Return to Transcripts main page
One World with Zain Asher
Blinken Asks Israel For A Humanitarian Pause In The Fighting; IDF Warns Residents In The North Of The Strip To Leave; The Israeli Operation To Wipe Out Hamas Goes Underground; Dozens Of Casualties Found After An Incident Near Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired November 03, 2023 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: The top U.S. diplomat delivers a pointed message to Israel.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: "One World" starts right now. Another tour of diplomacy. Blinken is heading to Jordan after a short stop in Israel
with hopes of establishing a pause. Israel says until the hostages are released, there's no chance.
ASHER: Also ahead, the leader of Hezbollah is speaking out for the first time since the war began. An update on what he said.
GOLODRYGA: And later, from the silver screen to the battlefield, the actor who traded close-ups for the front lines.
ASHER: All right, welcome everyone. So good to have you with us. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Welcome to One World. The top U.S. diplomat is in Israel today trying to convince Israeli leaders to do more
to protect the civilians of Gaza. While reiterating U.S. support for Israel's right to defend itself, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
also said the way it defends itself matters, noting that humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza must increase and called for concrete steps to limit
casualties.
ASHER: And speaking of those casualties, we are now talking about 9000 people dead. That's according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in
Ramallah, with the humanitarian conditions there continuing to deteriorate and aid only slowly trickling in to Gaza.
Blinken has asked Israel right now for a humanitarian pause in the fighting. The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that there will be no
letup, though, in the Gaza operation unless Hamas agrees to free the hundreds of hostages it has hidden in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: To do more to protect Palestinian civilians. We've been clear that as Israel conducts its campaign to defeat
Hamas, how it does so, matters. It matters because it's the right and lawful thing to do. It matters because failure to do so plays into the
hands of Hamas and other terror groups.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, I want to bring in our colleague Becky Anderson with more on the diplomatic game that is at play here. She's joining us live now
from Doha, Qatar. Becky, as always, the death toll in this war is already so lopsided. We're talking about 9000 Palestinian civilians dead, obviously
many more just caught in the middle of this, trapped in Gaza.
Israel has to fight this war clean, right? They have to fight this war clean. Just walk us through how Israel manages to minimize the civilian
death toll while at same time achieving their objective of defeating Hamas. Is that possible?
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that's been the issue, hasn't it, since the start of this, and certainly for the past week since the announcement
of the second phase of these operations. And Antony Blinken made it very clear today that in extending continued support for Israel in, you know,
its need for self-defense, he said, how Israel does this, matters.
He also specifically spoke to this pause as we've described it. I want to explain just why I think this is so important today. Ahead of Antony
Blinken arriving in Israel, diplomatic sources had told CNN that he would push Israel for a pause, a temporary pause in military operations. Why?
Because we're told that that would provide mediators an opportunity or try and get the hostage talks over the line.
Let's remind ourselves Israel has made it very clear it has two clear objectives -- the dismantling of Hamas both militarily and politically with
its infrastructure and also the release of these hostages and many people had said that sounds very contradictory.
Israel is absolutely determined that that is where it stands and those are its two objectives. Blinken came today looking for a temporary pause and he
spoke to the War Cabinet as we understand it about that Israel's War Cabinet.
[12:05:00]
This is what he said to reporters after that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLINKEN: A number of legitimate questions were raised in our discussions today including how to use any period of pause to maximize the full
humanitarian assistance, how to connect a pause to the release of hostages, how to ensure that Hamas doesn't use these pauses or arrangements to its
own advantage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That was clearly Antony Blinken after meeting with the war cabinet. And following that, we heard from both Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and the Defense Minister, Golan, both ruling out. And the wording was either a temporary ceasefire or a pause.
And the wording, to a certain extent, is quite important in this because, you know, there is a humanitarian pause in diplomatic terms. Then that sort
of escalates to a cessation of hostilities and then to a ceasefire.
So, you know, Antony Blinken had come with the push for a pause that is being ruled out by the Israelis. And here's why. They say until they know
the hostages will be released, they will not pause. They say that only through more military pressure will they get the release of these hostages.
From the mediators and those familiar with the talks, what they need is a period of calm, they say, in order to get these talks over the line, which
would then lead to, they say, they hope, success in releasing the hostages.
