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CNN International: IDF: Another 300 Targets in Gaza Struck by Combat Forces; Doctor: Israeli Strike Kills 13 People in Central Gaza; Aid Groups Concerned Over Humanitarian Situation in Gaza; CNN Producer Shelters in Gaza as Israel Expands Ground Attack. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 31, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo, live from London. It's Tuesday, October the 31st, 8:00 a.m. here in London and 10:00 a.m. in Gaza where people have been waking up to a barrage of new explosions.

The Israeli military says its combat forces recently struck some 300 targets. Which include Hamas military compounds inside underground tunnels. These new images show heavy smoke hanging over the Gaza horizon. The Israel Defense Forces say they've ramped up ground operations, have killed numerous Hamas terrorists. The Israeli Prime Minister insists there will be no ceasefire.

(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)

NOBILO: Meanwhile, an Israeli strike has hit Gaza's top cancer hospital, according to its director. And a doctor at another hospital, says a separate strike killed at least 13 people overnight in central Gaza, including children.

Our Clare Sebastian has been following all of this. Clare, what more can you tell us about this ground incursion? We understand that they're entering from multiple points in the north, but strikes are continuing to the south, where the IDF have told civilians to evacuate to.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Bianca, we know from the IDF itself that they are focused on the north of Gaza. That is why they have renewed these calls with leaflets, with phone calls for people to evacuate to the south. That is where they say that most of the Hamas operations are, which are in the north.

They say that they've also killed some five named key Hamas operatives in the last day or so is that they are keen to emphasize that their key goal of course is eradicating Hamas is bearing fruit. Obviously we're also hearing about the release of an Israeli soldier -- the rescue rather of an Israeli soldier which shows Israel says that it continued to do this ground offensive all the while continuing to try to get these hostages out. That the two are not mutually exclusive.

But of course, as you say, they are striking not just in the north. We're hearing of a house that was that was hit in an area just south of the line where Israel told civilians to evacuate beyond. Thirteen people killed, among them children. A journalist at the hospital where those bodies were brought said he saw a total of 44 bodies. So significant chaos still on the ground, significant civilian suffering. While Israel of course, presenting this as very targeted, very surgical, slow, meticulous rooting out these Hamas operatives and pieces of infrastructure and trying to target them.

NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you for that update.

The UNICEF chief is issuing a stark warning, saying that the lack of clean water in Gaza is on the verge of becoming a catastrophe. She says more than two million people are in dire need of clean water in the enclave, and without it they will suffer from dehydration and water borne illness. Melissa Bell shows 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 UN 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. AND 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 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.

[04:05:00]

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 El Arish 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 2 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 the hydration. 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)

NOBILO: Joining me now is Abeer Etefa, the World Food Program, senior spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and East Europe and she joins me now from Cairo. Thank you very much for being on the program with us this morning. Let's begin with the status of communications. I know in recent days the World Food Program has expressed how difficult the sporadic communications have made it for you to communicate with your staff, other humanitarian groups and bakeries on the ground. Has there been any improvement?

ABEER ETEFA, SENIOR SPOKESPERSON FOR THE MIDDLE EAST, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Well, we're very concerned about the safety of the staff, humanitarian workers and the people we serve because of the intensification of the bombardments, but also the communications blackout. I think the -- it's coming back slowly, but it's not at the capacity that we what -- that was there before. It's not a blackout, but it's very, very minimal at this point, and barely enough for us to be in touch with our teams on the ground with our partners, with the bakeries, with the shops that we are operating. So it's a very difficult situation at the moment when it comes to communications.

NOBILO: I imagine that you're having to take things hour by hour, day by day. So let's just look at the next day or two. What are the key challenges and priorities as you see it?

ETEFA: Well, I think the situation for more than two million people trapped in Gaza at the moment is really catastrophic, more than 1.4 million people are now internally displaced and the city is running out of water, food, medical supplies and most importantly, also fuel. So you know the World Food Program is reiterating the Secretary- General's appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire and the protection of civilians and infrastructure. But without a ceasefire, we will not be able to operate the way we should to be able to get to everyone.

Also, fuel is in short supply. And that's bringing Gaza into a standstill. So just to give you an example, bakeries we used to distribute bread to around 200,000 people every morning just in the last few days. And because now of the shortage of fuel, we only have one bakery out of 23 still operating. And we've just delivered yesterday bread for 20,000 people. So that's really a fraction of the needs of 20 -- of two million people in the Gaza Strip.

And also the supplies that are coming through the border crossing point. They are trickling in slowly, but if we are to really have a serious and a real difference on the grounds we need much more assistance and aid to be getting in. We only had 12 trucks come in in the last, you know, 10 days. And for us to be able to deliver food to the two million -- to the one million people that we want to assist, we need 40 trucks to be passing every day. So it's a very difficult operating environment for humanitarian agencies including the World Food Program.

And also if we are serious about, you know, saving lives, meeting the needs of these people, we have to have access. We have to have the humanitarian ceasefire and we have to be able to get supplies in quickly.

NOBILO: Let's talk about the ability of your staff in Gaza to move around. How much of Gaza are your staff travelling to? Obviously, you mentioned at the beginning of our interview the dangers that they face because of constant Israeli bombardment, and also presumably your efforts are being curtailed by the lack of fuel. So how much of the Gaza Strip, are you able to access?

