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CNN International: Humanitarian Crisis In Gaza Growing More Dire By The Day; Community Vigil For Maine Town In Mourning; Friends And Family Remember Matthew Perry; Family Members Anxious About Family In Gaza; Death Toll In Mexico Reaches 43 After Landfall; Survivors Return To Site Of Music Festival Attack. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 29, 2023 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:02]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST: Thank you for joining us and welcome to our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. I'm Julia Chatterley in New York.
It's Monday morning in Gaza where Israeli forces are pressing into the Palestinian enclave. CNN has also seen evidence of Israeli ground forces more than two miles inside Gaza in the north.
This video of airstrikes was taken just hours ago by CNN producer in Khan Yunis in the south of Gaza. Israel also says it killed several Hamas fighters who emerged from a tunnel near Gaza's Erez crossing.
Meanwhile, there are growing cries in the international community for Israel to do more to protect Gaza's civilians. The Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli airstrikes are causing damage to the Al-Quds Hospital, one of the biggest in Gaza City.
Israel is told that the Red Crescent to evacuate the facility and as warned, Hamas fighters are hiding in and around the hospital. Israel is warned of a long, difficult conflict to take out Hamas and ensure its security in response to the brutal October 7th terrorist attack.
But Israel's stepped up military campaign is also having devastating consequences on the ground. CNN Scott McLean has the latest on the increasingly desperate situation inside Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There isn't much left of the Bilal ibn Rabah Mosque in central Gaza. The building was flattened by an overnight Israeli airstrike. People inside the neighboring apartment blocks weren't spared either. Roofs were ripped right off. Everything now covered in a pale shade of gray. More than a dozen were killed and more injured according to medical staff at the local hospital where outside the bodies of those killed are wrapped in white sheets and marked with their names.
Both the IDF and the Israeli Prime Minister have renewed calls for civilians to urgently evacuate Northern Gaza. The apartment buildings next to the mosque were filled with people who had heeded those warnings, believing central Gaza would be safer.
There were no warnings at all, this survivor says. We have seen the entire thing collapsing on us. We didn't know exactly where the hit was. We started running to get our children out. It's a miracle they survived.
This man said, there were no warnings. It was a strong airstrike. The people pulled us from underneath the rubble and took us to the hospital.
CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. Israel said that, overnight, some 450 terror targets were hit and say that some strikes were directed by troops now on the ground inside Gaza.
This was the aftermath of one of those strikes on a family home in Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza. A desperate scramble to move slabs of concrete hoping to find survivors. Instead, they found at least one body.
By daybreak, the urgency has gone. A pile of rubble is all that's left. Hospitals already at the breaking point are only getting more overwhelmed.
In (INAUDIBLE) Saturday, doctors operated on this boy on the floor.
The Palestinian Red Crescent now says that Israeli authorities called Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City twice with a clear and direct threat that the hospital must be evacuated at once.
Otherwise, the Red Crescent holds full responsibility for the lives of everyone inside. That amounts to hundreds of patients and thousands more people taking shelter. Israel says it called more than twice since the war began and says the Hamas is shielding themselves inside hospitals.
Foreign aid is entering Gaza at a trickle. The desperation apparent in this video of people ransacking a U.N. warehouse carrying out bags of food.
Maybe a temporary lifeline for those people but the U.N. calls it a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down. It's a situation in Gaza only gets worse.
Scott McLean, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And that was Scott was just reporting there. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza escalates by the day.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is among the many voices now calling for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities in Gaza and to allow delivery of humanitarian aid. They're also calling for the immediate release too of the hostages and reiterated their offer to facilitate any type of hostage release operation. The Red Cross says the crisis in Gaza is, quote, a catastrophic failing that the world must not tolerate. Let's now introduce Laetitia Courtois to discuss the growing humanitarian crisis. She's the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in New York and a permanent observer to the U.N.
[19:05:04]
Laetitia, thank you so much for your time this evening. We obviously have much to discuss. But can I first talk to you about communications with your team in Gaza? We know that communications were disrupted over the weekend. Have you managed to be in touch with them to check that everybody's OK?
