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CNN International: Health Workers, Patients, Civilians In Gaza Spent Night In Darkness And Fear; New Phase Of War As Israel Expands Ground Operations; Near-Total Communications Blackout Grips Gaza; U.N. Secretary General Thanks Qatar For Hostage Work; Mass Shooting Suspect In Maine Found Dead; Human Rights Commissioner Warns Of Potential Catastrophic Consequences In Gaza; Families Of Hostages Meet With Netanyahu. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired October 28, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:03]

NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, and welcome. I'm Nick Watt. Welcome to our breaking coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: And I'm Becky Anderson in Doha tonight.

Relentless airstrikes on Gaza. And Israeli forces now inside the territory. Their objective, to destroy Hamas. That is what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described, as the second stage of the war, coming some three weeks after the Hamas attacks on Israel. One of our producers took this video of Khan Younis, you can see the flashes there from strikes against the skyline. Israel says it is targeting Hamas tunnels and other infrastructure.

Well, this video showing a hit near a hospital in northern Gaza just a short time ago. Mr. Netanyahu warned his country what they were facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The war inside Gaza is going to be long. This is our second independent war. We are going to save our country. We are going to fight in the air, ground, and sea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, with the prospect of an extensive ground operation into Gaza looming, the director general of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry tells CNN that hospitals there are used to treat patients only. Used to treat patients only, he said. That is in response to an Israeli claim that Hamas has set up a command-and- control center in bunkers underneath Gaza's biggest hospital.

Nada Bashir has more on the situation inside of Gaza and how civilians are increasingly paying the ultimate price. Her report contains some images that may be distressing to viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A flash of light over the chilling, imposed darkness that engulf 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 brought by Israel's relentless bombardment. Scenes of incomprehensible lost, 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.

"The situation here is dire. Our homes were destroyed in the airstrikes. Six of our family members were killed. What can we do? We are all living through this."

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.

"We are not even asking for food, we are not asking for water. We are asking for safety and security. Our men, women, our children, they've all been killed."

Many have come in the hope that hospitals will remain a safe haven. But this safe haven is now being characterized by Israel, with no verifiable evidence, as a potential target.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The red buildings, as I mentioned, are buildings that Hamas is using.

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 know the hospital well, is a warning of unimaginable bloodshed.

DR. MADS GILBERT, PROFESSOR, CLINIC OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF NORTH NORWAY: I have been walking in all parts of Shifa. In the basement, in the different clinics, in the different buildings. I have been there night and day, peacetime, wartime, all over. I have never seen anything that could look like or function as some command center.

BASHIR: On and on, Israel's airstrikes lay waste to this already ravaged enclave.

[16:05:05]

Artillery shelling now adding to the devastation. The people of Gaza, gripped by a 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, additional ground forces now deployed on what the Israeli prime minister has described as the second phase of the war, with very clear objectives, he said about an hour ago, dismantle Hamas militarily and bring the hostages, the hostages home.

Dismantling Hamas militarily is a huge effort. And both the prime minister, the defense minister, and indeed the former defense minister now in the war cabinet, we're absolutely clear about that. They said this would take some time, a long time.

And let's get more from CNN's team on the ground. Jeremy Diamond joins us from Ashkelon north of Gaza.

What are you witnessing from there? And what do you understand to be the strategy, on the ground now that this next phase of the war has been announced, and now that Israeli officials have said this is an offensive by air, sea, and ground?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we may not have seen this kind of overwhelming Israeli ground force invade Gaza from all sides. But nonetheless, this expanded ground operation, and the statements that we heard today by the Israeli prime minister and the other members of his war cabinet, all very much intended to show that this is a very significant new phase of Israel's war against Hamas, a phase that will see Israeli troops, tanks, and armor inside the Gaza Strip for some time.

