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13 Israelis, Four Thais Released On Saturday After Delay; 39 Palestinian Prisoners & Detainees Freed On Saturday; Qatari Govt. Seeking To Extend Truce Beyond Four Days. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired November 26, 2023 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNNI ANCHOR: Thanks for joining us on CNN Newsroom. I'm Michael Holmes with our continuing coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. It is day three of the fragile four-day truce between Hamas and Israel, and the Israeli government now has the names of the hostages who will be freed on Sunday. That's after day two came to a rocky but successful conclusion laid on Saturday with the release of 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals who had been kidnapped by militants on October 7. After preliminary medical checks, all of the former hostages were taken to Israeli hospitals for care and to be reunited with families.

Israel's Health Ministry said one woman, 21-year-old Maya Regev, was treated for a moderate injury and is in stable condition. Also among the second group is nine-year-old Emily Hand whose father had initially been told she died in the October 7 terror attack. And the Israeli government wants to know why 13-year-old Hila Rotem's mother Raya wasn't released with her daughter.

An Israeli official says that under the agreement, mothers and children are not to be separated. The deal also called for the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday. For several tense hours, Hamas stalled on releasing the hostages in a dispute over aid to Gaza and over which Palestinians the Israelis were willing to release.

Qatar has played a pivotal role throughout this process, including resolving Saturday's dispute. The government has clearly stated it we'd like to extend the truce, if it can be done. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJED AL-ANSARI, WATARI FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: What we are hoping for is that the momentum that has carried from the release of these two days and from this agreement of four days would allow us to extend the truce beyond these four days and therefore get into more serious discussions about the rest of the hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, each former hostage will have to process what they've been through in their own private way, and that will take, well, as long as it takes. But, this much is certain, they won't be alone in their recovery, as our Clarissa Ward explains the healing process begins the moment they're back in Israeli custody.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What's really been stressed was over and over and over again how important it is for the families to have privacy in this moment, and for them at this stage to try to break the news to their children, to their loved ones, to their relatives about what happened on October 7, because crucially, many of the hostages have no real sense of the full scope of what took place on October 7.

And that's why so much care has gone into ensuring that the media is kept at a distance, that there is a degree of privacy, but also that the appropriate staffing and psychiatrists and social workers are in place, and also a lot of guidelines that were given to the IDF in terms of how they handled the hostages when they first were there during that initial handover from the Red Cross.

They did a cursory medical search and checking their identities. They were told not to answer questions such as where is mommy, where is daddy, to ask permission of any children before trying to pick them up. And so, every possible care has been taken here and also at the Schneider Children's Medical Center where we were last night to try to minimize any sort of re-traumatizing, particularly of these children, as they return home, and many of them no longer have homes but return home to Israel for the first time in seven weeks.

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HOLMES: Now, I want to show you one of the most emotional scenes from the release of the hostages on Saturday. Have a look.

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HOLMES: That was nine-year-old Emily Hand rushing into the arms of her father Thomas, who at one time thought that she'd been killed in the October 7 terrorist attacks. During the 50 days she spent as a hostage, Emily turned nine-years-old. Now, four hostages from Thailand were released on Saturday. That's in addition to the 10 released on Friday. The Thai Prime Minister says they were taken to a hospital in Israel for a checkup and are in good health, none of them needing emergency medical care. Thai officials estimate that 18 Thai citizens are still being held hostage.

Journalist Manisha Tank joins me now live from Singapore. So, more good news for families in Thailand, Manisha. Tell us more about those who were released and how they're getting on.

MANISHA TANK, JOURNALIST: That's right. I was just reflecting for a moment there, Michael, on those scenes of reunification of families, and this is probably channeling some of what these Thai families will be feeling to be back in touch with their loved ones, having not known where they were over the last few weeks. As for how they're doing, they are being taken care of at the Shamir

Medical Center, reputed to be the fourth largest government hospital in Israel. Therefore, you can imagine the medical infrastructure being leveraged to take care of them. Their condition is healthy. So, this was posted on social media by the Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin that they were healthy, that no one needed emergency care. That is the four who have just been released.

But, let me just speak for a moment of the 10 that were released on Friday. The hospital telling the CNN team that some of them were being observed for lack of nutrition. So, while they were stable, they were not necessarily healthy. And of course, they will want to get details of the kind of conditions that they were kept in. I think also it's worth mentioning, the hospital mentioned how they only found out really at the last minute that these groups of hostages would be coming to them at that particular facility, and that perhaps gives us a sense of how on the edge all of these agreements have been, and that even the hospital facilities are finding out at that sort of 11th hour.

