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New Israeli Airstrikes Target Southern Beirut, Killing Nine; IDF Says It Attacked Hezbollah Intel HQ in Beirut; Israel Orders 25 More Southern Lebanon Villages to Evacuate; Call to Earth: Palawan; Hurricane Helene Kills at Least 200. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired October 03, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi. And we start the second

hour of CONNECT THE WORLD.

Smoke is still rising over Beirut after daytime Israeli raids on the southern parts of the Lebanese capital. I want to show you what it looked

and sounded like when the airstrikes hit a few hours ago. Take a look.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): Israel's military says it targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters and communications unit. It released this video

that is -- it says shows those strikes.

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GIOKOS: Now it follows a night of Israeli airstrikes, including one that hit a building in central Beirut, the first Israeli attack on this part of

the capital since the 2006 war in Lebanon. Lebanese health officials say at least nine people were killed in that strike.

We've got Jomana Karadsheh back with us from Beirut.

Jomana, seeing these images, hearing that explosion, that sound, we now know -- and this is from the IDF -- that Hezbollah intelligence

headquarters was the main target. Tell us more about these strikes. And of course, importantly, what we've seen in the last 24 hours in Beirut.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those strikes just under three hours ago, we heard them. We felt them and then we could see those thick plumes

of smoke rising from the southern suburbs of Beirut that, of course, as you mentioned, has been the focus of Israeli strikes.

And we've seen them really ramp up those strikes in the last 24 hours or so. Now what we understand from Hezbollah's press office, they say that

their office was hit in those strikes. No word on casualties yet.

But we've heard from the Israeli military. They say that the target of that strike is what they're describing as Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters.

And you look at what was going on last night, right around midnight, those airstrikes began, resumed again in the southern suburbs.

More than a dozen strikes initially. There was no warning from the Israeli military that those strikes were coming.

What they did later on is they did issue warnings for specific neighborhoods in the southern suburbs, telling people to evacuate, saying

that those -- that they will be striking targets there. It is an area that has had heavy Hezbollah presence, that the Israelis have killed Hezbollah's

top leadership.

[10:05:08]

Many of its commanders in those strikes in recent weeks in the southern suburbs. But this was one of the most densely populated areas of the city.

We have seen a mass exodus of civilians from this area since those strikes began. A lot of people are still out on the streets with no shelter.

But at the same time, you still have people who remain in the southern suburbs, civilians who say that they don't want to leave their homes

because they don't want to end up on the streets because they have nowhere else to go.

And this happened during daytime hours, where some people as we've seen over the past few days tend to try and go back to collect their belongings

from their homes. And again, you look at what has happened in the last 24 hours.

You had a strike in the heart of Beirut in the middle of the night. And this is something the city has not seen since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah

war, nearly 20 years ago, a strike in the heart of the city, going beyond the southern suburbs. We saw another strike within the city limits earlier

this week.

But then this last night. It really -- I cannot tell you how terrifying this was for the people of Beirut, a strike in a residential neighborhood

in the middle of the night with no prior warning. We've not heard from the Israeli military about what they were targeting there.

But what we've heard from authorities here is that it was a health (ph) authority office with links to Hezbollah. It is affiliated with Hezbollah.

They say that at least nine people were killed, according to the ministry of health.

And what we understand from that health entity is that at least seven of them are medics. But the impact of a strike like this on the population. We

were out on the streets of Beirut, speaking to people about this.

And they say that, for them, this feels like this war has gone beyond the southern suburbs. They are seeing what is happening in southern Lebanon

with the Israeli ground operations that are taking place.

And there's this feeling that this is going to only escalate. They don't believe what they're hearing from the Israelis about this being limited and

targeted. Their feeling is that, soon, they say, that many parts of the city will no longer feel safe, even when you're speaking with people.

They tell you that, right now, they just don't know where is safe anymore.

What is going to come next?

I mean, as we were out speaking with people in a short time ago, you can still hear the Israeli drones overhead, buzzing over Beirut, a reminder for

people that a strike can happen anytime. And when we speak to people, they feel that it could strike anywhere after what they saw happening last

night.

