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IDF Defense Deadly Strike On Jabalia Refugee Camp In Gaza; White House: "Indications" Israel Trying To Protect Civilians; Aid Trucks Wait At Rafah Border Crossing To Enter Gaza; IDF Strikes Gaza Refugee Camp; Civilian Casualties Reported; Over 1 Million Displaced in Gaza Amid Ongoing Conflict; Exclusive: Makeshift Shelter at Al-Quds Hospital Houses 12,000; Concerns Rise for 400 Americans Trapped in Gaza; FBI Director Warns of Historic Anti-Semitism Surge in the U.S.; Anti-Semitic Incidents Up 400% Since October 7th, Says ADL; Tensions Escalate Over Posters Depicting Hamas Hostages; Ukrainian Family of Nine Found Shot Dead in Russian-Occupied Area; Standoff Ends: Shooting Suspect in Custody at Japanese Post Office. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 01, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:32]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world as we continue our coverage of Israel at war.

I'm Paula Newton. And we begin with despair, outrage and arguments over a deadly airstrike on a densely packed refugee camp in Gaza. Now a huge cloud of smoke could be seen from across the border in Israel. The Israeli military has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was aiming for a top Hamas commander and in fact succeeded in killing him it claims. But critics are asking at what cost? The scope of the devastation at the Jabalia camp is not yet clear.

But the civilian casualty count appears to be significant. The impact of the explosions left huge craters and piles of debris that are being scoured for signs of life. One witness told CNN "there were seven to eight huge holes in the ground full of killed people. Body parts all over the place. It felt like the end of the world."

Now earlier I spoke with a spokesman with the Israeli Defense Forces to ask him why this type of an airstrike? Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: The precision here is to hit a target deep -- buried underground. A tunnel complex which is where the -- this terrorist was hiding, and trying to use civilians as his 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 to 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, Hamas has strongly denied that one of its leaders was even at the camp that was hit. Hamas spokesperson accused Israel committing a heinous crime against civilians and the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. said the strike is a crime that shouldn't be referred to the International Criminal Court.

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Unlike Russia, and Ukraine, and unlike what Hamas did on the 7th of October, the killing of civilians is not a warring 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: Now the Jabalia of refugee camp is the largest in Gaza. That is according to the U.N. agency for Palestinians which registered more than 116,000 people there at last count. Witnesses to the strike or describing horrendous scenes of children carrying other injured children. And we want to warn you our next report will be difficult to watch. Here's CNN's Nada Bashir.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER (voiceover): 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. The IDF has claimed responsibility for the airstrike. The targets, they say, a senior Hamas commander killed in the blast.

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

BASHIR (voiceover): But this attack, this massacre, these doctors in Gaza are describing it as hit civilians hardest.

[02:05:08]

Emergency Response Team work desperately in the hope of finding more survivors. But outside Gaza's overwhelmed Indonesian hospital corpses lying in the street. The number of those killed and injured according to the hospital's director already in the hundreds.

SUAIB IDALS, 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 (voiceover): 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, their bodies were found charred and dismembered. This nightmare comes of the 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, with scenes like this, reflected across the Gaza Strip, show that it is civilians that are paying the price.

Nada Bashir, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: For more on all of this, I want to bring in our Scott McLean. And you do have reaction to what happened there, but also some information from the IDF about casualties after a few days there in Gaza.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. But first, let me give you the reaction. There have been some very strong reaction to these strikes on this refugee camp. And the American one that you played earlier is undoubtedly an outlier. You have not seen with few exceptions, the volume of outrage coming from Western leaders in response to this. And in response to Israel's tactics in general, that you are seeing from the region.

Case in point, the Saudis, the Iranians, they are bitter rivals. They don't agree on very much, but they agree on their condemnation of what happened on the strike on this refugee camp. The Iranians have called it barbaric. The United Arab Emirates, a country which has spent the last few years growing its diplomatic and its economic ties with Israel. It has also condemned this attack. The Egyptians called it inhuman and said this, "Egypt can -- Egypt consider this as a new flagrant violation by the Israeli forces against the provisions of international law and international humanitarian laws."

You have seen the Turkish president. He has been very outspoken over the last few weeks. He's called Israel's entire war effort, a massacre. 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.

