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Netanyahu Says Second Stage Of War Has Begun; Netanyahu Announces Second Stage Of War Has Begun With Goals Of Destroying Hamas, Returning Hostages; Explosions Seen And Heard Near Israel-Gaza Border; Music Festival Survivor Hid From Terrorists For 8 Hours; Israel: Several Hamas Operatives Killed In Strikes; Slain Hamas Militants' Body Camera Videos Show The Preparations & Tactics Behind Terror Attack On Israel. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 28, 2023 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:00:26]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Jake Tapper. It is 2 a.m. here in Israel. And in Gaza. I'm looking out over Tel Aviv. It's been 22 days since the horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas caught this country Israel and frankly, much of the world by surprise.
Tonight, a new phase of the war against Hamas rages listen to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER: The war inside Gaza is going to be long. This is the second independence world. We're going to save our country. We're going to fight in the air ground. And see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. We were also following breaking news back in the United States. This hour, though, we bring you the harrowing personal stories of war, a mounting death toll and increasingly unsurvivable conditions in Gaza. And what we know about Israel's military plans including new reporting on which Hamas leaders Israel says have already been eliminated.
TAPPER: But first we're going to start with the massive ground operation in Gaza. CNN, Nic Robertson is live for us in studio to Israel. Nic, you've witnessed an eruption of activity literally where you are near Israel and Gaza tonight.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Jake and the cacophony into the night really continues. There's artillery fire helicopter gunships, we just had a couple of tank rounds out going from place to here, missile strikes and other missiles that we haven't frankly, haven't really seen fired here before zipping across the U.S. through the skyline and into Gaza. So intense, it continues.
We got a chance earlier on in the day, though, to get out and trying to see exactly what these troops who are on the ground now close to the line of Gaza and those going inside to try to see exactly what they were doing.
Racing along the border with Gaza, Israeli merch for tanks, an incursion force on the move. Part of the IDF intensification of operations preparing the way for unexpected large scale ground offensive.
That dirt track down there where you can see the dust coming up, that's the road that runs along the Israeli side of the border. We've been able to hear intense gunfire from the IDF shooting into Gaza tank rounds as well fired from their right into Gaza.
Machine gunfire erupts as unseen soldiers battle for control of the fields that separate the border from the crowded Gaza towns. Inside the towns smoke rising from intensified strikes, where the IDF says her mass hides in underground tunnels and among civilians, Israel's defense minister announcing a new phase in the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: Last night the ground and Gaza shook we attacked terror operatives of all ranks in every location.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: The tempo of battle rising noticeably Friday night. Power, phone and internet services cut in the north of the densely populated Palestinian enclave. Hospitals already short of medicine, water and other essentials at times appearing overrun with casualties.
On Saturday, in apparent desperation with deteriorating humanitarian conditions, some Gazans stormed the U.N. compound, looting food.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPPE LAZZARINI, UNRWA COMMISSIONER GENERAL: People in Gaza are dying. They're not only dying from bombs and strike. Soon, many more will die from the consequences of siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: With nightfall, Saturday, the IDF keeping up the pressure on Hamas, the pace of strikes unrelenting as the ground offensive continues. Israel's Prime Minister promising more to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: The war in Gaza will be long we are going to fight in the air ground and sea. We are going to fight and win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:07] ROBERTSON: So far, only a tiny fraction of Israel's fighting force of more than half a million troops have crossed the battle lines into Gaza. What comes next could ignite tensions way beyond Israel's borders.
And here we are deep into the night and we can still hear those tanks along the border line their maneuvering machine gun fire as well not clear if it's those tanks that are firing the machine guns but very clear that are intense on the ground military operations underway building up this sort of build up to a greater incursion very much underway here, Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Nic Robertson, thank you so much. There are around a million children in Gaza, facing the situation the leader of UNICEF says is quote horrific. UNICEF is demanding humanitarian ceasefire and unconditional release of the hostages that Hamas seized on October 7, and in recent hours, executive director Catherine Russell said that UNICEF is only been able to get in touch with a handful of UNICEF's humanitarian staff in Gaza due to the communications blackout.
I'm joined now by Ricardo Pires, UNICEF spokesman. Mr. Pires, thank you so much for speaking with us. How many staff members does UNICEF have in Gaza? And how often are you able to even speak with them?