Israel has also talked about all the hostages and as we understand it at present, the priority is still women and children and more fuel into Gaza,
by the way, which the Israelis have also ruled out.
So, I think what's going on at the moment, I think it's quite clear that there was an awful lot of diplomacy to be going on behind the scenes, but
at present, there is no breakthrough in those negotiations -- because there is no breakthrough despite the U.S. pressure on Israel's part to say you
know, until we know that these hostages are coming out, we will not reduce the pressure on Hamas.
Let's see what happens. Anthony Blinken now on his way to Jordan or will be on his way to Jordan shortly and let's see what comes out of that. We know
the Jordanians are going to push once again for an immediate ceasefire in these hostilities. Zain.
ASHER: Yeah, Israel, just talking about the hostages, Israel has been very frustrated by the fact that Hamas has been sort of releasing these hostages
in a really sort of trickling manner, one at a time, two at a time, et cetera. We'll see what changes going forward. Becky Anderson, live for us,
thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Israel says that it is expelling thousands of Palestinian laborers, sending them back to Gaza. Many of them have been in Israel since
before the October 7th Hamas attack.
CNN witnessed men of all ages re-entering the war-torn territory. Some of them were kissing the ground and praying, others greeting friends and
family.
ASHER: Right. And this, take a look here, is what they are returning to, right? Scenes of violence, scenes of destruction, after a particularly
intense Israeli aerial bombardment. And perhaps, for many of them, this is a place that they no longer recognize, given what's happened in the past
three weeks.
It comes as U.N. experts warn that time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. A doctor at Gaza's largest hospital says
that low fuel supplies have plunged entire wards pretty much into darkness and cut off major basic functions. He spoke to CNN about the dangerous and
the deteriorating situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOUSEF ABU EL RISH, DIRECTOR OF THE HOSPITALS IN GAZA: No one can imagine even how the nurses will complete their job to give them medication, to
follow up without any electromechanical system, without the light even. It's very catastrophic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: One woman who is sheltering at the hospital described it this way, the smell of death is everywhere. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now
in London. And Salma, just hearing from the doctor and some of the images that we're seeing reinforces what Secretary of State Blinken said from Tel
Aviv in that Israel really is being pressured from all sides to allow more humanitarian aid to come in. And Israel at least is saying that it will
allow so, given some of these scenes we're seeing.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but that aid is absolutely a trickle, a drop in the ocean. It is a tiny fraction of what Gaza would
receive on a normal basis prior to this conflict. And that refusal for a humanitarian pause, that's going to break hearts.
Rights groups, the United Nations, of course Palestinians, had been pushing for a pause, for a moment of calm to allow civilians to get out, to allow
that aid to get in.
[12:10:00]
And of course, that does not seem to be occurring now. Meanwhile, that battle zone is tightening around the hundreds of thousands of civilians
particularly in the north of the Strip, which is the focus of the IDF's operations.
The Israeli military saying it's been able to encircle completely Gaza City and what's in the crossfire is deeply concerning, particularly U.N.
shelters, schools that have been used as displacement camps now impacted by Israeli firepower. Take a look at our report and a warning, the images in
it are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: The victims of Jabalia victimized yet again. Some of the survivors of Israel's bombardment took shelter here, a U.N. school, only to
be cut down. Desperate 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 these 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 Jabalia have brought 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 believed 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 air
raids, 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: Now, we followed the stories of some of those families -- the families that first had to leave the Jabalia refugee camp because of heavy
airstrikes there that killed scores of people. They then went to the U.N. shelters that you saw in our report there at the U.N. shelters.
They were yet again impacted by Israeli firepower nearby according to the United Nations. They then fled from those U.N. schools and many of them now
are on the streets, living on the streets of a war zone. It begins to give you an understanding of the human catastrophe playing out on the ground.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, many scores, hundreds of thousands there living in a war zone, as you said. Just so hard to see these images, especially of young
children. They're crying, saying, what did we do? Salma Abdelaziz, thank you.
ASHER: All right, Thomas White is the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza. That's the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. He joins us live now. Tom,
thank you so much for being with us. I don't know if you were able to hear Salma's piece there, but.