You've gotten condemnation even from within Israel, the human rights group B'Tselem said, look, not everything is allowed in war, including war and Hamas targeting civilians is always prohibited. And Israel must stop these attacks now. And even outside the region you had the leaders of Chile and Colombia announcing that they had withdrawn their ambassadors are will be withdrawing their ambassadors to Israel in the wake of these strikes.

Your point, Paula, about the soldiers killed, the announcement from the IDF that more soldiers had been killed inside Gaza, they said that nine more soldiers were killed in the northern Gaza Strip. They gave give the names of all nine and they didn't they -- what they did not give though is any kind of details about how or where they were killed, Paula.

NEWTON: And more to that point, Scott what more are we learning about how far into Gaza IDF forces maybe at this hour?

MCLEAN: Yes. So, the Israelis for obvious reasons are not giving much information, if any at all about where exactly they are. But we have based on photos and videos and accounts from CNN teams on the ground near the Gaza Strip, been able to verify some bits of information. So we know -- we can bring up a map. There are three locations that we know that the Israeli troops and tanks have entered.

One is the far northwest corner there. The other is the northeast corner of the strip and then another site about 10 miles or so, south of there. All three of these entry points are in the part of Gaza. The northern part of Gaza that Israel has been telling people to evacuate from and -- while the South and Central bits may be safe or there is really no safe place in Gaza because there are airstrikes being carried out all over the place.

[02:10:05]

We also have some video evidence showing Israeli troops on the ground. I can show you one of them. This is from over the weekend. It shows Israeli troops waving the flag on the roof of a beach front resort in Gaza. This is about two miles or so south of the perimeter fence. One of the soldiers in the video there says we will not forgive nor forget and will not stop until the victory. We also have more evidence of where Israeli troops or tanks have been.

This is from the main road which bisects Gaza. It's from earlier this week, it shows an Israeli tank firing on a passenger vehicle. A local journalist who shot this video said that that tank was targeting anything that came near it. And IDF spokesperson later acknowledged that he didn't actually know who was inside of that vehicle. But he justified the attack by saying that it could have been Hamas because of course, Hamas is not a conventional military and they use civilian equipment for military purposes. Paula? NEWTON: Yes. All of this leading to the point that the IDF continues to say that northern Gaza is not safe, and they wanted people to move to the south. But again, given the airstrike there, the IDF itself acknowledging they are responsible for that and that there was a loss of civilian life. Our Scott McLean for us in London. Really appreciate it.

Garlasco. He is a military advisor at PAX for Peace, and a former U.N. war crimes investigator. And I will get actually to your resume because it's very pertinent here as well. To make a fine point of it, you actually were in charge of high value targeting at the Pentagon. So, we really want to talk to you to try and understand what went on here. Of course, it's difficult to -- at this point, verify the civilian toll.

This is a contentious point between Israel and Palestinians. But really, let's be clear, innocents died here, period. So, in terms of how these airstrikes are planned, is Israel's justification rooted in international rules of war, as far as you know?

MARC GARLASCO, FORMER U.N. WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATOR: Yes. So, Israel clearly has a right to defend itself. But that right is not unlimited. Right? They have to follow the laws of war. And when we look at it, and the way that I did it, when I was doing targeting during the Iraq war in 2003, you have two different things that you have to consider, basically, right? One is, you have to always distinguish between a military object and a civilian object.

That seems pretty obvious, right? You want to just target the military side. And then you have to do it proportionally. And that means that any military action that you take can't be outweighed by civilian harm. So, when we look at this strike, two of the questions Israel had to ask themselves are one, can we target this densely populated area, the Jabalia refugee camp? I've been there. It's one of the most densely populated places on Earth.

Can we target it in a way that we're not going to spread the harm so wide, that we're going to envelop civilians? But also, can we get to that key leader? And is that leader so important, that the civilian harm that's going to be caused by that strike is going to be justified? And that's the question that the targeters have to ask themselves.

NEWTON: Do you think they ask themselves those questions when you see how it turned out?

GARLASCO: Yes. I think that Israel is playing fast and loose with the law. I think that their interpretation of civilian harm is very permissive. I look at when we were targeting during the Iraq war in 2003, we had a number. And that number was 30 civilians killed in any strike that we were going to have against Saddam Hussein. So the leader of the Iraqi military and government was worth 30 civilians.

