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Palestinian Civilians Caught in Crossfire of War; Forensic Experts Work to Identify Bodies Mutilated by Hamas; U.S. Tries to Balance Attack Response with War Worries. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 31, 2023 - 00:00   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 INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton with our coverage of Israel's war on Hamas.

Now, Israel is in fact rejecting calls for a ceasefire as its troops and tanks advance ever deeper into Gaza, more than three weeks after the deadly rampage by Hamas. Now, the Israeli ground operation is expanding, and it's believed Israeli forces are at least several kilometers, perhaps a little bit more than a couple miles, inside the enclave. The Israeli prime minister is making it clear there will be no truce comparing his government stance to that of the U.S. after the attacks on Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This is a time for war, a war for our common future. Today we draw a line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism. It is a time for everyone to decide where they stand. Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Meantime, an Israeli strike has damaged Gaza's top cancer hospital, that's according to its director. He said no one was injured, but there was damage to oxygen and water supplies. Now, with calls for humanitarian aid growing ever louder, the Palestinian Red Crescent says 26 trucks carrying food and medical supplies did cross into Gaza from Egypt Monday.

That aid does not include fuel, which Israel refuses to allow in, arguing Hamas will steal it and use it for rocket attacks. On Monday, the IDF announced the rescue of a Hamas hostage during ground operations in Gaza. The Israeli soldier was abducted during the October 7th attacks and she has now been reunited with her family. CNN's Nic Robertson has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): The moment they feared might never come. Private Ori Megidish hugs her grandmother, reunited with her family, rescued by the IDF after more than three weeks held hostage by Hamas. A moment of hope too for families of other hostages.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In some way, they are listening to us right now. Please, please stay strong.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): But even as Megidish met her family, Hamas propagandized three hostages they still hold. Seen here before their capture, the Hamas video CNN has decided not to air shows the women under apparent duress, blaming the Prime Minister for not calling a ceasefire to help get them released. Netanyahu unrelenting in refusing Hamas's pressure.

NETANYAHU: Just as the United States would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Inside Gaza, Israeli forces reinforcing that message, extending their incursion deeper into the enclave's densely populated neighborhoods. Ground troops, according to the IDF, calling in airstrikes on Hamas strongholds. Aircraft also dropping flyers, warning civilians their neighborhood's now a battlefield, and to evacuate south.

This civilian looking vehicle didn't manage to escape, taking a direct hit from a tank. The IDF say, impossible to know if it contains civilians or terrorists. The mounting civilian death toll and deteriorating humanitarian conditions fueling international pressure on Israel to call a ceasefire. Netanyahu insisting his is a just war.

NETANYAHU: It means making a moral distinction between the deliberate murder of the innocent and the unintentional casualties that accompany every legitimate war.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): As night falling, more and more of Gaza's residents on the move. Many in makeshift camps. All of them just hoping they'll see the sun rise.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel.

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NEWTON: CNN's Clare Sebastian now joins us from London with more on the developments. And Clare, there are a lot of developments and unfortunately a lot of escalation. Not good news for anyone.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Paula, I think you can say that this, what Israel is calling second stage, this ground offensive, is now ramping up.

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You heard it in Prime Minister Netanyahu's comments rejecting any idea of a ceasefire. We're also seeing the IDF saying on Monday that they're moving additional troops into Gaza. We see this bombing campaign continuing to intensify. And of course, there's renewed calls for evacuations through leaflets. We're also hearing, from an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza City saying that she received a phone call to evacuate her neighborhood. So that, speaks to this, sort of, sense of escalation with this campaign for Israel.

I think what we can also say, though, is that Israel is now able to add weight to its claims that it can balance these two goals of both eradicating Hamas through this ground and air offensive and getting these hostages out. It says that it managed to kill -- on Monday, it said four key Hamas operatives, including the commander of the Hamas naval unit, the commander of the antitank unit. And of course, with the rescue, what they're calling an active rescue, not a release of this female Israeli soldier, they are able to say that they can both conduct this ground offensive and get these hostages out of there.

Of course, there are now some more than 200 still left in Gaza. I think on the flip side, Israel is likely to face mounting pressure from the International Community when it comes to the situation for civilians in Gaza. That we are hearing reports from the last hours and the last day of hospitals continuing to be in the firing line.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society saying that the al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, which has already been damaged, which received a call for it to evacuate on Sunday, is again hearing, you know, bombing in the vicinity of that. They're saying that people in the hospital are terrified, this coming in the last few hours from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. And separately in the northeastern part of Gaza, a Turkish funded cancer hospital was hit, according to the director of that hospital. No injuries.

