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Israeli Troops Say They Have Gaza City Surrounded; Inter-Faith Groups Across Us Demand Immediate Ceasefire In Gaza; U.S. Intelligence Currently Assesses Iran And Its Proxies Are Seeking To Avoid A Wider War; Hezbollah Leader To Break Silence On Involvement In Israel-Hamas War; Israel-Hamas War; Two U.S. Volunteers Leave Gaza after Weeks of War; Families Desperate for News of Love Ones Held Hostage; At least 46 Dead after Cat 5 Storm Hits Mexico Beach Town. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired November 03, 2023 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:26]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Wherever you are around the world this hour, you're watching CNN's ongoing coverage of Israel's war with Hamas. I'm John Vause in Atlanta where it's now 1:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. in Gaza, which is now divided into by Israeli ground forces battling Hamas militants in the north.

For weeks, Israeli officials urged Palestinians to evacuate to a relative safety in the south, a head of a major ground incursion. And as dawn now breaks, the Israeli troops have Gaza City completely surrounded according to senior IDF commanders.

And in the past few hours, CNN crews report flares and explosions lighting up the night sky over northern Gaza around the city of Beit Hanoun, not far from the Israeli border.

So far 23 Israeli soldiers have been killed during this military offensive, which is focused on locating and destroying the Hamas tunnel network as well as senior Hamas leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. HERZI HALEVI, IDF CHIEF OF STAFF (through translator): Our soldiers have been operating in Gaza City for the past few days surrounding it from several directions deepening the operation. Our forces are in very significant areas of Gaza City.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: On Thursday, more than 20 Palestinians sheltering at U.N .schools were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to United Nations officials. And the death toll in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began 27 days ago, has now passed 9,000. That's according to the Palestinian health ministry based in the West Bank, which is relying on information from Hamas controlled Gaza. While the U.S. president has cast doubt on the accuracy of those

numbers, he has warned Israel that he's surging civilian death toll will mean a loss of international support. Secretary State Antony Blinken has now been sent back to the region to discuss U.S. concerns directly with Israeli officials.

CNN's Scott McLean joining us live again this hour from London for the very latest on this this ground offensive that the Israeli said was coming. They telegraph their punches, they said it would happen. And it's happening right now it seems and this is just the beginning. This is an escalating ground offensive. So what can we expect?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, yes, so the bombing campaign continues throughout Gaza, south, central, north, but the troops on the ground, the tanks, you're seeing those, at least based on what we know exclusively in the northern part of Gaza.

As you mentioned, the IDF says that they now have Gaza City completely surrounded and we got some new video last night from our teams on the ground on the Israeli side of the border, but looking into Gaza toward the town of Beit Hanoun and you can see flares lighting up the sky. You can also see what looks like a smokescreen on the ground, perhaps suggesting Israeli troop movement.

In that area though the IDF of course is saying precious little about the precise location of any of their tanks or troops on the ground. But at least according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, we know that some troops have been in the area of the Al-Quds hospital, the second largest hospital in Gaza.

The Red Crescent says that from a distance of about one kilometer it figures, IDF troops fired, it says indiscriminately toward the hospital wounding a child and a young man who had been standing outside and also piercing the walls of the sixth floor of the building.

It also has accused Israel of firing on an ambulance, one of its ambulances as well. Now we've put those accusations to the IDF previously, they have said that look, hospitals, including Al-Quds hospital continue to shelter Hamas militants that is something that Al-Quds has previously, strongly denied.

That same hospital earlier this week, John, you might remember got warning specific telephone calls from the Israelis warning them to evacuate ahead of a possible bombing. The hospital says look, it cannot evacuate. There are hundreds of wounded patients there including children, babies and incubators, and there are thousands of civilians taking refuge there as well.

And we know that there is already international outrage mounting at the increasing civilian death toll when you count just children alone. According to the Red Crescent there are more than 3,700 kids who have been killed and there are reports of more than 1,100 who are missing and presumed dead under the rubble right now.

