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CNN International: Hamas Releases Two Israeli Women Held Hostage in Gaza; Israel: Preparing for Multilateral Operation Against Hamas; Doctors Warn of Dire Situation in Hospitals Across Gaza; Intel: Iranian-Backed Militias Plan to Attack U.S. Forces. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 24, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster joining you live from London with our continuing coverage of Israel at war.

The Gaza based militant group Hamas has released two more people they had abducted from southern Israel earlier this month. The hostages identified as Israeli citizens, Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz were handed over to the Red Cross at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. They were carried away in ambulances and taken to a medical center in Israel, where they were reunited with their families.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ETI UZIEL, HEAD NURSE, ICHILOV HOSPITAL (through translator): We received the first two abductees a few minutes ago. We were very emotional. They look OK. Their medical condition is OK. They're talking. At first we immediately brought them to their family members. It was a very, very emotional meeting. Right now, we will let them rest a little with the family. After that, we'll conduct a comprehensive physical examination. They'll stay with us tonight and tomorrow we'll know exactly. But right now, for them and for the family members, it is a very, very emotional situation and we're happy that they're here with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, both women were among the more than 200 people captured by Hamas in the deadly rampage on October the 7th. Israel has been responding to that attack by bombarding Gaza, almost non-stop. Its military says it has killed Hamas commanders and gunmen in strikes on more than 400 sites in the past day, and the Israeli defense minister has indicated that a ground incursion may be coming. In a video, he urged troops to be ready.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): Keep preparing for our operation, it will come soon. We are preparing thoroughly for the next step. A multilateral operation in the air, ground and sea. Do your work. Get ready. We will need you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: However, a top U.S. official wouldn't say publicly if the Biden administration has urged Israel to delay its expected ground incursion into Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, COORDINATOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: The Israeli Defense Forces need to decide for themselves how they're going to conduct operations. We're not in the business of dictating terms to them, and we're certainly not going to be in the business here from the White House of previewing any, any future operations one way or the other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Elliott Gotkine is here with us now. Let's start with the one piece of good news we've had in recent times. And that's the release of these two hostages. Of course, many more still stuck, including their husbands, right?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Very much so. These two elderly Israeli women released by Hamas, thanks to negotiations handled by both the Qataris and the Egyptians. In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the Egyptians, thank the Red Cross, but pointedly didn't thank the Qataris, perhaps because they actually host some of the political leadership of Hamas in Doha. Hamas, which of course, carried out this terrorist attack on October the 7th.

So those two hostages are now free. Before they were released, there were still 222 people that Hamas had kidnapped and was holding hostage in the Gaza Strip. And obviously there's very much -- there's hope now that four women have been released, that more will be released in the coming hours, in the coming days. But of course, we don't know, and I suppose this of course, is one reason why we're seeing a delay to the much-expected ground invasion from Israel because of those hostages. Even before they've gone in, it's complicating matters for the Israelis. And of course, if and when Israel does go in on the ground, that will also be a complicating factor in their battles with the militants of Hamas and other groups such as the Islamic Jihad.

FOSTER: Are we seeing a moment of disunity between Israel and America on this? Because, as we suggested, America seems to be pushing for a delay to the ground incursion, and Israel seems to be pushing ahead with it.

GOTKINE: Well, it hasn't happened yet, so that would seem to indicate that Israel perhaps is paying attention to the United States as much as the U.S. and Israel deny that, you know, these kinds of decisions or that it is being influenced by what's going -- by the White House or by the administration there.

But certainly Israel has a number of things that are on its minds. I don't wouldn't call it any kind of, you know, discordancy with the United States. But it's got a number of factors to bear in mind. We've mentioned the hostages. We've mentioned, of course, the possibility of a northern front opening with Hezbollah and they've been increased strikes going on, increased skirmishes between the militants of Hezbollah, of course, backed by Iran and Israel in the north. Israel doesn't want a northern front to be opened. But as we heard from President Isaac Herzog in conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron just earlier saying that if Hezbollah will drag us into war, Lebanon will pay the price.