Already it has been more than 24 hours since those expanded ground operations began. And in those 24 hours, what we have witnessed and what we have heard are the sights and sounds of a stepped-up military campaign. Heavy bombardments of northern Gaza, artillery fire directed at the Gaza Strip, and a continuation of these barrages by Hamas towards Israeli towns and cities.

All of this, as we were standing on the border with Gaza, we could also hear small arms fire, machine gunfire. Clearly the fighting ongoing between Israeli troops inside northern Gaza and Hamas militants. We also know that the Israeli military has been increasingly targeting Hamas's tunnels underground. 150 underground sites were struck in last night's heavy bombardment by Israeli forces.

Now the question is, what will happen going forward? Clearly, the Israeli prime minister and his war cabinet, framing this new phase of the campaign, framing this war against Hamas in existential terms, calling it a second war of independence, and saying that it is a matter of Israel's future existence in this world. And also making clear that this will be a very long war and perhaps a very costly one as well -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Jeremy is on the ground.

CNN producer in Gaza says people there are struggling through a near total communications blackout. Well, phone and internet services have collapsed amid ongoing Israeli strikes. Our producer says he is unable to reach his relatives and has no idea if they are alive, injured, or dead. He relayed that information, using a phone with a foreign SIM card, which allows limited communication. He calls the mood gloomy and says everyone is scared.

Well, for more on the situation in Gaza, I'm joined by Shaina Low, communication adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council. She is in Jerusalem this evening.

And the head of the NRC has been extremely outspoken. Jan Egeland suggesting that he has never seen anything like this and he is calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We had, an overwhelming vote from the United Nations General Assembly, agreeing to a humanitarian pause at least. It's how you operationalize that, isn't it? If every party is in agreement that that is what can happen. Meantime on the ground, as you understand it from your colleagues, what's going on?

[16:10:00]

SHAINA LOW, COMMUNICATION ADVISER, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: Well, ever since yesterday we haven't had contact with our colleagues in Gaza. Similar to how your colleague, as you just described, can't get in touch with his family to know how they are doing, we are facing the same thing with our 54 staff members in Gaza. But what I can tell you is what I was hearing from as recently as yesterday, which is that each day is getting worse and worse for Palestinians in Gaza.

Every day, my staff was telling me that the night before had been the worst night of their lives. And this was a recurrent day after day, as the situation continues to deteriorate. Ongoing aerial bombardments, not only contained in northern Gaza and Gaza City, but also south of the Wadi Gaza line where Palestinians have been told by Israeli army to flee two weeks ago. Dwindling supplies, including fresh water, clean water, fresh bread, and of course medical supplies and hospitals quickly running out of fuel.

The fuel has become one of the major issues in Gaza because without fuel hospitals can't operate, bakeries cannot bake their breads, water cannot be desalinated and pumped into homes. So the situation day after day is getting more and more difficult, and people are really fighting to just survive at this point.

ANDERSON: We spoke earlier to the head of the Palestine Red Crescent. I want to put the same question to you. Elon Musk has offered the services of Starlink to ensure that international organizations, NGOs, charities can actually get communications back up and running. Is that something that you have had any discussions about? Certainly, the Red Cross or the Red Crescent, describing to us the problem with that is getting equipment in through Rafah crossing in order to be able to facilitate any services that might be offered by Starlink. How important would something like that be at this stage? LOW: At this point, we are open to any and all options to be able to

communicate with our staff and for them to be able to do their work. And so, for us, Starlink is definitely something that we have been discussing since Elon Musk made that announcement. We are also looking at alternatives. One of the things to keep in mind, as we face this communications blackout, is that one of the core ways that we have been able to respond while our staff in Gaza has basically been hibernating and focused on keeping themselves and their families safe is that we've been able to provide cash grants to some of Gaza's most vulnerable families.

But in order for them to access that money there needs to be telecommunications -- there needs to be the ability to communicate with them. There needs to be the ability for the cards that they receive those money on to work. We can't even contact people right now who we are trying to help to let them know that aid is on its way or arriving.

