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Aid Trucks Wait at Rafah Border Crossing to Enter Gaza; E.U. Diplomat Condemns West Bank Attacks by Israeli Settlers; Tracking Online Hate and Extremist Threats; Inside Israel's Underground Blood Bank; Video Shows Horrific Scenes After Jabalia Refugee Camp Strike; IDF Defends Deadly Strike on Refugee Camp in Gaza; Condemnation from Other Arab Countries Following Refugee Camp Strike; Iran-Backed Houthis Launch Aerial Attack on Israel. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 01, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:22]

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.

Now Israel is defending its deadly strike on a densely populated refugee camp in northern Gaza. Now it is too soon to know the casualty count or the true scope of the devastation in Jabalia, but a doctor at a Gaza hospital said it's received hundreds of dead or wounded people from that attack. There are multiple craters in the ground and huge piles of rubble.

Israel's defense forces says it was targeting a top Hamas commander involved in the October 7th rampage and succeeded in fact they claimed in taking him out. We're told dozens of Hamas combatants were also killed when the underground tunnels beneath the camp collapsed. But innocent lives were also lost. And the Israeli military said it's working to determine the number of civilian deaths.

A Hamas spokesperson accused Israel of trying to justify what he called a heinous crime against civilians, women and children. And he denied that a leader Israeli claimed to kill was even at the Jabalia camp at the time of the strike.

Meantime, the White House says that despite the blast there are, quote, "indications Israel is trying to protect civilians." The National Security Council spokesman called the deaths tragedies and said the U.S. would keep working with the Israelis about the need to limit civilian casualties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Unlike Russia in Ukraine and unlike what Hamas did on the 7th of October, the killing of civilians is not a war aim of Israel. I'm not denying that it's happening. Of course it is. And it's tragic. But it is not the goal of Israeli forces to go out and deliberately take innocent civilian life. And they have tried to make efforts to minimize that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So a reminder here, the Jabalia refugee camp is in fact the largest in Gaza. That's according to the U.N. Agency for Palestinians, which registered more than 116,000 people there at last count. Witnesses to the strike are describing horrendous scenes of children -- I mean, imagine this, children carrying other injured children. And we want to warn you our report will be difficult to watch.

Here's CNN's Nada Bashir.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Horrifying scenes of utter despair.

Where is she, this man pleads. But everything here is gone. Part of the Jabalia refugee camp, among the largest and most densely populated in Gaza, now turned to rubble. The latest target of Israel's relentless air campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Give her to me, give her to me.

BASHIR: The IDF has claimed responsibility for the airstrike. The target, they say, a senior Hamas commander killed in the blast.

LT. COL. RICHARD HECHT, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCE SPOKESPERSON: We were focused again on a target, a senior commander.

BASHIR: But this attack, this massacre as doctors in Gaza are describing it, has hit civilians hardest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allahu Akbar.

BASHIR: Emergency response team worked desperately in the hope of finding more survivors. But outside Gaza's overwhelmed Indonesian hospital, corpses line the streets. The number of those killed and injured, according to the hospital's director, already in the hundreds.

SUAIB IDAIS, DOCTOR (through translator): They were just in their homes, children, women, the elderly. We have no idea what to do. The injured are everywhere.

BASHIR: Inside the hospital, mothers with their children, wounded and traumatized. But outside, survivors continue to dig through the debris of what once were their homes. Desperate to find loved ones buried beneath, but all fearing the very worst.

Some of the videos which have emerged from the aftermath of the airstrike on Jabalia are simply too graphic to show. Doctors tell CNN that bodies were found charred and dismembered. This nightmare comes after residents in northern Gaza were warned by Israel to evacuate southwards. But many simply cannot leave. And while Israel denies carrying out collective punishment against the

Palestinian people, but scenes like this, reflected across the Gaza Strip, show that it is civilians that are paying the price.

[00:05:09]

Nada Bashir, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus is a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, and he is with us now live from Tel Aviv.

