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Israeli PM Rejects Calls For Ceasefire: "Time For War"; Aid Group: 26 Trucks Of Supplies Crossed Into Gaza Monday; Wave Of Anti- Semitic Threats Hit U.S. College Campuses; Israel at War; Ibrahim Gahman Teaching His Kids How to Survive; Speaking with Families of Hamas Hostages; Parents of Liverpool Star Luis Diaz Kidnapped. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 31, 2023 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:43]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: 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. Israel is rejecting calls for a ceasefire as its troops and tanks events ever deeper in the 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 or a little bit more than a couple of 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 airstrike has hit 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. And new details are emerging about how a female Israeli soldier was rescued from Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces say Private Ori Megidish was saved during a special operation aimed at getting her out with boots on the ground.

The IDF added that she's been medically checked out is doing well and thankfully met with her family. And she has been able to share information about her captivity with Israeli intelligence.

A closer look now at the Israeli militaries ramped up offensive in Gaza, as well as the fighting on a second front. CNN's Jim Sciutto has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): And Israeli tank inside Gaza, apparently fires on a passenger vehicle. A sniper takes up position in a window of an abandoned building, Israeli infantry advancing on the ground. And in a brief moment of apparent triumph, Israeli soldiers raised the Israeli flag over a Gaza hotel.

The outside world's vision into the extent and size of the Israeli ground offensive so far is limited. The IDF said those ground forces have struck some of their first targets.

REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAELI ARMY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Dozens of terrorists were eliminated last night who had barricaded themselves in buildings and attempted to attack the forces that were moving in their direction.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): One measure of their forward progress, CNN geolocated the video where the soldier raised the flag on the hotel, more than two miles inside Gaza. One geographical marker in a ground campaign playing out mostly out of sight. What remains visible are Israeli strikes on Gaza and rockets fired from Gaza into Israel. Despite weeks of Israeli bombardment, Hamas is still keeping up its rocket campaign. The Israeli prime minister said that his war cabinet is refusing calls for a humanitarian ceasefire.

NETANYAHU: Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen. This is a time for war.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): On Israel's northern border with Lebanon, clashes on a second front. Israeli forces trading artillery and small arms fire with Hezbollah and other militants. The IDF says this is an Israeli strike on Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon.

Our team found ourselves in the crossfire, Sunday, as shells fired from Lebanon rain down on the Israeli town of Arab al-Aramshe.

(on camera): You can hear mortar and artillery fire going out. That is from Israel towards Lebanon. We've also heard artillery fire coming from Lebanon and the concern is the soldiers telling us that there are possible infiltrations across the border from Lebanon by presumably Hezbollah fighters and that's why the level of concern is so great.

(voice-over): The near constant exchange of fire stretches all along the northern frontier with communities marked here in black under mandatory evacuation.

[01:05:07]

The constant sirens and threat of rocket attacks, driving many Israeli residents south away from the border and closer to safety.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Northern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NEWTON: We want to go straight to our Clare Sebastian has been following developments from London. And unfortunately Clare, definitely from what we've seen in the last few days, this conflict is escalating.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely Paula. And I think what we can say right now is that the 238 hostages that the IDF says are still in Hamas captivity continue to be a major factor. As you noted, we saw the rescue not released, but rescue of a female Israeli soldier from Hamas captivity on Monday. This is the first of its kind really because what we've seen Hamas release four hostages so far. They say on humanitarian grounds, this was different.

Listen to how the Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson explained how this happened to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: She was in fact rescued, actively rescued by Israeli security forces. This was a joint IDF and ISA, Israeli Security Agency operation with boots on the ground. Thanks to the operations, the ground operations that we are conducting in northern Gaza, Special Forces were able to come in. And based on intelligence, get her out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So we're hearing this being emphasized by several Israeli officials, including the prime minister himself, Benjamin Netanyahu, that they can do both at the same time both conduct this air and ground offensive to eradicate Hamas in Gaza and get these hostages out. It's important for them to emphasize this to try to allay fears that they couldn't do those two things at the same time.