RICARDO PIRES, UNICEF SPOKESMAN: Thanks for having me, Jake. We have several dozen. And right now it's very difficult to get in touch with them with, as you mentioned, spoken to a few. But many more are not reachable at this point. We're very concerned about their safety. And we wish we can get in touch with them soon. But right now, landlines, cellular and Internet services were caught off. So we were unable to do that.
And the main telecommunication tower in Gaza has reportedly been struck. So it's a very difficult situation. We haven't heard from most of our staff, we are concerned and we're trying to reach out to them.
TAPPER: So there are about 2.3 million people in Gaza, about half of them, roughly half of them are 18 or under. Talk about the scope of the crisis for children in Gaza, what they're enduring right now and -- and what is the scope of the need for aid for humanitarian aid to get into Gaza.
PIRES: The needs are immense. Right now, we have hundreds of thousands of children who have been enduring over 20 days of a relentless nightmare. The situation in Gaza is horrific. We need a humanitarian ceasefire, because, you know, children are on the move with no safe space, no safe place to stay running out of water, food, medication. They are not able to access health services. And let's not forget, as you mentioned, half of the population in Gaza is have children. It's one of the most highly dense, densely populated areas on the planet.
Children have no safe place to stay. We've heard we've heard already that nearly 3,000 children have reportedly been killed since the beginning of this conflict. Many thousands more have been injured. That's an average of nearly 400 a day, children killed or injured reportedly, since seventh of October. The situation is catastrophic. It's horrific. It's desperate for these children, and we need that ceasefire to hold.
TAPPER: I just want to point out for our viewers that there are questions that normally I would ask about conditions in Gaza and the situation with Hamas that I'm not going to ask because you do charitable work, and you do important humanitarian work. And I don't want your workers to be subjected to any politics or anything like that, that I might be curious about. So just for anybody wondering why I'm not asking it. That's why I'm not asking it.
What are the long term risks that these children might face? If this conflict stretches on as it's anticipated for weeks or four months?
PIRES: The consequences are very dire. Jake, let's, let's just mention a figure here. Before this conflict started, an estimated 800,000 children were in need of mental health support because of anxiety or depression, or, you know, ongoing trauma that was before October the 7th. So imagine now, what conditions is these children are going to be how are they going to be able to process everything that is happening.
They might have seen their houses been destroyed, their parents gone. They might be alone, scared, displaced without a safe place to stay. And that's just one aspect of the long term impact that this conflict can have. We're talking about infrastructure are being destroyed children no longer have schools. They are now hiding in schools instead of going to school to -- to learn and thrive. So the long term impacts are right now difficult to calculate, but certainly they will be very severe.
[20:10:16]
Is there is any aid at all getting to UNICEF teams in Gaza? Any -- any at all?
PIRES: Well, UNICEF managed to get 14 trucks through the Rafah channel the corridors since it opened. But right now, because of the escalation of, of the conflict, it's very hard to get more through whatever go through is not enough. It's a drop in the ocean, we need a lot more. And it needs to continue. So that's why he wants again, we call for this humanitarian ceasefire so we can get our supplies through with our UN partners, and other organizations and also get our humanitarians work on workers on the ground to support the distribution of the supplies and the logistics for that we also need telecommunication back.
TAPPER: And then -- and lastly, what are the needs facing children in Israel, who survived the October 7 attacks and maybe lost family in the attacks or maybe experienced trauma?
PIRES: Well, I think they -- they are in urgent need of mental health support, and what they've seen and gone through, is traumatizing. And even for those who are not directly part of that or haven't had family members involved, but just the atmosphere of fear and concern across the border and, and whatever is happening there. And the intensity of what's happening surely affects them too. It disrupts their lives. So we're also very concerned about -- about them.
For UNICEF, a child is a child, no matter where they're coming from. And we hope that they're getting the support they so desperately need.
TAPPER: Ricardo Pires, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time today. And obviously, people know where to go if they want to help contribute to UNICEF. Another live look at Gaza right now, we can hear even more strikes going on this evening at times. They've been followed by flames. Coming up next, we're going to take you on the ground in Gaza. See the aftermath of those strikes after they hit.