The images coming out of Gaza right now are ones of sheer hopelessness -- sheer hopelessness, there's no other way to put it. Once the war is over,
the people of Gaza have to have something to live for. And I don't know if they do -- I don't know if they do. Just give us a sense of what you're
seeing and what does the world need to understand about what is happening where you are?
THOMAS WHITE, DIRECTOR, UNRWA AFFAIRS GAZA: And tragedy really continues to unfold here. Of course, yesterday, another tragic day for particularly
in the north. Obviously, we had three locations in the north where there were death and injury due to airstrikes nearby schools. And I remind people
that this is -- people who are sheltering under the U.N. flag.
[12:15:00]
They're seeking safety. They're seeking sanctuary in these schools. And they are losing their lives and loved ones are being injured in places that
should be protected under international humanitarian law.
But I'd also make the point that nowhere in Gaza is safe, because the fourth school that was hit yesterday was in fact in what we call the middle
areas, which is south of Wadi Gaza, and there in that school, another two people lost their lives.
So, the first thing is, nowhere is it safe as in Gaza. Everybody is afraid that they are going to be in an airstrike. They're going to lose families.
They're going to lose their houses. Then more broadly, we have thousands of people sheltering in schools. We had planned that we could cope with about
1500 people sheltering in one of our schools.
We now have over 4000 people on average in the 147 schools which are now operating as shelters. Conditions there are becoming desperate,
particularly in terms of sanitation and access to basic services.
People are having to go out on the street and try and find water and food. And this is for the whole population, really, in Gaza, as food and water is
increasingly in short supply. So, you know, the situation continues to get worse here in Gaza.
GOLODRYGA: Thomas, we've been reporting on just the trickle of aid that's been able to get in thus far, a drop in the bucket relative to where things
stood before October 7th. Can you talk to us about what specific aid is needed most right now? You mentioned the shortage of water. Is that the
primary concern right now?
WHITE: So, you've made the point that not enough aid is coming in. We are right now really prioritizing two things, getting food to people and
getting water to people. We are effectively relying upon food stocks that we already had in Gaza before this conflict. We were providing 50 percent
of the calorific need for 1.2 million people. So, we are rapidly lowering down on our stocks, particularly of wheat flour in Gaza.
The second issue is really water. Now, water in Gaza relies upon fuel. Now, with the fuel reserves that we have been able to access that were in Gaza,
we've been able to keep desalination plants operating. We've been able to support the pumping of groundwater.
A, that's not enough water to support the population. We've got to remember that in south of Gaza, the population has effectively doubled in the space
of a week. So, there's not enough drinking water. And secondly, we are very concerned that the reserve that we've been accessing that sits within Gaza
probably has 100,000 liters left in it.
We are one or two days away from using that reserve. We need to ensure that fuel comes into Gaza -- water. The municipal services of Gaza, a pumping
sewerage that are pumping water around Gaza rely upon fuel. So, really, we're focused right now on food and water.
ASHER: Tom, what are people supposed to do? You know, you talk about the fact that nowhere in Gaza right now is safe. If you are a Palestinian
mother or father and you have three or four kids and you receive a flyer that has fallen from the sky from the IDF in Arabic saying, listen, the
area you're in is about to get bombed, please evacuate.
What do you do? Where do you go? It's not as if people have a holiday home in southern Gaza that they can just go to or a condo or whatever. What do
you do in that moment of crisis? Where do you go?
WHITE: I think this is the biggest dilemma for particularly the people living in the north right now. Do I stay or do I go? For many of them it
was a case of if I moved to the south, I'm then displaced. I'm out of my house. I'm out of my home.
We are already overwhelmed in the shelters that we have in the South that we cannot provide them access to shelter, to water, to food. But of course,
if the family is staying in the north, there is the risk of being caught up in the hostilities, caught in an airstrike.
So, it is an exceptionally tough decision for people about whether they move. Our concern at the present time is that people who do want to move
south cannot move south.
[12:20:00]
The Israeli forces now have literally control a strip of land just north of Wadi Gaza and it's from the fence in the east to the sea in the west. So,
people who did want to flee south effectively cannot flee south.