You know, as McCobb, as that may seem, that was a calculus that was made. To look at a Hamas leader no matter how important and to think that he's worth dozens, if not hundreds of civilians killed. You know, we don't know how many people were harmed in this event. It really boggles the mind. And it's hard for me to understand. I think we need to ask the Israelis, if you were conducting this strike and it was Israeli civilians that were going to be killed, would you have still pulled the trigger?

NEWTON: Which brings us to the point of proportionality, right? This fight has already been relentless. It's been going on for less than a month. Is that level of intensity necessary? And I asked you as well, is it even smart at this point in terms of protecting Israel's security?

Well, you know, I think the most important thing here is to protect the civilians in Israel and Gaza. I don't think that the current campaign is doing that thing. I think what we need to do is ratchet things down, move quickly lead to a ceasefire and find a political solution to this.

[02:15:02]

But it's very difficult in the current climate. You know, the civilian harm that was meted out, I mean clearly Hamas committed war crimes and that's evident. The rocket attacks into Israel are war crimes. But the response cannot be one that is such where civilians are constantly paying the price for these strikes. And I fear that we're just going to continue to see massive civilian harm. In just the weeks of this war, we've seen more dropped -- more bombs dropped in Gaza, than the U.S. dropped at the height of the war in Afghanistan in any single year.

NEWTON: That's extraordinary. Just -- you putting it that way and actually give us giving us an idea of what we've been looking at in the last few weeks and unfortunately, what the people of Gaza have been living through. Marc Garlasco, thanks so much, really appreciate your expertise in this.

GARLASCO: Yes. Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: The Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza is set to open Wednesday. An Egyptian border officials say 81 seriously wounded Palestinians will be allowed through and that is to be treated in hospitals in Egypt. On Tuesday, dozens of trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Israel says that trucks carry only water, food and medical equipment but not fuel.

U.S. says it's a start but it's only a fraction of the aid that people in Gaza need. Now Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. is trying to get about 100 trucks to enter daily with humanitarian aid.

Melissa Bell brings us the latest on that struggle to get that aid into Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): 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. MAHAMMAD 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 going on foot.

BELL (voiceover): Yet the bottlenecks, the Egyptians has been caused by the complex Israeli inspection process which requires each truck to be checked.

BELL (on camera): Even before the war, the Rafah crossing here was a crucial artery in and out of Gaza. The World Food Program 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 it is actually now getting through.

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

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

BELL (voiceover): Authorities in Egypt say they're doing all they can.

MOSTAFA MADBOULY, PRIME MINISTER OF EGYPT: 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 (on camera): 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 is no one the refugees and it says it does not want the Palestinian people to be forced to be removed from their land.

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: 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 (voiceover): 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: Still the come for us. Protests breakout in Congress amid the push for funding for the war efforts in Israel and Ukraine. Details after the break.

Plus, Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen say they launched an attack on Israel. How they're getting involved in Israel's war on Hamas.

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[02:23:28]

NEWTON: In Washington, you can hear there protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza repeatedly interrupted a Senate hearing while others in the audience raise their hands painted red in the air. About a dozen protesters were arrested by Capitol Hill police. The protests happening as top U.S. officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were making their case to lawmakers urging them to approve emergency military aid for both Israel and Ukraine. Arguing there's a clear link between the two conflicts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: Allowing Russia to prevail with Iran's support will simply emboldened both Moscow and Iran to put it succinctly for our adversaries, be they states or non- states. This is all one fight. And we have to respond in a way that recognizes that. If we start to peel off pieces of this package, they'll see that. They'll understand that we are playing Whac-A-Mole while they cooperate increasingly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, despite the push by top officials to tie Israel and Ukraine funding together, deep divisions remain within the U.S. House where Republicans under the leadership of newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson are proposing a standalone aid bill just for Israel. But that proposal seems likely to be dead on arrival in the Senate where we're seeing a rare display of bipartisan unity, as leaders of both parties agree that Israel aid should be part of a larger package that includes Ukraine aid. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:25:01]