But of course, major questions remain given that 238 hostages are still in Hamas captivity. It is of course also important for Israel to try to restore the reputation of the IDF itself and its intelligence services after the failings of October 7th. But of course, this was significant as well, because Hamas also showed its hand when it comes to these hostages.

On Monday, we saw the second hostage video. We're not showing it because the women in it seems to be under duress. And of course it is used for propaganda purposes. But in it, three women are seen any one of them speaks and she is essentially screaming at Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel accusing him of having promised to get them out, demanding that he free the hostages now, significant because we know that there were talks going on last week brokered by Egypt and Qatar to try to potentially free a significant number of hostages.

Israel dismissed any progress in these talks, and then proceeded to launch this ground defensive. So it is very clear, Paula, that even as we see Israeli operations ramping up, Hamas still sees a purpose in holding these hostages potentially to try to slow down that ground offensive by Israel. NEWTON: Yes, certainly a difficult time for the families of those hostages again, as these videos were released. Clare Sebastian for us, appreciate it.

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. She says more than 2 million people are in dire need of clean water in the enclave and without it they will suffer from dehydration and waterborne illnesses. Melissa Bell show us the gravity of the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 is 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 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 (voice-over): 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 Programme, a flow now reduced to a trickle with fewer than 200 getting through Rafah since the war began. Across thing that is now as crucial as it is uncertain.

[01:10:06]

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 (voice-over): It's at the nearby Irish airports 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.

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 (voice-over): A stranglehold that aid agencies warn 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 (voice-over): 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 VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Still to come for us, the conflict between Israel and Hamas is also creating tensions on some U.S. college campuses and communities right across the globe. We will have more on this troubling trend after the break.

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[01:15:19]

NEWTON: Since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, communities in the United States and right across the globe are seeing a rise in anti-Semitic threats and acts. CNN's Nick Watt has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A scuffle at Tulane after a pro-Palestinian demonstrator tried to burn an Israeli flag. At Cornell, Jews were threatened with death and cold pigs in an online forum, Saturday, according to "The Cornell Daily Sun."

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): No one should be afraid to walk from their dorm, or their (ph) dining hall to a classroom.

WATT (voice-over): But that's the reality. Another post read, going to shoot up 104 West. That's the address of the College Center for Jewish living and the kosher dining hall.

MARTHA POLLACK, PRESIDENT, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: We will not tolerate anti-Semitism on this campus.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There's no place for hate in America. And we condemn any anti-Semitic threat or incident in the strongest, in the strongest terms to the students at Cornell and on campuses across the country. We're tracking these threats closely.

WATT (voice-over): At George Washington University, glory to our martyrs, among the messages projected on a library wall.

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO & NATIONAL DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: Celebrating the individuals who were murdered and massacred Israeli civilians. WATT (voice-over): And it's not just college campuses, slurs painted on the building in Beverly Hills where Holocaust survivor and her daughter live.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anytime someone hates you, it hurts.

WATT (voice-over): Florida Congressman posted, Saturday, the temple I belong to was targeted by five people wearing ski masks and shouting killed the Jews, as congregants left.

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): this has gone into a horrible place that reminds the Jewish community quite frankly, of the reason why Israel was created in the first place.

WATT (voice-over): Anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. are up nearly 400 percent since the Hamas terror attacks of October 7th, according to preliminary data just released from the ADL.

GREENBLATT: And let's keep in mind that prior to October 7th, we have already seen the highest number of anti-Jewish acts in America that the ADL had ever tracked in the last, you know, 45 years.

MOSKOWITZ: Quite frankly, there's -- there are very few corners of the world right now in which you won't see that sort of craziness, different levels, of course, but it's everywhere.

WATT (voice-over): Today in Paris, four Jewish educational institutes received bomb threats. In China, normally strict state censors appear to be allowing extremist anti-Semitic posts online.

And in southern Russia, a mob, some carrying anti-Semitic signs broke into an airport, Sunday, apparently, to meet a flight from Tel Aviv.

MOSKOWITZ: That was an angry mob that broke through security in an airport looking for Jews. And I'm pretty sure that we're not looking to have a robust foreign policy conversation. At least 10 people were injured, say local officials, the airport had to close flights from Israel, are now being diverted elsewhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Thank Nick Watt for that report.