But this is something where Israel has faced mounting calls, mounting alarm from the International Community over the situation of these medical facilities. That pressure likely continue -- to continue even as we see this offensive ramping up, Paula.

NEWTON: Chilling when those hospitals are given orders to evacuate when they know there is nowhere to evacuate to. Clare Sebastian for us in London. Appreciate it.

CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier joins me now from Washington. And Kim, I really appreciate getting your insights in this, especially as we see developments on the ground in the last few hours now. Netanyahu was resolute, right? Israeli troops press on. In the meantime, the prime minister now claims that the rescue of the IDF soldier is proof that military pressure on Hamas will, in equal measure, both save hostages and destroy Hamas. Is that even possible?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR, THE MILITARY TIMES: Well, the families of the hostages certainly fear it's not. They think that if some of the hostages are saved, it'll be by luck and some skill, but they're really worried about collateral damage as the Israeli Defense Forces push forward, encircling Gaza City, it looks like that's what they're doing. And starting -- laying the siege for what looks like a long urban warfare campaign. That's the kind of thing where you go block by block.

The hostages are likely hidden in an underground tunnel network in different groups. So, perhaps they can get to some pockets of them in time, but every single tunnel that they go down will likely be booby trapped, mined. And there's also the possibility that Hamas will follow through with its earlier threats to execute hostages if Israel approaches.

NEWTON: Absolutely chilling, but clearly something that does terrify the families of those hostages. Now, it seems though, in the meantime, that Israeli troops are in Gaza, and they may be there now in Gaza to stay for weeks, if not months. I want you to hear what one well sourced journalist said to CNN earlier.

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BARAK RAVID, AXIOS FOREIGN POLICY REPORTER: What the Israelis are doing right now is that they're encircling Gaza City. They're still in the outskirts of the dense urban areas, but I think that in the next few days we will start seeing this much more dramatic incursion into Gaza City.

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NEWTON: Now, in terms of what he's saying that you can anticipate, certainly, the ground incursion to begin in earnest perhaps in days, if not weeks. What does that look like on the ground, especially if Israel intends to stay on the ground for quite a bit of time?

DOZIER: Well, it seems that Israeli Defense Forces, by their own press releases have established a beachhead in Northern Gaza. And from there, they will prosecute this operation. In terms of -- we'll probably going to see many troops coming in there.

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But that 300,000 reservist callup wasn't just to invade Gaza, it was also to strengthen -- to shore up the north, and also to strengthen security across the country because the security services, after what happened, had to look at every previous plan that they had and try to double up. So, we're likely going to see more troops. But urban warfare is different than the other kinds of campaigns we've seen the Israelis pursue.

NEWTON: And in the meantime, Kim, you point out that world opinion seems to be turning against the Israeli military campaign and crucially against the U.S. support of it. You say Hamas may be winning the public relations war. Why?

DOZIER: Well, you hear in Arab social media, in Arab media reports, this overwhelming surge of anti-Israel and anti-American opinion. They're seeing the images every day of Palestinian civilians, mothers embracing dead children, and screaming lines and lines of aid trucks not able to get into Gaza. Whereas there's a disinformation campaign afoot to say that much of what the Israelis claimed happened on October 7th didn't happen. I even had Gulf officials raise questions about, oh, the Israelis showed you that awful video that they claim came from October 7th, but did you get it independently verified? That kind of thing questioning their account and what happened to them. And so, The U.S. allying itself with Israel means that whatever Israel does, it's being blamed for across the Arab world and largely across -- well, just look at the vote at the U.N. There was a vote, in favor of a ceasefire in Israel, humanitarian ceasefire, but Canada had an amendment that the U.S. backed to condemn Hamas for its attack and release all of the hostages, that didn't pass.

NEWTON: Yes. Again, encapsulated there, as you said, as the debates that continue at the U.N. Kim Dozier for us. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

DOZIER: Thanks.