And for comparison's sake, there are more than 500 children killed in Ukraine since the beginning of that conflict, which was about a year and a half ago. Now, we did get a statement yesterday from the mosque leader, the political leader Ismail Haniya who suggested a comprehensive vision to end the war which included an immediate ceasefire.

[01:05:07]

But that is a non-starter for the Israelis, who insist that this war ends only when Hamas is destroyed. But you mentioned Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State on the ground in Israel today or very soon, and the challenge for him is going to be convincing the Israelis to try to lessen the civilian death toll because privately, the Americans have been telling the Israelis that there was a limited window to try to actually take out Hamas before the public outrage over the civilian death toll reaches some kind of a tipping point.

We've seen pressure starting to work perhaps when it comes to aid more than 100 trucks were able to get in yesterday. The question is whether or not the same pressure will work when it comes to Israel's military tactics. John.

VAUSE: Scott, thank you. Scott McLean in London with very latest. Appreciate the update. Thank you.

For a third time and as many days the biggest refugee camp in Gaza was hit by an Israeli airstrike. The IDF said the targets were Hamas leaders as well as tunnels built under the Jabalya camp. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has the very latest details Now, but first a warning, the images in her report are graphic and disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Victims of Jabalya victimized yet again. Some of the survivors of Israel's bombardment took shelter here at U.N. school own to be cut down. Desperately moments after an Israeli strike nearby shown on social media.

This is one of four schools in Gaza, impacted by strikes in a 24-hour period. The U.N. said in total housing some 20,000 displaced people, many of them frightened young children.

What did we do, this boy cries. We did nothing wrong.

The living conditions in the shelters are unbearable. But families come here for safety. That too, is gone. Bring me my son, bring me my son, this father screams. It's unclear if his child is dead or alive.

Three straight days of airstrikes in Jabalya have wrought horror and bloodshed. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the latest attacks.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas infrastructure in this densely populated residential area and says it killed a senior Hamas commander with its strike on Tuesday. But with scores of civilians believe killed, the U.N. Human Rights Council warns what you see here are disproportionate attacks that could amount to a war crime. Gazans don't understand why the world can't stop this. We keep pulling

out bodies, small children, women, it is a catastrophe, this man says. If the countries of the world had any shame, we wouldn't be in this situation.

And more suffering is all but certain Israeli troops are inching closer. And as ground forces backed by near constant error rates move towards Central Gaza, the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians hang in the balance.

The IDF has warned all residents in the north of the strip to leave an order deemed inhumane and impossible by the United Nations. So many remain in the crossfire. Where's the world, this woman screams. Our children are being torn up before our eyes. And with the death toll mounting pressure is growing on the U.S. and Israel to stem the violence. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: More now on the rules of war and human rights we're joined by Leonard Rubenstein, a distinguished professor and Interim Director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Professor, thank you for being with us.

RUBENSTEIN, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: So let's just start with the saying that there is no doubt at this point in the conflict. Hamas is repeatedly guilty of war crimes from indiscriminate rocket fire into Israel, hostage taking, killing civilians, using civilians as human shields. But as you noted in your report, the fact that one side violates the rules does not permit the other side to deviate from them.

There are many who would argue that that means Israel is being held to a higher standard than groups like Hamas, which are listed as terrorist organizations and is that the case is that how it should be?

RUBENSTEIN: The rules of war apply to everyone equally whether you are an armed group or non-state armed group, or in state military that the rules apply to everyone.

VAUSE: Well, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he would raise the high civilian death toll in Gaza with the Israeli government. Here he is. So listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men women and children in Gaza.

[01:10:07]

And this is something that the United States is committed to. We will focus as well on steps that need to be taken to protect civilians who are in a crossfire of the Hamas's making.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: At the minimum here, what is Israel's legal responsibility to the safety of civilians in Gaza?

RUBENSTEIN: There are some fundamental principles. One is you only attack military objects, you may not attack civilians, and you may not use indiscriminate attacks when you don't target but just fire throughout a whole area.