And for more now, on this disturbing trend, I'm joined by Brian Levin, the founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. I'm glad to have you with us this evening on what have been absolutely chilling scenes from so many corners of the globe. You know, advocacy groups like yours have been warning for years that acts of hate, extremism have been on the rise. I mean, how do you characterize what is happening now given the horrific events of the last few weeks?

BRIAN LEVIN, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HATE & EXTREMISM: Thank you so much for this question. And, you know, we have decades of data that we disaggregated. And what we found that during the 1990s when there was a bloody episode on the West Bank with a terror attack against a mosque. In the United States hate crimes hit decade highs. Similarly, in October 2000, during the Second Intifada that was a decade high for anti-Semitic hate crimes.

And most recently, in the latest data that we have from around the world whether it's London, anti-Semitic hate crimes up more than 15 times. In New York City, which had a record last year, we are seeing more hate crimes in October. Then the previous three or four months combined, Los Angeles, anti-Semitic hate crimes tripled.

So we're seeing this all over the world. And Toronto more than doubled. So we're seeing that just in the last few weeks. So unfortunately, we're repeating a terrible pattern that we've seen before, when conflicts in the Holy Land get violent.

[01:20:15]

NEWTON: And when we look at some of the events that Nick Watt outlined in his report there, you know, at Cornell University for an example, a lot of what happened there was nurtured online. In some cases, this is protected by free speech, at least in the United States. But what is the risk of this kind of free speech protection? What's the risk of that then leading people to carry out violent crimes?

LEVIN: What a great question. And thank you so much. And by the way, let's look at Cornell as a microcosm. I have a son over there. A professor name Rickford talked about the Hamas attacks earlier this month as being energizing and exhilarating at a rally on campus. And then just a short time later, this kind of hate got normalized.

First of all, threats are always criminally prosecutable in the United States. And the FBI is looking into this. But what we've seen time and time again, is that when leaders speak of tolerance, it has an ameliorative effect. So six days after 9/11 when President Bush spoke of tolerance towards Muslims, hate crimes dropped the next day and into the next year.

Similarly, though, when candidate Trump talked about a Muslim ban proposal, five days after the San Bernardino terror attack, hate crimes against Muslims went up another 23 percent above the spike that we saw from the terror attack. So bottom line is, civic leaders, including campus leaders have to set a tone where certainly people can rally under the First Amendment. But threats, those are illegal.

Moreover, for a community, we have to say that anti-Semitic stereotypes are glorifying the weapons that were used in terror attacks, that should be communally off limits. And we should make a safe space for everybody on campus so that people can discuss these things, as opposed to threaten each other.

NEWTON: But as you know more than most, there is that dividing line between what people assume is free speech to speech that offends incites, or is in fact, hate speech. Now, professors for example, Columbia University, I'm sure you've seen this, were defending the opinion of students and others at the school, protesting Israel's action, saying, and I want to quote them here. In our view, the student statement aims to contextualize the events of October 7th, 2023, pointing out that military operations and state violence did not begin that day, but rather it represented a military response, a military response, they're saying, by a people who had endured crushing and unrelenting state violence from an occupying power over many years.

I want to get the opinion from you because you know how contentious that statement is at this hour. And whether or not you think that kind of free speech shouldn't be protected?

LEVIN: Well, free speech must be protected. But I'm talking about as a community, for people to call terror attacks, where people were raped and it was videoed, or where people were mutilated, 1,400. Here's the problem. The legitimate aspirations of Palestinians and I've been working on interfaith and Middle East peace for many years, is sullied by those who say that decolonization is a license for anti-Semitism and bigotry. And that's what we're seeing.

I've been looking at this a long time. And within these protests, and many of them are peaceful, and many of them are not anti-Semitic. But those where we see swastikas display, people laughing at dead bodies, while holding these pictures up as we've seen in Times Square, or if people put forth glorification of weapons that we use to injure civilians, who are in the military operation. And this is something we saw on the UC's here out in California, terrorism is violence by non- state actors to intimidate populations.

And what happened on October 7th, whether people like it or not, was in fact terrorism. Now, the response certainly is something that is not above criticism as well. But we have to do on campuses is make sure that in trying to contextualize things, we don't use that as a license for anti-Semitism or other types of religious bigotry or discrimination against people because of their national origin that is protected by law.