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[20:15:36]
BROWN: When the last 24 hours several pro-Palestinian protests have taken place around the world. In Rome, Italy, thousands marched in front of the Colosseum carrying the Palestinian flag chanting Free Palestine. Thousands more walk the streets in Berlin, Germany and London, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Demonstrations were also seen in Istanbul where Turkey's president told the crowd that they should leave the rally quote, "with the determination to never allow new Gazas to rise -- new Gaza has to arise. But the reality is much of the world can only watch and wait to see when and how this brutal war between Israel and Hamas will end.
Meanwhile, many innocent Palestinians are living a true nightmare right now in Gaza. CNN's Nada Bashir. It shows us the thousands of displaced Palestinians who are taking refuge in a hospital, one that the Israeli Defense Forces claim is a Hamas command center. We want to warn you that the video in this report is graphic and may be upsetting to watch.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A flash of light over the chilling imposed darkness that engulfs Gaza every night. A glaring promise of more death and destruction, the ongoing siege and a communications blackout, plunging Gaza into eerie silence. What little video has emerged so far, paints a picture of the devastation wrought by Israel's relentless bombardment, scenes of incomprehensible loss, shrouded bodies, the latest amongst thousands of victims.
Israel says it is targeting Hamas. Now also expanding its ground operations. A retaliation they say to the Hamas terror attacks of October 7th, which left at least 1,400 dead and more than 200 others held hostage inside Gaza. But in the besieged strip of land, the number of Palestinians killed also rises with each and every airstrike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation is dire. Our homes were destroyed and six of our family members were killed. What can we do? We are all living through this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: This was the scene on Friday at the Al Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza. Now, not only a lifeline to thousands of patients, but a sanctuary to tens of thousands including children displaced by the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not even asking for food. We're not asking for water. We're asking for safety, for security. Our men, women or children, they've all been killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: Many have come in the hope that hospitals will remain a safe haven. But their safe haven is now being characterized by Israel with no verifiable evidence as a potential target.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The red buildings, as I mentioned, are building the climax is using.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: It is a claim rejected by Palestinian officials in Gaza, who accused Israel of falsifying intelligence and say the hospital is only used to treat patients. But the consequence of such allegations is feared by many. Any suggestion that this hospital could be viewed as a legitimate target by Israel. For doctors who knew the hospital well, is a warning of unimaginable bloodshed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MADS GILBERT, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: I've been walking in all parts of Schiphol in the basement, in the different clinics in the different buildings. I've been there night and day, peace time, war time, all over. I have never seen anything that could look like or function as some command center.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: On and on, Israel's airstrikes lay waste to this already ravaged enclave. Artillery shelling now adding to the devastation. The people of Gaza gripped by constant cycle of mourning, still struggling to comprehend this endless nightmare. Death now woven into the very fabric of their lives. Nada Bashir, CNN in Amman, Jordan.
BROWN: Nada Bashir, thank you so much for that report.
[20:20:04]
TAPPER: Soldiers with the Israel Defense Forces are among the hundreds missing after Hamas is surprise terrorist attack on October 7, including 18-yearold Tamir Nimrodi. Tamir was kidnapped from a base near the Gaza border.
And Tamir's father, Alon Nimrodi joins us now live. Thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate it.
ALON NIMRODI, SON KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: Thank you very much. TAPPER: First of all, I'm so sorry that we're meeting under these
circumstances. How are you and your family doing?
NIMRODI: Nothing will change? Yes, it's a very difficult thing to have in the middle of the life. We didn't thought that it could happen to us. We don't have days, we don't have nights.
TAPPER: It's just all one big blur.
NIMRODI: Yes.
TAPPER: Yeah. And one of the things that must be odd is, I know in the rest of the world, they distinguish between civilians, and military. But in a country like Israel, where there's conscription, and everybody has to serve in the military. I mean, some people make careers of the military and I understand that. But -- but Tamir was, how old is he?
NIMRODI: 19. Almost 19.
TAPPER: Yes. I mean, that's you have to serve in the military --
NIMRODI: Fresh -- fresh soldier.
TAPPER: Yes. So I mean, yes, he's in the military, but he didn't really have a choice.