And the Secretary also use the word minimize, because that's illegal as well as a moral obligation that even if an object was civilian facilities, such as a hospital, is used to fire weapons and store weapons or other military purposes, there's an obligation even though you can attack it, to minimize harm to civilians there. That's the fundamental rule, the idea of precautions to make sure civilians are not unduly harmed.

VAUSE: So again, to your report, you don't have the high number of airstrikes that point around 7,019 days, you had this, the sheer number of airstrikes in such a short period dense area and the high death toll, however, casts serious doubt whether Israel complied with its obligations, that would be under its obligations to minimize the impact on civilians when it comes to targeting, you know, facilities like hospitals.

RUBENSTEIN: Yes, and we don't have all the information at all about what kind of targeting Israel did and what steps they tried to take to minimize harm to civilians. It's just that when the casualties are so high, and the airstrikes are so many, it's hard to grasp how those precautions could have been put in place.

VAUSE: Marc Garlasco was the chief of high value targeting on the joint chiefs during the U.S. invasion of Iraq, I want you to listen, when he told CNN about what was considered acceptable in terms of civilian deaths relative to the target. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC GARLEASCO, MILITARY ADVISER, PAX FOR PEACE: 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 the calculus that was made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Is that part of the rules of law says sort of an unofficial metric of what is and is not acceptable, like what we just said there.

RUBENSTEIN: There is no quantitative number like 30, in the rules of war, that was a decision by the U.S. military. And I don't think that kind of standard is adequate. Because you look at the circumstances of the attack, if there are 10 people there and you can save nine of them, that would be the precaution required.

So I think putting a number is not the proper way to approach the problem of minimizing harm to civilians. It's very difficult. But the idea that you can choose a number on your own is unacceptable.

VAUSE: There is this argument that because Israel is it has a modern military, and it abides by international law really says it does. And it is at a disadvantage, because Hamas just doesn't care about those sorts of issues.

In fact, when civilians die in Gaza, it basically plays into Hamas's hands. They want the civilians to die, at least that's according to the Israelis and many other countries around the world.

RUBENSTEIN: There's no doubt that Hamas is firing indiscriminately, which is a war crime. It's murdering civilians, and it's taking hostages, which are war crimes. But as we said at the beginning, that is not really in Israel, its responsibilities.

You cannot retaliate for one crime by committing another, in fact, that leads to barbarism, it goes down and down and down into a spiral where there are no rules left. And I think we have to look at whether Israel is committing crimes.

And there's some evidence that it is, for example, its collective punishment by cutting off water, fuel, electricity to residents of Gaza, which is of course a separate issue from humanitarian relief, which is another obligation.

VAUSE: Professor Rubenstein, thank you so much for your time, sir. We really appreciate your insights. Thanks for being with us.

RUBENSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Across the United States, interfaith groups are calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Philadelphia's biggest train station was brought to a standstill by hundreds of protesters from Jewish Voice for Peace, the Philly Palestine Coalition and other faith leaders, all demanding a ceasefire with from the Israeli airstrikes and ground operations.

[01:15:09]

And in Miami, Jews, Muslims and other protesters teach 48 hour long citizens across the city. The event name 48 hours in solidarity is a reference to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The citizens began Tuesday evening concluded with a candlelight vigil Thursday night.

We'll head to Lebanon in a moment and a highly anticipated public address from the leader of Hezbollah. And while that could be for a region already on edge amid fears of a widening conflict. You're watching CNN. Back in a month.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, 19 minutes past the hour. According to U.S. intelligence, Iran and its proxies are publicly supporting Hamas while at the same time trying to avoid a direct conflict with Israel or the U.S. at least for now.

And Iran back militant fighters have carried out combat drills on mock U.S. and Israeli targets. U.S. official tells CNN Tehran is well aware that of Hezbollah escalates the conflict, it would likely provoke counter attacks against Iran that would be devastating. That said, Iran does not maintain perfect control over all of its proxies across the region.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN LORD, SENIOR FELLOW AND DIRECTOR OF MIDDLE EAST SECURITY PROGRAM, CNAS: The level of activity we've seen on the northern border indicates to me that Hezbollah wants to do just enough to demonstrate solidarity with Hamas without actually getting themselves embroiled in a war.