LAETITIA COURTOIS, HEAD OF DELEGATION IN NEW YORK: Thank you very much for having me. The communication with our team is complicated. It's sporadic but it's maintained. We have over 130 colleagues on the ground, 10 colleagues managed to enter into Gaza two days ago to support the team and the relief efforts. But the situation is extremely difficult and the communication challenges also impacting us absolutely.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. I mean, this is an important point. A 10-person team, I believe, including a war surgery team, a weapons contamination specialist as well, and six trucks with medical supplies managed to enter on Friday before we saw the violence escalating Gaza and certainly the air attacks increase.
Can I ask about the conversation with those people, very brave people to go in at this moment?
COURTOIS: Well, those are very brave colleagues and we have dozens that want to go and follow them as well, but we're not able so far to bring in more colleagues. Those are desperately needed to believe colleagues, doctors, medical staff at a breaking point after weeks of working 24/7 facing an amazing and a huge number, unseen number of wounded.
We need to bring in specialists to fix the water system to support the local water authorities into repairing and fixing what can be fixed. And those are called for us, but from all humanitarian organizations to be able to step in a humanitarian pipeline of goods, of staff that can come and help responding in this critical moment right now.
CHATTERLEY: We've seen six of your trucks coming on Friday, but all humanitarian aid organizations are saying it's just a drop in the ocean of what's required to continue to support the people there.
What the U.N. warned about this weekend too is the risk of civil society breakdown of disobedience, of people looting supplies, because they're fearful of when more supplies may come. It's understandable in many ways the World Food Program has also seen the same.
Have you seen any risks to your supplies too? And I guess you're not surprised by what we're seeing. COURTOIS: No, absolutely. This is really a drop in the ocean of needs. Before the escalation on the violence, we used to see 600 trucks entering Gaza every day. So you can imagine 20 trucks or even six trucks a day as -- is a good gesture, but it's definitely not nowhere near matching the scale of needs of the people.
And people are just simply desperate. It's even an understatement at this stage. They are looking for water to drink, to give to their children food, medicine, doctors operating without painkillers on patients with their flashlights. You can imagine how desperate the situation is.
And what can also bring people to do to get those basics to their families while they try to survive at all costs.
CHATTERLEY: Can I ask you about the hostage negotiations too? Because I know you at the Red Cross played a significant role in the release of the four hostages that we've seen. And I appreciate this incredibly delicate, particularly at this moment in what we've seen over the weekend.
But can I ask if -- from what you're hearing and how you're involved, those negotiations are continuing?
COURTOIS: We are obviously keeping a very discreet profile as this is also part of the success of the operation that we hope to be able to continue supporting in the new future. The parties have been discussing and also states such as Qatar have been quite instrumental in making those decisions go forward with the release of four hostages.
We've been calling for the release of all the hostages immediately and unconditionally. And we will stand ready to continue to facilitate their return to their homes whenever those agreements are reached by the parties directly.
CHATTERLEY: You also offer to provide medical support and welfare checks directly to the hostages. So that would mean some of your workers entering tunnels we presume and directly aiding some of these hostages.
Can I ask if -- again, I know it's delicate, but any of your workers have actually been able to do that and allowed to provide medical support at any point over the last three weeks?
[19:10:03]
COURTOIS: We have indeed called for our services also to be -- to be accepted as soon as possible with regards to facilitating the communication between the hostages and the families providing medical care for those that are urgently needing it.
This is something that our call remains very loud and clear and continuous. I cannot go really into the details here, but I think it's important that we continue insisting while we also stand ready to facilitate the release of those persons as soon as possible. CHATTERLEY: Yes. You're doing everything you can. I understand. Your president said that what we're seeing in Gaza is a catastrophic failing. I just wanted to get you to elaborate on that of what and by whom.
COURTOIS: Well, it is a catastrophic failing as the situation keeps escalating and we're not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel to allow the escalation that can really lead to a steady and humanitarian access to the scale of the needs.
We're seeing outrageous number of people being killed, civilians being targeted, civilian infrastructure being touched and impacted that will not allow for the return of anyone at this stage.
And we are seeing a situation where the need for really for call, for calm, and de-escalation is really urgent, because we are really reaching a situation of unseen level of damages and losses.
We've been in Gaza for decades and this is a situation we've never seen at this stage and we are extremely concerned by what comes next.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, Laetitia Courtois, the head of the ICRC Delegation in New York. Thank you so much for your time and for continuing to raise the alarm over what's taking place.
COURTOIS: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: OK. Let's move on. Now, as we mentioned, CNN has also seen evidence of Israeli ground forces more than two miles inside Gaza in the north.