GIOKOS: Yes, incredible uncertainty, Jomana, that you're describing there. Thank you so much.

Jomana Karadsheh in Beirut.

I want to stay on this. We've got Amin Salam, who is the Lebanese minister of economy and trade and he joins us now from Beirut.

Minister, thank you so much for taking the time today. It's an important conversation to have because you're dealing not only with the humanitarian

issue but you're dealing with what Jomana was just describing right now, this uncertainty about when the next strikes might happen.

I want to specifically talk about what we saw overnight, this strike on central Beirut with no warning. We don't really know what the target was.

We haven't heard from the IDF.

Is there any way that you can give us an understanding of what the potential target was?

And also, importantly, how fragile the situation is right now in Beirut?

AMIN SALAM, LEBANESE MINISTER OF ECONOMY AND TRADE: Well, thank you for having me. Always a pleasure to be with you guys.

Well, really, it's hard. It's hard to explain what's happening. All I can say is that Beirut is under fire and the nation is in crisis mode. At the

heart of Beirut, as Jomana described it, I mean, she gave a very clear description, very specific description about what happened last night.

And this is even -- this has gone far and beyond what happened in 2006. This is the closest it can get to a civilian areas. It is -- I live a 1.5

miles away from the place that was bombed. I heard it, I felt it. My kids were terrified. All my neighbors were trying to move around the area, not

knowing really what the next target is going to be.

Most importantly is that it was less than two miles away from the -- from the governmental palace, where we as a cabinet operate.

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Where our prime minister is, where we do our work as a government. And that was terrifying from a political point of view, from a security point of

view. And up until now us as a government don't have -- I mean, we do have the intelligence. We gather the intelligence.

But when such targets are being hit by the Israelis, we can't really understand why they did it, given the fact that this was a medical

operation office linked some way or another to Hezbollah. But for us, it was a civilian building. Everybody in it was civilian.

There was not a bit or a piece of anything relates to a military presence.

GIOKOS: Minister, this is quite important because Israel says this war is against Hezbollah and not with Lebanon as a whole.

But where from -- where you sit from right now, what is your take on this war?

SALAM: My take on this war is that, you know, this war has to end immediately. I mean myself as minister of economy, from day one, when the

war started in Gaza, I sent a lot of messages very clear to everybody involved, including the international community, that Lebanon cannot

tolerate.

Lebanon was already in a very difficult place before this war started. Everybody knows the economy situation in Lebanon was in a very difficult

place. Everybody knows that, after the Beirut port explosion, after the economy crash, the country has been struggling for over four years.

This war just came to devastate. It's devastating the country. It's creating more instability. I'm not just talking about the economy; I'm

talking about 1,200,000 people displaced today. It's an unprecedented displacement activity that happened in any country in the world in less

than five days.

We have hospitals filled with people, schools filled with people, people sleeping on the street and this war keeps going -- the way I see it is that

this war has no goal. It's just destroying the country and it's just taking it to a place where it's very difficult to come from.

That's why we're calling on everyone to really think of a ceasefire immediately to be able to save Lebanon and save the people of Lebanon.

GIOKOS: You're appealing for $427 million in aid right now to help with the people that have been displaced, the needs in the healthcare sector.

Are you getting that money and what are your top priorities?

What are you in need of the most right now?

SALAM: So definitely we have had a major meeting, a flash appeal meeting with donor countries for the -- yesterday.

And we asked for about $400 million plus for the remainder of this year for aid and assistance to cover all the displaced people.

We received so far from all the donor countries, 200 million people -- $200 million. In addition to that, we have received $100 million as well from

the United Arab Emirates. We've been receiving aid from many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan.

Many other countries are pulling in aid into Lebanon because it's much needed in this situation. However, the most important thing to focus on is

that, despite the fact that we might get the aid we need, we need a lot of stuff that not just relates to medical aid.

Today, we have serious conditions of hundreds of thousands of kids that are in the streets, that are in shelters. They need proper nutrition, they need

proper hygiene. We need bedding. We are getting close to the winter season, which is going to make it even more difficult on the people that are

displaced.