Hezbollah has a lot to lose here. Lebanon is in a total state of chaos. It's functionally a failed state. And Hezbollah has a lot to do with that. And the one good thing that in recent months that has happened and has been -- in Lebanon is the offshore gas deal.

Hezbollah had an option to try to scuttle that, or take some credit for it and they chose the ladder. They understand they're going to be held responsible if Lebanon goes through a terrible war as a result of their actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: At the same time, the IDF has reported an escalation in cross border attacks in the north, with increased rocket fire from Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Thursday, and the Israeli military wrapping up airstrikes in response.

The exchange of fire is now at its highest level since the 2006 war between Israel and the Iran backed militant group. The high end hostilities began shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli airstrikes and ground incursion of Gaza.

In the coming hours, the head of Hezbollah is expected to make his first public remarks since the Israeli must war began and will be closely watched across the region for any intention of what the militant groups may be. Hassan Nasrallah silence had to this point has been unsettling. And CNN's Ben Wedeman explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The message on clips circulating on social media ambiguous but ominous, there stoking anticipation for a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah scheduled for Friday afternoon. Daily since the eighth of October, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire across the border. It's not a full blown war. Yet.

KARIM EMILE BITAR, INTL. RELATIONS PROFESSOR, SAINT JOSEPH UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT: Time I feel a sense of doom in Lebanon.

WEDEMAN: Professor Karim Bitar has lived through all his country's travails.

BITAR: Some of them are afraid that we might be on the verge of the apocalypse. So I have never seen this much tension in this country.

WEDEMAN: Tensions rising higher Thursday afternoon and evening with the heaviest bombardment yet, both sides of the border.

WEDEMAN: Hezbollah's leader has been unusually quiet since the war broke out in Gaza. But his allies in Iran have made it clear if Israel crosses red lines and its operations against Hamas, new fronts could open.

WEDEMAN (voiceover): And what are those red lines?

AMAL SAAD, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY: You know, these red lines for Hezbollah, Hamas, Hamas leadership, Hamas remaining intact as an organization, and of course, the Palestinian people themselves, preventing another Nakbah from occurring Hezbollah's red lines. There's also Iran's red lines, there Hamas and Islamic Jihad red lines. They're everyone's red lines in the Resistance Axis.

WEDEMAN: So the Nakbah, Arabic for catastrophe is when in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes and what is now Israel.

As the fighting in Gaza intensifies, and the civilian death toll soars, the prospect of regional war looms, and that could spell disaster for Lebanon, a country already in a state of economic collapse and political paralysis.

MAHA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, MALCOLM H. KERR CANEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: A war with Israel would literally send the country back not to the stone ages but pre-stone ages probably. Unfortunately, it's not something that the country would take ages to recover from.

WEDEMAN: On Beirut's coordination (ph), 70-year-old retired bank employee Basson (ph) waits for the fish to bite.

Nobody knows what's going to happen, he tells me, everyone is worried. The situation be assuring.

The sea appears calm, but a storm may be coming. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: For a second day a few 100 foreign nationals have been allowed to leave Gaza and in a moment we'll hear for an American doctor who was just arrived in Egypt, as well as the head of the aid group. She volunteered to work for.

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[01:27:43]

VAUSE: Welcome back, 27 minutes past the hour and then the past few hours the night sky over northern Gaza has been lit up by a barrage of flares and explosions. We've seen in crews reporting what appears to be an escalating Israeli air offensive, the most intense since a mass attack Israel last month.

And at this hour, Gaza City is said to be completely surrounded by Israeli forces according to IDF commanders. We have more details down from CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The firefight on the ground between Israeli soldiers and Hamas fighters has intensified for days. And now Israeli military leaders say its forces have entered Gaza City. Israeli Defense Forces released these video images of soldiers moving through the war ravaged streets of Gaza.