Our Nic Robertson is in Sderot, Israel with more details about what's happening on the ground. Nic, what more can you tell us about the progress of the IDF inside Gaza?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Oh, you might just have heard those artillery explosions just going off there, Julia. There's another one.
And the sort of the tempo, the battle tempo, if you will, is not as intense tonight or through the day, actually, as it was over the previous 48 hours Friday and Saturday. So it does seem to have eased off.
But that said, there's been a lot of fighter jet activity this evening. We've seen explosions behind us in Gaza, heard the detonations. We've seen Apache gunships in the sky today and heard gunfire apparently coming from them joining the fight on the ground.
Now, that place that the IDF has now raised a flag over a building in Northern Gaza is about two miles from the border with Israel, two miles from the fence.
Interestingly, when you look at where that on the map, where that flag was raised, it's sort of in a beach area. And it -- and it appears as if the IDF, so far, at least, from what we can see, have avoided concentrations of civilians.
They haven't gone in, it seems as yet, to some of the small villages or smaller towns or even the larger cities like Gaza City. There's still several miles away from -- away from -- away from there. And I think there's a lot of pressure, international pressure, as your last guest was just talking about there on Israel to avoid civilian casualties.
It is the President of the United States, Joe Biden, spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today and talked about the importance of avoiding civilian casualties. And this slow, step-by-step process of the incursion that Israel is going through at the moment. We don't know how far it's going to go. We don't know what the next steps are or even what these steps are specifically designed to achieve.
But so far, it seems that the ground troops are avoiding major confrontation or conflict with the civilian population. Of course, the death toll of civilians we've seen through the day in Gaza has gone up. Say the children are calling for a ceasefire, the U.N. agency that handles humanitarian relief from refugees inside Gaza's warehouse was looted yesterday, food looted by people, and saying there's a breakdown in the fabric of civil society at the moment in Gaza.
So all these concerns raised. But it does feel to us today as if the tempo of the advance over the past few days has slowed down a little bit, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. And we'll continue to watch that, Nic. We were just showing our viewers actually live pictures of Gaza City and again the skyline lighting up there. We'll continue to watch it for now. Thank you.
[19:15:10]
OK. You saw it again there, yes.
Now, to some worrying images too of how the conflict between Israel and Hamas is having a ripple effect in other regions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: This was the chaotic scene at an airport in the Russian Republic of Dagestan. Videos show a large crowd storming the airport making it onto the tarmac. Some of them waving Palestinian flags. This after a plane had just arrived from Tel Aviv.
Authorities have closed the airport and are investigating how to ensure it's safe going forward. Israel said it was working with Russian authorities to secure the well-being of Jewish and Israeli. Israelis at the site.
Now just ahead, he made millions of fans laugh even as he struggled with the pain of addiction. What Matthew Perry said he'd like to be remembered for.
And grieving families in Maine grapple with unanswered questions as they pray for 18 victims of this week's mass shooting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. And we're turning to the United States now in the devastated community of Lewiston in the state of Maine.
Mourners have been holding a prayer vigil there to honor the 18 people killed in Wednesday's mass shooting.
On Saturday night, a candle lit tribute was held in Lisbon, another community in Southern Maine impacted by the terrifying ordeal.
The White House says an official from its gun violence prevention office is heading to the state to try to support the grieving communities.
But for the victims of the tragedy, Wednesday night in Lewiston, Maine started as an ordinary night out. Some were enjoying a meal, others were taking part in a small-scale tournament. They included a married couple, a father and son and members of the deaf community.
Jason Carroll has more about the lives they led.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON CARROLL, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Moments after the shooting began as Schemengees bar and grill restaurant, there were those who sprang into action, putting themselves into harm's way to try and save others and stop the gunman.
Leroy Walker Sr. says his son, Joey, grabbed a butcher's knife and went after the gunman when he was shot and killed.
LEROY WALKER, SR., SON KILLED IN SHOOTING: Loved by many. Loud by myself. And he would love back to everybody.
So I know he would do such a thing to try to save lives and not let somebody hurt the people that he loved.
CARROLL: Also killed at the bar, Artie Strout (ph). He leaves behind five children. Brian McFarland was there too. He and other members of the deaf community had gathered at the bar for a Cornhole Tournament.