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The House GOP package is woefully inadequate. Has the hard rights fingerprints all over it. Making aid to Israel who just faced the worst terrorist attack in history contingent on poison pills that help ultra-wealthy tax cheats.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): We'll see if the bill comes out of the house, and if so what kind of margin it has. My own view I just expressed is that we need to try to treat all four of these areas. All four of them, Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON: Now with the situation in the Middle East growing increasingly tense, the U.S. is sending 300 more troops to the Middle East in the wake of the current Israel-Hamas conflict. But the U.S. Defense Department says they won't be going to Israel. The deployment comes as Iranian-backed groups have carried out more than two dozen attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. Defense Secretary says the protection of U.S. troops and civilians is the administration's top priority. Lloyd Austin had this stern warning for Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: If this doesn't stop, then we will respond. We maintain the right to respond. We have the capability to do that. And we will respond at a time and place of our choosing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Meantime, Israel's military says it is sorted what it called Aerial threats from the Red Sea using its aero defense system for the first time to intercept a surface-to-surface missile. The Iran-backed Houthi militant group in Yemen say it launch the attack and the world is watching now to see how Iran may exert force through its proxies against its sworn enemy, Israel.

Fred Pleitgen has that report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm that this operation is the third and support of our oppressed brothers and Palestine, the spokesman says.

Israel confirmed the attack 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 fair 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 aiming to show Tehran's defense capabilities, but one of the commanding generals also making clear the Islamic Republic's goal is to destroy Israel.

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

Iran's military is not nearly as modern 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 3000 children is not something that any human being can reasonably or by conscience except.

Israel maintains it does not target civilians and its campaign 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.

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: We will take our national security interest very seriously. We will protect and defend our troops. And we'll do it at a time in a manner of our choosing.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Coming up. Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza have been displaced by the war. They're struggling to find adequate safety and meet their own basic needs. The latest on the humanitarian crisis there, next.

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[02:30:00]

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Aid workers in Gaza say the stories coming from the Jabalia refugee camp are just horrific. The Israel Defense Forces targeted the heavily populated camp with airstrikes Tuesday, saying they killed a top Hamas commander. But the strike killed an unknown number of civilians and laid waste to parts of the camp. We caution you now, the next images are quite graphic. They were taken inside a Gaza hospital. 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.

Since Israel declared war against Hamas militants, some one million people, about half of Gaza's population, have been displaced from their homes. Many are seeking shelter wherever they can find it. CNN obtained exclusive footage of one such makeshift shelter, Al-Quds Hospital, in northern Gaza. Some 12,000 displaced people are camped out there. Salma Adelaziz reports now. And a warning, some of these images are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SALMA ADELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Where do you go when the bombs won't stop? Where do you shelter your family when the shelters are full? For many Gazans, the answer is a hospital. The head doctor shows us around. All that separates these families and the ICU is this door. He explains, these are not proper sterile conditions. Some 12,000 displaced people are camped out in Al-Quds Hospital in northern Gaza. And every single person you see here has been told by Israel's army to leave and move south, an evacuation order the UN previously called inhumane.

[02:35:19]

This is not a place for children to play. This is a disaster, the doctor says. Look, these are sick people. How can a man on a walker be evacuated? Hospitals are protected under international law. But Israel claims Hamas uses medical facilities as command centers. Aid groups and Palestinian officials deny these allegations. Either way, this is still not a safe place. Step outside the doors and this is what you face.

Non-stop Israeli artillery and airstrikes. Everyone here fears the explosions will only get closer. But there's nowhere else to run. Across the street, desperate people steal basic supplies. The war and a suffocating siege is causing civil order to break down, the UN says. Families cannot be expected to flee into this chaos, this father says.

UNKNOWN: This is a war against our children. See how scared he is from the bombs? Now we are alive, but tomorrow we could be dead. Please save us, he pleads.

ADELAZIZ (voice-over): Less than a quarter mile away from the hospital, this is the aftermath of one of those strikes. Residents pull people out of the rubble of their homes. They can depend only on each other. Comms are down. No one can call an ambulance. Just try and carry him out on your shoulder, someone shouts. Are my mom and dad alive? The wounded man asks. The sound of war never ceases. You could die trying to help the living. This is one neighborhood during one hour in Gaza. A tiny glimpse into the horror. The humanity and dignity of more than two million people that live here. The casualty of a war so many did not choose. Salma Abdoziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NEWTON: About 400 American citizens and their families are stuck at this hour in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he is focused on getting them safe passage out of the region. Altogether, they total about 1,000 people, and that's in addition to another 5,000 other foreign nationals who are still trying to get out of Gaza. That includes Haneenn Okal. She's a -- woman, pardon me. She is a mom from New Jersey who travelled to Gaza with her three children to visit family. They've been stuck since the surprise attacks on October 7th in fear they may soon run out of food and water. Here's what she told CNN about her experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HANEEN OKAL, AMERCIAN TRAPPED IN GAZA: My son, who's two months, wakes up every night from sounds of bombing. He cries more often than what he used to. I still feed him, but I'm so worried that the stress and fear of this war is going to cause my milk to dry up, which could cause a huge problem because there is no milk in Gaza.

