquered the heart of the Israelis. Namely, they got a mixture of a lot of sympathy and empathy, solidarity, but also some strength, some borders to the wide operation in Gaza.
I think that many Israelis understood through his visit that, on one hand, he's a genuine friend, but on the other hand, Israel cannot go all wild in Gaza. There are limits.
There are limits even after the terrible massacre in the South of Israel. There are limits to what Israel is doing. And after 1,000 Palestinian innocent children killed in ten days, one should ask himself, where do we go? Where will it lead us to? And what about all these horrible, horrible things in Gaza?
VAUSE: So with that in mind, I want you to listen to what the U.S. president had to say with regards to that. So that general caution, if you like, of the dangers of overreaction, which has been driven by fear and rage. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I understand, and many Americans understand, you can't look at what has happened here to your mothers, your fathers, your grandparents, sons, daughters, children, even babies, and not scream out for justice. Justice must be done.
But I caution this, while you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That was probably the highlight, or one of the highlights from Biden's trip, seven and a half hours on the ground there in Tel Aviv.
Israelis don't like being told what to do, at times even by U.S. presidents. But will they listen to Joe Biden? And what does that actually mean? What will that translate into in terms of the Israeli military offensive? How will that play out, do you think?
LEVY: First of all, I wish an Israeli prime minister would have talked like the American president, telling his people that there are borders, and we have to restrain ourself by ourself without any advice, friendly as it is, from the United States.
But this will not happen, because right now, the mood in Israel is quite aggressive, quite looking for revenge, quite looking for punishing Gaza without any borders.
I think that it's not about the words of Biden but about his actions. Will the leaders and the generals of Israel understand that any violation of his friendly advice will be followed by actions, like stopping all kind of aid?
Then Israel will have to listen to Biden, because Israel is now in a very, very fragile situation, and it depends on the United States maybe more than ever; for sure, more than ever, ever since 1973.
Not listening to Biden means really terrible consequences for Israel. The question is, if Biden will follow his advisers also with actions. Time will show it.
VAUSE: One of the other, you know, achievements, if you like, from this visit, according to the U.S. president, was this deal to allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
Again, here's the president talking about that, talking to reporters on Air Force One.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Today I asked the Israeli cabinet, that I met with for some time this morning, to agree to the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, based on the understanding that there will be inspections, and that the aid should go to civilians, not to Hamas. Israel agreed the humanitarian assistance can begin to move from Egypt to Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:40:03]
VAUSE: That was earlier in Tel Aviv, not on Air Force One, obviously. But on the way home from Israel, Biden did tell reporters on Air Force One that he'd spoken by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el- Sisi. Sisi, Biden said, had agreed to allow 20 trucks of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing.
That is an initial shipment. And you know, if it's taken by Hamas, it will be the last. But you know, roads need to be repaired. So, too, the crossing at Rafah.
This whole process seems to be like pulling teeth right now, while Gaza is spiraling faster and faster towards a catastrophe. There seems to be a real lack of agency.
LEVY: Yes. You see, John, those are drops in the ocean. When you see the scenes from Gaza, you understand that no convoy of humanitarian aid will save Gaza right now.
Gaza in such -- is in such a terrible condition that I'm so happy about any kind of humanitarian aid. But don't be wrong: this will not save Gaza.
Those hundreds of thousands of uprooted people, refugees, second and third time in their lifetime, were running away to nowhere, who have nowhere to run. Even a hospital is not anymore a secure place for them.
Those people whose life in the last 17 years was life of people in a cage, are now in their worst point, and the biggest convoy cannot save them.
The only thing that can save them now, and the only thing that should be done now is to cease fire. It's the only way to put an end to this, because this will not lead us anywhere.
If I would think that this will lead us to a new government in Gaza of liberal Americans, Israeli or Palestinians, I would say fantastic, but this will not happen. Nobody knows who will replace Hamas, even if Israel will succeed to do the impossible thing and to change the regime in Gaza.
America tried so many times to change regimes in the world, and the only outcome was more and more bloodshed, more and more wars in Afghanistan, in South America, Latin America, in Iraq. We're not (ph). VAUSE: Gideon, it's great to have you with us, sir. We really
appreciate your time. And we'll just have to finish up here, but you know, the parallels between where Israel is right now and the U.S. was in the days and months after 9/11, seem quite chilling in many ways. But we thank you for your time, sir.
LEVY: Thank you.
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. In a moment, you're watching CNN. Back after this.
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[00:45:46]
VAUSE: Welcome back. We head now to the ongoing chaos in the U.S. Congress, where there is still no House speaker two weeks after Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy.
On Wednesday, the ultraconservative Republican Congressman Jim Jordan lost another round of voting as more Republicans voted against him.
CNN's Manu Raju reports now from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: House Republicans plunging deeper into turmoil after Jim Jordan, for a second time, failed to get the votes he needed to be elected speaker, coming more than two weeks after that unprecedented vote to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership, something that continues to linger and badly divide the House Republican conference, unable to get past the divisions and unite behind a single candidate.
