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IDF Strikes Intensify as Ground Operations Expand; White House Rushing to Free Hostages in Gaza; U.S. and Gaza Officials Spar over Death Toll; Maine Mass Shooter Found Dead; U.S. Defense Secretary Said Gaza Civilians Must Be Protected. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 28, 2023 - 01:00   ET

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

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world, I'm Paula Newton with the very latest on Israel at war.

Now Israel announced on Friday that it has begun ratcheting up the military pressure on Hamas with expanded ground operations in Gaza.

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NEWTON (voice-over): Gaza residents report the Israeli airstrikes have become more intense than ever. Nearly all communications in and out of the enclave still appear to be down. And the mounting death toll in Gaza led the U.N. Secretary -- U.N. General Assembly to vote for an immediate cease-fire on Friday.

The Israeli ambassador angrily denounced it as despicable in light of the October 7th massacres in southern Israel. Now an Israeli government official spoke to our Erin Burnett about why this conflict won't end like others in the past.

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EYLON LEVY, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: They killed 1,400 people; with the most spectacular, cruel violence injured over 5,000 people; took 230 people hostage into the Gaza Strip, including 30 children, including 30 children.

And Israel has decided we can no longer live with this jihadi enclave on our borders. This isn't another round of conflict that's going to end with a ceasefire and Hamas deterred. This is a war, a war that Hamas declared on us on October 7th and a war that we're going to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now still, Hamas leaders have been defiant and continue to launch rockets into Israel. Israeli authorities say three people were wounded when a rocket hit a four story building in Tel Aviv late Friday. CNN's Eleni Giokos has been following all of this from Dubai for us.

Eleni, really good to see you.

What more are we learning about Israel's incursion into Gaza, because there is confusion as to whether or not this is start of something larger or, again, a significant change but yet not the full ground invasion that we were thinking might be launched this evening?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it's a really good point. The Israeli government official that we just saw, he also could not confirm whether this is a full-on invasion or the incursion.

We are working to confirm just how many IDF went into Gaza overnight when we saw intensified action by Israeli forces and whether they still are on the ground. What we do know is that communications are down. We don't know if this is strategic or whether infrastructure was specifically hit.

But there is a definite shift here that we are seeing in terms of the IDF strategy into Gaza. This has been imminent, Paula. We have been hearing about a full-on ground invasion for quite some time. It has been delayed. And we have seen Israeli forces going in for raids and then exiting again.

We saw intensity overnight in the early hours of the morning, specifically in southern Israel. The IDF also alleging that Hamas is using hospitals to wage war against Israel. And I spoke to Medhat Abbas, the director general of the Gaza health ministry yesterday. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

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MEDHAT ABBAS, DIRECTOR GENERAL, GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY: (INAUDIBLE) hospital, it's the biggest hospital in Gaza Strip. Some more than 50,000 civilians are (INAUDIBLE) within the premises of the hospital.

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GIOKOS: Yes, so, look, we've got tens of thousands of people who have gone to hospitals thinking that this is a safe area. The hospitals are also in a very miserable scenario right now as well. And when you've got the IDF intensifying fighting and also now embarking on this potential ground incursion, the calculus has completely shifted.

NEWTON: Yes, absolutely. And Eleni, I want to really get your perspective from the region there. We know that Qatar has been active as a facilitator in the hostage negotiations. You know they were hopeful that there could possibly be a large hostage release.

What now?

GIOKOS: Yes, yesterday there was a lot of hope, right?

You've got the mediation talks and the negotiations that have been handled by the Qataris. There was momentum on those and the sources were telling us that we could have seen a mass number of hostages released at one time.

Now with intensity coming through from the IDF, we just don't know where these negotiations stand at this point in time. We had seen four hostages released in the span of a week. And that is where we saw the intensity of the fighting sort of subside over those periods.

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GIOKOS: And once we understand further what the IDF is trying to achieve with the raids that it is embarking on, perhaps we will get a little bit more insight. But we just don't know.