We are worried that we will become a casualty in this war. We're all Americans in here, and it has been 25 days since we have asked the State Department to bring us back to New Jersey, where my husband is waiting for us anxiously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Still to come for us, rising tensions in the U.S. over posters showing people kidnapped by Hamas, the confrontations they're sparking across the country when we return.

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[02:40:09]

NEWTON: FBI Director Christopher Wray is warning that anti-Semitism has reached historic levels in the U.S. since the Hamas attacks on Israel. He testified before a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: The Jewish community is uniquely, uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum. And when you look at a group that makes up 2.4% roughly of the American population, it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now the Anti-Defamation League says there's been a nearly 400% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. since October 7th. And as CNN's Randi Kaye reports, even posters drawing attention to Hamas hostages kidnapped from Israel have become a point of contention.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNKNOWN: No, no, no, no.

UNKNOWN: I'm worried about it. Okay, you'll be all over the news. I'm worried about it. You'll be all over the news. I'm worried about it.

RANDI KAYE (voice-over): In New York City, an ugly confrontation over the removal of a poster of one of the hostages kidnapped from Israel.

UNKNOWN: You're so proud of it. Show your face. Show your face.

UNKNOWN: You are not allowed to put that.

KAYE (voice-over): After a few moments, the people walked away from the scene.

UNKNOWN: Good luck. Shame on you.

KAYE (voice-over): That's Broadway producer James Simon using scissors to take down a poster showing one of the more than 200 hostages. After removing the poster, Simon crumpled it up and tossed it in the garbage. When the New York Post published the video, Simon told the Post he took down the flyers for the purpose of keeping the city streets clean. And not for anti-Semitic reasons. According to the Post, he also apologized for offending anyone. CNN reached out to Simon but did not receive a response.

The posters were designed by a few Israeli artists who were visiting New York City when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel. They say they identified 220 hostages and confirmed their names with their families before making the flyers. But that they never expected their work to become a flashpoint. Like this incident at Boston University. After a student who said she is Jewish took down a poster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Why are you filming?

UNKNOWN: Because, What's your point?

UNKNOWN: What? To show where all the hate is coming from on this campus. Most Jewish students don't feel safe.

UNKNOWN: You're supporting occupation. And illegal occupation has been happening for 75 years.

UNKNOWN: You're not condemning terrorists? That's what is wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice-over): On what appears to be a campus in San Diego, watch as one man tries, unsuccessfully, to block another from ripping down the posters with hostages' images.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Are you bothering me?

UNKNOWN: You can't stop me from taking this shit out. I'm not vandalizing. You already put up this shit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice-over): Beyond the posters, tensions are rising on college campuses over the war. At Tulane University, a brawl broke out after a pro-Palestinian demonstrator tried to burn an Israeli flag. At Cornell University, Jewish students were threatened with death over the weekend, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.

[02:45:10] And at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a pro- Palestinian rally clashed with supporters of Israel. All of this has communities on edge and businesses on edge. In Miami, a dentist was fired from his job after being captured on camera tearing down one of the kidnapped posters and crumpling it up. He told reporters his intent was to promote peace and de-escalate the situation. He told CNN:

DR AHMED ELKOUSSA, DENTIST: I've been wrongfully mislabeled many things, and I find it very disheartening to be mislabelled as anti- Semitic when I come from a Semitic background.

KAYE (voice-over): With each poster that comes down, the artists making them tell CNN they promised to put up 10,000 more. Randi Kaye, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NEWTON: Joining us now is CNN senior and national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. She's a professor at Harvard University and a former assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. And in that role, Juliette, I know you have dealt with this a lot. But what homeland officials are telling us is that it has really peaked in terms of whether it's actions that they're worried about or online hate. I mean, there were stark comments today, the FBI, Homeland Security, all backed up by data. Now, I argue we've already known this, right? It's been a palpable fear, obviously more acute in the Jewish community right now. How do you assess the risk? How do you explain what's going on, not just in the United States, but around the world?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, in that, well, starting with the United States, there is a there's definitely a heightened risk environment just based on what FBI Director Christopher Wray said. But we certainly just know it. I mean, you just have to go outside and feel sort of I think the, the tensions in a lot of communities right now in the United States. That threat environment is heightened, but we wouldn't call it specific. In other words, it's not this synagogue or that synagogue. It's just it's just a general sort of heightened threat against the Jewish community. And also, as Christopher Wray said, the Islamic community.