ANDERSON: How worried are you at this point? I mean, given that we have seen this uptick in the operation, we now understand it to be the second phase. We know that so much of the world is calling for an immediate ceasefire and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. There seems to be no evidence of that, in fact to the contrary. Just how worried are you?

LOW: Personally, I am extremely worried. And I think I do speak on behalf of the NRC that we are deeply, gravely concerned. Not just about our staff, but all the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped inside of Gaza, half of whom are children. We ourselves at NRC have already faced loss, a number of our colleagues have lost members of their families, including one colleague who lost her only child a couple of weeks ago, early on in the escalations.

And for us, it is essential that this come to an end because more and more innocent life is going to be lost, as soon as we have seen with this current expansion of Israel's ground operations and very little communication coming out of Gaza, we are extremely concerned about what could happen.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. And totally understandably. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Well, the secretary general of the United Nations arrived here in Doha earlier on today. I am here in Doha, in Qatar, where of course the hostage negotiations are being led by a Qatar mediation team. Antonio Guterres met with the Qatari prime minister and thanked him for its efforts to mediate the release of hostages in Gaza.

[16:15:03]

In the last hour I sat down with the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also an advisor to the Prime Minister. Majed Al Ansari told me he is still hopeful more hostages will be released.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MAJED AL ANSARI, SPOKESPERSON, QATARI MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: The talks, as I just mentioned, were going with all parties. We were working around the clock. The task force responsible for this was working around the clock to make sure that we are able to reach a deal, and we were very hopeful that that might happen. Obviously this escalation makes it considerably more difficult.

But as you heard today, even during this escalation, Prime Minister Netanyahu was mentioning talk of mediation on the release and the prisoner exchange deal. We had the Hamas spokesperson just minutes ago saying that they are willing to conduct a prisoner exchange deal. So, although the situation on the ground is coming more and more difficult from a logistical perspective, and from a political perspective, but we are still hopeful that the efforts that we are leading will be able to reach a situation level where we have a release of more hostages.

ANDERSON: So let me quite clear, the talks and the mediation to effort the release of civilian hostages, possibly a prisoner exchange at this point have not collapsed. Correct?

AL ANSARI: No I believe they are still going. The task force is still working on it. And as I said, it's becoming more and more difficult with the current escalation. This escalation that is happening right now, you know, one of most terrible escalations that have happened in the region for a really long time, is making it totally more difficult. As I said, on the logistical side of it, they're just moving people during a land incursion and increased bombardment.

But also from a political side, of course, you know, mediation only works when you have calming periods. Under this kind of conflict, this kind of confrontation between both sides it become more difficult. But it's still ongoing, and we can't give up. I can tell you that really we can't give up on this on all sides. Nobody in the region can afford to give up on this and just leave it to the military people to decide what happens in the future.

ANDERSON: What can you provide us in terms of the details of these talks?

AL ANSARI: Well, obviously, Becky, I can't get into the details of this because our main concern now is getting the hostages to their families and making sure that this mediation succeeds. And that would be very difficult, you know, right now as we share a lot of the details, but as you heard today from Prime Minister Netanyahu and from the spokesperson of Hamas, we are talking around the idea of more hostages coming out, and talking around the idea of a prisoner exchange.

We are optimistic that the talks are heading more towards all civilian hostages. But obviously, it is a fluid situation on the ground. We still don't know what will happen.

ANDERSON: Do we know how many civilian hostages there are held in Gaza at present?

AL ANSARI: I am not sure, to be honest, anybody knows. We have our number, we're discussing it, you know, through the lists we get from various countries of other foreigners. Citizens who are held hostage. We have the numbers on the Israeli, you have numbers on the Palestinian side but these numbers are not necessarily always the same. But the important thing here is that both sides acknowledge that the civilian hostages need to go out immediately.

And both sides, and especially Hamas on the other side said very clearly that they are willing to let the civilian hostages go out, so we have to work towards that as soon as possible.