And people should have a safe place in the educational environment to discuss these issues. And that's where the educational milieu in the United States has been failing. We're not going towards dialogue. We're going towards the most aggressive and sometimes violent type of speech and then try to justify it as decolonization.

[01:25:09]

NEWTON: And I do want to get to this point. I mean, you talk about context here. And yet frankly, so much of the discussion has been reductive, so reductive as to be dehumanizing. And I want to know this six-year-old boy, right, this Muslim boy, Wadea al-Fayoume who was savagely murdered, his mother injured, his alleged attacker now charged with murder and hate crimes. I mean, you and I both know that this is a fight against hate of all kinds, hate that is depraved how best to combat it at this hour.

LEVIN: Great point. The first thing that we have to do is speak out equally against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, which we're also seeing increases, though, depending on where we look not as much. But the bottom line is, let's look at the values that make America distinct. And that is free speech and protecting it, but also having communal norms say, hey, when you glorify or discount violence against some groups, and not others, that's something that we should shy away from. But also have discussions between groups because that's part of the educational environment, and we are not serving that well.

When on the one hand, we can have protests, but there's a certain type of Jew hatred, it's not by everybody. I want to be clear. But -- and Islamophobia that comes out during times like this. And thank you, Paula, we have to denounce each Islamophobia which I was doing at a Muslim conference later this month, and anti-Semitism root and branch and say, it's un-American.

NEWTON: Brian, we have to leave it there, but a very important discussion. Brian Levin for us, thanks so much.

LEVIN: Thank you.

NEWTON: And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:53]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is reminding Israel that it needs to protect all civilian lives and Gaza. Linda Thomas Greenfield said no matter their nationality, quote, "a civilian is a civilian is a civilian".

Palestinian Authority's foreign minister also shared with the U.N. Security Council the grim reality in Gaza and what they are 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?"

Our CNN colleague Ibrahim Gahman is in southern Gaza with his family, where he is teaching his young children how to survive, in case something happens to him and his wife.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IBRAHIM GAHMAN, CNN PRODUCER: My family fled Northern Gaza but we still don't feel safe.

What's wrong? Don't be afraid.

Every night, airstrikes hit Khan Younis.

With no sense of time, the days roll into one.

We pass the time by watching airstrikes. There are too many to count.

This used to be someone's home. Now, they've likely become one of the dead. Strangers volunteer to search for their remains.

Food is scare where we are staying. We cook and share whatever we can. We teach the children, too so that if we are killed, they can feed themselves.

The tanks are filled with impure water. We try to keep our spirits up. There is camaraderie in the chaos.

The explosions became louder this weekend as Israel expanded its ground operations leaving us in a blackout. Only Israeli phones worked. So some tried to keep a sense of normalcy.

All I could think of was my parents' safety and pray my family made it through the night.

But even in a war zone, there is light in the darkness. My wife is three months pregnant. Just like our sons, the baby has the power to turn our fear into joy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Joining me now is Hani Almadhoun. He is director of philanthropy at the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, U.S.A. and he joins me now from Washington. Thank you for joining us on what must continue to be difficult hours.

[01:34:52]

NEWTON: 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 there doing and have you heard from them?

HANI ALMADHOUN, DIRECTOR OF PHILANTHROPY, U.N. RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY, U.S.A.: Hi Paula. No, I have not heard from them in the last three days unfortunately.

I did receive a voice mail in What's App from my mom. She said she was alive and she asked me to pray for them. I think she was shaking (ph), they continue to be struggling with food security and safety, you know. She is a 71-year-old and she is trying to survive this.

The situation has immensely worsened for our colleagues at UNRWA. Every day we look at the numbers of Palestine refugees who are sheltering at (INAUDIBLE) facilities. It really goes up. The latest is we have 670,000 Palestine refugees taking shelter inside 150 UNRWA facilities. That is overcrowding, there's four times the capacity right now.

So the shelter is meant to serve 1,000 people, now there's 4,000 people. There is crowding. There is food insecurity. Obviously, you know, there is safety concerns to our staff.