You also mentioned something really important here, that the U.N. has adopted a resolution. It is calling for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce. Important to note here, of course, 12 countries did not vote for this resolution.

Of course, further complicating things, we have seen delay after delay in terms of what the IDF is planning to do in Gaza. For various reasons, right, trying to get aid into Gaza, there has been international call for some kind of delay in terms of what the IDF will be doing.

And then we also have the big question about the hostage negotiations, how this complicates that scenario, as well, Paula.

NEWTON: All of it very complicated at this hour as we continue to follow the latest developments. Eleni Giokos for us in Dubai, really appreciate it.

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NEWTON: With us now is Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

It's really good to have you on board here as we try and parse exactly what is going on on the ground. There is a continued debate at this hour, as to whether this is a full scale ground invasion that Israel has always promised or maybe something smaller, still significant but smaller in scope.

What are your thoughts as you see this unfolding?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, if I listen to what the prime minister, said he is going to do and the Israeli ministry spokesperson about destroying Hamas, it is going to be a very large, long and sustained operation.

Now whether this incursion, that started at dark in Israel is going to be the first part of that or if it's just going to be another larger raid, we do not know yet. We will have to see if the Israeli troops hang in there or come out. And we will have to find out what else is happening in the area.

Is there another incursion somewhere else that is not being reported, for example. Those matters need to be revealed. We just don't know right now.

NEWTON: The fate of the hostages as we continue to try and figure out what is going on on the ground, the fate of the hostages becomes so central now to the military strategy.

Do you believe that Israel has essentially forsaken their fate with this kind of ground invasion?

CLARK: No, I think it is the opposite. What we have seen, for 70 years really, since the Korean War, in which the United States and Britain were engaged, is the use of diplomacy, hostages, negotiations to stall, frustrate and degrade combat operations.

That is certainly part of the game Hamas is playing with these hostages. I think the best way to get the hostages out -- and this is my personal opinion -- is to strike hard and keep the pressure on Hamas.

I think -- what I have experienced, in my time in uniform and afterwards, watching these is that when the pressure is off, there is no change. We know Hamas is capable of keeping prisoners there for a year or two, so it is just not feasible.

Not knowing what's happening in the negotiations, that would be my impression. It does not mean that we should not try to continue to negotiate to try to get the hostages out; it may happen, we may learn something, it may help us get the hostages out another way.

But in general, if these operations are not pursued and there is a pause and it's delayed and it's a week and two weeks and three weeks and four weeks, it gives Hamas more time. It puts more pressure on Israel.

And it degrades the alternative of going in to get those hostages. So I do not think it is incompatible to do this operation and also seek to bring the hostages out.

NEWTON: I know; unfortunately, that kind of equivocation, whatever it is, is really hurting the families right now the families of those hostages that are waiting to see just what Israel's policy will be, what their plan is.

I want to get to what's going on on the ground, at a tactical level. You said yourself it is going to be a long, difficult war.

Are we talking months or years?

When we look at one of the other conflicts on the globe, Russia and Ukraine, we are far into that, farther than perhaps we imagined we would be.

Is that what's going on here as well?

CLARK: I think the two conflicts are really not comparable.

[01:10:00] CLARK: In the case of Russia-Ukraine, you have a major Russian force fighting a conventional war against a major Ukrainian force backed by the West.

Here what you have is a terrorist group that has taken over 2 million Palestinians. It has used the Palestinians to feed its organization. It is using them now as hostages. Its intent is to stay in place, build up its power and eventually try to destroy Israel.

So it is an existential threat to Israel and it may take two weeks, four weeks, eight weeks, months; we do not know. But as long as Israel sees this as an existential threat, I think they are going to take action against it until they finish as much as they can with this operation.

NEWTON: Given what you are saying, what do you make of U.S. and E.U. efforts right now trying to engineer some kind of humanitarian pause and at the same time trying to temper that with Israel, saying, are you sure this kind of a ground invasion is the best strategy, for what your goals, your mission is?

CLARK: I think the United States and Israel see eye to eye. But I also think there is concern in the United States about the potential of it spreading to the region. The United States is talking to all the actors in the region, Israelis or not.