[04:10:00]

ETEFA: I think in the last few days it's become very limited. This kind of this movement and again because of the damage infrastructure, the fuel shortages, the you know, the intensification of the bombardments and also the, I mean, there's simply the fuel and also we're running out of supplies. I mean the that's the reality is that the supplies that we have inside Gaza are becoming extremely limited. So it's not that we, you know, we have we -- we're now it's becoming it's looking more like a hand to mouth operation. So we're just getting supplies. Trying to get them as soon as possible and the operating environment is not allowing for reaching the 1 million people that we need to get to. Since the beginning of the conflict, we reached 630,000 people. But OK, that's cumulative over the last few days and not on daily basis.

NOBILO: What reasoning is being provided to you for the very few trucks that are being allowed through the Rafah Crossing, which are resulting in these just devastating reductions in essential supplies and food into Gaza?

ETEFA: Well, the opening of the border crossing point, of course is was -- is a glimpse of hope and it's allowing these small number of trucks. I think the biggest -- the big problem is the process. Which is that, you know, they arrive in Rafah, they travel around, you know, 100 kilometers back and forth to Nitzana to get checked, to get scanned. And then they go back to Rafah, and then they move in. So a number of things. It's the process. It's the lack of fuel. All of this is making it very difficult. And I think the flow of supplies need to be scaled up radically and more than one entry point into Gaza is becoming indispensable.

NOBILO: Abeer Etefa, thank you so much for joining us this morning and getting your message across. Senior spokesperson for the World Food Program, very grateful for you.

ETEFA: Thank you for having me.

NOBILO: 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's now been reunited with her family. CNN's Nic Robertson has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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 cease-fire to help get them released.

Netanyahu unrelenting in refusing Hamas's pressure.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Just as the United States would not agree to a cease-fire 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 (voice-over): Inside Gaza, Israeli forces reinforcing that message, extending their incursion deeper into the enclaves densely populated neighborhoods. Ground troops, according to the IDF, calling in airstrikes on Hamas strongholds. Aircraft also dropping flyers, warning civilians their neighborhoods 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 contained 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 (voice-over): As night falling, more and more Gaza's residence on the move, many in makeshift camps, all of them just hoping they'll see the sun rise.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: 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 that it belonged to 23 year old Shani Louk.

[04:15:02]

She attended the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel on October the 7th 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.

An American teen who was kidnapped by Hamas is apparently back in the United States. The Consul General of Israel to the Midwest said Monday night that 17 year old Natalie Raanan is now home in Chicago. Hamas took Raanan and her mother hostage while they were visiting relatives in a southern Israeli farming community back on October the 7th. The group released the two hostages two weeks later. We've not yet heard details about the whereabouts of Natalie's mother, Judith Tai Raanan.

Still to come, a CNN journalist trying to keep his family safe in Gaza shows us what it's been like on the ground as Israeli forces ramp up their fight against Hamas. You don't want to miss that.

And an Al Jazeera correspondent described as a bombardment happening around her home in Gaza soon after an IDF phone call warning her family to evacuate. That's coming up next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

NOBILO: Israel keeps urging people living in northern Gaza to evacuate, but things aren't much better in the south. We've been our CNN colleague Ibrahim Darman, who's in southern Gaza with his family. He says they see air strikes every night, and now he's teaching his young children how to survive in case something happens to him and his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IBRAHIM DAHMAN, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over) (through translated text): My family fled Northern Gaza, but we still don't feel safe.

(ARTILLERY EXPLOSION)

DAHMAN (through translated text): What's wrong? Don't be afraid.

(ARTILLERY EXPLOSION)

DAHMAN (voice-over) (through translated text): 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 scarce 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 operation, 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, this baby has the power to turn our fear into joy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Just days after the family of the Al Jazeera bureau chief in Gaza was killed in an Israeli air strike, a correspondent for the network, also in Gaza, provided details about a phone call her family received from the Israel Defense Forces, telling them to evacuate immediately. Here's part of that call.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YOUMNA EL SAYED, AL JAZEERA CORRESPONDENT IN GAZA (via phone): The message or the phone call that we received was from a private number. He literally said, he gave my husband full name and told him that this is the Israeli Army we are telling you to evacuate south because in the coming hours, it's going to be very dangerous in the area where you are. My husband told him that we know that there are inclusions or an

Israeli tank and other tanks in Salah al-Din Street and that's the main street tying Gaza to the south. And he said that I can't answer you on which route you would take but Main Street could be relatively safer. You should find out which one yourself, but you need to move now. So my husband asked him, should we make this journey now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Youmna, Youmna if you are able to tell us what you're hearing now.

EL SAYED: These are bombardments just around our neighborhood. You can hear how loud they are. Our building is literally shaking now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:25:00]

NOBILO: On Monday, the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Minister, pleaded with the UN Security Council to intervene on behalf of the people trapped within Gaza. He called for help to establish a lasting humanitarian truce in the region, insisting the Security Council uphold its responsibilities to end the bloodshed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIYAD AL-MALIKI, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Every 5 minutes a Palestinian child is killed. How many more days will you wait to say enough? How many more days will you wait to say enough? Paralyzed, not acting, not carrying out your duty to maintain international peace and security and to stop that war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: We're following a developing story in Japan. Police tell CNN that two people have been injured in a suspected shooting at a hospital near Tokyo. Officials say the suspect fled the scene and barricaded himself inside a post office. A witness then heard what sounded like more gunfire -- according to reports. The mayor is warning residents to stay away from the area. And of course, we'll keep an eye on this story as it develops.

And still to come for you, CNN travels to East Jerusalem, where the are quiet and Palestinian men fear even the slightest wrong move could land them in jail.

Plus, Israel issues its highest travel alert for parts of Russia after an anti-Semitic mob storms an airport. We'll have video of the incident.

[04:30:00]