And we call upon some sort of safe passage for people who do want to leave the north where most of the hostilities currently focus and come to at
least the south where there is some sanctuary. But yes, that is an exceptionally tough and difficult choice that thousands of families are
having to make.
ASHER: So, they're effectively trapped. I can't imagine anything worse. Tom, thank you so much for the work that you're doing to help all those
people on the ground who are in dire need of our assistance right now. Thank you so much. We appreciate you coming on the show, as well.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Tom. Well, coming up for us. Hezbollah wields immense power in the Middle East. We'll look at how it got that power and what
role, if any, it could play in the current war in the Middle East.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, for the first time since the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, we have heard from the leader of Hezbollah, whose forces have
also been battling Israel along the border, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN NASRALLAH, SECRETARY GENERAL, HEZBOLLAH (through translator): It was an action that was heroic, brave, innovative, and it was very well-
executed. It was great. It was a huge earthquake in the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Hassan Nasrallah was full of praise for Hamas for its attack, which killed more than 1400 people in Israel. He warned Israel to not
escalate the fighting in Gaza, to accept a ceasefire, and anything less would be what he called a historic folly. Nasrallah put the blame for the
entire situation squarely on one country. You guessed it, the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NASRALLAH: America is fully responsible for what happening in Gaza and its people. Israel is no more than the tool that executes. It is America who is
stopping the contaminated. Find Israel in the Security Council, it is the one who can stop the aggression on Gaza. It is America proving again, just
what Imam Khomeini said, it is the big evil, the big Satan.
[12:25:00]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, time now for The Exchange. We are joined live now by Bilal Saab. He's the Director of the Defense and Security Program at the
Middle East Institute. Thank you so much for being with us.
My first question to you was, what was the purpose? You're welcome. What was the purpose of this speech? He didn't call directly for another front
to open up in this war. He didn't say that directly. What did he actually achieve with this address to the Arab world?
BILAL SAAB, DIRECTOR, DEFENSEAND SECURITY PROGRAM, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, he wanted to communicate his organization's intentions. I mean,
everybody was waiting for the speech. I could tell you that the Israelis were glued to the TV listening to him. This is how much respect they have
for him.
He's always meticulous with his speeches. He's always methodical. You could sense that he really wanted to communicate that his intentions were not to
escalate and to open another front against the Israelis.
And this is what I suspected all along, is that, you know, the actions that organization has been undertaken against the Israelis is to more than
anything else challenge the Israeli military operations against Hamas, not so much open another front to force the Israelis to allocate more resources
to the northern front, which would in many ways help Hamas, you know, survive and conduct its own operations against the Israelis.
So, look, if I were to rate this on a, let's just call it an escalation scale, this from one to 10, this is a five. And I'm not saying it, you
know, a lot of, you know, everybody's now relieved and reassured by the speech, but this could have been a whole lot worse.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
SAAB: And frankly, it is a whole lot escalatory than what I suspected.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Context matters. So, if this speech were to be delivered October 6th, this would have been a 10. But given the situation that the
region is facing right now, you're right to say that this is likely a five, and for right now you have Western officials breathing somewhat of a sigh
of relief.
Does this also suggest to you that the White House's efforts to send carriers there and more air defense systems -- that this deterrent, along
with the, quote, you know, "don't" think about doing anything message from the White House, has worked thus far?
SAAB: I'd like to believe that U.S. deterrence has some kind of an effect on what he's thinking and what he is ready to do, but I don't think so,
frankly. As a matter of fact, he was quite explicit about, you know, him not being overly worried about what we were sending to the Mediterranean in
terms of military assets being deployed. You said in your segment that he's a little bit --
GOLODRYGA: But wait, can I just interrupt you there? Can I just interrupt? Because would you really have expected him to say publicly, I am worried?
SAAB: No, but at the end of the day, I mean he really is not as much worried about the Americans frankly as he is about the Israelis. He knows
that the Israelis level Lebanon. He knows that Israelis have capabilities that are far more direct and that could very much be much worse of what
happened in 2006. He's less worried about us because he feels that the Americans are not going to be as erratic and as reckless to at least start
bombing targets inside Lebanon.