And -- excuse me -- sorry to say as well that this issue is not a matter of a month or two. This is going to be a long-term issue. We're looking at one

to two, three years, maybe, because those displaced people will not return to their homes even if there was a ceasefire tomorrow and a peaceful

resolution.

Because we need to rebuild their towns, their villages. We need to provide peaceful conditions for them.

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So we are really in a very complicated operation now to take care of all those people, let alone the fact that Lebanon has over 1,500,000 Syrian

refugees that are still in Lebanon. So no matter how I try to explain how difficult the situation is, it goes way beyond what we can really describe

is going on today.

GIOKOS: No, and I hear you and I can hear that just generally the overall impacts already in the infrastructure damage and the impacts on people. And

you're talking about a ceasefire and how important that is going to be to try and secure.

But in fact, there were hopes for a ceasefire. It was supported by U.S. allies and that was the head of Hassan Nasrallah's assassination. The

Lebanese foreign minister spoke to Christiane Amanpour. I want you to take a listen to what he had to say.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you saying Hassan Nasrallah had agreed to a ceasefire just moments before he was

assassinated?

ABDALLAH BOU HABIB, LEBANESE FOREIGN MINISTER: He agreed. He agreed. Yes. Yes. We agreed completely. Lebanon agreed to ceasefire. But consulting with

Hezbollah, the speaker, Mr. Berri,

consulted with Hezbollah and we informed the Americans and the French that that's what happened.

AMANPOUR: So --

HABIB: And they told us that Mr. Netanyahu also agreed on the statement that was issued by both presidents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: So Minister, with this startling revelation, frankly, that a ceasefire was imminent and we're sitting here today, talking about how long

this will last, the question is, are there any lines of communication open right now with Israel and the Lebanese government?

SALAM: Well, to be, to be quite frank, I know that the discussions have been ongoing since the United Nations General Assembly meetings on the

highest level through the United States administration. And Secretary Blinken has made it very clear, he met several times with our minister of

foreign affairs whom we just heard.

And the message was communicated from the United States that Lebanon wants a ceasefire. Then we got the reply that the Israeli side has opened up for

a ceasefire discussion seriously.

But the sarcastic part about all that is that we keep talking about the ceasefire as Lebanon, every time in Lebanon is being bombed, 24/7, with

like AK drones flying over the city 24/7. We can see them. We can hear them preparing for the next target.

So we don't want to see a repeat of Gaza in Lebanon. We don't -- because we've heard a ceasefire discussion in Gaza for a year. But seriously now,

from the Lebanese side, all the Lebanese entities said that we want a ceasefire.

GIOKOS: So Minister, here's my last question. Iran and Israel have been in this horrifying retaliatory cycle for quite some time. There is a lot of

worries about what this means regionally, whether we are in a regional war, we are, whether we are on the brink of regional war.

You've just described that the longer this continues, you're turning from emergency mode, which you've been in for the past few years, into something

a lot more serious.

How are you playing out these potential scenarios that could play out in the next few weeks or months?

SALAM: It's definitely a turning point. It's definitely a serious historic moment for the Middle East and for Lebanon. I think, you know, Lebanon

needs to be very smart, very clever and talking on all fronts, including the government, including all political parties, with Hezbollah included.

We need to find a proper table, a proper seat on the table for Lebanon on the plan that is being cooked from the international community for what is

being called the new Middle East.

I mean, let's not beat around the bush. Lebanon needs to have a stable and calm political and social life. To do that, we will need to find peaceful

resolutions through diplomatic channels. We are pushing for that because we do not want to pay the heavy price of the international problems between

big nations in Lebanon.

So we will do whatever it takes. We will communicate with whoever we need, internally with all the political parties, including Hezbollah; externally

with all the key players that can help Lebanon.

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Particularly the United States was playing a major role in this, you know, saving of Lebanon mission. So there's going to be all the influence, all

the energy put in that direction because we want Lebanon to live in peace and to be able to restore our economy and have some prosperity in the near

future.

GIOKOS: Minister Amin Salam, thank you very much for your time. We really appreciate you joining us today.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. We will be right back with more news, stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): You're looking at pictures of smoke rising over Beirut as Israeli airstrikes hit the south of Lebanon's capital. The IDF

saying a short time ago that it struck Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in the city.