ANDERSON: We know that Hamas have been pressing for at least the release of Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli prisons. We heard Benjamin Netanyahu say today that had been discussed in the war cabinet. Can I press you on whether you believe that that exchange could be for women and children being held in Gaza by Hamas? And if so, are we talking around sort of 50, 60 people here?

AL ANSARI: Obviously, Becky, we've been talking about day one about our priorities in this. It is our main goal, and our end goal to reach all the hostages and give them back to their family. But obviously when you put it-- when you prioritize it, you start with the women and children, you start with the foreign civilians, and then you go to the rest of the hostages. And obviously, if we were going to prioritize we're going to start with the women and children. But I believe that right now the discussion encompasses, you know, the idea of civilian hostages all together. And obviously, priorities will be made when you have the discussions on the ground.

ANDERSON: As I understand it, one of the problems is Hamas doesn't actually hold at present all the civilian hostages and indeed military hostages, and these would be soldiers and Israelis of reservist stage. Hamas doesn't actually hold all of those hostages themselves. Is that correct?

AL ANSARI: It's a complicated situation on the ground, Becky. There are a multitude of players in Gaza. It's not -- this is not an army- to-army conflict, this is a very difficult humanitarian situation. It's very difficult when it comes to the parties who are involved in this. So it's understandable, the situation of the hostages is not organized. It's a chaotic situation right now in Gaza especially with the current bombardment and the land incursion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:20:07]

ANDERSON: That is Majid Al Ansari, who is an adviser to the Qatar prime minister, talking to me about the fact that there are still negotiations ongoing for the release of the hostages held in Gaza, foreign nationals and Israeli citizens, men, women, children, the elderly held in Gaza, and those negotiations, despite an escalation in the violence, despite the second front, the second phase of this operation now beginning, those conversations are still ongoing.

More news after a quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATT: Welcome back. We are learning more about the suspect behind this week's shooting rampage in Maine. The body of Robert Card was discovered Friday night near a recycling center about 10 miles from the shooting scenes in Lewiston. Police say he died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He also left a note indicating that he did not expect to be found alive.

Eighteen people lost their lives and 13 others injured in Wednesday night's mass shooting. The wife of one of the victims spoke to CNN earlier today about the latest development.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH SEAL, WIFE OF MAINE SHOOTING VICTIM JOSHUA SEAL: I had mixed emotions about that just because first and foremost I wanted him to be found, apprehended. I wanted to ask questions that will not be answered. Why did you do this? What was the motive? Why would you hurt so many families? 18 people lost their lives. People were injured, people who even escaped and injured are traumatized forever. It's horrific. And we want answers from him.

But at the same time it's important that he was found and he's gone. And that's good and, you know, that we don't have to go through any more suffering with the court process and, you know, this could be a multiyear process to go through that legal endeavor and really having to suffer through the court process is a whole another level, so I am glad that that part of this is close, and we can start the healing for myself as well as for the other families.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And now, Elizabeth, tell me about Joshua. Tell me about your thoughts of him, for people who don't know him, people who loved him and knew him in the community said he was such a tender person, but tell us, those of us who have never had the pleasure of meeting him, describe him for me.

SEAL: Josh was a phenomenal father. Always present for his kids.

[16:25:03]

He was ambitious and involved in school events, you know, going to their sporting events. He was always involved chatting at home, taking them on outings. Anything they needed, he was always supportive and always around. He was a fantastic husband. We were together over 20 years. I have known him since preschool and he was a fierce advocate of the deaf community. Fostering opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing children, for access to interpreters in their educational environments, as well as other services.