[19:20:02]
His sister, who is also deaf, told me the shooting has left her family and the deaf community with a deep sense of loss.
You know, I want people to know how big this is impacted the deaf community that, you know, we've lost four community members, not only just Brian, but we've lost three other friends as well from this tragic incident in this community. It's a huge loss. CARROLL: Another tournament participant, 39-year-old, Peyton Brewer- Ross, was killed. He leaves behind a daughter who had just turned 2. Joshua Seal was there for the tournament as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our state has been largely successful in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
CARROLL: He gained attention as an interpreter for Maine's governor during the COVID-19 pandemic. His employer, Pine Tree Society, said in a statement he was a husband a father of four and a tireless advocate for the deaf community.
A few miles away from the bar at the bowling alley, more victims and more reports of heroic acts like that of Michael Deslauriers II. His father says his son and his son's friends, since childhood, tried to protect women and children.
He says they made sure their wives and several young children were undercover when they charged the shooter. Both men were killed.
Tricia Asselin worked part-time at the bowling alley and tried to call 911 when she was killed. Eighteen lives now gone.
Leroy Walker says his way forward is through faith and forgiveness.
WALKER, SR: I can't -- I can't hate this person. I've been taught different than that, I hope anyways. And I believe in the law. And I have to feel that way. You can't run around this world hating people. If you do, these kind of things will happen more and more.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Matthew Perry is being remembered as a, quote, sweet troubled soul. His friends and family are also expressing shock and sadness at the death of the beloved actor. The star made his name with his witty portrayal of Chandler Bing on Friends, the sitcom that became a TV phenomenon. Just take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only one banana nut muffin left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ordered mine first.
MATTHEW PERRY, AMERICAN ACTOR: Yes. But I'm so much faster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to me no give it to me.
PERRY: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to me.
PERRY: OK. You can have it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go. Enjoy your coffee.
PERRY: That was there when I got here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Perry was found dead this weekend at his Los Angeles home. He was 54. Authorities say there was no foul play. Sources quoted in the L.A. Times, say he died in an apparent drowning accident.
I want to bring in Camila Bernal live from Los Angeles. A tragic end for a person who bought so much joy to others, Camila, and clearly lots of questions now being asked about exactly what happened.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And I think we're going to have to wait a little bit longer just to figure out all of the details here. What we just learned is that the L.A. County Medical Examiner's Office has approved the release of his remains to his family. They have now listed the cause of death as deferred.
So what that means is that additional investigation is required here to find the cause of death. Normally, a complete autopsy and toxicology report could take several weeks. But it was the LAPD investigating and they are the ones that responded yesterday. It happened at around 4:07. That's when the 911 call came in and it initially was for a water emergency rescue.
Then LAPD responded at 4:10 and that's when they characterized their response as a death investigation. And so we are waiting to get confirmation as to exactly what happened yesterday.
The family released a statement saying they were heartbroken by these tragic events or the tragic loss of a beloved brother and son. And they went on to say that he brought joy to the world and not just in his characters but also as a friend is what the family was saying today.
And look, he was very candid about his struggles with addiction and he specifically opened up in his memoir that was released in November of 2022, but also was open during interviews he got emotional.
And in one of the interviews said he wanted to be remembered as someone who helped people and said that's why he shared his struggles. He wanted people to be able to relate, understand and get help the way that he got helped.
[19:25:07]
He also said he wanted to be remembered as someone who lived well and loved well, someone who was a seeker.
Of course, everybody remembers him by his comedy and by his roles in movies and T.V.s. And it was Friends that really brought him to stardom.
And really, this is a cast that they were all friends off and on -- and on the screen. And they famously negotiated contracts together, helped each other out. So far, we have not heard from the cast of Friends, but we are hearing from many others in Hollywood who say they are shocked who say they are heartbroken and who say this is a big loss for Hollywood and for his fans all over the world, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. And it's funny. Watching them now, it's still funny. And it's tragic that he said in his memoir that actually watching those past episodes, that she reminded him of his struggle at the time. A very heartbreaking about that. So it's with his friends and family.
Camila Bernal, thank you.
BERNAL: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Now to the human cost of war and the tragic price paid by society's youngest and most vulnerable. After the break, we'll meet some of those who are dealing with the impact of the conflict. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
The United Nations is warning that, quote, civil order is breaking down in Gaza. It comes on the news of looting at logistics and aid warehouses in the region. The United Nations went on to call for those in charge of Israel and Hamas to, quote, step back from the brink.