Now earlier Hezbollah said its media office had been targeted. The raids followed a night of Israeli airstrikes, including one that hit central

Beirut for the first time since the 2006 war.

I want to bring in Maha Yahya, director for the Carnegie Middle East Center.

Good to see you. I want to take a step back here and just look at what's transpired in the last 24 hours. Israel continuing to maintain what it

calls a limited operation. Yet they are continuing a fierce aerial bombardments and issuing further evacuation orders.

What do you make of what's happening right now in Beirut?

MAHA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, MALCOLM H. KERR CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

This has anything but a limited operation. This is an invasion, a full- scale invasion of the country. At the same time, these limited -- the most recent limited evacuation orders target almost 0.25 million people who have

been asked to move from where they are, both in south Lebanon but also in the southern suburbs.

In the southern suburbs of Beirut, these targeted attacks or these evacuation orders are coming in the middle of the night. People -- and the

bombing starts maybe 15 minutes, half an hour later. And people have nowhere to go. Many of those who are in the suburbs have actually already

left, have been displaced from villages in the south.

The final point I'll make about the targets in Bashura, which is the area - - I mean, it's in the middle of Beirut; it's right next to the downtown of the city. It's actually literally two blocks away from our own offices.

And that is quite frightening because, on the one hand, it's normalizing the targeting, not only of medical staff but it's also normalizing the

targeting of residential areas.

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And it's -- I mean, if this is not raising alarms around the globe, I don't know what else will, especially because it seems they used white phosphorus

in this attack, based on medical reports from the ground. And as you know this is a weapon that can only be used in very specific circumstances, not

in targeting civilian areas.

GIOKOS: I want to talk about what the next step is for Israel in terms of retaliating against Iran, its promise to do so. We just heard from

President Biden. He was asked if he would support Israel striking Iran's oil reserves. Biden left the door open.

Do you expect the U.S. to pressure Israel into restraint?

Do you think that is a possibility?

YAHYA: Yes and no; the U.S. will say it's pressuring Israel into limiting its strikes or its response to Iran. They may go after the oil

installations but will this -- will have an impact on the global economy so there may stay away from that and limit themselves primarily to military

installations.

I think it's very hard to take anything coming out of Washington seriously these days, to be honest, because they keep saying one thing and then they

do the exact opposite. They've been saying for months they don't want an attack on Lebanon. They don't want a new war happening in Lebanon.

And a week later, we find out that there has been a tacit agreement to what is happening right now, the invasion that's happening and the continued

attacks against the country. So it's very hard to really take anything.

I think Washington is not displaying the diplomatic skills it has or if it's -- nor is it using the leverage it has to stop this. Washington is the

only capital in the world today that has the leverage to say to Israel, enough, enough killing. We need to move to the negotiating table.

Lebanon has accepted 1701, by the way --

(CROSSTALK)

GIOKOS: Yes. Yes, I mean, we've -- and I've reiterated this and this is in the top of many people's minds, is just what this means regionally and how

this is going to be playing out.

And again, I reiterate this whole limited incursion is what the IDF and Israel is reiterating and, at the same time, we just don't know what that's

going to look like in the next few weeks or months. We don't know. But we also don't know what the end game is.

What do you believe the end game is here for Israel?

YAHYA: I'm not sure even Israel has an end game beyond war, seriously, because they declared -- I mean, the government of Israel declared that

their end game is the return of the displaced from the north.

This is definitely not bringing them back to the north. There are genuine and legitimate, I think, fears that there is an intention to occupy,

reoccupy parts of south Lebanon. We already -- I mean, we've lived through this movie before.

In 1982, when Israel invaded Lebanon with the aim of getting the PLO out, there was always, it started off as a limited operation if one goes back in

history. But there's always -- my colleague says there's always the next hill to conquer.

And within months, they were at the doorsteps of Beirut, 20,000 people dead, a horrific massacre of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatilla. And that's

when president Ronald Reagan at the time said, enough. We will stop weapons transfer unless you withdraw and pull back.