Just in terms of those hostages that remain with Hamas. The situation around that obviously is very precarious, very sensitive. The media is being advised that even if they speak to the families of those that have been released, or indeed to those who have been released, to be very careful about the details that they share. This is just the beginning of what is going to be a long journey, Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. Absolutely. But, good news for those families at least. Manisha Tank in Singapore, appreciate it.

Now, the U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Qatar's Emir on day two of the hostage release, working the phones to resolve any delays in the process and expedite the release of American hostages held by Hamas. CNN's Arlette Saenz is with the President in Massachusetts.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House is closely watching the coming hours, waiting to hear whether any American citizens will be part of the next group of hostages that are expected to be released on Sunday. No American citizens were included in the first releases that occurred on Friday and Saturday. But, the White House says they are hopeful that at least three Americans will be coming out in the coming days. It's expected that they will be part of this larger group that had been negotiated to release 50 women and children. And the American citizens who are -- officials are focusing in on are two women and also that young four-year-old girl, Abigail Edan, whose parents were killed in the October 7 attack by Hamas.

But, it also comes as President Biden has been working the phones, trying to ensure that this deal and the implementation of the deal remains on track. On Saturday, he spent some time on the phone speaking with the Emir of Qatar as well as the Qatari Prime Minister, as there were some delays in the hostage release, concerns that the release might fall apart for Saturday. The President spoke with them to talk about the potential hurdles and also ways to overcome it. And ultimately, around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, the White House got word that the deal was moving forward. The release was moving forward, and the Red Cross would soon retrieve those hostages. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to this out in California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: There were some issues and challenges around implementation. President Biden spoke with the Emir to resolve those issues, and we do believe they are being resolved. We're going to continue to be diligent and vigilant and doing all that we can in that regard to ensure that there is humanitarian aid going in, that hostages are going out, and our highest priority, of course, are the American citizens who are being held.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, the White House has been unable to pinpoint an exact day that the Americans will be released, but they are hopeful that they will be released in the coming days, and then there is also concern about the other Americans believed to be held hostage by Hamas.

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There are about 10 Americans who are unaccounted for. The President told reporters on Friday that he did not know all of their conditions. Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the President in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Emotions were running high as the Palestinian prisoners released on Saturday were reunited with their families. This woman couldn't hold back tears as she ran into the hands of her family members. Six women and 33 teenage boys were freed on the second day of the truce. This is the moment when some of them arrived in the West Bank where a huge crowd turned out to celebrate their release. CNN estimates that 15 of those former prisoners were serving sentences, mostly for attacks on Israelis. But, the majority, 24 in all, were held in so-called administrative detention, a practice that a member of the Palestinian Parliament strongly condemned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Administrative detention means that the Palestinians are kept in jail for unlimited period, without charges, without due legal process, without even knowing why they are in jail. And that is -- that includes at this very moment more than 2,200 Palestinians, including about 200 children. They are arrested and they are put in jail without even charging them. This is totally unacceptable in two ways. First of all, administrative detention itself shouldn't be accepted, and arresting children and keeping them in jail for a long time is unacceptable. There are children here who have been in jail for eight years, five years, six years. It's unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOMLES: Still to come on the program, heartwarming moments in Israel as families reunite with their loved ones after being released from Hamas captivity. Details on that when we come back.

Also, people living in northern Gaza just received the largest aid convoy since the war began. But, is it enough? We'll discuss when we come back.

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HOLMES: The Israeli security officials are looking over a new list of hostages whom Hamas says it will release in the coming hours. That's according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. It comes after Hamas turned over a second group of hostages Saturday after an hours-long delay. Red Cross buses carried 13 Israeli and four Thai nationals out of Gaza. In exchange, Israel says it released 39 Palestinian prisoners, including six women and 33 male teenagers. Here is a look at the 13 Israelis Hamas released on Saturday. They include seven children. The youngest is three-years-old.

But, mystery surrounds the release of 13-year-old Hila Rotem. This is Hila reunited with her uncle, but her mother was not released with her. An Israeli official tells us, under the deal, mothers and children were not supposed to be separated. So, where is her mother and why she isn't released, is still unknown. But, others have been able to rejoice with their loved ones after 50 days of being a hostage. Danielle Aloni and his young -- and her young daughter Amelia hugged family members in Israel. Danielle was among the three women who were seen in a hostage video released by Hamas last month. Nine- year-old Ohad Munder ran to embrace his father. Ohad's mother and grandmother were also released by Hamas.