HALEVI: Our soldiers have been operating in Gaza City for the past few days surrounding it from several directions deepening the operation. Our forces are in very significant areas of Gaza City.

LAVANDERA: Israeli forces have made their way into the northern and central areas of Gaza as well. This is where it says Hamas military leaders are believed to be operating from a sophisticated system of underground tunnels.

Israel Defense Force officials say more than 10,000 munitions have been fired into Gaza striking thousands of targets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): Fighters of the IDF continue to progress in Gaza, holding battles face to face with the headmaster is deepening the combat.

LAVANDERA: Hamas released this video of what it says are its fighters emerging from underground tunnels attacking Israeli soldiers inside Gaza. The video does capture the dangerous nature of this ground fight.

The military wing of Hamas also says it released this video showing the moment of an aerial drone dropping munitions on a gathering of Israeli forces in northeast Gaza. The fighting has taken a deadly toll across the Gaza Strip since October 7 over 9,000 had been killed here, according to Palestinian health officials in the Hamas controlled enclave.

[01:29:50]

Israeli aerial strikes have left massive craters in residential and refugee areas as the military says it's trying to dismantle Hamas military operations underground.

The Israeli military says 20 IDF soldiers have been killed in the Gaza operation. One of those was 20-year-old Rai Dawi (ph).

Dawi's funeral service brought out hundreds of mourners near Jerusalem on Thursday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: We have an update now from the IDF which reports an increase in the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. That death toll now stands at 23.

Last hour I spoke with John Spencer, retired U.S. Army Major, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point's Modern Warfare Institute about the possibility of destroying Hamas's infrastructure, the tunnel networks, as well as its leadership without a painfully high number of civilian casualties given how deeply embedded Hamas is within the civilian population of Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. JOHN SPENCER (RET), U.S. ARMY: Unfortunately, that is modern warfare despite all the laws of war that have been created since World War II, I can't point you to a seamless battle -- not the battle of Fallujah, not the battle of Mosul -- where you can say there is zero civilian casualties.

You do everything you can to get all the civilians out and like you said that will be a long, bloody destructive battle as they move forward into Gaza City and it will look like they indiscriminately leveled the city when they actually didn't.

It's unfortunate the nature of urban warfare. I mean even the civilian casualties that we're seeing now if we believe in the reporting, it's not unlike battles that we've seen even supported by the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For a second day, hundreds of foreign nationals have arrived in Egypt from Gaza. Egyptian officials at the southern Rafah Crossing say more than 340 were allowed over the border on Thursday as part of a deal brokered by Qatar.

According to the White House, 74 Americans were among them. As well as two doctors with the Palestine Children's Relief fund, they also arrived in Egypt on Wednesday. Dr. Barbara Zind arrived in Gaza the day before the Hamas October 7th attack on Israel and says she has mixed emotions about leaving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BARBARA ZIND, PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: I'm doing pretty well. I think I'm in a halo of just relief to be here. But just feeling awful for the devastation that the Gazan people are going through right now. There is really no safe place for the Gazan people. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Steve Sosebee is founder and president of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. He's with us now from Kent, Ohio. Thank you for being with us. We really appreciate your time, Steve.

STEVE SOSEBEE, FOUNDER, PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: My pleasure.

VAUSE: Right now, I'm imagine both there's a sense of relief with both doctors now with the PCRF out of Gaza. Is it difficult to actually describe this as good news given the humanitarian crisis they're leaving behind?

SOSEBEE: Well, it's good news for Barb and for Ramona and they deserve it. They suffered a lot during the several weeks that they were in Gaza.

But of course, they are just two out of 2.2 million that, you know, are all still in Gaza and living under these terrible circumstances or situation of a bombing and food shortages and the lack of clean water. And you know, that includes over 40 members of our staff who are all, you know, just trying to survive.

And you know, there are no safe places in Gaza right now. And the conditions on the ground there are getting worse every single day. We were just, actually, on the phone with our Cancer Department. We built a Pediatric Oncology Department in Gaza, the first and only department that serves children with Gaza, we were just talking to them and there were bombs going off all around the hospital.