NEWTON: Now, the UNICEF chief is issuing a stark warning, saying the lack of clean water in Gaza is on the verge of becoming a catastrophe. Now, she says more than 2 million people are, of course, in dire need of clean water in the enclave, and without it, they will suffer from dehydration and waterborne diseases. Melissa Bell shows us the gravity of the situation.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): In Gaza, the fight for survival grows more desperate by the hour. Civil order is breaking down with U.N. aid warehouses swarmed. Many of these people have been displaced and are now in desperate search of the basics. The water shortage so bad that some are now turning to the sea for the supplies they so desperately need.

SAMER ABDELJABER, REP. & COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR PALESTINIANS, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Very difficult. The services are not set up for this. The shelter, which is we call it shelter now is supposed to be a school. So, in a classroom that's supposed to have, what, 20 kids or 30 kids attending a school every day, you have more than 170 to 100 people sleeping, eating, drinking there. And those are the people that we know. Those are the people that we used to talk all the time, laugh all the time.

BELL (voiceover): All eyes are now on the Rafah Crossing, the last lifeline in and out of Gaza. Before the war, some 400 trucks a day went into the enclave, according to the World Food Program. A flow now reduced to a trickle, with fewer than 200 getting through Rafah since the war began. A crossing that is now as crucial as it is uncertain.

MAHMOUD HUSSEINI, DRIVES TRUCK CARRYING AID (through translator): We will keep going until the end, until they get all their humanitarian needs. God be with them. We are their Egyptian brothers. Our hands are in their hands. We've been here for 15 days already and we will stay for as long as it takes.

BELL (voiceover): It's at the nearby Irish airport that aid from all over the world arrives before being loaded onto Egyptian Red Crescent trucks on their way to Rafah. The convoys also go through inspection by Israeli officials at the Nitzana Crossing before the aid can be delivered to those who so desperately need it.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Since we got here 20 days ago, we only got two coupons worth of aid, each of which is only sufficient for a small child.

BELL (voiceover): A stranglehold that aid agencies worn is unlikely to be fixed without a ceasefire.

ABDELJABER: There is definitely going to be dehydration. There's definitely going to be starvation. There's definitely going to be a health crisis. Malnutrition is going to be an issue. You're talking about people who are reducing food to avoid going to the toilet. It's as simple as that.

BELL (voiceover): Meaning that for now, for those inside Gaza, there is little hope that more aid will get in and even less that they will get out. Melissa Bell, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Still to come for us, Israel issues its highest travel alert for parts of Russia after an antisemitic mob storms an airport. We'll have video from the inside.

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NEWTON: Israel has now issued its highest travel warning from Dagestan and other areas of Southern Russia after an antisemitic mob stormed an airport Sunday. Officials cited the ongoing war, Sunday's incident, and other possible attacks and violence against Israelis and Jews. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has our details.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The moment an angry mob charged onto the tarmac towards a plane from Tel Aviv looking for Israelis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

PLEITGEN (voiceover): Some of the passengers surrounded, forced to prove they aren't Jews.

I'm Uzbek, but I don't know Uzbek language, this man assures.

Do you want to fool us? Take his passport, a man answers.

Rumors had swirled in the Muslim majority, Dagestan region of Russia, that this jet was carrying refugees from Israel setting off the rampage. There are no more passengers here, honestly, a ground staff member says, as the crowd surrounds the aircraft.

Everyone immediately go back onto the plane, the crew of a different aircraft orders its passengers as the protesters charge those disembarking.

Hundreds also broke into the terminal building, some carrying Palestinian flags, leading to a total shutdown of the airport. The melee continued outside as well. Rioters searching vehicles also looking for Jews.

I have a sick kid here. We only have sick kids. Let us go, the man in this bus says.

And this woman screams, we were traveling to bring our kids to get medical treatment. Let us go. What do you want from us?

Russian security forces used choppers to bring in reinforcements, firing into the air to try and push the protesters back. Authorities say, more than 20 were injured and more than 60 detained. The crowd throwing rocks at riot police even after they were driven out of the airport.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with his security staff, but the Kremlin blames, "External interference for inciting the crowd." While it's not clear whether any Israelis were harmed, condemnation from Israel's president in an interview with German publication BILT.

ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: It was like a pogrom. Thank God it was prevented at the end by the authorities. But it looked like a pogrom, and it was live, and everybody was worried about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

PLEITGEN (voiceover): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

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NEWTON: Now, a conflict between Israel and Hamas is also creating tensions on some U.S. college campuses. Cornell University's president says police are investigating a series of antisemitic threats made against the school's Jewish community. The online posts surfaced Sunday and included threats to shoot Jewish students and encouraged others to harm them, that was according to the school student newspaper. Cornell's police has announced they will increase patrols and provide additional security for Jewish students and organizations.

On the ancient but now almost empty streets of East Jerusalem, there is fear in Palestinian neighborhoods. Young men tell us they are worried Israeli police will arrest them for the slightest infraction. And merchants say, they are struggling for customers. CNN's Erin Burnett went to East Jerusalem to see how residents there are coping.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR (voiceover): The call to prayer over Jerusalem, echoing over what are normally packed streets, now nearly empty. Salah Mitwali says he comes to his shop only for a change of scenery because no one is buying anything, he says. Palestinians telling us they're afraid of Israeli police, essentially living under curfew.

SALAH MITWALI, EAST JERUSALEM RESIDENT (through translator): They have crossed all the red lines. They used force and arrest people for silly things like a photo on your phone.

BURNETT (voiceover): Young children were the only people we saw out in any noticeable numbers because young men are afraid. We went to talk to them in East Jerusalem. They were terribly afraid to speak on camera. Mohammed told us, God make you happy. A way of saying, I'm sorry I can't speak. If I do, he adds, I'll go to jail. And one of them showed us why they believe this. This is a TikTok video on his phone, it's gone viral among young Palestinian men.

He says, Israel is planning a new law to revoke citizenship or national ID for anyone who supports terrorism.

And it's true. Israeli cabinet officials are proposing such a law. And to these young men, it means they can be arrested for anything. They tell us they'll go to jail if they have a Quran verse on their phone home screen, or if they post a picture of a dead Palestinian.

We looked up the current Israeli law, it reads in part, anyone who commits an act of identifying with a terror organization, including through publicizing praise, support, or affinity, waving a flag, showing or promoting a symbol, or showing, playing, or promoting a slogan or anthem, the judgment is three years imprisonment.

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In fact, since the war began, Israel has already arrested many hundreds of young Palestinian men. Giving the simple explanation that they're, "Affiliated with Hamas."

And the fear is pervasive. One young man named Faisal (ph) was afraid of arrest. He told us he was recently released from 18 months in prison after he says he was arrested at a protest near Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque. One group of young men told us they've been beaten by police along this wall at the bottom of their street. But the men were hospitable to us. Some gave us water and refused to take money. Even though they say there is no business, no money. No livelihood for them now.

MITWALI (through translator): The situation is scary. Everyone is afraid. Young people, they have passion. They're not happy with the situation. They say, this is our country. What are they going to do to us? This is ours.

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NEWTON: Our thanks to Erin Burnett for that report. Now, across the West Bank, Israeli forces are clashing with armed Palestinian groups suspected of being Hamas operatives or otherwise involved in terrorism. The Palestinian Health Ministry says, four Palestinian men in their 20s were killed overnight in the restive City of Jenin. Israel claims at least one of them was a member of Islamic Jihad. The ministry says, 121 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7th when Hamas attacked Israel.

As Israeli forces advance into Gaza, attacking from the air and ground, Palestinian civilians find themselves caught in the middle. A disturbing look at what's happening. That's next.

And we go -- before we go to break, we leave you with a view of the Gaza skyline as seen from Israel at the South.

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NEWTON: Welcome back. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is reminding Israel that it needs to protect all civilian lives in Gaza. Linda Thomas Greenfield says no Matter their nationality, quote, "A civilian is a civilian, is a civilian."

The Palestinian Authority's foreign minister also shared with the U.N. Security Council the grim reality in -- of people in Gaza who are now facing -- what they are now facing amid Israel's ground operation. He urged the council to fulfill its duty to maintain international peace and security and asked, quote, "How many more days will you wait to say, 'Enough?'"

And as the IDF continues its multi-pronged campaign against the militant group Hamas, our Salma Abdelaziz looks at the civilians who have been caught in the crossfire. And a warning: The images in this report are graphic and may be disturbing.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what the so-called second stage of war looks like. Panic and suffocation inside Northern Gaza's Al Quds Hospital. Terrified families and patients with nowhere to run.

Airstrikes nearby, after the IDF told people here to flee South.