Meanwhile, families of Israelis who are still in Hamas custody are pushing for their release as well. They say they have also submitted proof that their loved ones are still alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOAM PERI, FATHER IN HAMAS CUSTODY: We have a sign of life from my father. We know he is alive, from other people, from the community who were released yesterday. It brings a lot of hope. And yet, together it -- it's -- we feel very urgent to let them all out. We don't know how much time they're going to be able to hold on there.

NADAV RUDAEFF, FAMILY MEMBER STILL IN HAMAS CUSTODY: I was very happy to hear from Noam that they do have some sort of sign that her dad is still alive. Unfortunately, I don't have that privilege. And the fact that we are still here 50 days later, trying to convince and demand the communities in Israel and around the world to come forth and help us bringing the pressure for everyone to be released is very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Palestinian humanitarian officials say they have delivered the largest aid convoy to Gaza City and northern Gaza since the war began. The UN and the Red Crescent confirmed that 187 aid trucks made it into the Gaza Strip on Saturday with food, water, fuel and medical supplies. 61 of those trucks reached northern Gaza. Since October 21, nearly 2,000 trucks have made it through the Rafah crossing, although aid organizations say that is still a drop in the bucket compared to the need, as people in Gaza face hunger, health issues and homelessness as well.

For more now, I'm joined by Tamara Alrifai, a spokesperson for the UN agency in charge of relief for Palestinian refugees. She is joining me from Amman in Jordan. It's good to see you again. Hamas delayed this hostage release because not enough of the agreed aid was allowed to the northern part of Gaza. How is it -- how important is it that aid gets not just to the south but to the north? Not everyone has been able to leave northern Gaza, of course.

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TAMARA ALRIFAI, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS & SPOKESPERSON, UNRWA: It's extremely important for aids to be able to reach people wherever they are, whether they're in the north, in the middle parts of Gaza, or in the south. So, the 61 trucks that made it to the north of Gaza -- to the north of the Gaza Strip yesterday is a huge breakthrough, because almost nothing has been able to go into the north since it got almost completely sealed a few weeks ago. And therefore, our position at the UN and particularly at the UNRWA, since we're the largest agency in Gaza right now, is we welcome this humanitarian pause, and we truly believe that this is the opportunity to reach people, especially the people who are displaced in UNRWA shelters all over the Gaza Strip.

HOLMES: Let's talk about the conditions. Gaza is prone to flooding. Sewage is often in the streets before this conflict. I used to see it there myself. Now, with so much infrastructure destroyed, how much worse is that particular situation along with the attended health risks, water and sewage and so on, in the streets as winter approaches?

ALRIFAI: It is much, much worse, Michael. The humanitarian, the health and the environmental hazards are very, very high. We're talking first of all of a displaced population that is overcrowded in UNRWA shelters. Over one million people now live in 156 shelters run by UNRWA. That's around 9,000 people per location. These locations were set up to accommodate 2,000, not 9,000 people.

We're also talking about the breakdown in general municipal services in Gaza, and that includes pumping sewage. And therefore, what you just mentioned is now magnified. The streets of Gaza, of Rafah in the south, in particular, are flooding with sewage, and that is very, very dangerous. Plus, we are seeing as sharp increase in health -- in diseases, particularly related to the overcrowding, such as respiratory diseases that are spreading very fast, and also skin diseases because people do not have access to showers. We're talking about 4,500 people per shower in our shelters. So, the risks are very high on health and environmental levels.

HOLMES: Extraordinary numbers. Some people have used this pause to go back to check on their homes, if they have one, and to see if they do. What are you hearing about what those people are finding as they've been able to use this time to go and have a look?

ALRIFAI: We are hearing heartbreaking stories. And again, as you rightly mentioned, people were very eager to use that pause to go back to their homes. Everybody wants to go home. Even if they cannot stay home, they want to check on whether their homes are still standing or have been completely destroyed, what happened to the neighbors, to the community, to their belongings. Most of the people, over one million people, left without taking anything from their homes.

We are hearing heartbreaking stories about what people are finding out, people who have died, their neighbors who are no longer. And the regular break or blackout in telecommunications has also disconnected the communities and disconnected Gazans from their friends, their neighbors, and even their families.