So you can imagine the terror for those children, and the number of casualties that are being inflicted every single day there.

Over a hundred children are being killed in Gaza every single day from bombs dropping on their homes, on hospitals, on churches, on mosques, on schools. And we are quite concerned with the people, the welfare of the people on the ground there.

VAUSE: You mentioned the conditions that they were living under. And Barbara spoke to CNN about those conditions. Essentially, what she had been dealing with for almost a month now. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ZIND: It's been scary in the last few weeks there. We kept running out of water and that was water to flush the toilet. We always were fortunate to have drinking water which is not true of the Gazans that were just outside the fence from us. They were running out of drinking water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: She also told CNN the situation in Gaza is like a medieval siege. What was your frustration? And also the anxiety knowing that, you know, the doctors and your colleagues were in danger. They were sleeping in a parking lot. And for the most part, there wasn't a lot you could do. And it seems

there wasn't a lot the U.S. State Department can do as well.

SOSEBEE: Well, I think the State Department probably could've done more. We give Egypt and Israel billions of dollars every year. I'm sure there's some leverage that could've been exercised to get them out. But I won't talk about that right now.

[01:34:44]

SOSEBEE: I will say, on your first point, it was very frustrating for us because, you know, we care very much about Barb and Ramona. We're responsible for them. And you know, they are -- they were in a very difficult situation not only with the lack of food and clean water as Barb mentioned and a place to sleep. But also, you know, there were constant explosions and bombings around them.

And in addition to that, there were thousands of people who are desperate to get into the U.N. compound and to find, at least some sense of security being around foreigners that, maybe they were safe as there are no other safe places in Gaza. So we were quite concerned, and we're very fortunate they did get out.

VAUSE: You mentioned the death toll among children and UNICEF issued a statement with the civilian casualties in Gaza. In recent part more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed including over 3,400 children with over 6,300 children injured. This means that more than 420 children are being killed or injured in Gaza every day. A number which should shake each of us to our core.

As someone who founded an organization specifically to help children in Gaza, how do you process that? Are you hoping, is there any reason to hope that Israel would agree to some kind of humanitarian pause soon?

SOSEBEE: Well, it's very hard to process as a human being, let alone somebody who's worked in Gaza for over 30 years. And I know the people there and have great admiration and respect for the Gazan people. I have never been treated with anything but kindness and hospitality by the people of Gaza.

And despite their circumstances, for so many years, we've treated thousands of children who have suffered this kind of casualties and trauma injuries over the years.

But we've never seen anything quite like this. And it is extremely concerning for us as an organization and for me as a human being to see the kind of casualties and suffering that's being imposed on the innocent children in Gaza.

You mentioned 3,500 or 3400 children have been killed so far. And that's not including over 1,000 children who are buried under rubble from these bombings of homes and residences and churches and schools and mosques and so on. Those children - there's many of them who are buried alive and who are slowly dying. It's just unimaginable -- we mentioned the word "medieval". I don't

even think that that's an accurate description because we're not in the medieval times. It's 2023. There's no excuse for civilized countries, or anybody on this planet, today dropping bombs on the homes around the residences of families with innocent children.

Am I hopeful? Is there a sense of hope? No. Not at this point, there isn't because we've seen images of kids being pulled out. And kids who've had these horrific injuries by the thousands.

And there's been no effort by anyone to put a stop to it, not the least of which is the United States government. So we're hoping -- we're hoping there will be some form of ceasefire and that there will be a chance for at least the civilian population to get some kind of protection and humanitarian aid which is desperately needed.

VAUSE: It's never been this bad before. And as you say, there's still reason to hope. It does seem slim.

Steve, good to have you with us. Thank you so much and we're very relieved that, you know, the two doctors are out. That is some good.

SOSEBEE: Thank you.

VAUSE: Some family members of hostages in Gaza say no news is good news. In a moment, hear from three Israeli to explain why they still have hope their loved ones will be set free and will be allowed to return home.