And effectively, that was the only thing that worked and stopped the war. And this is what President Biden should be doing today, saying, enough.

GIOKOS: Maha Yahya, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your time.

Just ahead, I'll be speaking to the director of a group that investigates civilian harm in conflict zones. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi. I'm in for my colleague, Becky Anderson. More now on our breaking news.

Lebanese media say three new Israeli airstrikes have hit southern Beirut. Israel's military says its air force struck Hezbollah's intelligence

headquarters. It's in a very densely populated part of the Lebanese capital, according to our reporters in Beirut.

Now Lebanon's health minister has just said that 40 ambulance and firefighting staff have been killed. Over the past three days across the

country. And as we've been reporting, seven medics working for the Hezbollah linked health authority were killed earlier by an Israeli strike

on central Beirut.

I want to bring in Emily Tripp, the director of Airwars, a not-for-profit watchdog, which tracks and investigates civilian harm claims in conflict

affected nations.

Emily, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for joining us. I want to start off by talking about the, importantly, the ferocity of the air

campaign that we've seen over the past several weeks in Lebanon and how that compares to the early days of what we saw occurring in Gaza.

EMILY TRIPP, DIRECTOR, AIRWARS: Thank you so much for having me.

I mean, I think maybe just first thing to say is that it's only really comparable to those first weeks in Gaza. And I think, just to get across

the point that this is something and the level and intensity that we've only really normalized since that Gaza campaign.

So in the first couple of days, the IDF announced they were hitting 1,500 targets in one day, 1,600 targets in one day. That's really at a level of

intensity. But its own allies, Israel's own allies just simply would not have carried out in the last 20 years.

GIOKOS: We've basically seeing the same intensity of strikes in Lebanon to what we saw in Gaza essentially, which is really important information,

important for us to take note of.

According to the monitoring group ACLED, there were more than 800 strikes with -- within one week starting September 21, less than two weeks ago. We

are seeing more airstrikes. We've seen them in central Beirut. We saw in southern Lebanon just today. We've been covering it all day.

Give us some perspective, compare this to other conflicts that we've seen around the world and which other conflicts come close to this, other than

what we've seen in Gaza.

TRIPP: First thing to say is that conflicts don't come close to this.

I mean, this is exactly what, you know what we should be understanding as we look at the campaign, as it evolves. The war against ISIS, this was one

of the defining aerial campaigns of the last 20 years. Cities Raqqah and Mosul completely devastated, left almost uninhabitable after these wars.

These are not wars where these were good examples of wars that protected civilians.

in those campaigns, the most number of munitions that we understand were dropped in a single day was about 500. And then you start to compare that

again to what we've started to see in Lebanon in the last few days.

I mean, the scale is really unprecedented.

GIOKOS: If we see this momentum remaining the same in terms of airstrikes across not only Beirut but also southern Lebanon, what are you anticipating

in terms of the death toll, which is just over 1,000; we know that about 1 million people have been displaced.

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We also need to talk about infrastructure that is going to be completely decimated and the flattening of buildings. Some people have even said that

they're worried about what we've seen in Gaza could occur in parts of Lebanon as well.

TRIPP: Let me give you a good look at what we saw in Gaza. So we've been documenting civilian harm in Gaza since October 7th. And I think this is

the thing that gives you a bit of an indication about what's to come.

We saw in those first few weeks in Gaza almost every single other strike involved a child fatality. We saw attacks on health care workers. We saw

attacks on residential homes, buildings hosting large numbers of people.

We saw incidents where almost 100 civilians would have been killed just for the sake of a few Hamas militants. This is the pattern that we've seen in

Gaza in over a year. This is the pattern.

But nowhere is off-limits that we could expect from any other Israeli campaign. As you said, in the earlier segment, safe zones, evacuation

routes, health care workers, ambulances, there is nowhere that's off limits.

GIOKOS: Yes.

Could you please also give us a little bit of insight?

Because the IDF is talking about specific targets, like for example, what we saw today in southern Lebanon. They say that they targeted Hezbollah

intelligence headquarters. We also know that they assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah as well.

But that comes at a cost because you're seeing civilians being caught up in the middle of this.