And I really appreciate you coming back to us here as we try to learn more about this horrific airstrike. You have been on CNN saying that, look, this was targeting Hamas and that this was in fact a strike to hit those tunnels underground. But in the last few hours have you learn anything more? Because clearly the devastation that we see there, in that report, means this has been incredibly catastrophic for innocents on the ground.

LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: Yes. The population in Gaza continues to pay the price for the atrocities of Hamas. Again, I want to emphasize that this is a war that we didn't start and we didn't want, and that we are now responding to Hamas aggression. The person that we killed, a senior Hamas commander, was vital in planning the attack. And that is why we struck him.

I emphasize, and this has been -- an intelligence has been shared with the U.S. and with other countries, we do not target civilians. And it is always sad, and I couldn't see the footage, I could only hear it, but yes, it is sad when civilians are caught in the middle. That is exactly why we have been asking them for two weeks to vacate this area. And I'm sure that many -- would many more would have vacated had it not been for Hamas that has actively been stopping the evacuation.

In places where we can warn in advance and do all kinds of things in order to mitigate the effect on civilians, we have done so including in this war against Hamas. In this specific attack we were targeting an important military commander therefore there could be no warning before. We struck the target. We have information that dozens of Hamas operatives were killed and confirmed that he is dead.

NEWTON: OK. So we have one other point there that you say there could not have been forewarning because you were trying to hit this target. On the other hand, I've been in Gaza when the IDF has performed surgical strikes. The IDF is more than capable of this. This is not that. Why not?

CONRICUS: So I don't think I really agree with what you said because the precision here is to hit a target deep and buried underground. A tunneled complex, which is where this terrorist was hiding, trying to use civilians as human shield which is the common practice of Hamas, which is a war crime. It's also a war crime not to allow civilians to evacuate from a combat area and Hamas is doing both. And what we did here was to strike with the acquired or the required

amount of firepower in order to get to where he was hiding, in order to achieve a military achievement that supports the overall aim of the war. That is why this was struck. It is both legitimate and an important military strike to do. I understand that the pictures are difficult. I understand that our human feelings when seeing suffering, we relate to that.

But if we are able to look from a little bit higher position, this war is against a brutal terrorist enemy that is waiting for exactly these things to happen and for exactly this type of coverage. And they are building and really hoping for these scenes to become international pressure so that they can get a cease-fire and they can live to see the light of another day, and continue to plan to attack Israeli civilians as they did on October the 7th. And we are not going to let them do that.

NEWTON: But to take up another point here, this isn't just video, right. No matter who used it for propaganda purposes, there are entire families that have been annihilated, and we have heard on the ground and verified obviously many children. I ask you, a U.S. expert that we spoke to who was in charge of trying to get high value targets in the Iraq war says that Israel does have options. That more surgical and precision strikes are possible. Why not, I ask you again, in this case?

CONRICUS: Well, I'll explain again. When a terrorist is in a tunnel complex, underneath buildings and -- or in between buildings, you have to use significant firepower in order to get to the tunnels. And if he and his other terrorists that are hiding and running operations from that tunnel are the target, and they are legitimate --

[00:10:03]

NEWTON: But at a certain point in time, do you not decide that preserving civilian life is more important than maybe hitting that target at that time?

CONRICUS: Many times. Many times. And we have done so in this war as well. Many times we have averted strikes because we saw that the situation on the ground, the balance between civilians and the military aim didn't justify such a strike. And we have averted many strikes. And as I said before, we have also warned civilians to vacate premises because we saw that we could achieve the military goal without having collateral damage which is what we called.

NEWTON: So I do want to get to a few other issues of developing stories here, but I have to ask you, do you expect this to happen in northern Gaza again? That you will have to hit with that kind of firepower because there is a high value target that you must take out?

CONRICUS: What I expect are two important things. One is that the remainder of the civilian population in northern Gaza should heed our warnings and evacuate to the south. And the second thing is maybe Hamas should stop hiding behind their civilians. Come out and fight instead of hiding behind civilians like cowards. NEWTON: We also have word right now that again Gaza is in a blackout.