And for the last 36 hours our team in UNRWA or our colleagues at UNRWA have very little communications. So there was a lot of instructions and 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 has been a challenge to, you know, keep our staff safe as we've lost, in fact, 63 staff at UNRWA, U.N. staff were killed as a result of the violence and the air strikes in Gaza.

And you know, we're are 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, just an example two days ago there was no aid that got into Gaza because of the lack of communication. As you know, the services were down, the Internet and the phone, as part of the Israeli tactical invasion of Gaza.

Without the stuff (INAUDIBLE) our work. We are happy to receive aid, but there is a lot of mismatch. We are receiving for example things that might be important but not relevant right now.

For example, you know, some hospitals receive corona tests and that's just, you know, (INAUDIBLE) and you know, we are trying to get medicine and medical supplies. We are not getting as much as we need.

Obviously without the fuel, that's the most important thing, without fuel it does not matter how many trucks are allowed in as we know that hospitals continue to require this. And water, operation, deliveries, ambulances -- right now if people cannot call an ambulance how will they feel safe?

You know, we are seeing the crumbling of civilization as we know it in Gaza right now. We are concerned and we are hoping that things will get better as the Israelis, you know, promised to protect civilians. As of right now, we are 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.

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 believe their loved ones will remain in captivity. How does the U.N. balance those concerns?

ALMADHOUN: Yes, obviously UNRWA U.S.A. a little bit you know, we're (INAUDIBLE) that U.N. support for UNRWA, for the agencies that are doing the work, 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 we are focused on protecting and uplifting the experience to the Palestine refugees. I hope the crossing gets open, right now, as you know Paula, the aid gets shipped 100 kilometers for the Israelis to check it and once they greenlight the truck that goes in so that slows down the process. We are asking for 100 trucks a day, right now we are 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 are not talking about anything sophisticated like computers and light bulbs, we are just telling people we need water. You know, this is a very basic humanitarian demand.

[01:39:48]

ALMADHOUN: And our colleagues are hoping to get as much as we can to get people to the services they need, you know. We are talking about protecting civilians and that has 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 work that you do. Hani, thanks so much.

ALMADHOUN: Thank you for having me.

NEWTON: Still ahead for us, it's been weeks since their family members disappeared, but they haven't given up hope.

CNN speaks to relatives of Hamas hostages pushing for their release.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: For more than three weeks now, the families of hostages kidnapped by Hamas have been living with anguish and uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer spoke with relatives of an 85-year-old grandmother and a 22-year-old musician.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Two horrific stories that have become too familiar for hundreds of Israeli families.

ADVA ADAR, GRANDMOTHER TAKEN HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: She was pretty, you know, from the inside, same as she was from the outside.

BLITZER: Adva is the granddaughter of 85-year-old Yaffa Adar.

[01:44:51]

ADAR: She was -- you know, she had an old body but a very young spirit. And she liked good food, and good wine and music.

BLITZER: On October 7th, Yaffa's family got a text message saying Hamas terrorists had entered the Nir Uz kibbutz where she lived alone.

ADAR: She texted us saying that there are terrorists in the kibbutz, they are shooting, and then there are street battles and they are entering into houses and burning people.

BLITZER: She texted that?

ADAR: And then we could not reach her anymore.

BLITZER: The next time they saw Yaffa was in this video. That is her grandmother in a golf cart in Gaza, surrounded by armed Hamas terrorists.

ADAR: It's cruel really, doing something like this to an 85-year-old woman, that has not done nothing wrong to anyone, you know.

She is a grandmother, everyone has a grandmother. How can you be this detached from human feelings?

BLITZER: Like Yaffa's loved ones Evyatar David's is holding on to hope he is still alive after seeing video of him in Gaza. 22-year-old Evyatar was kidnapped at the Nova Music Festival in the Israeli desert near the Gaza border.

ILLAY EVYATAR, BROTHER OF HAMAS HOSTAGE: He is a musician. He plays the guitar and sings. We like to sing together.

BLITZER: Evyatar left for the festival with four good friends after joining his family for Shabbat dinner on Friday night. His older brother remembers the last text message the family received on the morning of October 7th.