ASHER: And, Bilal, just in terms of where things go from here. So, at this point people are breathing a sigh of relief. It doesn't seem as though
there's going to be another front opening up in this war, at least for now. What might cause that to change? If things get really bad, I mean, they are
already bad in Gaza.
But if we start seeing double the death toll, for example, in terms of what we're seeing now, now 9000 people dead already, the ground incursion is
just starting -- this war is only three weeks old. The death toll is already staggeringly high. If things get even worse, might things change in
terms of what Hezbollah does?
SAAB: Well, this is where, again, the speech was quite useful because he was quite explicit about what could really, you know, change his calculus.
And he was clear about the fact that, you know, the moment that when he sees, and I don't know where that moment comes, right, is you know,
assessments could differ, you know, it's all about perspectives and interpretations.
But the moment he sees Hamas being on the verge of defeat, this is when he probably will dial up the pressure against the Israelis and one thing could
lead to another. But for now, in terms of intentions, I think we could be slightly reassured that he has no intention of opening another front.
This is primarily a Palestinian fight against the Israelis, not so much of a Lebanese or Yemeni or Iraqi one. Everything else is in support of the
main fight, as opposed to substituting that fight.
GOLODRYGA: One-word answer, please. I'm just curious. How do you think Hamas responded to this speech?
SAAB: Mixed feelings. You know, they wanted a little bit more from Hezbollah, but he was quite explicit about what he was already
contributing. I mean, heck, he gave up numbers. I don't know if those numbers are accurate in terms of what the Israelis were deploying on the
borders. But, you know, I'm pretty sure they wanted a little bit more than that, but he's toeing a line, he's throwing a needle there, and they have
to understand that.
ASHER: Yeah, Hamas has been calling for Hezbollah for more help in this, but Bilal, we have to leave it there. We are out of time. Thank you so
much. Appreciate it.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, Bilal.
SAAB: No problem.
GOLODRYGA: Well, our colleague Christiane Amanpour spoke exclusively with Egypt's foreign minister about the conflict.
[12:30:00]
He described the personal toll that the Israel-Hamas war has taken on him and about challenges that the world now faces. Here's a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: As a human being, how do you feel about what's unfolded October 7th and subsequently?
[12:30:00]
And what should Americans and the rest of the world understand?
SAMEH SHOUKRY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: This has been a very emotional, impactful, painful experience all around. The images since October the 7th
and subsequently have been painful to me on a personal level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, you can watch Christian's exclusive interview on "The Amanpour Hour". That debuts this Saturday at 11 o'clock in the morning and
that's if you're watching from New York, 3 o'clock in the afternoon if you are watching from London.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, really looking forward to that. Meantime, coming up for us. Israel says that it is taking its battle with Hamas underground. A look
at how it is battling fighters, hiding out in the tunnels. That's straight ahead.
ASHER: And later on in the show, we hear from families of Israeli hostages in Gaza who open up to CNN about the desperate wait for information about
their loved ones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OR SELLA, RELATIVES HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: We try to imagine where she is now under a tunnel at gunpoint. She's three years old. We are at the point
that any news is good news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(INSIDE AFRICA)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST)
[12:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, welcome back to "One World", I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. The Israeli operation to wipe out Hamas is going underground. The Israeli military says that they are
destroying Hamas' infrastructure, including the maze of tunnels underneath Gaza. Israeli tanks and troops have all but encircled Gaza City,
potentially cutting off Hamas fighters from retreating to the south.
ASHER: All right, let's bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Sderot in southern Israel, where a rocket has just hit the courtyard of a
kindergarten. Jeremy, what more do you -- what can you tell us? Because Sderot has largely been evacuated, much of it has been declared a closed
security zone. Just give us more context and what you know.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. Most of the residents of this town have indeed left. But where we are right now is a
position overlooking the Gaza Strip. And so, a number of media outlets have come here to set up positions to watch the activity, the military activity
that has been happening behind us in the Gaza Strip.
And just moments ago, we actually had two rockets make impact very close to our positions. One of those landed in the courtyard of a kindergarten,
which is right next to us. I want you to watch. But in particular, listen the video that was shot by my photojournalist, Matias Sohm, just moments
ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND: And you can hear there the rockets coming in and then making impact. The windows of this kindergarten were damaged by this impact. We
also saw the crater that was formed by at least one of those rockets and several nearby vehicles had their windows blown out, shrapnel hitting some
of those vehicles, as well.