He actually established a camp for deaf and hard of hearing kids called Camp Jericho Experience with him (INAUDIBLE) camp, and he was incredibly eager to get that up. He was so passionate about it, and he loved his deaf friends, constantly getting together, you know, going on outings ATV rides, snowmobiles, camping, always gathering, messing around, joking around, you know, sitting by the fire, playing cards, what have you. And he cherished his family, not just me and his children, but his

extended family, brothers, sisters, grandparents. And yes, he was just a phenomenal person. He was a skilled interpreter. Most of the state recognized him. You know, they saw him regularly on the interpreting for Dr. Nirav Shah or the governor of Maine. And so folks who knew him were incredibly lucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Next, bring them home, the loved ones of hostages taken by Hamas come together in Tel Aviv. We hear from a man whose father is among the missing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the military goals right now are to destroy Hamas and get back hostages. He also said the second phase of the country's war has begun as the IDF expands ground operations into Gaza.

During Friday's bombardment, Gaza's main telecom operators said that internet and phone services have gone almost entirely dark. When asked about that, an IDF spokesperson said we do what we have to do to secure our forces.

Well, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling is a CNN military analyst.

[16:30:01]

Mark, we heard from the prime minister, from the defense minister, and from Benny Gantz who is now in this war cabinet, former defense minister himself. They were all very clear that the objectives are twofold. The dismantling of Hamas and getting these hostages back from Gaza. Some people are calling that contradictory. What's your analysis?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It was a fascinating speech, Becky, first of all, because the word united as a government was mentioned about 30 times and I lost count after that. But in terms of the operational objectives, the military operational objectives, it's going to be difficult to both destroy Hamas and returned the hostages because the hostages are more than likely, in my view, probably all 222 of them, however many are there now are all in the subterranean tunnels that are in Gaza.

It will be very difficult to destroy Hamas and at the same time save of those hostages, in my view. But the other thing that I found fascinating even though the prime minister was pushed a couple of times, and I think the defense minister was as well, is what is the end state of this entire operation beyond the military objectives. What do they plan to do with Gaza and how do they plan to govern?

Having been in several conflicts myself, that political and state is critically important, unless it's identified before the start of the military operation it's going to be very difficult to reach a true end state. ANDERSON: 150 specific targets have been highlighted by the IDF as

important in dismantling. What do you make of the actual detail that we are hearing at present, and to your mind, what sort of challenges do these ground troops now face?

HERTLING: Well, first of all, the 150 targets I don't know what they are targeting data is associated with each one of those. Whenever you're in a military operation you have target packages. Here is what's there, here's what we know about it, here is how we want to strike it. I would suggest that probably at least some of these targets are probably unrefined. In other words, over the last three weeks, the Israeli military has attempted to either confirm or deny the locations of Hamas targets, their cells, their infrastructure, their leadership.

And, you know, I don't think that all of those have been confirmed, and they were probably at least some of them were based on past information and passed intelligence. So when you are starting to hit those kind of targets that are part of these target packages, they're all within the population. That's the problem with fighting inside an urban environment where the civilians are just omnipresent.

And it will be very difficult to surgically strike those targets even though the Israeli military does have a -- they not only abide by the laws of land warfare but they have an additional requirement for proportionality and necessity. And each target is really evaluated on those two issues.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Mark.

Just a follow-up in a statement the IDF said that the military had struck what it called terror tunnels and underground combat spaces. 150 underground targets struck overnight. Among several Hamas operatives killed the military said was the man in charge of Hamas's aerial assets who is named as (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.

As we've been reporting there appears to be a total internet and communications blackout in Gaza leaving workers and medical staff in complete darkness. And we've been talking to a number of agencies tonight in the past two hours who say they are not able to contact any of their colleagues both for Palestine Red Crescent and at the NRC. It adds to an already dire scenario for health care workers.

The World Health Organization says that people spent last night in, quote, "darkness and fear." The group says that more civilians are being wounded by the hour and ambulances cannot reach them because communication is down.

Well, CNN obtained these images today of Gaza City. A journalist in central Gaza tells us the shelling there did not stop all day. Coming after the heaviest night of strikes since war broke out. Well, the hospitals are a last hope for many. The families and especially children wounded in these airstrikes as we see so often that it is the most innocent who pay the steepest price.