NIBAL FARSAKH, COMMUNICATION AND PR, PALESTINIAN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY: We have over 400 patients who are inside the hospital. Many of them are in the intensive care units. Evacuating them means killing them.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The evacuation order called impossible by the World Health Organization and the U.N. Both stressed hospitals and civilians must be protected, including some 12,000 displaced people sheltering inside Al Quds Hospital.

"Tell us where it's safe, and we will leave the hospital," he says. "There is no safe place. Not in the South, not in the whole of Gaza."

Near-constant airstrikes now pound the enclave, while Israeli troops expand their ground operations. The IDF insists it is eradicating Hamas.

But on the ground in this densely-populated territory, utter devastation is the consequence.

There are 2 million people, half of them children, trapped here under bombardment and under siege.

"This is revenge, a cowardly racist campaign," he says. "We in this area, we are one family. We are kind people. Instead of waking up to the sound of the call to prayer, we woke up to an airstrike."

The anguish and horror inside Gaza sparking mass demonstrations, from New York City, to London, to Rome; and calls for a ceasefire are growing louder.

U.N. members overwhelmingly voted for an immediate and sustained truce last week.

But even as Palestinian families bury their youngest -- more than 3,000 children killed in three weeks, Save the Children said, citing Gaza's Hamas-controlled health authorities, amplifying the global outcry -- Prime Netanyahu vows, this is only the beginning.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

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NEWTON: Joining me now is Hani Almadhoun. He is director of a philanthropy at the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, USA. And he joins me now from Washington.

I thank you for joining us on what must be, and continue to be, difficult hours.

If you can give us an update about the situation on the ground, given the ferocity of the military confrontation there. But also, I have to ask you -- I know this is so personal for you. How is your family they're doing, and have you heard from them?

HANI ALMADHOUN, DIRECTOR OF PHILANTHROPY, UNRWA USA: Hi, Paula. No, I have not heard from them in the last three days, unfortunately. I did receive a voice note in WhatsApp from my mom. She said she was alive, and she asked me to pray for them. I could tell she's shaking. But they continue to be struggling with both security and safety.

You know, she's 71 years old, and she's trying to survive this.

The situation has immensely worsened for our colleagues of UNRWA. Every day we look at the numbers of Palestine refugees who are sheltering at UNRWA facilities. Every day, it goes up.

The latest we have is 670,000 Palestine refugees taking shelter inside 150 UNRWA facilities. That's overcrowding. There is four times the capacity right now. So if the shelter is meant to serve 1,000 people, now there's 4,000 people. There is crowding.

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There is food and security. Obviously, you know, there are safety concerns for our staff, and for the last 36 hours, our team in UNRWA, our colleagues at UNRWA have very little communications. So there was a lot of disruption in the logistical chain to support people with food and water.

So ideally, it's not a very good position to be at. You know, we continue to call for the protection of civilians, but as you can see, it's been a challenge to, you know, keep our staff safe, as we've lost, in fact, 63 staff from UNRWA, U.N. staff, were killed as a result of the violence and the airstrikes in Gaza.

And you know, we're trying to continue, but it's becoming harder and harder now.

NEWTON: Of course, it must be so challenging, again, with the worry that everyone has about their loved ones in Gaza itself. And also when you look at the challenges of every hour, right? It is a struggle to survive. Which is why I ask you: we do hear about aid getting into Gaza. Will it make a material difference, do you think?

ALMADHOUN: You know, we're -- just an example, the last -- two days ago, there was no aid that come into Gaza because of lack of communication. As you know, the services are down, the Internet and the phone. That's part of the Israeli tactic in their invasion for Gaza. This disrupts a lot of our work.

We're happy to receive aid, but it's not -- there's a lot of mismatch. We're receiving, for example, things that might be important but not relevant right now.

For example, you know, some hospitals received corona tests, and that's just -- you know, it's a very slow process. And you know, we're trying to get medicine and medical supplies. We're not getting as much as we need, obviously.

Without the fuel -- that's the most important thing. Without fuel, it doesn't Matter how many trucks are allowed in. As we know, hospitals continue to require this. And water operation, deliveries, ambulances. And right now, if people can't go in the ambulance, how will they stay safe?

You know, we're seeing the crumbling of civilization as we know it in Gaza right now. And we're concerned, and we're hoping that things will get better as the Israelis, you know, promised to protect civilians. As of right now, we're not seeing that being respected at the moment.