And so, this just kind of reminds you that Hamas has been obviously indiscriminately firing rockets against Israeli cities, not picking out
particular military targets, but hitting -- but targeting civilian areas of these cities.
The Iron Dome system, which Israel has to protect from these rockets, is very effective, but it is not 100 percent effective. And some rockets do
indeed still make it through, and this incident moments ago was certainly a reminder of that very real reality.
ASHER: Jeremy Diamond, live for us there. Thank you so much. "One World" continues right after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Well, you could almost call our next story a case of life imitating art under the most remarkable and devastating of circumstances.
An Israeli actor known on screen for portraying a soldier who defended a kibbutz in the first Arab-Israeli war found himself fighting Hamas in real
life to defend the Be'eri kibbutz on October 7th.
[12:40:00]
ASHER: Incredible story. Yadin Gellman was seriously wounded when he was shot in the chest by Hamas militants. Thankfully, he survived that attack
and has spent the last three weeks recovering in hospital. No surprise, he is being hailed as a hero for his efforts on that day. As you may know, men
and women are called to serve in the IDF when they reach 18, unless there are exemptions.
GOLODRYGA: And Yadin Gellman is joining us now. Yadin, thank you so much for taking the time. Obviously, we still see you recovering in the hospital
there right now. First of all, tell us how you're feeling. And then if you can, walk us back through that horrific day, October 7th, when you got the
call to go to kibbutz Be'eri and what you saw once you arrived.
YADIN GELLMAN, ACTOR AND IDF SOLDIER: Yeah, so first of all, thank you for having me. I feel like it's really important for the world to share all
these stories and get the real and full picture of what's going on here in Israel.
So, how I'm feeling, it's very complicated to really, for me even, to realize how I'm feeling physically. I'm recovering, I still have two
operations in front of me. My shoulder and elbow still aren't working and I still have a hole in my left lung. But we're working hard and we're
recovering and we're here in rehabilitation every single day. So, we're optimistic.
And I'll start to go through what happened on the 7th of October for me. So, I was with my team celebrating my 30th birthday the night before. And
we got called in the morning after we heard the missiles attack. For us, it was just a regular Saturday. It was a holiday in Israel. And we all got
into our cars together.
We left our girlfriends and friends that weren't called out at the party where we were at and drove all together to our unit to get prepared. And a
few minutes later, we went down first to Kfar Aza, which was one of the kibbutzim that was attacked, and then we moved to Be'eri.
For me, the first, like, big slap in the face that I got when I got to the military barricades that we had to pass through that separated the
civilians from the war zone were just bodies on the street in Israel, a regular street in Israel that we had to drive through to get to kibbutz
Be'eri. And we saw bodies of families that were killed and murdered and burned alive in their cars on the road straight to Be'eri.
That was the first thing I saw and we got to Be'eri we saw injured families being pulled out of the kibbutz. The first injured person that I saw was a
three-year-old child that was burnt from head to toe because an RPG got sent into her house.
For me as a commander in special forces, that kind of gets you into a whole different area in your head. You have to kind of cut out all those images
and focus much more because you realize that the people that are getting attacked aren't soldiers. They're not military. They're families. They're
civilians. They're little kids. And you have to go in and save their lives, even if that means we put our lives between them and the terrorists.
And going through Kibbutz Be'eri on the 7th of October was really something I never imagined. Even as a combat soldier that I'd see in my entire life,
I saw babies that were killed inside their beds. I saw families that were holding their loved ones. They got shot and their bodies were just really
treated in the worst way possible and they were holding them in their safe rooms so that nobody would take them away from them.
I saw families that were burnt alive inside their rooms. Entire families of kids and parents and really, people that had beautiful homes that were
burnt and killed alive -- and killed -- burnt alive and killed inside their homes. We just went through house to house trying to save as many people
and as many hostages as we could.
And then by 7 P.M. we were on our way to the dining room in Be'eri to save 50 hostages -- kids that were tied together and tortured in front of each
other by Hamas terrorists. We were on our way to save them.