[04:05:00]

And of course, against that backdrop, you've got the rising number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. You've got a deteriorating humanitarian situation, and as Emmanuel Macron said to President Herzog, you know, we stand with you, but he doesn't want Israel to be alone. In other words, that as the humanitarian situation deteriorates in the Gaza Strip, doesn't want Israel to come under too much pressure or condemnation from the international community.

FOSTER: OK, Elliot, thank you.

More now on those two Israeli women released from Hamas captivity. According to the head nurse at the hospital where the women -- the women are being examined and -- well, both are in OK condition it seems. She says as soon as the two women arrived at the hospital, they had an emotional reunion with their families. Here's what the family of Yocheved Lifshitz had to say about her release.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARONE LIFSHITZ, DAUGHTER OF FREED HAMAS HOSTAGE: I've seen a picture of her in a bed, in a hospital bed. She's waving her hand. I know that she is well enough to speak and well enough to walk. I think she walks across the border. So my mom's story is an amazing story. My heart is with my father and the other 218 people or so that are still held hostage. This is a great sign that other things can happen.

DANIEL LIFSHITZ, GRANDSON OF FREED HAMAS HOSTAGE: It's so much joy and light and you know, happiness from one side and so much sadness and still this roller coaster. We don't go out of it. And now my grandmother is back. But still now I'm more afraid about my grandfather that he's still there and still no man been released.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, both women will get a complete physical examination by doctors before being discharged in the coming days. Their families are hopeful this means more hostages will be released very soon.

Joining me now is Melanie Garson, an associate professor of International Security and Conflict Resolution at the Political Science Department at the University College London. Thank you so much for joining us.

MELANIE GARSON, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Good morning. FOSTER: Obviously, this is great news that two people have been

released, but their husbands are still in captivity and so are many others, of course. What do you think the message from Hamas is in delivering them back to Israel?

GARSON: I think it's an extremely difficult message from Hamas and as we've seen with the simultaneous propaganda video that they've issued with the release of from it. It is a message of still trying to project some level of control of the situation. It's still trying to project power within the situation. It was -- it's couched in terms of humanitarian sort of sort of nod to humanitarianism. We, you know, can't be forgotten within that 220 civilians that are being held. There's still babies in there and children and. You know a true humanitarian gesture would have been releasing those without concession. So it's definitely more of a tactic than a genuine measure.

FOSTER: And in terms of the negotiation, I mean, these things are all done, you know, behind closed doors, of course, between diplomats and Hamas. But just explain the relationship as it played out here. Because you've got the political leadership of Hamas in Qatar, haven't you? Then you've got the Egyptians who seem to have the stronger relationship with the military side of Hamas. And then obviously the Americans were involved as well.

GARSON: Absolutely, and this is something that is slightly complicating the picture. Previously negotiations have been done directly and there are some questions as to whether it should be more direct. Having that kind of trilateral negotiations can get messy. As Elliott pointed out earlier, this -- the thanks was quite directly given to this to the Egyptian government. The Egyptian, obviously with the border they share with Gaza, is a definitely interested party in trying to resolve this as soon as possible to try and avoid it spilling into its borders and is maintaining that relationship.

The U.S. Qatari relationship, particularly with the way Qatar has emerged recently as --opportunistically as a regional mediator, particularly in it negotiating the deal the U.S. and Iran still is carrying the role, and particularly with that political leadership sitting there. There still emerges a question, given the potential for fragmentation on the ground, as to where these hostages are being held. As to the extent that command and control is actually intact between the leadership of Hamas in Qatar and the people on the ground.

[04:10:03]

FOSTER: When you look back on the history of these events, you know, what will they be considering? Because, you know, if they if they're prioritizing releasing the hostages, logic would dictate that if they went in on the ground incursion, hostages would inevitably be lost. So what -- how do they weigh up that sort of military aggression with diplomacy in getting the best result?