HOLMES: When you think of 1.7 million people displaced, the destruction that we've talked about the schools, medical facilities, homes destroyed, what are your long-term fears for Gazans in the months, even years to come?

ALRIFAI: Our immediate fear is the schools for the children, and the fact that if kids cannot go back to school anytime soon, that's the learning loss that adds to the learning losses of COVID. What we fear is that most of our schools are now used as shelters, which means that even if people left tomorrow, we're going to need a few months to rehabilitate these schools and accommodate kids. The reason we're so focused on education is that apart from the learning losses, we believe that children going back to schools will bring in psychologically a kind of normality back to Gazan households. And that is now not an option in view of that very, very large scale destruction, and more than 1.7 million people currently out of their homes.

You know, Michael, over the last two days, 24,000 people, extra people came to our shelters, which means that the displacement continues.

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And people do not want to stay in -- I mean, cannot stay where they are because of lack of services, and they still go to UNRWA shelters.

HOLMES: Yes. Dire situation. Tamara Alrifai in Amman, Jordan, thanks so much. Appreciate your time.

Well, the Director of Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital remains in Israeli custody. The Israeli Military telling us that. The IDF says it detained Muhammad Abu Salmiya last Thursday and turned him over to the Israeli security services for questioning. An IDF spokesman says come Hamas was using the hospital as a "bed of terrorism", which Hamas and the hospital have denied. He says Israel will make a decision regarding Abu Salmiya's release "in due course". And meanwhile, the number of journalists killed in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon since October 7 Hamas attack has increased now to at least 57. That's after the Committee to Protect Journalists confirmed the death of four Palestinian journalists on Saturday. The journalism advocacy group says 50 Palestinian, four Israeli and three Lebanese journalists lost their lives since the Israel-Hamas war began last month.

I'm Michael Holmes for those watching in North America. I'll be back to continue our coverage after a break for our international viewers inside Africa, coming your way next.

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HOLMES: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom with me Michael Holmes. The Israeli government now has the names of the hostages who will be freed by Hamas on Sunday, day three of the delicate truce between Hamas and Israel. That's after day two came to a rocky but successful conclusion late on Saturday with the release of 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals. Israel in turn says it released 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israel's Health Ministry said 21- year-old Maya Regev was treated for a moderate injury. And the Israeli government wants to know why 13-year-old Hila Rotem's mother Raya wasn't released with her daughter. An Israeli official says that under the agreement, mothers and children are not supposed to be separated.

Joining us now is Aaron David Miller, a former State Department, Middle East Negotiator, and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Always good to see you, sir. The delay on Saturday, everything finished up all right, but it did show how precarious the process can be. How delicate a truce is and exchanges like this? I mean, it's a four-day process initially. What could scuffle it?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPT. MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR, & SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTL. PEACE: Well, first of all, Michael, thanks for having me. It's day by day. And look, you've got a situation in which there is no direct negotiations between Israel and Hamas. You are aligned now almost exclusively on the Qataris as mediators, and in this case, the Egyptians as well. You have not just -- you have no trust or confidence. In a matter of days, it's clear that Israel and Hamas may well be back to trying to kill one another. So, there is no trust and confidence. There is no direct negotiations. The Qataris have a huge, huge lift in order to try to secure and minimize friction. Today's example, I think, is -- I won't say it is part for the course. It is an extraordinary situation. But, it should surprise no one.

I think it was Samuel Goldwyn Mayer, the great Hollywood mogul, who said that an oral agreement isn't worth the paper it's written at. And if you want to get to the bottom of this, CNN should try to get a hold of the six-page document, which is a result of weeks of negotiations between with the U.S., the Israelis, the Israeli intelligence, CIA, Mossad, Shin Bet, the Qataris and the Egyptians. There is purportedly a document which spells out in pretty precise detail what the terms of this deal really are.

So, it's really hard to know today what delayed it, questions that Hamas has over the Palestinian prisoners. The Israelis are really seeing disappointment that more aid isn't surging into Gaza. There was even one report that Hamas was objecting to the fact that the Israelis were preventing Gazans from returning from the south to Gaza City. So, any number of things could have derailed it.

HOLMES: I thought it was interesting. And do you find it interesting that Qatari negotiators actually went to Israel itself? That's pretty unusual. What did that suggest in terms of negotiations?