NIMRODI: No. He didn't have a choice. Tamir was staying in the military base, near the Gaza border. And his unit helps the civilians in Gaza. That his unit give a insurance and license to the Gaza people to work in Israel, to humanitarian things to come to hospitals in Israel. And he volunteered to do that day --
TAPPER: Because he wanted to help the Palestinian people.
NIMRODI: He wanted to help the Palestinian until to his a friend that wanted to be at home at that Saturday. He was volunteered to do that shift.
TAPPER: Oh, somebody wanted to be here. And he was substituting for them.
NIMRODI: Yes, yes, yes.
TAPPER: Wow. What do you want people to know? About Tamir?
NIMRODI: Tamir is a, he has a great heart. And he liked to help everybody. His friends, his family. Very smart boy. It's not because I'm a father. But he's a very smart boy. And he wanted to be there and to help and to do something good in the army. He liked it very much.
TAPPER: You saw a video of Tamir being kidnapped to be dragged into Gaza. What was that like?
NIMRODI: Terrible. My smallest and my younger -- youngest daughter saw it at -- TAPPER: How old is she?
NIMRODI: 14. At 4 p.m. and she was terrifying. She said the Tamir kidnapped. And it was a terrible, terrible things to see. He was a terrifying -- his eyes was in shocked. But he went to Gaza with his two friends on his feet. We saw him crossing the border on his feet. In a good health, he looks in good health. But we don't know. Now what is -- what is going on with him on or with all the rest.
TAPPER: Are you worried because now the Netanyahu this evening announced that the IDF is beginning phase two of this war, the ground campaign. And I know there are families with you know loved ones that have been kidnapped by Hamas. I know their families that are worried and didn't want this to start because they're worried about the hostages. How do you feel?
NIMRODI: Yes. I'm very worried because I think that it's not good for us right now. We have more than 200 hostages in Gaza, babies, kids, youth, adults, grandmothers, grandfathers, grandfathers, soldiers. And we want them all come back home. We have more than 6,000 prisoners here in Israeli prisons, Palestinian, Hamas prisoners. We must do the transaction now. Right now.
[20:25:13]
TAPPER: Trade. Trade them.
NIMRODI: Yes. right now. Now, now, now. ASAP.
TAPPER: Yes.
NIMRODI: Don't do any move right now. Do that trade. This -- there is a huge humanitarian problem now with our people that stays in Gaza in the holes or I don't know where and nobody take care of them.
TAPPER: If you could talk to the people who have your son right now, what would you say to them?
NIMRODI: Send them free. They want to be free. They helped you. They didn't have -- sent them free.
TAPPER: When President Biden was here a few days ago, he said that he had warned Netanyahu in the cabinet that after 911, we made some mistakes in the United States and part of that was being consumed with rage. Do you worry that maybe Israel is acting in sometimes out of rage instead of being strategic and smart? Does that concern you?
NIMRODI: I think so.
TAPPER: The Rage is understandable. The rage is --
NIMRODI: I'm a regular person and -- but I'm think that we should come down for -- for a bit to think and to do the right action to bring them them all back. And to think about the next astrology at Gaza. That what I think.
TAPPER: Alon, I hope they bring Tamir back. I hope they bring him back soon. I really hope they bring him back soon.
NIMRODI: Thank you very much.
TAPPER: Thank you for -- thank you for sharing your story.
NIMRODI: Thank you very much.
TAPPER: We'll be right back.
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[20:30:52]
TAPPER: It began as a celebration of peace and music and it ended in horror. For some women at the Nova Music Festival there were moments where death would have been preferable to being captured by Hamas. And for those who managed to escape, survival came with trauma after witnessing the unthinkable.
I spoke with one of the women who survived and I bring you her story now with the warning, much of what you're about to hear is quite disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER (voice-over): This was not a military target. The revelers here, not combatants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
TAPPER (voice-over): And yet without warning, Hamas terrorists turned the Nova Music Festival into one of the most brutal and bloody scenes of a new war.
It doesn't make sense that they came with that number of weapons to use against civilians. It just doesn't make sense, says Lital Avraham.
No one knew what to do. The news reported an army of terrorists had crossed into Israel so Lital and her friends ran to their cars. But then they got a call, warning them that out on the roads, everyone was getting shot. So Lital and her friends stopped the car and ran inside a camper. And for eight hours they stayed in there. In total silence, the door locked, six on the floor, Lital and a friend flat on the bed. Terrorists banged on the windows, one poured a chemical on the camper and tried to set it on fire.