GARSON: In this case, it's extraordinarily difficult. In previous hostage situations, you tend to have had clarity on exactly where the position of the hostages are and the position of where the hostage takers are. So you have to really think this out. I mean, in Munich 1972 it was Entebbe in 1976. You have that kind of control over the area to know exactly what you're dealing with.

Here, you're absolutely right, we're dealing with a people that can be hidden, particularly within tunnels quite spread across a densely populated area. And always a calculus with these kinds of events is the need to try to minimize risk to force. So that's the minimize the risk to the rescuers, as well as the risk to the mission, and that's in particular to the hostages.

So that is the extent that we've seen some limited incursions yesterday. There was one unfortunately where an Israeli soldier was injured and killed into trying to sort of test the groundwaters. The aerial bombardment will be trying to break down as much infrastructure to if they decide to go down that route that they have cleared the way as much as possible to make the mission a success.

FOSTER: What about the tension that seems to be developing between Israel and the U.S. if you look at the messaging. The U.S. really hoping it seems that Israel will hold off on this ground incursion. But you know, the Israeli military certainly saying they're absolutely ready to go in. Are you concerned that that tension may grow and, you know, it might isolate Israel?

GARSON: I think there is still sufficient backing. I think the U.S. will be and has stood by Israel's side from the beginning that this was an attack on Israel's territory. There has to be a right to defend. That there is a in the coming months a regime that needs to be dismantled within Gaza for there to be any hope of the two-state solution really continuing.

This is -- it's not a choice anymore on Israel's part. In the same way it wasn't a choice to have to be in this position as it stands. We've heard reports that the U.S. have sent in strategic advisers to look at how the U.S. are going to -- how Israel is going to be doing this. We know that the. U.S. has forces in place to support.

I think U.S. is primary concern is also to avoid as much spillover as possible and to make sure that -- as was noted before -- that Israel is going to go in, it can do so in a way that can avoid minimal damage to the humanitarian crisis. That it is growing and that it can be done in a way that it achieves its aims and objectives as quickly and as smoothly as possible, with minimal loss of life.

FOSTER: Melanie Garson really appreciate your analysis today. Thank you for joining us.

Now at least 20 trucks brought much needed food and other supplies -- aid supplies into Gaza on Monday. And over the weekend, some 34 trucks were able to enter from Egypt. But it's not nearly enough to meet the needs of millions of people trapped under siege. Here's what the UN spokesperson had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, SPOKESPERSON FOR THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think as others have said, it's a drop in the bucket. I mean we're -- I think the number of trucks that usually went into Gaza every day was about 450 or so, and now we're seeing 20 or 30 and we're not seeing any fuel, which is a great concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, doctors and aid groups are warning that all the chaos and destruction is taking a toll on Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals. The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health says hospitals are nearing collapse and operating at more than 150 percent of their capacity. A doctor tells CNN they desperately need fuel for vital machinery keeping patients alive, including infants such as these. CNN's Clarissa Ward has more on the deteriorating conditions at hospitals across Gaza, but a warning, her story contains graphic video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You are entering the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City. This is just one minute on one day. The doctors tell us it could be any minute from the last 16 days. It is the scene from hell. Many of the patients are young children.

[04:15:00]

The reception area now a triage center, everywhere you turn, another casualty.

Every one of these people has been ordered by Israel's military to evacuate the hospital, including the staff, already outnumbered and overwhelmed. And as the punishing bombardment continues, the wounded keep flooding in. Doctors say there is nowhere else for them to go, and no safe way to transport them out.

DR. MARWAN ABUSADA, CHIEF OF SURGERY, AL SHIFA HOSPITAL: We have the mass casualties once or twice a day, but now, we have every half an hour casualties. So, it's overloaded our emergency departments, and our OT department and IDP departments are overloaded with the patients.