Israel says it hasn't begun the next stage of the war against Hamas. The military said it exchanged gunfire with Hamas and struck targets in the northern part of the region.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is speaking out about the importance of aid into Gaza and protecting civilians caught in the middle. In a call with leaders of Israel and Egypt, President Biden expressed ongoing support for Israel to defend itself, but also said international law prioritizes protecting civilians.
A top concern for many is the fate of Gaza's children whose lives are increasingly at risk.
Jomana Karadsheh reports on the anguish of families who by the lost loved ones or a caring for children whose lives will never be the same. We want to warn you the video you're about to see maybe upsetting to some viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to believe this was Gaza just a few weeks ago. Little Nour (ph) dressed in his finest dancing with his brother at a wedding.
His mother (inaudible) still can't believe her boy is gone.
[19:30:05] He was holding my hand as I took him to make him a sandwich. She says he didn't get to eat it. Shrapnel cut through his neck. He's now in heaven. God give me strength to deal with this.
The air strikes that took 6-year-old Nour and other relatives left her with injuries all over her body and the unbearable pain so many pals did in mothers are having to endure.
There's 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 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.
And a few hospitals still barely standing, 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.
The 3-year-old Judy (ph) hasn't uttered a word in 16 days. She won't 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 the 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.
Lady Arwa (ph) keeps asking for her mom. She's too young to understand, her uncle says. Arwa's 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), that you were the only ones to survive an airstrike that killed their mother, father, brother, and dozens of their extended family. Kinan doesn't say much these days.
He asks me if we have internet here. He says, I want to call mommy and daddy, his aunt says. Doctors in these overwhelmed hospitals say every day brings a constant stream of children with no parents, a flood of injured. They just don't have enough to treat. With a little they have, they do what they can. But how do you begin to deal with so many going through so much?
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Now, the rapid deteriorating situation in Gaza is particularly hard on those two with family there.
Dorgham Abusalim lives in Washington, D.C., but his parents and siblings are in the central Gaza Strip. And on the challenge with communications, he says, I've not had a chance to have a voice call, but I did receive a text message confirming they were alive. The situation, nonetheless, remains horrific and dangerous. The past day and a half, during the coms blackout, which was a result of Israel destroying connectivity, cables and routers were terrifying.
And joining us now, Dorgham Abusalim. Good to have you with us. And I'm sorry for what you and your family are going through. What's this weekend been like as we've seen the violence and the activity increase?
DORGHAM ABUSALIM, FAMILYIS TRAPPED IN GAZA: It's been quite horrific and just incredibly difficult to go through the anxiety and the stress of what's going on in the Gaza Strip, on the ground with Israel carrying numerous crimes that are defined humanity at an unspeakable level, quite frankly.
You know, about a day and a half of no communication whatsoever with my family, that was incredibly stressful and terrifying. Not to say, you know, of what they are actually experiencing on the ground. And the situation seems to be only worsening. And this is the reality that we're now facing while the world seems to be incapable of, you know, imposing or forcing a ceasefire or finding a solution and preventing Israeli violence.
CHATTERLEY: I want to come back to that point, but I hope you don't mind me sharing something about your parents' health. Your mother is in her 60s and she's blind. And your father had a stroke and now he's paralyzed, at least partially paralyzed. He also has diabetes.
[19:35:04]
These are two challenges and challenging situations in the best of times. One can only imagine what trying to evacuate, trying to move, trying to deal with a situation that's going on right now. What about medical supplies, medication? Do you know if they have those to treat hypertension to your mother?
ABUSALIM: To the best of my knowledge, the last I heard from them were that the supplies were diminishing and it's not clear if they will be able to find more of these medications.
Unfortunately, as, you know, numerous reports around the world have highlighted, the Gaza Strip is experiencing a shortage of everything. This is not an overstatement.
And, unfortunately, this is a reality that has been inflicted on us by Israel as a result of his collective punishment against all people in the Gaza Strip preventing food, medicine, humanitarian aid, you know, regulating it at a very strict base, electricity and water. And, you know, for my parents, as the case goes for anybody in the Gaza Strip, but certainly for those who live with, you know, chronic illnesses or disabilities, their situation is even more severe and more dangerous, you know, threatening their lives and their livelihood.