They feared machine guns spray but only twice did a Hamas terrorist fire into the camper. One time leaving bullet holes in the AC unit. The scariest moment Lital says, is when terrorists tried to unhitch the camper from their car and tow it away.
(on camera): If they had gotten in the car and taken the RV to Gaza, were you going to do anything?
(voice-over): Lital says, as a girl, the worst thing that can happen is worse than dying is being taken to Gaza. We were all thinking about it, she says, that if they towed the caravan, we would all jump out, create a lot of chaos because we prefer to die than to be taken as hostages.
Inside until their phones died, they sent desperate text messages to their families. You don't understand how many terrorists there are Lital, told her father. They're here. Four hours into the attack, where are all the forces, she asked.
She said her family's connection to top military brass was little help. Her dad relayed their message from a former higher up in the Israeli Defense Forces who quote, said the centers where the terrorists are located are in the settlements and not the open fields where you are. He said to be calm one hour or two until the army would come.
Lital knew then that the Israeli Defense Forces knew nothing. Lital feared she would never again see her one-year-old son. But the army did eventually show up. And after eight hours hiding in terror, Lital and her friends emerged from the caravan to see piles of bodies. More than 260 innocents at the Nova Music Festival were killed that day. She realized how fortunate she had been.
I prayed really hard that God wouldn't leave my boy without his mother, she told us. He's so small. Many people who prayed weren't that lucky.
Lital said the distance they ran from the caravan to the soldiers which was about 300 meters, there were piles of bodies. And they started driving on the road, hundreds, hundreds, hundreds. She has no way to describe. Bodies were blocking the road. Then she got back home. She saw on the news that there were at least 100 murders.
She looked at her mom and said to her there are at least 1,000. And her mom said that was not possible. You've never seen a dead body before. You have post trauma. And Lital said no, I know what I saw. And Lital was right.
One of the most difficult parts is returning home and seeing a lot of people who are missing. And you saw them there, dead. And you can't tell their families because it's not your place. It was never ending, Lital tells us. It's still not finished. We're still in it. Maybe it's jarring to some people, she says, the comparison of this situation to the Holocaust. It was also jarring to me at the beginning. But the moment that I felt and I heard and I saw the world's denial of what happened. I understood why they're comparing it to the Holocaust.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[20:35:29]
TAPPER: Lital is home with her baby boy now, but her husband's not home. He's in the reserves. He's off defending Israel.
As we hear the blasts hitting Gaza tonight, the Israeli military says one of those strikes last night took out several high ranking Hamas commanders, how that might impact the leadership of the terror group. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: OK. We're back with live coverage from Tel Aviv and you're looking at some live pictures from over Gaza. Israel's military says its warplanes have hit 150 underground targets last night. They killed quote, several Hamas operatives. They say that includes one high up Hamas terrorist who Israel says helped plan the horrific October 7th terrorist attack that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, most of them civilians.
As Israel strikes Hamas, the major question is whether they are able to destroy Hamas's capabilities and prevent Hamas from regrouping in the future. CNN's Rafael Romo is with me now. Thanks so much for joining us, Rafael. So this was just one of dozens of Hamas leaders that Israel says it's eliminated this month.
[20:40:18]
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Jake. So the Israel Defense Forces has put together a list of 32 targeted killings of the Hamas leadership. And this list includes a number of different people, people who are in charge of logistics, tactics, the military wing, and many of those involved in planning the October 7th terrorist attacks.
One that stands out and let me show you who he is. His name is Asem Abu Rakaba. And the reason why he stands out is because he was in charge of Hamas aerial assets responsible from for Hamas UAVs, drones, paragliders, as well as aerial detection and aerial defense systems, killed Saturday.
I talked to a family in a near Ashkelon on a moshav. And they were telling me that a friend of theirs at a neighboring moshav, saw how they came down on October 7th using paragliders, and screaming at them in Arabic that they were going to kill them, a very hateful language. And so apparently, this guy that we just saw, was responsible for not only training them, but also equipping them.
TAPPER: Interesting. What about the state of the leadership when it comes to Hamas's intelligence capabilities?