That all internet services, phone services, they are not working at the moment. Is that something that the IDF put in place in the last few hours?

CONRICUS: Not as far as I'm aware. No. I've seen reports, we are looking to understand what exactly. But not as far as I know I'm aware.

NEWTON: And I am really glad to speak to you again, and I want to speak specifically about this issue of evacuating northern Gaza only to go to southern Gaza where we have actually again verified airstrikes. Why are there still airstrikes in places like Khan Younis when people who go there to great risk to themselves are told it is safe and it is not safe?

CONRICUS: No. Let's be specific. We never ever said, never ever did we promise during these two weeks that we have been calling on civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south, never ever have we said in any language, Arabic, English, Hebrew or whatever that we are not going to strike Hamas military targets in the south.

We have said continuously that we will continue to strike Hamas military targets all over, wherever we see commanders, wherever we see valuable targets we will strike them. But that the northern part of Gaza is going to be the area of significant military operations, and therefore that they should vacate northern Gaza. And that it will be safer to be in the south.

We have never promised safety. I don't think that any military in a war zone can ever say, listen, this area is totally safe, because we are at war against an enemy that again uses the civilians as their shields, uses schools, hospitals, mosques and U.N. facilities to fire from, or from beneath. Nothing is holy to Hamas. And we are doing our best to have civilians out of the fight.

NEWTON: And so with that, Lieutenant Colonel, we will take you at your word there, there is no safe place in Gaza. Understood.

Lieutenant Colonel, I want to thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

CONRICUS: Not exactly what I said but thank you.

NEWTON: Want to go live now to our Scott McLean who's been following all of the developments from London.

I mean, a little bit more explanation there in the sense that they are saying they didn't have time for warning. And he was very clear on what the goals were there. But what has been some of the reaction to what went on at the Jabalia refugee camp?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. First off, Paula, I thought it was quite fascinating your question about sort of the whether this was worth it, and his answer, saying, that look, they have decided not to go ahead with some strikes because there would be too many civilian casualties and not enough payout. The implication in this case is that Israel does believe that despite the civilian casualties in this case, the payoff was worth it.

In terms of the reaction, look, you mentioned, or the United States has come out and said that, look, it believes that Israel is actually trying to minimize civilian casualties. That, though, is in stark contrast to many of the reactions that we're hearing from across the Middle East. Obviously, the Palestinians have one reaction. Their ambassador the United Nations said that the International Criminal Court should be putting out arrest warrants for those responsible for the strike.

You have the Iranians and the Saudis, two countries which are bitter rivals, that generally don't agree on very much, but now very much united in their response to what's happening in Gaza and in this particular strike. Both of them condemning what happened. The Iranians calling it barbaric, the Saudis saying that the current escalation cannot be justified at all.

You also have the UAE, which has been growing its ties with Israel over the last couple of years, also condemning this, and saying that, look, indiscriminate attacks will have irreparable ramifications in the region.

[00:15:07]

Egypt also called the strike inhuman and, said, quote, "Egypt considered this as a new flagrant violation by the Israeli forces against the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law."

And of course one of the most outspoken leaders in the region on all of this in recent weeks has been the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He called Israel's entire war effort a massacre, in his words. And he said this, "The Israeli administration backed by the unconditional support of Europe and America has been committing crimes against humanity in front of the eyes of the whole world for exactly 25 days. We believe that Israel, which seems to have completely lost its state of mind and acts like an organization, must be stopped as soon as possible."

And even within Israel, obviously there is a debate taking place there. There are people who have a range of opinions, but there are many who are also condemning Israel's approach. One of them is human rights group B'Tselem who said, quote, "This criminal harm to civilians is intolerable and the obvious needs to be stated again and again. Not everything is allowed in war, including war on Hamas. Targeting civilians is always prohibited, and Israel must stop these attacks now."

You're even seeing reaction from outside of the region, far outside of the reason. Colombia and Chile both announced that they were recalling their ambassadors following the strike. The Colombian saying that they cannot be present in Israel while a massacre of Palestinians is taking place. And the Chileans saying that violations of international law, as it believes that Israel is doing, are not acceptable.