And one thing I would like to add, you know, to your question, you had mentioned the word evacuation. I mean, this is the only home we've ever known. We should not have to be, nor should my parents be confronted with that horrific prospect in such an undignified and inhumane way.
This is the only home we've ever known. My father is 80 years old. He is older than the state of Israel. We predate the British mandate. We predate the Israeli state. We've been there all along. So we're not knowing anywhere.
And quite frankly, the question that should be asked is, how do we remove the circumstances that are leading reporters asking us, why can't your people leave? Why should we? This is our home.
CHATTERLEY: I wasn't asking if you were forced to leave. I was just even just talking about between North and South.
Can I ask where your family are? Are they in the North and South? And did they -- we'll call it relocate. Have they been able to move into a different area?
ABUSALIM: No, they have not. And I think the appropriate word would be forced displacement, not relocation. That said, we are in the town of Deir al Balah which is right in the middle of the Gaza Strip.
And in fact, you know, this would be the next city from Gaza City in the southern direction. And a lot of people have actually stayed in Deir al Balah. Others have moved even further south.
My family currently is sheltering three more families in our home, which is adding to the stress and the humanitarian burden. There's about 30 people in our house right now.
CHATTERLEY: I hear your frustration, your fear in trying to understand what's taking place. Can I ask you? And I know it's an awful question to be asked. Can you understand on some level why Israel has reacted the way that they have in light of what happened on October the 7th?
ABUSALIM: I absolutely cannot. And I have relate to many friends of mine and even to reporters and news programs such as yourself. You know, I said that only way that you could rationalize this. The only way that you could make sense of it is by accepting the awful presumption that Palestinians are not human beings.
So I find another way for us to understand, you know, the extent of the horrific violence that is being committed against us in mass.
We have seen and we have heard reports of Israeli radio officials making it clear that this is a war against everybody. Indiscriminate, without distinction, without regards for laws and regulations, without regards for humanity, without regards for anything that, you know, with a full prediction to all sorts of people in the Gaza Strip.
We've seen ambulances being destroyed. We've seen paramedics being killed. We've seen babies and women being killed. We've seen U.N. workers being killed. We've seen schools being attacked. We've seen hospitals being attacked. Nothing appears to be sacred. The Israeli occupation. So I cannot find a way to understand that. I'm afraid.
CHATTERLEY: I understand. I guess for balance, I would point out that for many people, what they saw on October 7th, that also felt pretty inhumane. And it's not a justification or an excuse. I just pointed out for balance.
Can I ask you, despite what you're suffering and what you're seeing your family go through, whether you think that people can come together after this and find some path to peace that allows both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and live together?
ABUSALIM: Right. You know, this will likely be the million dollar question, you know, moving forward. The reality is Palestinians have engaged in the peace process since the 1990s, at least process that Benjamin Netanyahu is on record bragging about him derailing it and destroying the Oslo process. These are his own words. They're not my own. You can look it up.
[19:40:09]
And the reality of the matter is what happened on October 7th is simply horrific. And I don't think anybody whishes violence, period. But what happened on October 7th didn't just begin and end with Hamas and didn't just begin and end on that same day.
This is a result of an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing and violence against us that has been going on for decades. I think it's important as we, you know, think about peace moving forward, we got to take account of the entirety of the context of, you know, the suffering that Palestinians have been going through since 1948.
CHATTERLEY: And, Dorgham, context matters. Can I just ask you though? Do you denounce what Hamas carried out on October 7th?
ABUSALIM: I'm not a Hamas spokesperson and I'm not involved with Hamas. And I don't think that's an appropriate question whatsoever to ask when I am relaying to you the humanitarian situation and the risk that my family is going through.
That said, as I've -- as I've mentioned earlier in the interview, I don't think anybody in the right mind would be relishing or enjoying this kind of violence.
The reality of the matter, it was all preventable. I think this is the greatest tragedy of it all, besides the loss of human life. It was preventable. Had the State of Israel been held accountable for all its violations, we wouldn't be here. Had the State of Israel lifted the siege on the Gaza Strip, we wouldn't be here. Yet, here we are. We have been talking to the world for decades about our suffering and about the violations that are being inflicted against us. And now we see what has happened.