NEWTON: And there is a lot of pressure to get to that. I will add that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has called for there to be the Kerem Shalom crossing that links Israel and Gaza, for that to be opened as a humanitarian corridor. Now, you and I both know the odds of that are very slim.

But also, I have to ask you. Some of the families of the hostages themselves say that the more aid that Gaza gets, the longer they believed their loved ones will remain in captivity. How does the U.N. balance those concerns?

ALMADHOUN: Yes, obviously, UNRWA USA is a little bit -- you know, we're part of the U.N. support for UNRWA. The agency is the one doing the work. We -- You are correct, obviously. We want all civilians to be protected, including the detainees or the hostages in Gaza. Obviously, we want them to be safe.

But again, you know, we're focused in protecting and uplifting the experience to the Palestine refugees. I hope the crossing gets opened. Right now, as you know, Paula, the aid gets shipped 100 kilometers for the Israelis to check it. And once they greenlight the truck, it goes in. So that slows -- slows down the process.

We're asking for 100 truck a day. Right now, we're getting maybe 10 to 20 a day. Hopefully, I'm hearing some promising things about 50 trucks a day. That's going to save lives.

You know, we're not talking about anything sophisticated like computers and light bulbs. We're just telling people we need water. You know, this is a very basic humanitarian demand. And our colleagues are hoping to get as much as we can to get people the services they need, you know? We're talking about protecting civilians, and that's somehow become controversial at this time.

NEWTON: Yes, it is not an exaggeration, as I said, that every minute of every day is about surviving. Hani, I really hope that you hear more from your family, that they stay safe and that you continue to work and be granted strength for the words that you do. Hani, thanks so much.

ALMADHOUN: Thank you for having me.

NEWTON: Now, the brutality of Hamas's attack on Israel is hindering efforts to identify the victims. Coming up, what officials are doing to bring answers to so many families desperately waiting on news about their loved ones.

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NEWTON: Israel's foreign ministry says a German Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas has been declared dead. A source says forensic examiners found a bone fragment from the base of a skull, and DNA testing concluded it belonged to 23-year-old Shanti Louk.

She attended the Nova music festival in Southern Israel on October 7 when Hamas attacked. According to the foreign ministry, Hamas kidnapped, tortured, and paraded her around Gaza. Video appeared to show her unconscious on the back of a Hamas truck. Now Israeli doctors and forensic experts have also been working to

identify other victims murdered by Hamas, but their work has been challenging, given, as you can imagine, how badly some of the bodies were mutilated.

CNN's Sara Sidner has details in this report, which we want to warn you contains disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are Hamas militants, arriving at kibbutz Be'eri on October 7th, terrorizing residents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Please, we are going to die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: We are trying to send the army. We love you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Please, please. He is losing a lot of blood. He is going to die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Mom, hold him. Hold him, OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: The army is here everywhere. The terrorists are everywhere. They are throwing grenades everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: They are throwing grenades on us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Yes.

[00:45:06]

SIDNER (voice-over): The last conversation between a mother and son in kibbutz Be'eri. Daughter Michal Pinyon shared it with us, her last memory of her mother, as Hamas descended on her parents' home.

MICHAL PINYON, RESIDENT OF KIBBUTZ BE'ERI: I know after a half an hour, she was writing, "Help, help." And then, it was quiet. SIDNER (voice-over): The next time she saw her parents, they were in

coffins.

Some families have yet to say goodbye. Outside Tel Aviv, at the Rabbinical Shura Military Base, inside these containers, there are hundreds of unidentified bodies, many mutilated and in fragments.

HAIM WEISBERG, HEAD OF THE RABBINICAL DEPARTMENT IN MILITARY RABBINATE (through translator): This place is indeed pure. It's holy. It's paradise. But it's also hell.

SIDNER (voice-over): Forensic experts, dentists and rabbis are working day and night to identify the victims of October 7th.

SIDNER: The smell is completely overwhelming. I mean, completely overwhelming, even with this on. And it's refrigerated, but some of the bodies are just in pieces. It doesn't take much to be really badly affected by just looking at the horror of that.

SIDNER (voice-over): Even those whose jobs this is are struggling.