The U.S. also has its own concerns for our own people that are hostages as well as Americans who are there, caught up; American Palestinians in Gaza, trying to get out. So the two countries have slightly different interests on this, maybe substantially different interests.

But fundamentally the United States is behind and supports Israel.

NEWTON: In terms of what the U.S. does right now geopolitically -- I do not have to remind you it is a very tense and dangerous time.

This more aggressive posture toward Iran and its proxies, do you think that will have the desired deterrent effect for the United States?

CLARK: I do not think the policy is yet aggressive toward Iran. It is reacting to Iran, not aggressive. The two aircraft carrier battle groups -- one is there, the other is arriving -- those are forces that were meant to send a signal to Iran to back off.

Iran did not listen to that signal. Iran is juking and teasing and having its proxies snipe and send out missiles and rockets and so forth, not a full effort by Iran but an effort to claim its emblem as a resistant force against Israel and the United States.

So the United States' strikes that have been conducted against these Iranian arsenals in Syria, after our troops have been hit -- some 30 Americans have been taken off with injuries, many with traumatic brain injuries from concussion -- I think it is an appropriate response, not an aggressive response but a response that warns Iran, back off, stay out of this. NEWTON: We will see if that has the desired impact on Iran. General

Wesley Clark, as we continue to see the bombardments in Gaza, it's important to have your perspective, really appreciate it.

CLARK: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now Gaza is largely under a communications blackout amid the looming threat of an Israeli ground offensive as they continue targeting Hamas. Now a local service provider says most of the phone and internet links have been decimated as Israeli airstrikes pounded the enclave.

As a result, communications inside Gaza and with the outside world are severely disrupted, if not impossible. Multiple humanitarian groups say they cannot get in touch with their teams on the ground.

Some Palestinians who have managed to maintain connection, reached by CNN, say they have split their families, so at least some members would survive in case of an Israeli strike.

Others talk about hearing explosions. But without stable communications, they cannot check if their families are OK. The leader of a U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees sent a dramatic message about the humanitarian situation.

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PHILLIPPE LAZZARINI, COMMISSIONER GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY: As we speak, people in Gaza are dying. They are not only dying from bombs and strike, soon many more will die from the consequences of siege import on the Gaza Strip. Basic services are crumbling. Medicine is running out.

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NEWTON: Now the health ministry in Hamas controlled Gaza has responded to U.S. President Joe Biden's public questioning of the reliability of --

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NEWTON: -- Palestinian casualty figures in the conflict with Israel by publishing the names of what it says are thousands killed since the start of this conflict. In the wake of the October 7th attacks by Hamas that killed at least 1,400 people in Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces have launched an air campaign against the militant group and imposed a complete siege of the Gaza Strip. Israel says the strikes will continue until all of the more than 200 hostages are released. Salma Abdelaziz reports on the controversy around the death toll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Families are mourning and counting their dead. Near endless stream of funerals echoes throughout Gaza. And as Palestinians bury their loved ones, doubt is cast by the U.S. and Israel on the death toll being released by Hamas.

Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, no elections have been held since. The militant group is the political military power here. It controls the government and therefore, all ministries including the health ministry.

President Biden says that's why he has no confidence in the reported Gaza death toll.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I'm sure innocents have been killed and it's the price of waging a war.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): This is how the Hamas-run health ministry responded, publishing this document, a 212-page report listing the ID numbers, names, sex and age of more than 6,700 Palestinians it says have been killed since October 7th. Among them, nearly 3,000 children.

The total figure is expected to be even higher because of hundreds of unidentified bodies, it says. The ministry says it is committed to accuracy and accused some of dehumanizing Palestinian victims.

"Our people are not anonymous entities that can be ignored," it said.

The Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank, also hit back.

MOHAMMAD SHTAYYEH, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRIME MINISTER: There are certain leaders who don't want to see reality. The numbers are correct. They are our numbers. These numbers are fed to us from the hospitals of Gaza every single day that are received by our ministry of health.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Skepticism over the death toll spiked after the explosion at Gaza City's Al Ahli Hospital. Within hours, the Hamas run health ministry said at least 471 were killed. The U.S. gave the more conservative estimate of 100 to 300 killed.

ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET.), COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: It was least a couple of hundred. And that's terrible and atrocious and sad and we all grieve with the families and loved ones who are affected by that. But the numbers are not reliable.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): News outlets, U.N. agencies, rights groups and even the U.S. State Department have cited the Hamas-run ministry of health in the past. But the U.S. now says recent statements and figures from Hamas are unreliable.

Human Rights Watch, an independent body, responded.

OMAR SHAKIR, PALESTINE DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: We've done research during multiple rounds of escalations and we've always found the ministry of health data to be generally reliable.

The conversation should focus on how world leaders can stop further mass atrocities and not nitpicking whether a number that's generally proven to be accurate may be a little bit off.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): And access is limited. Foreign media has been denied entry into Gaza. And for local journalists, conditions on the ground make reporting difficult. CNN and other news outlets cannot independently verify the figures. And while some argue over the death toll, bodies keep piling up -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

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NEWTON: Two days after the deadly mass shootings in Maine, the suspected gunman has been found dead. For the families of the victims, now comes the long process of healing and mourning those they lost. The latest from Maine, next.

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NEWTON: A tight-knit community in Maine is now beginning the long road to healing and mourning the loss of the 18 people killed in Wednesday's mass shootings. For two days, residents sheltered in place while hundreds of law enforcement carried out a massive manhunt for the suspected gunman.

Now the people of Lewiston, Maine, can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the threat is over. Officials say they found the body of the suspected gunman. CNN's Omar Jimenez has our report.

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After a more than 48-hour manhunt, the suspect in the mass shootings at both of these locations in Lewiston, Maine, has been found dead by apparent self inflicted gunshot wound, according to law enforcement.

Now this is the end of what has been a very tense chapter for many in this community, wondering where this person may be, especially given the violent nature of what he was accused and what police believe he did.

Now to give people an idea of where this body was found, we are outside the bar and grill, which was the second location of the mass shootings that happened on Wednesday night.

This body was found just about 10 minutes away from here in the town over from Lewiston, which is where we are, in Lisbon, Maine. And it was found near a recycling plant where, as we understand from law enforcement sources, a plant where he was fired from recently. And so, at this point, this now begins the next phase of the

investigation for officers to figure out, OK, what led up to the actions that they say he carried out over the course of Wednesday night and why did this happen?

So that is one aspect of the investigation that continues. However, the main priority that everybody has been looking for, of trying to locate this person, is now over. It is a sigh of relief for many in this community. It's a sigh of relief for many of the leaders in this community, as they laid out in their latest press conference.

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JIMENEZ: We also learned that they found the body at to 7:45 pm Eastern time Friday night. It wasn't until hours later that they announced. And what they said they were doing in the meantime was they were notifying the families of victims.

They also said they notified the family of the suspect as well, a family, they said, had, on the whole, been cooperative throughout this entire process. And while there are still more investigative work ahead, there is a lot more grieving ahead for many of the families here affected.

At least 18 killed in total but so many more lives shattered, based on the lives that they touched. And as one resident told us, they are not just numbers; they are people. And it is those people that are going to live on in this community for much longer than this 48-hour manhunt -- Omar Jimenez, CNN, Lewiston, Maine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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NEWTON: I want to bring in Daniel Brunner now who is a retired FBI supervisory special agent.

It's good to see you, when there is relief in the community. We are no longer following a manhunt. And yet, there is a bit of frustration and police have not disclosed very much in the press conference.

What is your take on how all of this unfolded?

DANIEL BRUNNER, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, it is curious as to why they are keeping certain details from the public and not releasing it just yet. But there is a reason.

They have trained for this type of scenario. They have trained for these types of press conferences. The FBI, in dealing and leading with other law enforcement agencies, have vast experience in identifying how to deal with these situations.