EVYATAR: He said the party is over, we are running away, we are going to the cars. That was it. In about 7:43 a.m., the connection lost completely.

BLITZER: Two of Evyatar's friends were murdered by Hamas at the music festival. It was not until a sister posted a picture of her brother on Instagram with her phone number that the family found out Evyatar survived the terror attack.

EVYATAR: We got two videos, propaganda videos of Hamas, we saw him with his friend -- yes, with a guy, on one of those videos. On the other one, he was by himself.

BLITZER: For both the David family and the Adar family every hour that ticks by without their loved ones coming home seems to lessen the possibility they are still alive.

As you know the Israeli military, the IDF is escalating its military operations in Gaza right now hoping to destroy Hamas. How is that impacting you and your family, knowing that your brother is being held hostage there?

EVYATAR: It is concerning. But we -- we are full of hope.

BLITZER: Yaffa the grandmother has been without her medication for her heart, and her kidneys for more than three weeks.

So you don't know her condition now? ADAR: No. We are trying to stay positive but we are very scared, and

worried about her physical condition. So everyone needs to help us, shout and shout and pressure whoever needs to be pressured. And demand Hamas to bring all of the hostages back home.

BLITZER: I hope when she comes home --

ADAR: I hope so yes. Thank you. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Our thanks to Wolf Blitzer for that report.

A star football player's parents are kidnapped. We will have details on this terrible development on the life of Liverpool star Luis Diaz.

And FIFA takes action against the disgraced former president of Spanish football. That is all coming up.

[01:48:36]

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NEWTON: A star Colombian soccer player has flown home to deal with a worrisome situation. The parents of Luis Diaz, a star player with the English club Liverpool, have been kidnapped at gunpoint in their hometown. His mother has been rescued, but his father remains missing.

World Sport's Don Riddell has our details.

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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: This is just an awful situation for Luis Diaz and his family. And it's clearly very difficult for his teammates of Liverpool, too.

Colombia's national media says that Diaz's parents were kidnapped by armed men on motorcycles at a gas station in the town of Barrancas.

The director general of Colombia's national police force says they are offering a reward of more than $48,000 for information leading to the rescue of Diaz's father. And a considerable search team has been activated. 130 police officers are out there looking for him.

You can only imagine the anguish that Luis Diaz must be feeling right now. Liverpool says that he has returned to Colombia, and he will be away indefinitely. Diaz' teammate Diego Jota honored Diaz by lifting up his number 7 jersey after scoring against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday. The Reds' manager Jurgen Klopp said the team dedicated their three-nil win to him, adding that it was really difficult for the players to even think about the match yesterday.

JURGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL TEAM MANAGER: How can you make a football game really important on a day like this? It is really difficult. I never struggled with that in my life. It was always my safe place, sometimes my hiding, as a player or as coach, you are allowed during these 90 odd minutes to focus just on that. And it was impossible. Absolutely impossible to do that.

Some of us here, we have to give the game extra sense. And it was fighting for Lucho and then the boys pulled out the shirt and I was not 100 percent prepared for that. It was very touching but wonderful itself.

RIDDEL: Just last year CNN spoke with Diaz's father, who is also called Luis, about his humble beginning' regions Barrancas is one of the poorest in Colombia.

It is unclear when Diaz will rejoin to the team. Of course, the only focus in the meantime is finding his dad and getting him safely home.

[01:54:53]

RIDDELL: Meanwhile football's world governing body FIFA has just announced that the former Spanish Football Association president Luis Rubiales, has been banned from all football-related activities for three years.

I'm sure you remember the scandalous kiss that marred Spain's triumph at the Women's World Cup a few months ago. The player, Jenni Hermoso said that it was not consensual. After intense criticism, Rubiales resigned as president of the football federation last month. The team's manager Jorge Vilda was also fired.

FIFA's disciplinary committee found that Rubiales had acted in breach of Article 13 pf their disciplinary code. FIFA says the ban covers all football-related activities at national and international level, but that it is subject to a possible appeal before the FIFA appeal committee. Back to you.

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NEWTON: Our thanks to Don Riddell.

And I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Paula Newton. I will be back with more news after a short break.

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