You are not seeing the same level of condemnation from the West. There have been outliers. For instance the Norwegian prime minister in recent days said that, look, he believes that a line has been crossed by Israel when it comes to international law. By and large, the reaction from the West has been a boiler plate statement which is something along the lines of, look, Israel has the right to defend itself but it must do so within the bounds of international law -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. And what is also interesting here is the reaction we see publicly. We know behind the scenes also U.S. officials and many others are having discussions with the Israeli government about what their military strategy is.

Scott McLean in London, thanks so much for following all of that. Appreciate it.

Now a Hamas spokesperson claims the group will release some foreign nationals held hostage in the coming days. It comes after Hamas says request came from their respective countries through mediators. Hamas hasn't clarified how many hostages will be released or which countries they come from.

Now on Monday the militant group released a video showing three women believed to be hostages. One of the women demanded Israel continue negotiations to free all hostage. But it's unclear if her comments were made under duress. Her brother tells CNN it's clear she isn't doing well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORAN ALONI, BROTHER OF HOSTAGE SHOWN IN HAMAS VIDEO: What we saw in the video, is her in a very, very big distress. My sister is a calm person. Seeing her like that, hearing her means that she is not well. The fact that she is speaking doesn't mean that she's well.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

ALONI: And the fact that people are now saying, OK, they look good. That is exactly what they want us to think. Everyone is OK. But keep in mind that there are three hostages that we saw.

TAPPER: Right.

ALONI: There are more than 230 there.

TAPPER: Yes.

ALONI: And I think that this is, again we don't know the situation of the others. My other sister in the family, we don't have -- the Red Cross is not allowed there. Why? Why can't we understand the situation of all hostages?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: What a tormenting situation. Meantime, the streets around Jerusalem city hall been filled with empty beds and cribs, each represent one of the more than 200 missing people taken hostage on October 7th.

OK, coming up for us, Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen say they launched an attack on Israel, now they're getting involved in Israel's war with Hamas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:23:09]

NEWTON: U.S. Republican lawmakers are battling over how and when to provide aid to Israel. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell wants Israel -- wants to tie Israel funding to more help for Ukraine. The newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing for a standalone aid bill for Israel. That would be funded in part by a cut in spending for the Internal Revenue Service. Yes, the agency that collects taxes.

Now on the Senate floor Tuesday, the leaders of both parties criticized that proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The new speaker knows perfectly well that if you want to help Israel, you can't propose legislation that is full of poison pills. This House GOP proposal is clearly designed to divide Congress on a partisan basis.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): So at the risk of repeating myself, the threats facing America and our allies are serious and they're intertwined. If we ignore that fact we do so at our own peril.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Speaking to lawmakers, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers it's vital the U.S. provide aid to Ukraine and Israel at once so that Russia and China will not see Washington as, quote, "playing whack-a-mole" in the response to global crises.

Israel's military says it has thwarted what it called aerial threats around the Red Sea using its air defense system for the very first time to intercept a surface-to-surface missile. The Iran-backed Houthi military group in Yemen say it launched the attack and the world is now watching to see how Iran may exert force through its proxies against its sworn enemy Israel.

Fred Pleitgen has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Iranian-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen with a show of force. While only hitting U.S. and Israeli flags in this exercise, the Houthis say they've also launched a massive long-distance attack on Israel using ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones.

[00:25:14] The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm that this operation is the third in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine, the spokesman says. Israel confirms the attacks, saying its defense forces managed to thwart it using modern air defense system. But both the U.S. and Israel have long accused Iran of providing the Houthis with long-range weapons.

We got a rare chance to film some of Iran's drone and missile arsenal at the military fare in Tehran in 2019.

As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the Iranians are now also flexing their own military muscle. A recent large-scale exercise meaning to show Tehran's defense capabilities while one of the commanding generals also making clear the Islamic Republic's goal is to destroy Israel.

Regarding the message to the Zionist regime, he says, in fact, we announced the destruction of this regime, and God willing, we will witness it soon.