Unfortunately, here in the United States, we often have these mass casualty type of incidents. And it is very well documented as to how to proceed through these events -- have a press conference, as soon as possible, following the event. We learned about these things from the mistakes we made in the past,

when maybe a press conference was not held or where certain information was not kept, wasn't released to the public just yet.

But the investigators are nonstop, they are working the various scenes, as to collecting the evidence. The FBI ERT, the Evidence Response Teams, the computer analysts are analyzing the phone, they are looking over all the data.

Fortunately, the fugitive is no longer in play so now they can focus, as you say, on the long road for healing. The healing will begin when everybody comes together. The victim specialists at the FBI are some of the best in the country.

They are coming out from Quantico and talking to the people and being there to provide assistance for not only the victims' families but others who are injured or traumatized by the situation, who lost a friend, lost a neighbor. They are all going to need help.

That is where this healing will began, which will go alongside of the investigative team in putting the pieces together as to why this individual conducted the attack, how he planned it out.

How did he purchase the weapons?

Where did he purchase the weapons?

And why there were not certain red flags that were brought up early enough that could have prevented the incident?

All of this will be lessons learned, which we will help process in moving forward.

NEWTON: You make a good point, though, in terms of everyone having to come together, not being able to have a vigil even, to be locked down instead of coming together to support everyone has obviously hurt a lot of those suffering right now.

I do want to point out to the fact that it is rather chilling to hear that he may not have died within minutes or even hours after the attack. It is possible that he was alive for perhaps as long as a 1.5 days before he killed himself.

What do you make of that?

BRUNNER: Listen, at this point, we are all theorizing. Anything is possible. He could have died immediately. He could've died 1.5 days later. We do not know that.

If that is what the medical examiners, working alongside the authorities there in Maine and Lewiston, they're going to determine the time of death. And clearly we know the method of death.

At that point, once we know approximately what time of death was, then they will go back and talk to the search teams that looked in that area and determine why he was not found. If he had been, say, dead since right after the incident, why was the

body not found?

Or if he had died only hours before the body was found, then we will understand where he was going for those two days.

So there are a lot of answers that need to be answered -- excuse me -- a lot of questions that need to be answered and then at which point we will be able to start putting other pieces together.

NEWTON: You know the gun debate is front and center again. I am not asking for anything political here.

What I am asking is, materially, keeping this kind of a man from having access to any kind of firearm, let alone an assault weapon, do you think we have learned anything new in how to prevent that through this incident?

BRUNNER: I think this always, an incident like this, always brings forth the conversation. That is the point that has to be had. We have to have a conversation. There are two sides of this aisle, two sides of the argument. Both sides feel that they are in the best position to say that I am always right.

So the conversation should be had as to how do we prevent guns from getting into the hands of those who should not have guns because of maybe a problem with mental stability or other reasons.

Listen, like I said, I'm not going to get into a position of what could've happened or Monday morning quarterback this situation, because I am not familiar with the entire case. I am not going to be able to give you the best opinion on it without knowing all of the facts.

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BRUNNER: But what we can do is continue to have a conversation. That is the most important part, is being able to talk about gun control or gun rights and people having their firearms with them.

Clearly Maine is a very gun friendly state. A lot of people in that first day, on coverage on CNN, they were being interviewed. They were clearly saying, hey, I went inside, loaded my guns and I was prepared.

That is an important part, being able to protect oneself, in your own home. So the conversation could be had, in the future but at this time I think the most important part is getting together, as you are saying, is healing.

Finding out what happened and getting that community. Healed Screaming from the top of the mountains for the type of gun control or anything along those lines I don't think is really the best position right now. But we will begin to heal.

NEWTON: Daniel Brunner, good to have your expertise on all of this, with at least some relief for the community there, appreciate it. BRUNNER: Thank you, Paula.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Still to come for us, the U.S. raises concerns of a war spreading throughout the Middle East as Israel expands its ground operations in Gaza. We will have details next.

Plus Israel claims Hamas is using one of Gaza's largest hospitals as a command center. Still ahead, what this may tell us about Israel's next move as it expands toward Hamas.