So, you're getting sort of the two sides both feeling disempowered and targeted by whatever hate is out there. Specifically on the Jewish community, though, of course, because of the threats that you're seeing online, those are targeted against synagogues and others is, is perceiving maybe not specific threats, but an overall concern for their community. That's why you've seen heightened police presence and others or law enforcement presence at synagogues, Jewish communities and neighborhoods.

NETWON: Now, can you explain again something that you've pointed -- pointed us to this phenomenon? Unfortunately, over the last decade, online extremist groups have definitely amplified this type of hate. They've weaponized it. Do we expect to be able to do anything about that? KAYYEM: Yes. So, look, there's a difference between sort of that hate of the sort of person out there is 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 pool is different. This is 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 that they do online than those who, who would focus on violence, that focusing on violence, of course, is often disclosed online.

And that's where law enforcement can step in if someone sort of, you know, increases or the threats or specifically target someone. So, we are seeing actually some of the -- at least at Cornell University here, someone who had went online targeting the Jewish community is, is -- has now been arrested. That is appropriate because you simply cannot do that in the United States under the guise of sort of, you know, the First Amendment or, or political debate.

NEWTON: Absolutely. And to that point, I want you to listen now to the governor of New York reacting to a lot what's going on in Cornell. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY HOCHUL, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: 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 beliefs that has never been perfect, but it's certainly in rapid decline since October 7th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, to her point and to your point, this is going to go on for some time, you know, in your experience, especially after 9-11, what can leaders do to help here?

KAYYEM: Yeah, I'm so glad you asked that because I believe that in particular, you know, younger people, people who are on college campuses, where we're seeing a lot of this activity as well, they model their behavior, their tone, the way they talk about different communities off of us.

[02:50:00]

And I think it's off the adults, so to speak. And I think it's incumbent on university presidents, professors, leaders in industry, leaders in NGOs to try to tame the temperatures that have been unleashed the last couple of weeks here in the United States. It is not to say you have to agree with everyone, but I don't think it helps either side to seem flippant about the violence against them. I mean, in other words, Hamas did a horrible terror attack against Israel. And also, one can also believe that what's going on in Gaza is impacting civilians and children.

NEWTON: Yes, and we will look to our leaders for some of that leadership at a time when everyone needs it. Juliette Kayyem for us, really appreciate it.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

NEWTON: And we will be right back with more news in a moment.

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NEWTON: The Ukrainian family of nine has been found shot to death in their home in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region. Now, it happened in the town of Volnovakha. CNN's Scott McClain has more now on what has sparked outrage in Ukraine and triggered investigations in both nations.

[02:55:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even in a war zone, this is particularly disturbing. A family of nine people, including two children, both under the age of 10, were found dead inside their home in Volnovakha, which is in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. It was taken by Russia early on in its full-scale invasion. Images released by Ukraine show that multiple people had been shot in their beds. Some still cuddled up to each other. We're only showing one of the photos. This is the least gruesome of the pictures released.

Exactly what happened is far from clear, but according to Ukrainian prosecutors, soldiers arrived and demanded that the family leave so that their home could instead house Russian troops. The owner said no, but gunmen showed up days later and shot all nine while they were asleep.

Local officials on the Russian side say that two Russian soldiers were arrested and said that the initial assessment showed that the murder motive was a domestic conflict. Both Ukraine and Russia are now investigating. Scott McClain, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NEWTON: In Japan, a shooting suspect is in police custody now after a standoff at a post office. It happened Tuesday, just north of Tokyo. The man entered the post office about an hour after he allegedly shot two people at a hospital. Their injuries are non-life-threatening. Police have confirmed to CNN that the 86-year-old suspect was arrested. A woman in her 20s who was being held hostage is now safe. And that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Paula Newton. Stay with us, though. My friend and colleague, Bianca Nobilo, continues with our coverage after a quick break.

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