CAPTAIN MAYAAN, FORENSIC DENTIST: You see the lack of humanity, and you see pure cruelty. During our identification process, we heard the screams, and we heard the cries of the families that came and said their last goodbyes.

SIDNER (voice-over): The brutality of the Hamas attack is forcing a change to burial rights here, usually very strict in Judaism.

WEISBERG: According to Jewish law, we bury the dead when they're in the ground. In this case, we bury them in their coffins, because we want to respect them, but also because this isn't much left of them.

SIDNER (voice-over): Michal Levin Elad and her colleagues say this is the worst thing they have ever seen because of the evidence of torture.

MICHAL LEVIN ELAD, HEAD OF NATIONAL FORENSIC INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT: I started crying, and the other people hugged. And we have these break -- breaking moments. Because this is -- these are atrocious crimes. These are crimes against humanity. This is not regular murder or terror attack or bus explosion. We've seen all of this in Israel, but never anything like this.

SIDNER (voice-over): What she does know for sure is this is more death and torture than she has ever seen in her career. Cemeteries like this one are popping up across the country.

SIDNER: This is just a temporary gravesite that is being dug for the victims of the October 7th Hamas attack. When you look at these graves, you can see the remnants of some of the things they loved in life. But there are some gruesome details.

One of these graves, for example, has two bodies from a family buried together.

Families are insistent that these temporary resting places are just that, temporary.

PINYON: We don't want them to be buried in another place. They are people of Be'eri. This is their home. This is their community. They cannot be buried anywhere else.

SIDNER (voice-over): That's because so far, kibbutz Be'eri is still under the control of the Israeli army. It's too dangerous to go back. And Pinyon realizes her family is just one of potentially 1,400 having to make this awful decision.

Three weeks in, she says they have no idea when they can go home again and when they can finally bury her parents, Amir and Mati (ph), in their final resting place.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Tel Aviv.

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NEWTON: U.S. military says its troops have been under attack for weeks in Syria and Iraq. Pentagon officials tell CNN Iranian-backed militias have attacked U.S. forces almost two dozen times since mid-October.

Oren Liebermann has more.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We have seen a continuation of attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East since October 17. That number now, according to the Pentagon, stands at 23 attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria over the course of the last two weeks or so.

The problem here is that the U.S. carried out strikes on facilities in Eastern Syria linked to Iranian-backed troops that are accused of carrying out the attacks on U.S. forces.

The purpose of those narrowly-targeted strikes was to send a message that the U.S. would protect itself and try to also send a message of deterrence against Iran and Iranian proxies to tell them, Look, the U.S. will protect its own interests there and carry out strikes, if needed.

But since those strikes, we've seen about a half a dozen more attacks on U.S. forces. So that message not getting across.

The question, will the U.S. act again? Will it carry out more airstrikes on the Iranian-backed groups it accuses of striking U.S. forces, or at least attempting to with rockets or drones?

The U.S. has left open that possibility, but it has to weigh that against the risk of escalation, a broader escalation in the region, which is very much something the U.S. is trying to avoid. From President Joe Biden on down, in the White House, they have tried

to draw a distinction between the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and other efforts, other actors in the Middle East; trying to point out that the U.S. presence in Iraq with Syria is about the ongoing defeat of ISIS.

But those are not distinctions that have been recognized by many actors, including these Iranian-backed group in the Middle East. And that has made it difficult for the U.S., even as it tries diplomatically, militarily, even, to try to keep these conflicts separate.

[00:55:03]

Owen Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.

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NEWTON: A group challenging Donald Trump's eligibility for the ballot in Colorado used the former president's own words against him as the case went to trial Monday. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is looking to use

a Civil War-era provision of the U.S. Constitution that bars people who have engaged in, quote, "insurrection or rebellion" from holding federal office.

The group played clips from Trump's infamous election night speech, where he falsely claimed victory, and when he urged supporters to fight like hell at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.

A lawyer for Trump denied the former president had incited supporters to violence and said it would set a dangerous precedent to disqualify him.

Now, the stars of "Friends" have broken their silence over the death of cast mate Matthew Perry. In a statement to "People" magazine, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow write, "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just castmates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now, we're going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss."

Perry starred as Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom from 1994 until 2004. He died Saturday at his home in L.A. The cause of death has not yet been determined. Matthew Perry was 54.

I want to thank all of you for watching. I'm Paula Newton. I'll be right back with more news, in a moment.

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