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NEWTON: The White House on Friday wouldn't say if Israel had informed the U.S. before launching an expanded ground operation in Gaza Friday. CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked the White House National Security Council spokesperson how concerned the Biden administration is about the Israel-Hamas war escalating. Listen.

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ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET.), COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Very concerned. And that's why the president ordered some extra naval assets in the Eastern Med and eventually into the Gulf region.

That's why we have boosted our air and missile defense. That's why we've added aircraft squadrons to the region. And it's why we have messaged privately and publicly that we don't want to see any other actor, be it Iran or a terrorist group like Hezbollah, escalate, deepen and widen this conflict.

So, yes, we are concerned about that possibility.

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NEWTON: Meantime, the U.S. Defense Secretary stressed the importance of protecting civilians in Gaza when he spoke with his Israeli counterpart Friday.

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NEWTON: Lloyd Austin also said a delivery in the Palestinian enclave is urgently needed. CNN's Oren Liebermann has more from the Pentagon.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon watching the situation in Gaza very closely as what appears to be a larger ground incursion is taking place on the part of the Israeli military into Gaza as it goes after Hamas. But the Pentagon and the White House have been clear this is Israel's

war to fight and they will not dictate or instruct or order the Israelis on how to fight it.

Instead, they will offer advice and have offered counsel on their best practices for the U.S.' best practices from decades of war, including the recommendation that, instead of conducting a large scale ground incursion, Israel goes with precision guided munitions as well as smaller special operations forces raids.

Is that advice the Israelis have heeded?

That's an answer that will be very clear in the hours and the days ahead. Meanwhile, the U.S. a bit concerned there is whether the conflict in Gaza, now that we do appear to be seeing what appears to be a larger scale ground incursion, if that spreads to the rest of the region.

We have already seen some spillover. Even if the U.S. does not see a connection between Gaza and Iraq and Syria, other groups do and that is a key concern here. Take a look at this map, you'll get a sense of the attacks on U.S. forces over the course of the past 11 or 12 days.

Four different sites in Iraq, four different sites in Syria, many of those have had more than one attack including the al-Aqsa airbase in Iraq, which has had at least seven attacks there.

The U.S. carried out strikes in Eastern Syria against groups that it says are affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups there. The U.S. said those strikes did not result in casualties but destroyed an ammo storage facility as well as a weapons storage facility.

The U.S. was clear in carrying out these strikes that they were narrowly aimed at, essentially, protecting U.S. forces. And the U.S. does not want the conflict to escalate beyond Gaza or be connected in any way to what the U.S. is doing in Iraq and Syria against ISIS there. It's a very fine line the U.S. is trying to walk.

Will they be successful?

That is what everyone is looking at, with all eyes on Gaza right now -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.

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NEWTON: Now the new U.S. House Speaker says he spoke with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday and Mike Johnson posted picture of himself on the phone, calling it a privilege.

He wrote, "The House of Representatives stands with Israel and reaffirmed our strong support."

The congressman from Louisiana was just elected as speaker on Wednesday after weeks of Republican Party infighting left the House in chaos. Israel is claiming the largest hospital in Gaza is the site of a major

Hamas command center. It appears to be a significant attempt to prepare public opinion ahead of a major ground offensive inside Gaza.

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REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: The red buildings, as I mentioned, are building that Hamas is using, meaning he does his command and control in different departments of the hospital.

Like the rengen (ph) room and others, he uses these places in order to do command and control for terror activities, launching rockets, et cetera, et cetera. It is here in Al-Shifa hospital where Hamas operates some of its command and control centers.

This is where they direct rocket attacks, command Hamas forces. Hamas terrorists operate inside and under Al-Shifa hospital, in other hospitals in Gaza, with network of terror tunnels.

Hamas also has an entrance to those terror tunnels from inside the hospital wards, meaning, from different places of the hospital, you can go into an underground tunnel that will provide you shelter.

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NEWTON: Now the Palestinians reject Israel's claim. The director general of the Hamas controlled Gaza health ministry tells CNN, hospitals are used to treat patients only and they are not hiding anyone.