WARD (voice-over): Dr. Marwan Abusada warns that the situation is about to get dramatically worse. The hospital, he says, it's just two days away from running out of fuel, needed to power the generators that are keeping the hospital and its patients alive.

WARD: If you do run out of fuel in two days, what will you do? I mean, what can you do?

ABUSADA: I think the international community will be part of the process of killing our people. If they don't act on Israel and allow to get the fuel entrance to Gaza, what to do for the people who are ICU or mechanical ventilator? What about the neonatal, the small babies? We have more than 130 in our neonatal ICU units. What do we do with them? They will, OK, I think we are allowing them to die in these stations because we're out of fuel to run our generators in the hospital. WARD (voice-over): Just a trickle of aid has been allowed to cross into Gaza, and none of its fuel. Blocked by Israel, it says over concerns it will be taken by Hamas. Hundreds of trucks are waiting along the Egyptian side of the border.

The diplomatic efforts to establish a continuous humanitarian corridor have failed, and there is no more time for debate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still ahead, U.S. intelligence is warning that Iran is about to exploit the backlash in the region against American support for Israel. Why, it says, U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria could be targeted, ahead.

Plus, CNN visits an Israeli kibbutz ravished by Hamas. We'll have reaction from a man who is seeing his home for the first time after losing most of his family to the attacks.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in Tel Aviv to show solidarity with Israel. Earlier he met with Israeli victims of the Hamas attack from earlier this month. A source that says Mr. Macron will also discuss a two-state solution with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And it's likely he'll meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as well.

The Dutch Prime Minister has also visited the region for talks with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Mark Rutte says he urged Netanyahu to show restraint when using force in Gaza. And spoke with Abbas about the cycle of violence unleashed by Hamas.

The Pentagon is bracing for a significant increase in attacks by Iranian backed militias on U.S. forces across the Middle East. U.S. intelligence agencies think Iran is eager to exploit the backlash in the region against American support for Israel. As Oren Liebermann reports, U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have already come under fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. has intelligence that Iranian backed militias in the Middle East, specifically in Iraq and Syria, are looking to take advantage of the opportunity and the situation there to escalate and ramp up attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East -- according to multiple U.S. officials. As Iran tries to take advantage of growing anti-Israel and anti-U.S. sentiment as a result of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

We have seen a series of several drone and rocket attacks against U.S. forces in the Middle East. But this would be an escalation of that. Also certainly worth noting, that we've seen the Iranian backed Houthis in Yemen launch an attack using land attack, cruise missiles and drones that was supposed to reach Israel -- according to the Pentagon and U.S. officials -- before it was intercepted by a U.S. destroyer operating in the Red Sea here.

It is worth noting the distinction between this involvement here versus Iranian involvement with the Hamas terror attack in Israel on October 7th. U.S. officials say there is no indication of direct Iranian involvement or knowledge or a green light for the attack on October 7th in Israel. Even though Iran does broadly provide funding, backing and training to Hamas.

This is different than that. Here there's a much clearer link between Iran and the actions of Iranian proxies. Encouragement, funding, training and a general sense of backing of these Iranian backed proxies attacking the U.S. forces even if there isn't a specific green light.

It is because of this growing threat that the Pentagon authorized the deployment of a THAAD missile battery, which is a medium and long- range air defense system and a Patriot battalion to the Middle East as a means of providing more air defense. And the Pentagon has also put more soldiers and troops on "prepare to deploy" orders because of the situation in the region.

This is on top of the forces that were already ordered there, which is a carrier strike group in the Eastern Med. Another carrier strike group on its way to the Middle East. And an amphibious ready group that's already in the Middle East. So you see the U.S. preparing for the possibility at a serious and severe escalation as the Biden administration and senior officials here warn others, including Iran and its proxies, not to get involved.

