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CNN International: Israeli's President: October 7 Attacks was "A Scar on Humanity"; Israeli Military Issues Evacuation Orders in Southern Gaza after Ordering Residents to Evacuate the North; Biden & Candidates Mark One Year Since October 7th Attacks; Israel Marks One Year Since Hamas Attacks on Oct 7; Israel Makes One Year Since Hamas Terror Attacks on Oct 7th; Survivors from Devastated Kibbutz Determined to Return Home. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired October 07, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Omar Jimenez and this is CNN "Newsroom". Just ahead. a day of anguish and remembrance across Israel, one year on from the Hamas attacks of October 7th. We're live in Tel Aviv this hour.
Plus, Israeli airstrikes hit targets inside Gaza and Lebanon as the conflict in the region shows, no sign of letting up. And CNN takes an emotional journey inside one of the Israeli communities that were stormed by Hamas militants and where some residents are vowing to rebuild.
Let's start in the Middle East, exactly one year on from the brutal Hamas terror attacks of October 7th, that shook all of Israel, much of the world, and changed the Middle East. A moment of silence there at the site of the Nova music festival, which suffered a horrific attack one year ago today.
In all, more than 1200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages taken captive on a day that the Israeli President says left a scar on humanity. For his part, Israel's Prime Minister urged his country to remain resilient.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: On this day, in this place, in many places in our country, we remember our fallen, our abducted, whom we are obliged to return, and are heroes who fell for the defense of the homeland and the country. We went through a terrible massacre a year ago. And we stood up as a people, as lions, and as people, rises like a lioness, and as a lion, it lifts itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: In the past 12 months, tens of thousands have been killed in Gaza, now fighting also rages in Lebanon. The Middle East is engulfed by conflict now. Amid the commemorations, an Israeli drone hit a hospital complex in Gaza, which the Israeli military says is a Hamas command center. And Hamas has been firing rockets from Gaza to the outskirts of Tel Aviv. CNN's Nic Robertson has been following developments and brings us this report from the memorial earlier at the Nova festival site in Southern Israel.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This is what we're seeing around us here, young people coming back, grieving for siblings, parents, grieving for siblings, people who survive, coming back, looking for closure, not finding it. Families coming, telling me this is like the day after it happened.
They don't believe that their loved ones are dead and gone. I don't think you can -- I can't put it into words. But what this means for people? Everyone just flinched just now, because not far away there's an artillery position that sort of firing towards Gaza. There's a huge military presence around here, but also reinforcement around Gaza, in essence, to allow this commemoration to happen so close to Gaza, just a couple of miles away.
We know that they've been military operations inside of Gaza over the past couple of days. 25 people killed yesterday when the IDF targeted a mosque there. They said it was a Hamas location. It's clear that the temple was picked up in the past few days. But here, I think what you're seeing is the mood set here for a very solemn and very somber day.
And I think it was the images from here, a year ago that really were the first powerful images for people as they were trying to grapple with what was actually happening. Of course, everyone here fleeing for their lives, but those images of rockets flying over the musical music at the festival, everyone in panic, everyone running, trying to get in their vehicles.
And gunned down, not just here at the festival site, 340 more than 340 killed but people also chased and gunned down at the nearby Kibbutzim all around the area, hundreds more gunned down there. So, this was kind of the moment when the country, when it got the images from here, began to understand and the world began to understand what was happening.
JIMENEZ: And one year later, questions remain unanswered about warnings ignored and a catastrophic failure of intelligence. CNN's Jim Sciutto reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): One year after October 7th, visiting the Nahal Oz base in Southern Israel, brings Eyal Eshel both a chance to honor his daughter, Roni and the most painful memories.
EYAL ESHEL, FATHER OF OCTOBER 7 ATTACK VICTIM: From here they came in the October 7.
SCIUTTO: This is where they entered?
ESHEL: Yes, this is the way they came from Gaza.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Roni was one of more than a dozen IDF soldiers in an all-female observer unit who raised the alarm as Hamas terrorists crossed into Israel that morning. After warning for months of an impending attack.
LATE RONI ESHEL, IDF OBSERVATION SOLDIER AT NAHAL OZ BASE: Four people are running towards the fence, confirm received. I see two-armed people running towards the fence, confirm received.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): As Hamas fighters overran the base, even filming themselves as they did it, Roni and her fellow observers waited six hours for a rescue that never came. They were killed, along with more than 30 other Israeli soldiers at the base, while several others were taken hostage.
[08:05:00]
For Eyal today, each location inside the base brings pain.
ESHEL: Here is the table that the girls was sitting and eating and smiling and laughing.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Just what they were doing the very night before the October 7th attack. In this video recorded by Roni's fellow soldier. This week in the destroyed operations room, Eyal lit a candle to mark the Jewish New Year at the very same spot where Roni issued those ominous warnings, and close to where she died.
ESHEL: We don't have any holidays. We hate holidays. She's not here. She's not with us.
SCIUTTO: This is where the observer unit was based. This is where they were issuing those warnings prior to the attack that something was coming, and sadly, on the morning of October 7th, this is where many of them were killed.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): The IDF's failure, not just to heed the observers warning, but also to come to their rescue, remained crucial questions a full year since October 7th, part of a much broader security failure that day. It was on these now burned up computer screens that Roni and her colleagues told their parents they had seen worrying signs from Hamas, including accounts of fighters testing the fence line.