[01:37:59]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Israel's defense minister says the escalating ground offensive will actually help those negotiations to free hostages by putting pressure on the militant groups holding them in Gaza. The IDF believes there are 242 hostages right now and an Israeli government spokesperson says the country is on a mission to ensure all of them return home safely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EYLON LEVY, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: Our assessment is that the current ground operation is advancing the conditions to help free our hostages. We've already seen four hostages released under heavy international pressure. We're calling on more international pressure to release the rest of them immediately and unconditionally.

But Hamas isn't suddenly going to develop a humanitarian backbone and release the children they've abducted out of the kindness of its own heart. We're moving in in order to physically free the hostages and put that pressure on Hamas to release them immediately and unconditionally.

And the United States have been very clear that there's no excuse for abducting children and innocent people like that from their beds and holding them in the Gaza Strip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For families of the hostages it's been about four weeks of absolute desperation.

CNN's Lynda Kinkade sat down with three Israelis who between them have more than a dozen family members currently being held by militant groups in Gaza. All of them say they're just peaceful people who want their family back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm so sorry for what you're dealing with.

All nine family members were taken by Hamas, two have been released, three killed. How are you coping?

OR SELLA, RELATIVES HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: You know coping is a really big word. I think each and every day I wake up and I just start doing everything I can. Everything in my power to try to bring them back with any means necessary.

KINKADE: Two of your family members were released, Judith and her teenage daughter Natalie Raanan. Describe the moment when you saw those two family members walk across the border from Gaza?

SELLA: They've been through hell. They got back in the same clothes that they were kidnapped in. We were relieved by their release and thankful for the American administration and President Joe Biden for the efforts to bring them back. It gave us a lot of hope for returning the other family members and all the other hostages.

KINKADE: Have they spoken to you about those weeks in captivity?

SELLA: We spoke a lot. What has been said in these conversations are between us. We are just happy to have them back and with that, we don't have the privilege to celebrate as well as the privilege to mourn our dead family members which was buried through these days.

I can't allow myself to really open myself to feel something because it can break me down and I really need to keep going every second until they are all back.

KINKADE: Of all the family members that have been taken hostage by Hamas, the youngest is just three years old. What are your hopes for the coming days, the coming weeks in terms of getting news of your loved ones?

[01:44:43]

SELLA: When you see the innocence of someone who has her -- literally her whole life ahead of her and then you try to imagine where she is now, under a tunnel at gunpoint. She is three years old. We are at a point that any news is good news and we hope for any sign

of life.

KINKADE: Shani, your cousin Rimon and her husband Yagev were captured by Hamas. What do you know about what happened to them?

SHANI SEGAL, RELATIVES HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: My cousin got into a safe room and at 7:00 in the morning, she started to say that she sees terrorists outside of her window. The kibbutz is built line by line, the houses are line by line so she saw them moving line by line, using explosives, yelling, shooting.

So at 8:25 in the morning, she texted her mom and said "Mom, they're shooting at us. The window is shattered." She then left her mama voice message at 8:30 in the morning she told her that she loves her, she loves her dearly and she's sorry she's not there with her. And that was it.

And at 3:30 when the army reined control on the kibbutz, they found a house, glass shattered, bullet holes, signs of struggle, some blood and they were gone.

KINKADE: And Shani, Hamas has released a video of your cousin pleading for a ceasefire. We're not going to show that video. But I would like to gauge your reaction upon seeing that and hearing what she said.

SEGAL: So first and foremost, thank you for not showing it.

Secondly, when I saw the video my first reaction was to smile because she's alive. Just imagine for three weeks not knowing, over three weeks now. Not knowing if she's alive or dead. Not knowing if she is well.

KINKADE: Several hostages have been released or rescued. Does that give you hope?

SEGAL: It's a very tricky question because I have hope. I've had hope for the past three and a half weeks. But we're dealing with a terror organization.

KINKADE: The Israeli prime minister has said -- has rejected calls for a ceasefire, saying now is the time for war. Qatar which is negotiating hostage releases has said that would jeopardize our negotiations.