We have warned people that the Gaza Strip is a pressure cooker that will blow up, not because we wanted it, but because this is the natural course of things that happen once, you know, you impose a blockade of that nature and expect them to point to many people that have been suffering.
Dorgham, your voice is an important one, and more talking and less violence, I think, is some form of way of progressing from this awful moment. And our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Thank you for your time, sir.
We're back after this.
ABUSALIM: Thank you so much.
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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. We'll continue our coverage of the war in Israel in just a few moments' time.
But for now, let's take a look at some of the other stories making international headlines. Two passenger trains collided in India on Sunday, a government official tells Reuters at least 10 people lost their lives in the collision in Eastern Andhra Pradesh State.
A railway's official says one of the trains stopped after an overhead cable broke and an oncoming train slammed into it, derailing several carriages of the stopped train.
Rescue workers worked desperately to bring the injured passengers to safety. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his condolences in a message on X.
The United Auto Workers Union has reached a tentative contract agreement with Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler. The news comes after the UAW's contract deal hammered out with Ford last week. The UAW meantime is expanding its ongoing strike against General Motors.
[19:45:06]
Ukraine has issued evacuation orders for children in 10 settlements in the Kharkiv region in the country's northeast. It's due to what the region's military administration is calling, quote, constant hostile shelling. Two hundred and seventy-five children are being told to move, along with their family or at least one guardian. It follows similar measures in Donetsk and Kherson.
And the death toll in Mexico is now climbed to 43 following the devastating landfall Tuesday of Hurricane Otis. The category five storm battered parts of Mexico's Pacific coast, including the resort city of Acapulco. Gustavo Valdez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've made it to Acapulco, but just barely because once you get into the city, there's a big traffic jam that is preventing us from advancing. But the story you can see is behind me. All these people, the residents, the people you don't usually associate with a tourist town are trying to go and find whatever they can to get by, because so far, we have not seen any help from the government. We have not seen a centralized location where people might be distributing water or food.
And you can see people we're hearing reports of looting. We saw it on Thursday. Now, we're seeing all these people. And this is the problem. The cars just come from whatever they can. But let's see if we can talk to this guy, this gentleman over here.
What do you have here?
There's no food. There's nothing.
What do you have?
Food and water and some toilet paper and some dishes. They are admitting that they wanted to store and they got what they needed because they can't find it anywhere. So you see, everybody is complaining. They're asking, they need help. They need help.
So the destruction is one thing in the tourist part. Now the residents is just begging for help.
Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Acapulco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And we'll be back with more news from the Middle East after this short break. Stay with CNN.
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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. Three weeks after Hamas launched an attack on an Israeli music festival that left at least 260 people dead, some survivors returned to the site and retrace their steps from that tragic day, as our Jake Tapper reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOR KAPAH, NOVA FESTIVAL SURVIVOR: You know, Shye, my heart is like jumping. Like 600.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: It is an uneasy journey back to a place you barely escaped from alive.
SHYE WEINSTEIN, NOVA FESTIVAL SURVIVOR: I don't know how I feel.
TAPPER: To a place where so many others did not.
KAPAH: I don't believe I traveled here after almost three weeks.
TAPPER: This is the first time Shye Weinstein.
WEINSTEIN: It's so hard to tell where everything was when it's not standing.
TAPPER: And Dor Kapah.
DOR KAPAH, NOVA FESTIVAL SURVIVOR: I was over there, something like that.
TAPPER: Have been back to the site of the Nova music festival since 260 people were slaughtered here on October 7th.
It was an overnight party to celebrate peace and easy place to make new friends. Shye was taking photos with his vintage camera.
[19:50:02]
WEINSTEIN: And I remember I saw your white jacket and like, oh, he looks like a cool guy. And I tapped you on your shoulder.
KAPAH: Around three and a half, 4:00 in the morning and it was --
WEINSTEIN: Yes.
TAPPER: The next memory is more permanent.
WEINSTEIN: It started right at 6:27, 6:28.
KAPAH: Twenty-eight, yes. But I saw it in 6:29.
TAPPER: And that's when they say the terrorist attack began with rockets.
WEINSTEIN: You know, one rocket, two rockets, three, four, five, makes me nervous. But these rockets weren't stopping.
KAPAH: And I saw from there all the missiles flying, like hundreds, to this side, the other side, and all the sky became to be fireworks.