Iran's military is not nearly as moderate as the U.S. is or Israel's. Many of its weapons are U.S.-made from before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, like these Vietnam War era cobra attack helicopters. But Iran influences or controls scores of militias around the entire Middle East, which Tehran says it can mobilize to not only attack Israel, but U.S. assets throughout the region.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Iran's president threatening escalation. The events we're seeing in Gaza are all red lines that are being breached by the Zionist entity, he says. The killing of women and children, the killing of more than 3,000 children, it's not something that any human being can reasonably, or by conscience, accept.

Israel maintains it does not target civilians in its campaigns against Hamas in Gaza. And the U.S. has sent two carrier strike groups and additional surface to air missile batteries to the region. The Biden administration warning Iran to back off.

KIRBY: We will take our national security interest very seriously. We will protect and defend our troops. And we'll do it at a time and the manner of our choosing.

PLEITGEN: Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Coming us for us dozens of aid trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah Border Cross Tuesday but more are waiting in Egypt to get through. The latest on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Aid workers in Gaza say the stories coming out of that Jabalia refugee camp are simply horrific. The Israel Defense Forces targeted the heavily populated camp with air strikes Tuesday, saying they killed a top Hamas commander.

But the strike killed an unknown number of civilians, and laid waste, as you can see there, to parts of the camp.

Doctors Without Borders says young children came to the hospital with deep wounds and severe burns. One man just 100 meters from the camp says he saw children carrying other injured children, bodies hanging in the rubble, and hysterical, dazed civilians.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked the IDF spokesperson why the camp was a target.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Did you know that there are a lot of refugees, a lot of innocent civilians, men, women and children, in that refugee camp, as well, right?

LT. COL. RICHARD HECHT, INTERNATIONAL IDF SPOKESPERSON: This is the tragedy of war, Wolf. I mean, we -- as you know, we've been saying for days, move South.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, as Israel does ramp up airstrikes in Gaza, the U.S. defense secretary had some words of warning, Appearing before Senate lawmakers on Tuesday, Lloyd Austin recounted one of the important lessons the U.S. learned in counterterrorist operations, that when you are careless about civilian casualties, those casualties can become fuel for terrorist groups. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The things that you do on the battlefield could, if you're not thoughtful about them, they could create a resistance to your effort that lasts for generations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Meantime, the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza is set to open Wednesday. An Egyptian border official says 81 seriously wounded Palestinians will be allowed through that gate to be treated in hospitals in Egypt.

Now, on Tuesday, dozens of trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Israel says the trucks carried only water, food, and medical equipment, but not fuel. The U.S. says it's a start, but it's only a fraction of the aid people in Gaza desperately need.

Melissa Bell has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the road, but at a standstill. Trucks carrying much-needed help for Gaza, some stuck here, say the drivers, for more than two weeks.

MOHAMMAD RAMADAN, TRUCK DRIVER CARRYING AID (through translator): The people across the border have nothing. If you saw the way they're living, you'd want to carry the aid yourself and go in on foot.

BELL (voice-over): Yet, the bottleneck, say Egyptians, has been caused by the complex Israeli inspection process, which requires each truck to be checked.

BELL: Even before the war, the Rafah crossing here was a crucial artery in and out of Gaza. The World Food Programme reckons that, even before this conflict began more than three weeks ago, 80 percent of Gaza's population was reliant on humanitarian aid, and a big proportion of that came through here. The trouble is, how little is actually now getting through.

BELL (voice-over): Even as aid workers warn of hunger and dehydration, UNICEF says the territory only has 5 percent of the water it needs.

CHRISTIAN LINDMEIER, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SPOKESPERSON: It's an imminent public health catastrophe that looms with the mass displacement, the overcrowding, the damage to water and sanitation infrastructure.

BELL (voice-over): Authorities in Egypt say they're doing all they can.

MOSTAFA MADBOUTY, EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): All state agencies that are moving to solve this unprecedented humanitarian crisis, which the innocent residents of the Gaza Strip are exposed to today.