What do you think about that risk?

SELLA: I plead and even demand that anyone who has any influence on this matter put the hostages on the first priority.

SEGAL: The community that was affected on October 7th was a community that fought the most for co-existence and believed in peace. And did everything in their power to push for it.

We are peaceful people. We want peace. We don't want revenge. KINKADE: If I can turn to you, Ilan, your sister-in-law Aviva and her

husband Keith aged in their 60s, grandparents, taken hostage by Hamas. What can you tell us about them?

ILAN FELDMAN: Aviva has dedicated her life to the kindergarten. She's our caretaker. She takes care of babies. Her life is family.

My wife Sandy says all the time that if Aviva is in Gaza and if she's taking care of babies, she's going to be ok because that's her life. Keith is just like one of these very friendly -- he comes to -- any place he comes he says hello to everyone. Just super friendly. Both of them are just, you know, gentle people.

It's the last thing I would ever imagine, you know, for them.

KINKADE: Thank you so much for sharing your stories. And I really hope that you are reunited with their loved ones very soon. Thank you.

FELDMAN: Thank you.

SELLA: Thank you for having us.

SEGAL: Thanks for having us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:49:35]

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VAUSE: Welcome back. 53 minutes past the hour.

He was the highest of highfliers in the dark new (ph) world of cryptocurrency, but now a jury has found former billionaire, Sam Bankman-Fried, guilty of fraud and conspiracy after the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX.

Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven counts including stealing billions of dollars from accounts belonging to customers of FTX, defrauding lenders to FTX sister company, the hedge fund Alameda Research which held FTX customer funds in a bank account.

The collapse of FTX fueled a panic in the trillion-dollar crypto industry, left an estimated one million customers facing potential losses.

The sentencing of Bankman-Fried now set for March next year.

Mexico's popular resort town of Acapulco has been left devastated and struggling to recover days after Hurricane Otis made landfall. Mexican authorities report dozens have died, dozens more remain unaccounted for.

CNN Espanol's Gabriela Frias has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GABRIELA FRIAS, CNN ESPANOL ANCHOR: This is what Acapulco looks like eight days after Hurricane Otis hit as a powerful Category 5 storm devastating Acapulco and the community of Coyuca de Benitz. Authorities report least 46 people dead and 55 unaccounted for.

The president of Mexico has set the month of December as a target day to have, in his own words, Acapulco back on its feet.

[01:54:50]

FRIAS: But to make that happen, there is a very long way to go. Access to drinkable water is a challenge. Only 30 percent of the electricity has been restored. Telecommunications and Internet are still a problem.

Residents and the business community have three key priorities for authorities: guaranteeing access to drinkable water, security, and the removal of garbage and debris. The smell of garbage is noticeable. Increasing the risk of infections and waterborne diseases.

But there are some more hopeful reality in the midst of this dire situation. Local residents, those who can and citizens from other parts of Mexico are here, lending a hand to those thousands of families in need. Even international tourists, who were caught by surprise by the storm, have decided to stay and volunteer.

We found two of them -- one from Colombia, one from Peru in one of the community centers of World Central Kitchen, the foundation led by Chef Jose Andres. Even local chefs and workers from the restaurant industry are lending a hand alongside international chefs like Jaime McDonald from Connecticut. Take a listen.

JAIME MCDONALD, CHEF: I've been volunteering with world Central Kitchen since the war broke out in Ukraine, so for a couple of years now. And when I saw on the news, that what happened here -- you know, I had to come help because it's just horrible.

But I'm glad that you are all here doing a story because back home in the states, you really don't see a lot about what's going on here. I make sure to try to share as much as I can on social media, that way people everywhere can see that the whole city is just devastated.

FRIAS: These meals are also reaching isolated communities only reachable by air, by helicopter.

Gabriela Frias, CNN -- Acapulco, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for being with us for the past two hours. I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us. Kim Brunhuber will have the latest on the Israel war with Hamas after a very short break.

Hope to see you right back here next week. [01:56:52]

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