MILLER: I think what it suggests, frankly, is extremely positive. It means the Qataris are (inaudible). And while they're not in Gaza, which frankly would be ideal if you had a Qatari mediator actually overseeing this between these two parties. That day a delegation showed up in Israel. Today, I think it is extremely significant. And it suggests to me, because I think the underlying pressures on both sides are driving this deal, not just for two days. I suspect Hamas's part in particular. They'd like to see this strung out as long as possible. They're trying to trade hostages for time in the hope. It may not be misplaced.

Then, rising pressure from the families inside Israel and external pressure, and I might add the Biden administration to that, will lead to further delays, and perhaps even though the administration is saying they won't -- will not accept it, a prolonged cessation of hostilities, which at this point would be a Hamas victory, very difficult and hard for these Israelis to accept.

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HOLMES: Yes. I did want to ask you too, the deal, ultimately, can Israel get the rest of the hostages out if Israel is continuing to say, you know, once we do get them out, we're still going to wipe you out, Hamas? What is the calculus then for Hamas? What's in it for them if Israel is going to start bombing again when the hostages are out?

MILLER: Nothing, which is why even if this goes -- deal goes through, 150 Palestinian security prisoners, for 50 or more -- 100 women and children and the elderly, Hamas is still going to keep 100 plus adult civilians, and an estimated 30 to 40 IDF forces that they have. And by the way, we're talking not just about live hostages. I'm sure Hamas grabbed dead bodies as well, because they know that Israel puts an extraordinary premium on the return, dead or alive, of their people on the battlefield. So, no. I think the reality is, you could see a series of these sorts of fits and starts. We're nowhere near the end of this. We're talking more weeks, perhaps even months, and I think frankly that's the calculation.

HOLMES: Yes. Aaron David Miller, we're going to leave it there. Thank you so much, as always.

MILLER: Michael, thank you. HOLMES: A quick break here on the program. When we come back, Ukraine's capital takes a hit from Russia's largest wave of drone attacks since the war began. And now, people whose homes are damaged, they're trying to pick up the pieces. We'll have a report when we come back.

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HOLMES: And now to Russia's war on Ukraine, where the capital Kyiv is reeling from a Russian attack unlike what the city has seen before. Anna Coren with the story from Kyiv.

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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Russia has launched the largest number of attack drones on the Ukrainian capital ever since it launched its invasion on this country in February of last year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says this attack was a deliberate act of terror.

COREN (voice-over): In the early hours of Saturday morning, loud explosions could be heard all over key, as the capital's air defense systems worked in overdrive. Just after 2:30 a.m., an unprecedented swarm of drones began to attack Kyiv from multiple directions, terrorizing it's more than three million residents. 75 Shahed drones were launched by Russia. Authorities say 74 were shot down. Debris from one of the downed drones hit this kindergarten in the city suburbs. Meters away, hundreds of residential apartments. Shattered windows, a sign of how close the war had come, too close for Yuvgania (ph) and her two young daughters.

YUVGANIA (TRANSLATED): We heard the sirens and ran into the hallway and we're waiting for this to pass, like always. But then, we heard a huge explosion. I though our house was going to be destroyed.

COREN: The residents here in Kyiv are used to hearing the air raid sirens and the explosions of the air defense systems working overtime, but nothing quite like this. For more than six hours, there was a barrage of Shahed drones targeting the capital. And this behind me is the result of one of those drones shot down.

COREN (voice-over): Inside the kindergarten, Oliga (ph), one of the teachers is distraught.

OLIGA (TRANSLATED): All my life, I've worked here.

COREN (voice-over): Look at the destruction, she cries. Her colleague says --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): Everything is OK. We will clean this up. Don't worry. Thank God everyone is alive.

COREN (voice-over): Five-year-old Yaroslava (ph) looks through the fence at a playground she would frequent every day.

YAROSLAVA (TRANSLATED): That's my kindergarten. I had music and dancing classes in this building. I feel sad that the drone came and destroyed my school.

COREN (voice-over): Her mother Natalia (ph) in tears, thinking this was supposed to be a safe place for her only child.

NATALIA (TRANSLATED): It's very painful to see this.

COREN (voice-over): Residents in Kyiv and across the country have been expecting this. Russia has spent months stockpiling weapons specifically aimed at targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure as the temperatures plunge. And with winter now here, these people know this is just the beginning.

NATALIA (TRANSLATED): We've got used this, but I don't want to get used to it.

COREN: Falling drone debris damaged several residential buildings around Kyiv. The Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Zaluzhnyi says this is war. Back to you.

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HOLMES: Anna Coren there with that report.