BELL: Here at the Rafah crossing, there is the only road in and out of Gaza that does not lead to Israel. It's controlled by Egypt, and that's why some of that aid has been able to get in.

The issue for the Palestinians inside, the civilians inside, is that Egypt does not want the refugees, and it says it does not want the Palestinian people to be forcibly removed from their land.

[00:35:00]

BELL (voice-over): For those inside, so many displaced because of the intensification of Israel's bombardment, every truck counts. And for those lining up here, that's enough to make them try.

KHALED ZAYED, DIRECTOR, EGYPTIAN RED CRESCENT IN NORTH SINAI (through translator): Implementing international humanitarian law, opening the Rafah crossing all the way, and bringing in more aid and trucks, because what enters the Gaza Strip is like a drop in the ocean of what children and women need.

BELL (voice-over): And for now, so much of that remains stuck here at Rafah, the last lifeline in and out of Gaza that, so far this war, has seen precious little crossing.

Melissa Bell, CNN, at the Rafah crossing in Egypt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: The European Union's top diplomat is speaking out against attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli settlers. Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the violence Tuesday during talks with senior Arab officials in the Middle East. And it comes amid news that the IDF demolished a house belonging to a senior Hamas leader in a village near Ramallah early Tuesday.

Joining me now is Alex Lederman. He's senior policy and communications associate with the Israel Policy Forum. And we're glad to have your voice on the program.

I know you've followed this for a very long time, but obviously, it means a lot more in the last few weeks.

Israel, of course, has suffered unspeakable atrocities. They are fighting back at this hour, but you argue that this settler violence in the West Bank threatens the integrity of Israel's democracy and its security. Why?

ALEX LEDERMAN, SENIOR POLICY AND COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATE, ISRAEL POLICY FORUM: Thanks so much, Paula, for having me.

You know, what we've seen over the course of the past more than three weeks now since the Hamas massacre that occurred on October 7th, is a concerning rise of attacks carried out by extremist settlers in the West Bank, targeting Palestinian civilians.

And this has taken several forms, including damaging property, vandalization, burning of houses, and -- and destruction of agricultural fields, as well as threats directed at Palestinians, particularly Palestinian herder communities, shepherd communities in the West Bank, and you know, encouraging them to, or driving them to flee their homes under the threat of violence.

There have been seven Palestinians who have actually been killed as a result of settler violence since -- since the massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7th.

And you know, it's important to emphasize that, when -- that this settler violence is not happening in a vacuum. You know, right now, Israel has a far-right government that includes many figures who support this -- this type of action, if not in rhetoric, but in -- you know, in more tacit ways, as well.

Over 70 percent of standing IDF soldiers at the outbreak of this conflict were based in the West Bank because of the rise in both Palestinian and Jewish terrorism we saw over the course of the past year, under this far-right government. You know, and that's sparked, I think, a lot of concerns about, you know, the impact that this has an Israeli security.

NEWTON: Yes, in fact, into words., you say it's time for a reckoning about this unnecessary, in your words, and avoidable security burden posed by the settler movement. What do you mean by a reckoning?

LEDERMAN: So, you know, I think that it's part of a larger conversation about the fact that most IDF soldiers who are -- who are located in the West Bank, you know, they're not there to protect Israelis within the country's sovereign borders. They're there to protect settlers who are in -- who are located far away from the green line, far away from the armistice line that defines Israel's sovereign border.

You know, this is a minority of settlers. They're primarily deep in the West Bank. These are settlers who are ideologically extreme, many of them living in illegal outposts. And you know, it poses a significant burden on Israeli's security to have to defend these isolated settlement outposts that are deep in Palestinian territory.

NEWTON: And again, you point to the problem within Israeli politics, as you put it. It is incredibly polarized. It was before this happened.

I understand, obviously, the country is unified now, unified as a sense of defense. But the judicial reform, everything that went previously, do you believe that could still, again, endanger Israeli unity, especially given what is going on, the complex situation in places like the West Bank?