And one house before the dining room, I got shot from the right by a terrorist, Hamas terrorist with an AK-47. He shot off my finger. We managed
to shoot at him and take out that terrorist. And after that, I got shot on my left side, three bullets, one in my chest, my shoulder and my arm. And
then the fight kept on going. My team kept on fighting until they managed to take down all the terrorists and kind of get me and my friend David --
David, he was with me there.
[12:45:00]
Sadly, David passed away, leaving behind a wife and a beautiful child, a six-old child. And I'm here today, luckily alive.
ASHER: Yeah, then let me get this straight.
GELLMAN: Yeah.
ASHER: You had your finger blown off. You watched one of your friends be murdered. You have a hole in your lungs.
GELLMAN: Yeah.
ASHER: You then witnessed children murdered in their beds. You saw a three-year-old get completely burned. You witnessed things that I mean, I
don't even -- how are you doing emotionally? Just think about what you've been through over the past three weeks.
I mean, the things that we have seen just on pure video. I mean, we're not there. What we have seen on video is extremely traumatizing. You witnessed
it and you almost died. How are you doing emotionally? I just don't get how you recover from that.
GELLMAN: That's a question that has to be asked every single Israeli that is today living in Israel and abroad. We all have been traumatized as a
nation. Our home has been penetrated. Our security has been shaken. And we see that pure evil has been living next to us and inside our homes for
these -- I don't know how many years.
How I'm doing and how my mental state is, I think is a question that is irrelevant now. I think we need to start taking care of our mental state
when we finish this war. For now, Israel is in one of the most evil wars that we face, and we've seen devastating things, all of us here in Israel.
For now, we need to win this war.
The next stage is to start taking care of ourselves physically and mentally. But for now, we're dealing with pure evil. And that's what's
important -- to win this war, make sure that pure evil doesn't spread into the entire world, and then we'll start taking care of ourselves.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, that's what I hear from so many Israelis, including your girlfriend, who connected us. Also, journalists, when asking people how
they're feeling, they say that that's a luxury at this point to assess their mental state --
GELLMAN: Exactly.
GOLODRYGA: - because they're just in battle mode and really survival mode. Yadin Gellman, you, in fact, are indeed a hero. We're so sorry for the loss
of your colleague David, and we do appreciate your time today, and best of luck on your road to recovery. We appreciate it.
ASHER: Be well. Be well.
GELLMAN: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.
GOLODRYGA: And I will be back at the top of the next hour with Amanpour. We'll all be talking to South African Olympian, Caster Semenya. The 800-
meter runner burst onto the world stage of elite international athletics, but also faced a battle off the track over her very identity.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, for nearly a month now, the families of some 240 hostages held in Gaza have experienced a living hell after their loved ones
were taken captive by Hamas terrorists. Many are making desperate appeals for information and also clinging to the hope of some kind of rescue or a
deal to release them.
You're about to hear from three brave Israelis who spoke to our Lynda Kinkade about what they've been going through. Between them, they've been
separated from more than a dozen family members. Let's take a look.
(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?
SELLA: 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 in any means necessary.
KINKADE: Two of your family members were released -- Judith and her teenage daughter Natalie, Renan. 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're 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're 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?
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's three years old. We are at the point that any news is good news. We hope for any sign of life.
KINKADE: Shani, your cousin, Raymond, and her husband, Yagin, 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 seven 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 mom a 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.
[12:55:00]
And at 3:30, when the army reigned control on the kibbutz, they found the house -- glass shattered, bullet holes, signs of struggle, some blood and
they were gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Powerful interview from our Lynda Kinkade reporting there in Atlanta. All right, this, just in to CNN. There are dozens of casualties
after an incident near Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital. Dozens of casualties after an incident near Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital. This is according to multiple
videos from the scene and the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The cause at this point is not immediately clear. We don't exactly know what caused the incident. Dozens of casualties though, in terms of what we
know, we've reached out to the IDF for comment and there appears to be some shrapnel damage to at least one of the cars that's on the scene.
All right, that does it for this hour of "One World". Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. Amanpour with my colleague, Bianna Golodryga
is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