ROMO: Yes, it seems like if we take a look at that list, and we have to caution that it is the list that was put by the -- together by the IDF. So we don't have a way as CNN to independently verify that that's the case, because --
TAPPER: Yes. We're not experts on --
ROMO: And we have no access to Gaza.
TAPPER: Right.
ROMO: But it seems like they have crossed a significant portion of the leadership, especially those who are involved and planning that. And there's another guy who also stands out for another reason. His name is Shadi Barud. And he was the deputy head of the Hamas, excuse me, Intelligence Directorate. One of the Hamas officials they say is partially responsible for planning the October 7th attacks. He was killed Thursday. So again, here's another commander, who apparently was one of the masterminds of the October 7th attacks.
TAPPER: Give us a broader picture about what other Hamas leaders might have been killed and what the rules would have been?
ROMO: We took a close look at the list that is very interesting, because the list includes, if you can imagine this, a guy who was responsible for being the Minister of Economy for Hamas, the guy --
TAPPER: Right. They said they were taking out not just the military and terrorist operatives, but the governance as well.
ROMO: That's right. So both the military wing and the political wing of Hamas, and if you can imagine if you take down someone who's the Minister of Economy, who's responsible for the finances, then it is a direct hit at Hamas's ability to get any money to support their military wing, those who have been launching rockets that you have seen, that I have seen here in Tel Aviv, it's going to, in the long run anyway, limit their ability to do so. But again, 32 people that we know of, because of what the IDF list says.
TAPPER: Yes. I mean that but that also is 32 out of several thousands that have been killed. All right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much.
Let's bring in CNN military analyst, and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, as we just heard from Raphael, Israel says it has killed more than 30 Hamas leaders since October 7th. Would you consider that a big dent in this mainly Hamas and especially including the sizable death toll in Gaza or do you think there's still a long way to go?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Jake, there's definitely a ways to go. But it is a sizable dent, and especially when the leadership that has apparently been killed includes an intel chief or deputy intel chief and the air chief and some of -- probably some of the planners that were associated with the operation on October the 7th, it's significant.
And it really does put a dent in Hamas's capabilities. Being said that it's pretty clear that Hamas has a capacity to regenerate itself, its adventures probably relatively deep. But it is something that they would have to overcome this deficit in order to really resume effective military operations against Israel.
TAPPER: Israel says or more specifically, the Israel Defense Forces is saying that Gaza's largest hospital, where thousands of civilians are currently sheltering where there are nobody's even questioning the idea of legitimately doctors, nurses, patients, that that hospital underneath is a Hamas command and control center. What level of confidence should the U.S. have in the IDF's intelligence to make that assertion, given the fact that I mean, I think there is a legitimate reason to question how good the Israeli government's intelligence is when it comes to Gaza given what happened on October 7th?
[20:45:11]
LEIGHTON: Yes. It's one of those areas of intelligence that if you get it wrong, you get it very wrong. And so it really depends on the kinds of sources that the Israelis used in order to get that intelligence, how accurate they were, you know, was it just based on one source like electronic intercepts? Or was it also based on human and human intelligence, and other means that the Israelis could use?
So the more there is cooperation between several sources of intelligence, the greater the confidence would be that the Israelis right. We don't know for a fact, you know, what the exact source of or sources of this intelligence were. But it is pretty clear that to the Israeli certainly believe that, and there is historical precedent for Hamas and other groups to use hospitals as a cover for their operations.
But in this case, you have to be very right before you actually go attacking something like that. And it's a, you know, a very dangerous thing to do on a variety of levels.
TAPPER: So we've seen this eruption of activity at the same time two nights in a row, what is the strategic advantage for the IDF to attack at night?
LEIGHTON: So nighttime gives the IDF a lot of advantages, and they have a large capacity at night. They have been used to fighting at night. They use night vision goggles. They have advantages that Hamas generally does not have, for example, Hamas does not have as many night vision goggles in terms of their military or their terrorist capabilities, as does the IDF.
So with the advantages of night, the IDF can move forward both on the ground and in the air, both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. And they can use that capability to really saw confusion among the ranks of Hamas fighters. And that's the idea to fight at night when you can see and enemy can't. That is one of the key things there for the IDF to consider.
TAPPER: All right, Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.