LEDERMAN: You know, in the short term, what we've seen is, of course, one of the parties in Israel's opposition. The National Unity Party, under Benny Gantz, joined with the Netanyahu government to manage the war effort.

And they've temporarily set aside as a condition for Gantz joining Netanyahu's government, they've set aside the judicial overhaul and, really, any other legislative priorities that aren't directly related to the war effort.

[00:40:08]

But the -- the extremists within Netanyahu's government remain, and this remains, you know, a longer term threat to Israeli democracy, assuming that it emerges from this war.

You know, I'm not sure what Netanyahu's political future is, especially given, you know, widespread discontent and distrust, given how he's managed the war effort.

But I think it-s -- I think it's, you know, certainly a concern that going forward, this is going to continue to be an issue on the agenda of the far-right parties.

NEWTON: We will continue to follow these developments. As you said, they are significant developments ahead on the West Bank, as well. Alex Lederman for us. Appreciate it.

LEDERMAN: Thanks so much.

NEWTON: You know, coming up, stark warnings from senior U.S. officials who say acts of hate and terror and threats on the U.S. are rising dramatically, as a result of the Israel-Gaza war. And as we go to break, we leave you with a view of the Gaza skyline, as seen from Israel at this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: The reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023, but the ongoing war in the Middle East his raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole other level.

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: In the days and weeks since, we've responded to an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab-American communities and institutions across our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: That was U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray, who testified before a U.S. Senate committee, Tuesday.

But the war in the Middle East has led to a spike in anti-Semitism and Islamophobic incidents in the U.S.

Now, Wray says Jews, Muslims, and Arab Americans are facing threats from violence extremists, inspired by foreign terrorist groups, as well as so-called lone wolves and homegrown extremists.

[00:45:05]

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, meantime, says complaints of incidents targeting Muslims in the U.S. have been about three times higher since the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, compared to an equivalent period last year.

And the Anti-Defamation League says there's been a 400 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. since October 7th. Now, one of the most recent instances, a junior at Cornell University was arrested and charged on Tuesday in connection with a series of anti- Semitic threats made against the school's Jewish community.

In an interview with CNN, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, commented on the rise in these types of threats and hate crimes in general prior to October 7th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): It was already escalating. I did some events over the summer, another one in September, calling on people to be more vigilant, to tell them if there is an increase in anti-Semitic posts, certainly more so than others. But I rise and all hate crimes. This is our top priority, so people can finally feel safe again. But I think you're right, and I hate to say this. I don't think this

is the end yet. We have a long way to go to start restoring the civility and the respect for different people's religions and but laughs that has never been perfect, but it's certainly in rapid decline since October 7th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, earlier, I spoke with CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem, and I asked her how much online extremist groups have amplified and motivated the hate crimes we see today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: There's a difference between sort of that hate of the sort of person out there, just spewing hate, and then, of course, the targeted violence.

We don't know how the difference between those two, but we certainly know that the poll is different. The people who are spewing hate, most of them are not going to go to violence. We don't like those people, right, but you basically are better off with that pool, right, just sort of doing the things they do online, than those who -- who would focus on violence.

That focusing on violence, of course, is often just -- disclosed on. That's for a lot enforcement can step in, if someone's increasing or specifically targets someone.

So we are seeing, actually, some of the -- at Cornell University here, someone who went online targeting the Jewish community is -- has now been arrested. That is appropriate, as you simply cannot do that in the United States under the guise of sort of, you know, the First Amendment or political debate.

So what we -- what we need to do is monitor online activity to the extent that that's legally allowable. Have community members and family members come forward if they're worried about someone who's become radicalized.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: The full interview with Juliette Kayyem next hour. Now, the U.S. Senate has confirmed former treasury secretary Jack Lew as the new U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Lew led the treasury in the Obama administration and also served as White House chief of staff. Now, Tuesday's vote was 53-43 with Lew to fill the vacancy.

He faced stiff opposition from Senate GOP members over his involvement in Obama's Iran nuclear deal. Senators Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul were the only Republicans to vote to confirm him.