Could you help us understand how these targets are picked and how, in a war scenario, they decide whether it's worth it, depending on how many people

are around?

I mean, it's a tough question but this is the reality of what we're seeing in Lebanon. And I guess what's been playing out in Gaza for a year.

TRIPP: Yes. And as you said, that is the reality. The reality is war is messy and complicated and militants embed themselves in civilian

neighborhoods. That inherently endangers civilians. This is not an easy operating environment.

We're no longer in a situation where the front lines are easily distinguishable, particularly in civilian populations. But that doesn't

mean that civilian protection and measures to protect civilians should go out the window.

The things that we've seen in Gaza, as I was saying, you know if you think back to the strike on the Jabalya camp in October 31st, we recorded about

126 civilians killed in that strike for potentially a dozen Hamas militants.

That means that the Israeli forces decided that it was acceptable to kill that number of civilians in order to achieve that military target. Now each

target will have had to been decided upon at the legal level, at the Israeli targeting level.

But they will be knowing and they will be making those calculations based on what they know about whether civilians are. And each those cases must be

investigated. I think it's quite easy to blame a fog of war and say that this is just a very complicated environment. But it's not.

GIOKOS: In terms of what we've been seeing in Israel and, importantly, you have an Iron Dome which, thankfully, is able to protect Israel as a whole.

We saw an intense bombardment from Iran just this week in terms of these ballistic missiles entering and, of course, being mostly intercepted.

Hezbollah has been on this rampage of shooting rockets into Israel as well. Help us understand how important these kind of defenses are and what kind

of damage we would be talking about in the Israeli case if you didn't have this type of incredible, sophisticated defense mechanism.

TRIPP: I think, I mean, we documented all harm to Israelis in the May 2021 war. And just to say, even if the Iron Dome is there, even if these

defenses are there, that does not mean Israeli citizens are safe.

We saw time and again, particularly amongst elderly population, Israeli civilians dying of heart attacks because of the fear of the sound of the

sirens. We saw people injured on their way to bomb shelters. So no matter what your defenses are, civilians are often the ones that bear the brunt of

these kinds of escalations.

GIOKOS: And millions of people had to go into bunkers this week. Of course, tens of thousands still have been displaced in northern parts of

Israel. So really important to note what we're seeing in the region as a whole, Emily. One can only hope potentially for a ceasefire and things to

de-escalate.

Emily Tripp, thank you so much for your insights. Great to have you with us. Thank you.

Right.

It is too soon and too dangerous for our teams to get into the parts of Beirut where strikes have been happening today. However, on Wednesday,

CNN's Ben Wedeman took a tour of the southern suburbs where the devastation is growing. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Smoke rises from the ruins after another night of Israeli airstrikes.

Atop the rubble, a man first salutes, than embraces a photograph of the assassinated Hezbollah leader.

[10:40:02]

WEDEMAN: This is just one of the latest buildings struck by Israel in the southern suburbs of Beirut for the last 10 days. The southern suburbs, as

well as South Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, have been pummeled by Israeli airstrikes.

And now according to news from Israel, an additional division is being deployed to the northern border in anticipation of what could be a full-

scale Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Wednesday, Hezbollah organized a mob of media for a tour around the southern suburbs to show perhaps they're still in control.

I asked spokesman, Mohammad Afif how Hezbollah will deal with Israel's repeated blows, a question he didn't like.

"I won't allow for that expression," he replied. "Your Arabic language is not correct."

His aides chant loyalty to their assassinated leader.

"We haven't taken blows. I completely reject that," he says. "The resistance has recovered. The leadership is well. The command and control

is well. The arsenal of rockets is well. Thousands of the heroic men of the resistance on the fronts are well.

Most inhabitants of the southern suburbs have fled elsewhere, yet some, like Mohsen Abbas (ph), insist on staying put. "My family left but I'm

staying here," he says. "They're bombing. Normal. What else could happen?"

Wednesday, Hezbollah fighting on its own rugged turf in South Lebanon, inflicted heavy casualties on Israeli forces that crossed the border.

Hours after, its ally, Iran, rained down missiles on Israel.