Oren Liebermann, CNN in the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Israel's military says it struck multiple Hezbollah posts in southern Lebanon on Monday night. CNN crews in the country heard the strikes being carried out. The IDF says they hit a military compound, an observation outpost and more in response to rocket and anti-tank missile launches from the area earlier on Monday. Hezbollah media reported the strikes occurred in open areas.

[04:25:02]

They also claimed four Hezbollah fighters died on Monday before the most recent attack.

Now we're learning more about the Israeli neighborhoods decimated by Hamas and the lives of people who lived there. CNN's Kaitlan Collins visited kibbutz Kissufim and spoke with a man seeing his childhood home for the first time after most of his family was murdered in the surprise attacks. The report you're about to see contains graphic video and it's difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR (voice- over): Kibbutz Kissufim sits less than three miles away from the Gaza border, a quiet community where residents grow avocados and raise poultry and their families.

But as the sun rose on Saturday, October 7th, the kibbutz that around 300 people called home became the site of a massacre as Hamas militants stormed inside and murdered 14 people, kidnapping four others.

Major Marcus Sheff, a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces, watched from home as the brutal attack unfolded that day. Now he's leading a small group of foreign press into the kibbutz for the first time, wanting the world to bear witness to the atrocities firsthand.

MAJ. MARCUS SHEFF, IDF RESERVIST: You know, the shock is still there after two weeks. We've seen the damage, and yet it's still hard to absorb the full horror.

COLLINS (voice-over): The stench of death is thick in the air as you walk along the tree-lined streets. But if you didn't look too closely, you'd never guess that a slaughter took place here. Then you notice the bullet hole in Gina Smietich's door. The 90-year-old grandmother, who loved gardening, was in her bathroom when Hamas militants shot her in the head. Her blood is still smeared on the entryway two weeks later.

COLLINS: If you didn't look over here, it would just look like a regular home on a Saturday morning. Orange juice out, the newspaper, her mail, some cookies. When you look over here at the kitchen, you can see people have gone through it. They opened all the cabinets. There's still cups in the sink. Her kettle is still out. And Gina is one of several who was brutally murdered in her kibbutz on that Saturday morning.

COLLINS (voice-over): The Zak family lived just down the street. Parents Atai, Eddie, and their 14-year-old son, Sagi, were at home when the attack began. Their older children, Hadar and Tamer, were away. We reached 24-year-old Hadar on FaceTime.

COLLINS: What's through there? What was through that window?

COLLINS (voice-over): This is the first time he's able to see the charred remains of his family's home.

HADAR ZAK, PARENTS AND BROTHER KILLED BY HAMAS: Someone from the kibbutz told me that he opened the (safe room) and he found my dad laying on the ground with my dog. Just watching the doors so the terrorists won't come in.

COLLINS (voice-over): The bodies of his mother and little brother were found hugging each other in the nearby bomb shelter, where they asphyxiated after militants set their home on fire.

Just days before, Sagi was dancing his heart out at a Bruno Mars concert in Tel Aviv.

ZAK: I'm 24, we have 10 years between us. It's hard to me to say my little brother because it was my child.

COLLINS (voice-over): Hadar and his sister, Tomer, are now orphans. His grief and his anger is palpable.

ZAK: It's kind of absurd to me that you guys show me this first and not someone from Israel, you know what I mean? I love my kibbutz, my kibbutz is amazing, but the government -- I have no words to describe the disappointment.

COLLINS (voice-over): Just 24 hours later in the Kissufim area, an IDF soldier is killed and three others wounded during a raid ahead of Israel's expected ground invasion in Gaza, an ominous warning shot of what is yet to come.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN, Kissufim, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is getting worse. What one doctor is warning will happen if fuel is not allowed to enter the enclave.

Plus, the family of a young American Israeli man kidnapped by Hamas is speaking to CNN. They share their hopes for their son and their calls for an urgent international response.

END