Still ahead for us, CNN was granted rare access to Israel's newest lifesaving resource. We'll take you inside what's believed to be the world's only shielded underground blood bank and get a glimpse at the extraordinary measures to protect it.

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NEWTON: Israel's blood supply has become a critical resource during this war. And it is taking extraordinary measures to protect it.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer visited Israel's unique shielded underground blood bank that process ad test the country's interim blood supply. We've got an exclusive look at its extensive security measures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): On the surface, it looks like an ordinary office building. But it's what lies belief that makes this facility one of a kind.

PROF. EILAT SHINAR, DIRECTOR, MDA NATIONAL BLOOD SERVICES DIVISION: You can't really live without blood, and there's no artificial blood

BLITZER (voice-over): Just outside of Tel Aviv, nearly 50 feet below ground, lies what is believed to be the world's only shielded underground blood bank.

SHINAR: All that comes here, and we process it.

BLITZER (voice-over): Israel's entire blood supply is processed and tested here at the Marcus National Blood Services Center, operated by Israel's Magen David Adom.

SHINAR: The whole idea of this place is because we built it in a shelter. So we are now actually in a shelter --

BLITZER: Deep below the ground?

SHINAR: Yes.

BLITZER: Because this presumably would be a major target for Israel's enemies.

SHINAR: Absolutely. And we were very concerned about people and the blood, of course, the blood inventory. So in the case of sirens now, a rocket attack, we're all protected. It's a shelter.

BLITZER (voice-over): The organization actually moved into the building on October 9th, just days after the Hamas terror attacks. It is now more vital than ever in a country at war.

SHINAR: We supply blood to all the hospitals and to the army. When we evacuate a patient, either the civilian or the military ambulances of helicopters, we get blood on the way from the hospital already, provided by us.

BLITZER (voice-over): There are three levels underground, each level more secure than that next, and all designed to operate. even if there is a direct attack. On the first level, they sort, label, and test the blood.

SHINAR: So we are now in the testing laboratory, which we call the mega lab. The idea is that we put all the tubes in here, and everything is automated. It's, like, hands off.

BLITZER: So this is the state-of-the-art technology.

SHINAR: Absolutely. Absolutely. Then the result, actually, is transmitted to the main computer system to go the filing of the unit and the filing of (UNINTELLIGIBLE). So here you can see they're waiting for the return. And once they can go on, they'll go in.

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BLITZER (voice-over): The center handles more than blood. They also handle plasma. Plasma is used to increase volume when someone has lost a lot of blood. It is stored frozen.

BLITZER: It's cold.

SHINAR: Minus 30 degrees.

BLITZER: So cold.

BLITZER (voice-over): Running all of this requires electricity, which is why the lowest level is key to the operation.

BLITZER: So where are we going now?

SHINAR: Now we're going to level three. The most protected place in the facility.

BLITZER: We'll be deep underground.

SHINAR: Which will be --

BLITZER: So if -- if the enemy of Israel were launching rockets or bombs and hit on the top, people in this building would be safe. The whole building is like a bomb shelter.

SHINAR: Exactly. We'll be safe. Everything we do is protected.

BLITZER: The blood would not be destroyed.

BLITZER (voice-over): The power for the whole operation is protected by enormous blat doors that are some of the largest in Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In an emergency, when we get an alert from the IDF, we close the blast doors.

BLITZER (voice-over): Professor Shinar says this facility is so deep underground, it can withstand a chemical attack, poison gas, or biological attack, protecting life-saving blood and plasma for a country at war.

BLITZER: We're very deep below the ground. This is very secure. God forbid, if a bomb hit --

SHINAR: Absolutely.

BLITZER: -- this would be fine.

SHINAR: Yes. You can the window. We talked about windows. OK. The outer window is a shelter window, which we have closed.

BLITZER: So it's secure.

SHINAR: In peacetime, we can open it so daylight can come in.

BLITZER: This is not peacetime now.

SHINAR: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And we thank Wolf Blitzer for that report.

And I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. I'll be back with more news right after a short break.

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