A war that started in Gaza has spread to Lebanon. In the week, Israel has bombed Yemen and Syria. If this isn't a regional war, what is?

Ben Wedeman, CNN -- Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right, in the neighborhood you just in Southern Beirut, where Ben Wedeman was reporting from, is in fact the same area where we saw the

airstrikes today. The IDF airstrikes in southern Beirut.

We turn now to Gaza, where CNN footage, which we warn you, is graphic, shows injured people, including children, arriving at a hospital in central

Gaza after Israeli strike on a school.

Among the wounded, this three-month-old infant, shivering, covered in shrapnel and burns. Hospital officials say eight people were killed in an

Israeli strike Wednesday, which targeted a United Nations Relief and Works Agency school building.

The IDF says it conducted a precise strike on a former school, which it claims was being used as a Hamas command center.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. We will be right back with more news, stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS: This week, Call to Earth is focusing on the Philippines and an organization working to conserve the country's last remaining pristine

rainforest.

Today, we wrap up with the story of KM Reyes, the co-founder of the Centre for Sustainability, who fell in love with the island of Palawan and has

spent the last decade tirelessly fighting to protect it.

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BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Conservationist Karina May Reyes, who goes by KM for short, was born and raised in

Australia by Filipino parents. She only visited the Philippines a decade ago and what turned out to be a life altering trip for her and, you could

argue, the island province of Palawan as well.

KM REYES, CONSERVATIONIST AND CO-FOUNDER, CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABILITY (voice- over): So I first came to the Philippines on April 23 of 2014.

The date is etched because then I came to Palawan on June 23 of 2014, fell in with this great group of people that wanted to protect their island.

And here in Palawan, we have a saying called, "Come back, come back," because when you come to Palawan, you always want to come back. It's so

beautiful. And I came and I just never left.

WEIR (voice-over): She and that like-minded group of people formed what is now the Centre for Sustainability, a small but mighty non-profit,

determined to conserve what they consider their own backyard. The Philippines was once covered in pristine rainforest.

But in just the span of 100 years, the 20th century, it dropped from 70 percent to just 3 percent covering.

REYES (voice-over): And the vast majority of that is here on the island of Palawan.

WEIR (voice-over): Annually ranking as one of the best islands in the world to visit, it is indeed a natural splendor but it has also been

labeled as the Philippines' last ecological frontier and faces many environmental challenges.

REYES (voice-over): The main threats that we face is mining, deforestation, poaching, unsustainable development, burgeoning population

encroachment.

We're also really vulnerable to climate change now with the typhoons.

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REYES (voice-over): So we're in Barangay Tagabinet. So one of the seven barangays of Cleopatra's Needle.

WEIR (voice-over): In the Filipino language, a barangay translates to a village or district. This one is the home of two of KM's core team members,

cousins Solomon and Othoniel, who helped introduce her to the wonders of Palawan, planting the first seeds for what is now the Centre for

Sustainability.

REYES (voice-over): In many, many ways, it's kind of where it all began for us, because this was really their backyard and where they would

adventure as kids.

WEIR (voice-over): Most significantly Tagabinet is the launching point from which KM first started to explore a peak known as Cleopatra's Needle.

REYES (voice-over): The first time I came here, it was actually the very first time that I summitted Cleopatra's Needle. It took five days. We went

up. We got a little bit lost, which is where Solomon and Othoniel's knowledge from their childhood was really important.

And then we came down on this side, a spectacular hike.

WEIR (voice-over): The more she explored, the more she learned about the people, whose livelihoods depend on these forests; about the flora and

fauna that thrive here and about the threats to its health. And a mission of conservation arose.

REYES (voice-over): At CS and for me personally, my job is, number one, to serve people. It's to serve my community. Like we love our backyard. And

this area is an important area of biodiversity for the entire country.

And so that's a big reason why we wanted to protect it. So let's do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: To watch the full half-hour special on cnn.com, search "Call to Earth Conservation Risers."