WEINSTEIN: So between 6:30 and 7:30, 7:45, we were here packing up, deliberating whether or not we should leave, or we should wait for the Iron Dome, or what?
TAPPER: And then came the sound of gunshots.
KAPAH: We heard far away guns, like, I don't know how to say it in English.
WEINSTEIN: Machine guns.
KAPAH: Machine guns. Like (MAKE SOUNDS)
WEINSTEIN: Gunfire, like, really fast, like (MAKE SOUNDS) and then nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shye, you're driving?
WEINSTEIN: I'm absolutely OK with driving.
TAPPER: Shye and his friends began to flee, along with so many others.
KAPAH: Security passed through all the area sitting and all the area with people, and said, like, evacuate immediately, evacuate immediately. And I stayed inside because all my equipment was here.
We're packing, we wait over here. And then they start coming from over there, and they start shooting everyone in this area that comes from this stage. It was here a bar. Here, it was a small stage. And friends of my brother killed down of this --
TAPPER: They were just shot -- they were shot over there?
KAPAH: They hide downstairs and they shot over there. They found them, like, four days, five days after it.
WEINSTEIN: All of us here collective gunfire from all around, not one specific place. And they're like, we have to go now.
TAPPER: As both men made their escapes, they saw the atrocities the terrorists had already committed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scariest moment of my life.
TAPPER: Scenes many survivors later shared for the world to bear witness.
WEINSTEIN: More cars on the side of the road, belongings all over, the doors open, and there's bodies from left to right in the middle of the road that we have to go around, and the bodies are, like, they're faced down in their blood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody down.
WEINSTEIN: Eventually we passed some cars, and there's a car facing us on our side of the road, facing the wrong side -- the silver car. And I remember looking into it, and I see the driver slumped back in his seat, and he has a hole in his face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't stop.
WEINSTEIN: And this is like, if we were faster, we would be dead. If we were slower, we might be dead.
TAPPER: You're driving through trees.
KAPAH: Through trees, inside the roads, and we found IDF car, bulletproof. And it was switched on, and it was half-broken from the front. There was soldier over there, but we found a gun with M-16.
You see the bathroom? TAPPER: Yes.
KAPAH: Over there, we hide.
TAPPER: Dor would later hide at Kibbutz Beeri where more than 120 residents were murdered.
KAPAH: You open this door, because you don't have any lock over here. You can see, no lock and no key. So I hold it here, and I was in this position, from the time, for six hours.
Dor pulled this bloody knife off a dead body, just to give himself and his friends some hope of survival.
WEINSTEIN: This is awful. And awful is not even a good enough word to describe it. There's no -- there's no word in the vocabulary that can describe how heinous what happened here was.
TAPPER: And later, they would learn the fate of those who had stood right next to them, just hours before.
WEINSTEIN: I remember as you're packing up an older guy, his name is Ron Sheffer (ph), and he was cool as a cucumber. He's like, in a hammock, just talking to us as we're figuring out whether we should go. Totally relaxed, not anxious, not sweating, nothing.
He spoke to me, he spoke to my cousin. I took a photo of them together. A really great guy, and only later in the week after the festival did I learn, because I'm trying to find people. I get home from the festival Saturday, Sunday, Monday, I start looking for people. I post on social media. I post on Facebook. I post on Instagram. Like I post all my photos. I get them developed.
And do you know these people? Do you recognize them, they're at the festival, please, you know, put me in contact with them or their families. I want to know what happens with them. Because I'm terrified, like, I now have 106 or somewhat photos of dead people who I just made friends with, who I just connected with.
[19:55:00]
KAPAH: The lady from here, one, 60's escaped, one she's in Gaza right now, I know.
TAPPER: She was kidnapped.
KAPAH: Kidnapped, yes. And the ladies from here, we can reach one of them, she's also to run, and the other one, Rami (ph), she has died. They killed her.
Yes, I buried like 40, 50 people.
TAPPER: You buried 40 or 50 friends?
KAPAH: Yes.
TAPPER: What do you think about coming back here? Was this a good idea? Or was it a bad idea?
WEINSTEIN: It helps me in a way that I can see what we went through and that we survived and we got out. You know, my friends are all alive. Thank God. We all escaped together.
TAPPER: Jake Tapper, CNN, Re'im, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And that's all we have time for this hour. I'm Julia Chatterley, but I'll be back with more on the Israel -Hamas war in just a few moments time.
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