As Israel retaliates against Hamas in Gaza tonight for the October 7th attacks, up next, video captured from the GoPro of a member of Hamas who was killed. And it reveals the preparation and the tactics behind the terrorist attack against Israel. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:51:28]
BROWN: We are back with our live coverage of the war between Hamas and Israel. And right now you're looking at live pictures over Gaza, where we've been hearing near constant bombardment while our CNN investigative team took a deep dive into dozens of Hamas videos, videos taken by Hamas during the massacre three weeks ago today. And the body camera footage paints a disturbing picture of how Hamas blew through Israeli defenses undetected. And it shows what Hamas's propaganda videos leave out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): This is a Hamas terrorist preparing for battle, strapping a camera to his head, a rocket propelled grenade launcher close at hand. As the sun rises on the Gaza Strip, he and others cross the fence into Israel. He'll be dead by nightfall. CNN reviewed dozens of videos of the October 7th attack taken with body cameras worn by Hamas terrorists, which Israeli first responders have been releasing on social media.
Together they provide insight into the coordination and new methods used by Hamas. The scope of the attack and how Israelis military was so caught off guard. The cameras are part of Hamas's arsenal. CNN obtained this booklet of weapons from the Israeli government found on the body of a dead terrorist. Among the pages, listing firearms and other weapons, there are images of video cameras, the words in Arabic showing how to operate a GoPro, all part of a sophisticated and brutal plan.
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The fact that they were instructing the terrorists involved about how to use a GoPro video I think speaks for itself.
BROWN (voice-over): Peter Bergen who has written about terrorism for decades says the videos demonstrate a major escalation and the type of attacks Hamas is capable of.
BERGEN: This is not just surprising, it's all the scale is sort of orders of magnitude bigger than anything we've seen Hamas do in the past.
BROWN (voice-over): And that's evident in a series of videos that start in a southern Gaza town. One group of terrorists gathers in a courtyard, mounting motorcycles, chanting prayers. They're heavily armed working together. You can see another camera mounted on a helmet. They break through a fence at the border with Israel and then run.
The video shows no Israeli soldiers are there to stop them. They detonate explosives outside of concrete wall protecting kibbutz Kerem Shalom. Once inside, they begin shooting. Someone in the kibbutz returns fire. The Hamas attacker is hit and goes down. And demonstrating just how coordinated the Hamas terrorists were, around the same time, another group of Hamas militants is approaching another kibbutz.
They climb over the solid gate and start walking around, shooting. In a chilly moment inside a home, a Hamas terrorist cries out the Hebrew word for mother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
BROWN (voice-over): A potential attempt to lure the residents out of hiding. This terrorist is also hit. And the last video his camera captures is the sky. It's unclear if other militants escaped. The video camera was left behind and found by first responders. But other videos made it back into Hamas hands where they were slickly edited and scenes of civilian murderers were removed to use as propaganda.
BERGEN: The whole point of tearing out terrorism is to bring attention to your calls.
BROWN (voice-over): How effective is it as a recruiting tool?
BERGEN: Well, look when ISIS did this, it was incredibly effective. They recruited 40,000 Muslims from around the world to come and fight in Iraq and Syria.
[20:55:01]
BROWN (voice-over): The videos are also providing a trove of information for U.S. and Israeli investigators and Israeli officials say just like film of Holocaust atrocities, these images are important to preserve the history of what happened on October 7th.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And intelligence sources telling me the videos have been valuable as part of an after action review of the attack, a common practice after massive attacks. And I'm told they've helped officials with identifying key people involved in the attack and highlighting vulnerabilities that need to be addressed to prevent future attacks.
Well, coming up at the top of the hour, CNN's Jake Tapper live on the ground in Tel Aviv. What the Israeli government to say tonight about its continuous bombardment on Gaza, which is going on right now?
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TAPPER: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I am Jake Tapper. It is 3:00 a.m. here and I'm looking out over Tel Aviv. It's been 22 days since the horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas caught this country and frankly much of the world by surprise.
Tonight, we are hearing near constant explosions from Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this evening told the nation in the world that the next phase of the war against Hamas has begun. And Netanyahu warns it might be a long road ahead.
[20:59:58]
BROWN: And I'm Pamela Brown here in Washington. We're also following breaking news back in the United States. But first, what does this next phase of war mean for the 230 hostages held by Hamas.