[16:35:06] With more on that, CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins us now live -- Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, an absolutely catastrophic situation inside Gaza that appears to be deteriorating by the hour. And unfortunately, we don't have real time updates coming from inside of Gaza because as you mentioned, you've got that near total communications blackout happening at the same time. As you've got the most intense bombardment on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war and you've got only very few people in there who are able to communicate with the outside world because they have international SIM cards.

They are able to get some news out, some images, some videos out to the world but they are now also saying that the internet is getting weaker and weaker. And as you mentioned, the impact that communications blackout has had on the emergency services, on the medical staff in inside Gaza has been absolutely devastating. You've got this intense bombardment, but these teams, these first responders, they are not able to communicate with each other.

People aren't able to call them to come to their rescue. We have seen all these reports coming from some journalists on the ground telling us that people have had to carry their wounded to the hospital but have to put them on carts and push them and take them to the hospitals. An absolutely catastrophic humanitarian situation and this of course before even this intensification, Becky, it was already horrific and heartbreaking.

And we have to warn viewers that our report they're about to see is graphic and they may find it upsetting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (voice-over): It's hard to believe this was Gaza just a few weeks ago. Little Noor (PH) dressed in his finest, dancing with his brother at a wedding. His mother (INAUDIBLE) still can't believe her boy is gone. He was holding my hand as I took him to make him a sandwich, she says. He didn't get to eat it. A shrapnel cut through his neck. He's now in heaven. God give me strength to deal with this.

The airstrikes that took 6-year-old Noor (PH) and other relatives left her with injuries all over her body and the unbearable pain so many Palestinian mothers are having to endure. There is a void in my heart, I can't even cry, she says. I really want to cry. But the tears are not coming out. Why can't I get it out? I want to cry for my little boy. Recovering at a hospital, she just wants to get back to her three other children, now homeless sheltering at a school.

Hell is raining down on Gaza. Israel says it's going after Hamas and doing what it can to spare the innocent. But it is the innocent who are paying the heaviest price. The few hospitals still barely standing and the pictures are too graphic for us to show. But faces here tell of the horrors they've survived and this living nightmare they can't escape.

Three-year-old Judy hasn't uttered a word in 16 days. She will eat or drink, her father says, still in shock with a piece of shrapnel lodged in her head.

What did these children do? We have nothing to do with resistance, he says. They're just targeting Palestinians. They're killing children because they're Palestinian. To them we're not humans. They don't know if she'll be able to walk again. Judy is one of the lucky ones, if one can call them that. She still has her father by her side. Baby Arwa (PH) keeps asking for her mom. She's too young to understand, her uncle says. Arwa lost her mother, her brother, and her sister, too. She shows the camera her ouch.

Every corner of every hospital so many heart-wrenching stories of loss so hard to comprehend. Didi (PH) only wakes up to cry, her aunt says, in a room with her 7-year-old brother Kinan (PH). The two were the only ones to survive an airstrike that killed their mother, father, brother, and dozens of their extended family. Kinan (PH) doesn't say much these days. He asks me if we have internet here, he says I want to call mommy and daddy, their aunt says.

Doctors in these overwhelmed hospitals say every day brings a constant stream of children with no parents and a flood of injured they just don't have enough to treat. With the little they have they do what they can. But how do you begin to deal with so many going through so much?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:40:13]

KARADSHEH: And Becky, as you know, there are growing calls from many members of the international community, the United Nations aid agencies for an urgent humanitarian pause for a cease-fire. But we've heard from Israeli leaders this is going to continue. They're determined to destroy Hamas, and it is going to be a long war as they have warned. They say they don't target civilians. They say they're going after Hamas, but they accuse Hamas as well of using people in Gaza as human shields.

But you know the reality inside Gaza. One of the most densely populated places on earth. With more than two million civilians, over half of them are children. They have nowhere safe left to go as we are hearing day after day. And they are the ones who are paying the heaviest price as you saw there.