In fact Jordan, on his first ballot, just on Tuesday, lost 20 Republicans; then in the second ballot, lost 22 Republicans. He can only afford to lose four Republicans on a party-line vote. He is going in the direction that he can't afford.
In fact, Republicans tell me that if he has a third ballot vote on Thursday, expect even more Republican opposition to grow, and a push by those same Republicans to get him out of the speaker's race and find a new candidate.
Then the question will be, what is next? Will they try to move forward on a resolution to empower the interim speaker, Patrick McHenry? That is a leading option among more moderate members, including some Democrats.
Although Democrats at the moment have not said explicitly whether they will vote for that resolution that is now being drafted by Congressman David Joyce.
I asked Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, if they would get behind this. He said they were still weighing their options. But he said their first task is to stop Jim Jordan's efforts to become the speaker.
Would you vote for the joyous resolution if it comes up?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We haven't had a discussion yet as a caucus. Because Jim Jordan is still the speaker nominee, and our goal is to prevent him, a clear and present danger to our democracy and the poster child for MAGA extremism, from becoming the speaker.
The Republicans have to end this saga, as opposed to us having another futile effort to elevate an insurrectionist to lead the House of Representatives.
RAJU: But even as frustration is building in the ranks, there is still some encouragement from a number of Jordan's supporters, saying he should stay in the race.
REP. WARREN DAVIDSON (R-OH): I think he's got plenty in the tank.
I think it's less about balance and having time to heal, time to collaborate and talk, and that's kind of why the pace has been different. Sometimes wounds take a little bit of time to heal. And I think part of the challenge here is we've got people that are still reeling from the motion to vacate.
RAJU: This all comes as some of the opponents of Jim Jordan actually received some death threats, credible death threats. That was the words of Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa.
She initially supported Jordan in the first ballot, opposed him on the second ballot. But then she reported, after that second ballot vote, to getting credible death threats, something that Jordan's office condemned in the aftermath of learning about this.
But Mariannette Miller-Meeks said that she will not be bullied by those threats and is indicating she will still oppose him on the third ballot.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, how the U.K., France and Germany are now dealing with a sudden rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes after that devastating attack by Hamas on Israel.
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VAUSE: Crowds gathered in London Wednesday, calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza. They described it as a massacre, as well as the genocide.
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VAUSE: In Athens, police broke up a crowd of protesters as they marched, demanding free Palestine. Many carried the Palestinian flag while condemning Israel.
And in cities across the United States, multiple rallies. A show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.
French authorities report more than 300 anti-Semitic crimes since the Hamas attacks on October 7, a trend not unique to France. The United Kingdom and Germany have also seen a surge in faith-based hate crimes since the Israel-Hamas kicked off -- conflict began earlier this month.
CNN's Melissa Bell has details.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under the cover of darkness, hate crimes caught on tape. Red paint daubed across the front of two Jewish schools in the United Kingdom. Apparent anti- Semitic acts on the rise after the brutal Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7.
YONATHAN ARFI, PRESIDENT, REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL OF FRENCH JEWISH INSTITUTIONS: The day the violence is starting in the Middle East, we started to have anti-Semitic incidents in France.
BELL (voice-over): On Tuesday night, an attempted arson attack on a Berlin synagogue.
And in France, heightened security at synagogues and Jewish schools, and yet, at least 327 anti-Semitic attacks since the Hamas attacks, compared to 436 for the whole of 2022.
In the United Kingdom, as well, 320 anti-Semitic incidents since the attacks, a fifth of last year's official total in just ten days.
EAMONN O'BRIEN, GREATER MANCHESTER COMBINED AUTHORITY, U.K.: We're trying to address both those real issues and the fear of it, which is to say, is sort of ever-present in many of our Jewish communities.
BELL (voice-over): The response from Western European governments has been uncompromising.
RISHI SUNAK, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: I promise you I will stop at nothing to keep you safe.
BELL (voice-over): "No one will touch a hair of a Jew in France," from France's interior minister. [00:55:05]
"Anti-Semitic attacks are contemptuous and abhorrent," said the German chancellor.
In France and Germany, authorities went so far as to ban pro- Palestinian protests, for fear they might incite anti-Semitic acts.
ARFI: When I see the demonstrations in American cities, on American campuses, I feel fear as a Jew, being -- feeling something hostile toward me.
BELL (voice-over): For France's Jewish community, the largest in the world after the United States and Israel, the Islamist attacks of the last few years have all too often been far too personal.
On Friday, a public high school teacher was killed by a former student in an attack linked by the government to the conflict in Israel.
Tensions that Jews in France and Europe are watching with a wary and fearful eye.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
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VAUSE: For anyone who would like more information on how to help with humanitarian relief efforts in both Gaza and Israel, please go to CNN.com/impact for a list of vetted organizations you can trust. That's at CNN.com/impact.
That's all we have time for this hour, but I will be back with more news right after a very short break. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN.
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