We'll be back after this.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

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GIOKOS: News just in to CNN. The hurricane that hit parts of the United States, Hurricane Helene, has killed 200 people; 200 people have died from

this hurricane. That news just coming in. Authorities in Georgia are reporting eight additional deaths and officials in Western Florida

reporting one additional death. That number just in to CNN.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden is on his way to visit Florida and Georgia today to survey the widespread damage that we've seen from Hurricane

Helene. For a second day, he will be meeting with Americans directly impacted by Helene's wrath.

Meantime, Vice President Kamala Harris toured some of the damage in nearby Georgia. She updated officials and the public on FEMA disaster relief

efforts and announced that President Biden had approved Georgia's request to be 100 percent reimbursed by the federal government for storm damage

costs.

Harris promised states would receive continued support amid the immense loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are here for the long haul. There's a lot of

work that's going to need to happen over the coming days, weeks and months. And the coordination that we have dedicated ourselves to will be long

lasting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Incredible new videos showing the extent of the damage in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS (voice-over): Chris Favor (ph) capturing this video from his third floor apartment in Asheville. He saw trees, shipping containers and even

the exterior wall of a building pass by.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just ripped it in half.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: CNN's Isabel Rosales and her team gained rare access to some of the hardest hit parts of North Carolina and they followed emergency crews

and witnessed damage previously unseen since Helene passed through. Here's their exclusive report. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rare and exclusive access. CNN guided up the Blue Ridge Mountains by one of FEMA's 24 deployed urban

search and rescue teams. We're deep in hardhit Avery County, North Carolina.

It just collapsed on the sidewalk.

ROSALES (voice-over): Portions of Beech Mountain, a remote ski resort town, left unrecognizable by Helene's wrath.

Signs of the road just like washed off.

ROSALES (voice-over): These winding mountain roads made further difficult to navigate by obstacles.

We are entering an area that's closed off to regular people. Only first responders are allowed. And it is because it's so treacherous. We're seeing

it for ourselves like thick mud all over the place, trees that are down, portions of the road has crumbled down. So I'm really concentrating here.

This is difficult to drive.

ROSALES (voice-over): And even when debris and fallen trees are cleared by chainsaw and manpower to make way for rescuers, another major barrier.

A FEMA supervisor who's been on his cell phone trying to get in touch with his team to figure out where they're at.

ROSALES (voice-over): Division Group Supervisor Colin Burress pulls us over.

Can't get a signal?

We're seeing for ourselves everything that the governor has been talking about.

COLIN BURRESS, FEMA DIVISION GROUP SUPERVISOR: Right.

ROSALES: Officials have been talking about. How big of a challenge communication is, not just for civilians but you guys trying to do these

rescue operations?

BURRESS: It is. You know when you don't have cell service, email, text, all of that becomes a challenge and it kind of slows things down.

ROSALES (voice-over): Then by pure luck, a few of his men spot us.

They found him just out of the blue so this is great. We're being reunited and here's a command post right here.

ROSALES (voice-over): This 80-member FEMA team assisting the North Carolina National Guard now on day six of rescuing survivors stranded and

cut off from help.

[10:55:04]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So he's just trying to find live people and, of course, they're trying to find human remains.

ROSALES: They huddle over maps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beech Mountain and Seven Devils is kind of a priority.

ROSALES: Working out the next day's urgent search.

How does this work?

You guys are doing grids?

I see this black line right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's just easier for us to keep up. So we'll send squads. We'll say, you know get to grid one or grid two, grid three, grid

four.

ROSALES (voice-over): Before sunset, we roll out.

We came up about three miles but honestly, it feels like 10.

ROSALES (voice-over): Back down the mountain, a second look at what Helene laid to waste. Before we can make it down, another danger getting through

these torn and treacherous roads.

JASON STUART, TASK FORCE LEADER, TENNESSEE TASK FORCE 1: This is a special case. Typically, the roads washed out in a mountain atmosphere like this,

you know hurricanes usually happen, you know toward the coast. But this is definitely more challenges for us that we haven't faced before.

ROSALES: Regardless, first responders across the state push on. More than 400 people rescued so far, says the governor's office but the work nowhere

near done until all the missing are found -- Isabel Rosales, Avery County, North Carolina, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Eleni Giokos, stay with CNN. "NEWSROOM" with Rahel Solomon

is up next.

END