Hamas also rejected the allegation and called on the U.N., Arab and Islamic countries to immediately intervene to, quote, "stop the madness" of bombing and destroying the medical system.

Now the attack by Hamas on southern Israel has put the Israeli military on high alert in the northern region as well. Details on the increasing tensions with Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.

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NEWTON: And now back to our top story, Israel's war with Hamas. The Israeli military on Friday signaled a significant escalation of its ground operations in Gaza three weeks after Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in southern Israel.

Nearly all communications in and out of the enclave appear to be down amid some of the most sustained Israeli strikes yet. An Israeli man whose sister was kidnapped from a kibbutz by Hamas militants says he is consumed by concern for her. CNN's Jake Tapper asked if he was worried that Israel's airstrikes on

Gaza would make it tougher to get his sister home alive. Take a listen to his response.

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GILI ROMAN, YARDEN'S BROTHER: Worrying is mostly what I do since they have kidnapped her. Yes. This is my main occupation. And every day, we have significant worries.

Every day can be a day -- I'm sorry for the language -- can be a day of rape, can be a day of torture. It can be a day of dying or dead or illness. Every day is that worry. So -- and most of my worries comes from the treatment of Hamas and my disrespect or -- I don't know which stronger word to use to what I think the Hamas might be using.

So I have more, let's say, respect to what our military is doing. And I hope that they're very calculative in their actions. Of course, it also worries me that I have much more trust in them in what they're doing and how they are trying to operate than whatever happens inside of Gaza.

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NEWTON: Our Jake Tapper there.

Now a northern Israeli town right next to the border with Lebanon has become a ghost town. Civilians have been replaced by Israeli soldiers, as the town faces increased risks of attacks from Hezbollah militants. CNN's Jim Sciutto reports now from northern Israel.

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Main street, Metula, Israel: normally the busy center of town, now abandoned. Metula's 2,000 residents fled in the wake of the October 7th attacks, part of a mandatory evacuation of communities too close to Israel's border with Lebanon and too close to Hezbollah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem here is that, for man, from too many windows, we are under (INAUDIBLE).

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Now based here are hundreds of IDF soldiers. We don't identify them due to security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every few hours, we were under attack here or in other places in the area.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we need to keep ourselves undercover to make sure that we won't be exposed.

SCIUTTO: Metula is surrendered on three sides by Lebanon, by territory controlled by Hezbollah. And that is why the town has been evacuated because of that threat. And soldiers based here now say they face three threats from Hezbollah: sniper fire, rocket fire but also the possibility of ground incursions.

One happened here several days ago and they're on constant alert for the possibility of the next one.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): The town's mayor has the job now of relocating residents to safer areas further south and keeping Metula ready for residents to return. The when is far from clear. What is clear is that the old status quo is no longer sustainable for those living this far north, not with Hezbollah fighters on their doorsteps.

MAYOR DAVID AZULI, METULA (through translator): We don't want a war, we just want to end the current status quo and move Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon. We can either make a peace deal through the Americans and Iranians or, if not, we will have war.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): The Israeli military does not comment on its plans for the north. For now, this is an operation designed to defend and deter. And the threat is real. We were advised not to linger too long in Hezbollah's line of fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can find more than 400 soldiers looking at you.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): For the soldiers, their job now is to make sure that, someday, Metula can come alive again.

SCIUTTO: Do you believe people will be able to come back to a town like Metula again?

Or is it just too close to Lebanon, to Hezbollah?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that we will do everything to make them feel protected, to make them feel safe. There was someone who packed his last luggage with tears in his eyes. I asked him why.

And he told me, "I don't know if I will return here."

SCIUTTO: That is the new reality here in northern Israel but also in the south. Communities emptied by the threat from Hamas, in Gaza and Hezbollah here in the north.

Many people demanding increased military action across the border. But that portends costly exercises and operations for Israeli forces with an uncertain military outcome -- Jim Sciutto, CNN, in northern Israel.