Derek Chauvin's attorney says the prison where his client was stabbed on Friday is refusing to talk. The former Minneapolis Police officer is serving time at a federal prison in Arizona for the murder of George Floyd three years ago. His attorney says he found out about the stabbing on the news and hasn't been able to verify anything despite calling the prison seven times. He says Chauvin's parents are getting the same treatment. Chauvin's attorney believes a lot of inmates in that prison want to make a name for themselves by killing him.

Seven weeks since Hamas's murderous raid into Israel, we take stock of all that has happened. CNN's Nic Robertson takes us through the tragic events that began October 7 to show us the war from a journalist's perspective. That's when we come back.

[01:45:00]

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HOLMES: CNN's Nic Robertson has witnessed the Israel-Hamas war since it began. Well, now, seven weeks later, he describes the destruction in Gaza as apocalyptic, and in southern Israel, he says the horrors of October 7 still hanging in the air where so many innocent people died. A word of caution, some images in his report are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Minutes after leaving the plane in Tel Aviv -- ROBERTSON: The sirens have gone off. People are taking cover. We got off the bus. People are taking cover. And you can hear the intercept missiles banging in the air.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): It's October 7, 14 hours since Hamas's attack began. No one knew what to expect. A few hours later, three and a half miles from Gaza --

ROBERTSON: This Iron Dome being fired up all around under us.

[01:50:00]

Right now, it's illuminating the sky here. The bangs of the Iron Dome intercepting rockets that are being fired from Gaza just a couple of miles away.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The coming days reveal Hamas's horrors. More than 1,200 dead.

ROBERTSON: Look at all these shell casings that are scattered around on the ground here. This gives you an indication of the intensity of the fire.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): More than 300 at the Nova music festival, a rocket shelter there, where some were mercilessly killed in cold blood had the biggest impact. Six weeks later, we happen to be passing as Israel's recovery specialists clean it out.

ROBERTSON: This is bringing back a lot of painful and difficult memories. The last time I was here six weeks ago, it was still full of human flesh and remains. And I'm looking inside. And it seems worse. That grenade splatter, the gunshots that are in the wall here, they're bigger. They're worse. I'm just looking at it. That night I was really emotionally beaten by what I saw here. I don't know. It's clean. But, I don't think I'll ever forget it, and that feeling.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Equally unforgettable, the scale of suffering and death inside Gaza. An average of 2,000 people a week killed, two thirds of them, women, children and the elderly, the worst I've ever witnessed while covering a war. My only access to Gaza with the IDF, revealing an apocalyptic landscape where every building appears crushed, collapsed, shut up, burnt, all blown apart, nothing untouched by the war, destruction on a scale I've never encountered before.

ROBERTSON: More rocket is coming out. More rocket is coming out. Guys, more rocket is coming out.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): For weeks, from a balcony a mile from Gaza, witnessing the destruction, explosion by explosion day after day.

ROBERTSON: Yes. Multiple Iron Domes coming in.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): As the IDF followed political orders to destroy Hamas.

ROBERTSON: Rockets, guys. ROBERTSON (voice-over): And Hamas emerging to fire rockets back. Through these long weeks, talking to with families of hostages, hearing their pain.

JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE: It's excruciating. We don't know if he is healthy or wounded. We know nothing.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): And sharing difficult moments --

ROBERTSON: Guys, siren.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): -- with victims returning to where Hamas attacked them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were lined up, and they were -- I saw one of my friends. She was begging for life.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): So, what next? Ceasefire? Hostage release? May be. But, it won't be all hostages on the hold in fighting is unlikely to last. Israel fears Hamas will exploit the pause to regroup. Hamas will do whatever it takes to survive, including not handing over all the hostages. Israel vows to completely destroy Hamas and release the hostages.

A tactic show fighting Hamas is the priority and is far from finished. The implication judged watching the past six weeks, for some hostage families, more days and more weeks of agonizing wait. For Gaza's besieged civilians, continuing misery. Gaza is still cut off from the world. The vast majority of its 2.2 million citizens displaced, crowded in the southern end of the Enclave.

Humanitarian access on a scale to match the scope of their need is absent. Israel vows to rout Hamas there too. Most of Gaza's hospitals are out of action. International pressure on Israel is mounting.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict since I am Secretary-General.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The only concrete certainties today, in Gaza, rebuilding what is destroyed will take years.

[01:55:00]

And then, Israel, no one will feel safe until Hamas is gone. Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Threads, @holmescnn. Stay with us. CNN Newsroom continues with Laila Harrak.

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