ANDERSON: Jomana Karadsheh, on the story. Jomana, thank you.

Well, earlier today the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met some of the family members of the hostages taken by Hamas. They gathered in Tel Aviv where people held up photos of the missing messages on a giant banner, all joining together to call for a comprehensive deal from the government to ensure the safe return of their loved ones. But there is also a growing sense of frustration with some saying they feel left in the dark about whether or not a ground operation in Gaza could endanger the well-being of the hostages.

Well, the 79-year-old father of our next guest was taken hostage by Hamas during the attacks on October the 7th. Lior Peri has been expressing his concerns about the operation in Gaza. He joins us now from Tel Aviv.

It's good to have you, sir. As tough as it must be, as I understand it, you do at least have proof of life, that your father is still alive. From one of the elderly women released earlier this week, who says she saw your father while she was being held. Can you just explain what more she can tell you?

LIOR PERI, FATHER TAKEN HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: Well, good evening. First of all, here we had no sign of life of my father ever since he'd been abducted on October 7th, then when Yocheved Lifschitz was released, we knew she could send us a message. But we waited for a family to talk to her. And then they informed us that she saw my father alive and well. Not injured and not hurt in any way. And that made us very happy on the one but very, very unsettled, very not calm on the other because now we have a bigger thing, a much bigger thing that we might lose.

ANDERSON: Yes. You've said that you have a lot more to lose. And I know that you are angry. Very angry, as are so many members of families with hostages being held in Hamas. Explain if you will.

PERI: Well, we have quite a situation with our government here. First of all, we didn't really hear anything from them specifically towards us, towards the abductee's family. And when we did hear something, it was really like telling us off, not to the -- that Yocheved Lifschitz made some kind of a bad appearance and made damage to Israel or things like that, and we have a feeling that they are not working in the right direction.

As I see it, the Israeli government with the army or whoever in charge, they made a huge mess on October 7th. Huge mistake. They neglected, they deserted, they abandoned all of these people in the Gaza surrounding. So now, as I see, the only thing that they need to be doing is to clean up after them. It's to make sure that those 230 people will come back home. Only then we'll have the privilege to talk about what do they want to do in Gaza or how they want to solve, how do they think they're going to solve the situation. And for us it's quite confusing since they're always putting it one in front of the other. One against the other.

ANDERSON: So we know that the prime minister was able to meet some of the families of hostages. He said it broke his heart. Today, the defense minister and the former defense minister say they also met family members.

[16:45:02]

Did you get a chance to meet them and how concerned are you now given that they have announced two objectives, the dismantling of Hamas, and they have said bringing the hostages home? And they already determined that is not a contradictory strategy but it clearly worries you. So what have you been told at this point? What were those conversations like? PERI: So first of all I was really not surprised when none of my

kibbutz people were invited to this meeting with the prime minister because he probably knows or being told that he doesn't want to meet with anyone of us. That we have some tough things we might tell him, and really don't want to listen. So it was not surprising that we couldn't. Of course we weren't invited.

And Gal Hirsch, the one in charge of the hostage appointed by the government made a Zoom conference with the families on a three-hour notice, allowing only 100 people to join, which of course is a joke. And it's a sad joke because we are being asked whether we think that the ground invasion will affect the chances or will not and be really, really don't care. Really I have to say it like this, because it is not the question. It is completely not the question.

We don't think the army and the country can start and plan or do anything before they clean the mess that they've made. So when they are putting it one against the other, for us it's like, you go in the wrong way. This is not what you are supposed to be doing. You are supposed to, first, clean the mess. And on the event, you can decide how do you want to proceed. So they say they can do it alongside, I don't know.

When they are bombing last night, it was like increase of the bombing to Gaza. And for me, it can mean two things. Maybe they are trying to put pressure on Hamas to help him decide for the negotiation, but maybe they are trying to cancel the agreement. I don't know. I can't be sure. My confidence in my government is let's say not so high these days.