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NEWTON: Now Thailand suffered some of the highest foreign casualties in the Hamas terror attack. We will go there to hear from survivors and from families who don't even know if their loved ones are still alive.

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NEWTON: A top Israeli official tells CNN that the country, is, quote, "beefing up pressure on Hamas."

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NEWTON (voice-over): The comments come as Israel says it is expanding ground operations in Gaza. Intense airstrikes rocked Gaza with communication links down in much of the enclave. Meantime, air raid sirens blare across Tel Aviv Friday, as rockets were seen in the sky.

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NEWTON: Hundreds of people, meantime, from a group called Jewish Voice for Peace gathered in Grand Central terminal in New York Friday, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

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NEWTON (voice-over): The demonstration remained peaceful though there are reports of dozens being taken into custody. It did have a knock-on effect as well on travelers, with some being delayed. Protests of this scale is unusual for Grand Central.

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NEWTON: So Thailand is calling for the release of 18 of its citizens believed to be held hostage in Gaza; 33 other Thai nationals were killed during the Hamas attack on October 7th, some of the highest foreign casualty numbers of that day. CNN's Ivan Watson traveled to remote villages in Thailand to meet with families of some of the victims.

And a warning, Ivan's report includes graphic images that some viewers may find disturbing.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The empty back roads of northeastern Thailand feel a world away from the raging war in Israel and Gaza. But even here, in one of the country's poorest provinces, there are victims, scarred by the violence in the Middle East.

WATSON: Do you think this man wanted to kill you?

WITHAWAT KUNWONG, HAMAS ATTACK SURVIVOR (through translator): He tried to cut my throat after I passed out. But because the knife was broken, he couldn't finish the job.

WATSON (voice-over): Thirty-year-old Withawat Kunwong spent years working as a migrant labor at this turkey farm in Israel. In Kibbutz Holit, located within sight of the security fence that encircles Gaza.

On the morning of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, he streamed this video live from the turkey farm. He says he hid for hours but was discovered by a Palestinian man in civilian clothes, armed with what looked like a kitchen knife. Kunwong says he refused to surrender; they got into a savage fight.

WATSON: He bit you?

KUNWONG (through translator): When we were fighting, he bit my arm.

WATSON (voice-over): Kunwong says he was left for dead and later cared for by other Thai migrant workers.

Now after more than four years working in Israel, he is reunited with his family in Thailand, recovering from deep physical and psychological wounds. At the start of the latest hostilities, there were nearly 30,000 Thai citizens working in Israel, many of them from poor farming villages in this region.

WATSON: Families here say their men signed minimum five year contracts to work in Israel, a period during which most would not come home to visit their loved ones. But they say the sacrifice is worth it, because the salaries you could earn in the Middle East dwarf the money that you could make in the rice paddies of northern Thailand.

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WATSON (voice-over): A proud father shows me the house his son's Israeli wages built. His 29 year old son, Mani Jiruchat (ph), was expected to come home next year after half a decade of work in Israel.

WATSON: This is the bunker?

WATSON (voice-over): This video shows Jiruchat (ph) and other Thai workers on the morning of the October 7th Hamas attack, taking shelter in a bunker. It is the last they heard from their son.

WATSON: This is Mani (ph) right here.

WATSON (voice-over): Until this image emerged on social media, Mani Jiruchat (ph) and several other men held hostage by armed militants. His father and mother now desperate for their son's safe return.

"I have no words," he says. "I want my son back."

In a statement to CNN, Thailand's deputy prime minister called for the release of all hostages, adding, quote, "Our Thai nationals, who have been killed and kidnapped, are mostly farmers, earning a living to support their families in Thailand and really have no involvement in the conflict."

As Israel continues its deadly bombardment of Gaza, these parents anxiously watch and wait, praying for their son's freedom -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Udon Thani, Thailand.

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NEWTON: Such a crushing situation for so many, wondering what those on the ground movements mean for their loved ones held hostage in Gaza.

I'm Paula Newton. I want to thank you for your company. Kim Brunhuber picks things up from here and we will, of course, have more of our continuing coverage of Israel at war. That's in just a moment.