ANDERSON: So you've got to hope for the best. We thank you very much indeed for joining us. Thank you.

And we'll have more coverage of Israel, more after this. Stay with us.

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WATT: One of the highest profile candidates in the race for the U.S. presidency is bowing out.

[16:50:05]

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence just announced he's suspending his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. He made that announcement Saturday during a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Nevada.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Traveling across the country over the past six months, I came here to say it's become clear to me, this is not my time. So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today.

Now I'm leaving this campaign, but let me promise you I will never leave the fight for conservative values, and I will never stop fighting to elect principled Republican leaders to every office in the land. So help me God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Pence's poll numbers have been so low that there were fears he wouldn't qualify for the next Republican debate in early November.

Kristen Holmes joins me now from Las Vegas.

It's a big day in the campaign, Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nick, it absolutely is. And it's not just those poll numbers you mentioned for the debate, it was also those fundraising numbers. There was a huge concern among Pence's team that he wasn't going to reach the fundraising threshold for that third debate which would have been somewhat of an embarrassment. So we are told that that definitely played a part in why he chose to drop out of the 2024 presidential primary.

But we also spoke to another Pence adviser who essentially said that Pence saw the writing on the wall, that not only was his polling not there and the donor money wasn't there, but it wasn't going to get there. That this lane that they believed existed within the Republican Party just simply did not. Take a listen to what Pence said.

Actually, you know what, Nick, I just realized you actually played that sound for me when we entered into this, but that's exactly what he said. That was the reasoning why. He was saying he had felt it, that prayed for it, and that he essentially had realized that this just wasn't his time. And his advisers say that that is the truth. That is the truth, that he had spending a lot of time. They saw those numbers, they saw the writing on the wall, and that they just realize it was time to bow out.

WATT: Kristen, I stole your sound bite. I apologize. Thanks very much for that report from Las Vegas.

We will have more coverage next of Israel and the war there right after this break. Stay with CNN.

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ANDERSON: Egypt's president warns the Middle East will become a ticking time bomb if the war between Israel and Hamas expands to other countries. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi says his country is trying to help resolve the conflict and urged other countries to respect its sovereignty. His comments come as Egypt investigates what it says were unidentified drones that came down in its territory on Friday.

Melissa Bell is in Cairo. Is it clear whether those drones were from at this point?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Conflicting reports, Becky, for the time being. We are hearing from the Israeli side that they believe that they were launched from the south of the Red Sea blaming Houthi militants there. The Egyptians for their part say, look, it's not clear where they came from, simply that there is a risk that this conflict will escalate. Eight people wounded in those overnight strikes over seaside towns there on the northern part of the Red Sea, on the Egyptian side, very close to the Israeli border.

[16:55:00]

And that's what the president was speaking to, and he said, look, there is the possibility this region will explode like a ticking time bomb the longer this lasts. And you've heard the condemnation of what is going on in Gaza. All the more vociferous in this part of the region since the ground operation began on Friday night, which coincided, by the way, with that UNGA resolution backed by 120 countries calling for a ceasefire.

And I think what you've seen reflected in so many of the expressions of anger of regional leaders today in the Arab world, not just the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, but also the Jordanians, we've heard of course beyond the Arab world, further into the Muslim world, from the Turkish leader as well speaking to a large rally in Istanbul. There is a lot of anger, not only that there's been no cease-fire, as that resolution called for but in fact that the ground operation has gotten worse.

I mean, there's been this intensification and what they say that this is not just two humanitarian crisis getting worse, but of course, Becky, to that fear that this will spread even further.

ANDERSON: Yes, demonstrations, hundreds of thousands on the streets of London today in support of the Palestinians. Enormous calls for condemnation and calls for this immediate humanitarian pause, cease- fire, call it what you will, a calming down of the situation if not only for the humanitarian aid to get in at this point.

Thank you, Melissa.

We're going to take a very short break. Back after this.

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