The Israeli military ignored other warning signs as well, including these training videos Hamas posted openly online in the months before and earlier, intelligence since uncovered by Israeli media about Hamas' intent to attack Israeli communities and even take multiple hostages. Retired Brigadier General Amir Avivi is Former Deputy Commander of the IDF's Gaza division.
AMIR AVIVI, FORMER DEPUTY COMMANDER OF IDF GAZA DIVISION: They thought that Hamas is mostly worried about the stability inside Gaza and the economy.
SCIUTTO: So, you're saying it was a misreading of Hamas, rather than not listening to internal warnings.
AVIVI: Generally speaking, yes, but I think that also, at a certain point, what the observers said again and again and again, that I think things that are out of usual. At a certain point, there were commanders who said, OK, that's it. We don't want to hear about this anymore.
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): The IDF and Israeli government have insisted a full investigation into what went wrong that day cannot take place while the country is fighting a war on multiple fronts now.
ESHEL: We put the picture of the whole girls.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Today Eyal and the other families have built a memorial for their lost daughters overlooking Nahal Oz base.
ESHEL: Here is Roni.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): But they're still waiting for what he wants most now accountability.
SCIUTTO: Has anyone from the army or the government ever said to you, I take responsibility?
ESHEL: No one, no one.
SCIUTTO: Has anyone ever said I'm sorry?
ESHEL: No one. I need answers, and I need the responsibility, and I need the true.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): A father's simple demand after the worst loss imaginable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ: And Jim Sciutto is live with us now from what's become known as hostages square in Tel Aviv. So, Jim, can you just give us a sense of the mood inside Israel today. I mean, a year on from that day, they saw so many killed, but also has triggered so much fighting across the region.
SCIUTTO (on camera): Listen sorrow. Omar, right, sorrow at the continued suffering, in particular, of those hostages. And here we are in hostage square, as you mentioned. And several of the people here are relatives of those hostages, and I've spoken to them, and they're imagining every day the ongoing pain of those still held there, more than 100 of them.
But also, there's very much a sense in this country the continuing threat, not just from Hamas in the south, but Hezbollah in the north. And now, of course, Israel several days, or Iran, rather, I should say, several days after Iran launched close to 200 ballistic missiles here at Israel. And now with great anticipation as to how Israel will respond to that attack, and then, of course, fears of a broadening war, I will say Omar, that most Israelis I talk to have an enormous sense of resolve that their country is defending itself. Very few of them say to me, they do not want Israel to strike back against Iran.
But there is, I think, fear about how long this war on multiple fronts will drag on, and it's just one that you can't shake here, right? If folks are reasonably waiting for a moment of peace, it's just hard to find that peace. And even this morning, I was among several in our hotel that was sent down into the shelters when yet another air raid siren went off.
You know that threat is always very present here, and then you add to that the pain of those hostages still held, and the hostage families, it's quite a burden.
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It's quite a burden. And I think you can safely say many Israelis feel that is a shared burden right now.
JIMENEZ: Yeah, a year on, as you just mentioned, peace seems far from the minds of so many and far from the reality that we're seeing right now as well. Jim Sciutto, really appreciate your reporting.
SCIUTTO: Thanks.
JIMENEZ: Meanwhile, one year later, in Gaza, the war rages on, and there is no end to the suffering there. After ordering people in parts of Northern Gaza to evacuate, the Israeli military then issued new evacuation orders to people in the south of the Enclave. Now families in the north are fleeing once again, as the IDF announced a new ground operation near Gaza's biggest refugee camp.
Israel says its troops are encircling the camp after seeing signs of Hamas regrouping. The Israeli military also says it struck multiple locations in Gaza overnight, including an attack on a hospital compound that wounded 11 people. And we're now learning that three people were killed at another refugee camp in central Gaza.
On Sunday, a school and a mosque in central Gaza were hit by Israeli airstrikes killing at least 25 people. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Here's how one aid worker in Gaza describes the horrific conditions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH DAVIES, SPOKESPERSON OF INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: Palestinians in Gaza have lived through 12 months of intense hostilities. Many people have been displaced multiple times. I am currently in the south of Gaza in Rafah, and you walk down the street here and you just see haphazard, you can't even call them tents.
They have sticks with tarps over them, trying to where families are desperately trying to provide shelter for their children. You have toddlers walking down the road with containers waiting for water trucks to try and get some safe drinking water for their families. We know there has been a fluctuation and a very severe shortage of food, medical equipment.
The health care system across Gaza has been decimated. People are actually not sure where they can go to receive medical treatment, because they never know which healthcare centers or which hospitals will potentially be open and functioning and able to provide that kind of service.
They don't know if they have the supplies. It has been a consistently deteriorating situation, and people are exhausted, they don't know where to go next, and they don't have any security or safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Meanwhile, earlier, the IDF said it intercepted five projectiles launched from Gaza. But for perspective, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says nearly 42,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the past year, many of them women and children. Nada Bashir joins me now live from London.
So, Nada, look, commemorations are being held inside Israel today, but operations inside Gaza still clearly active and ongoing. I mean, what can you tell us about new evacuation orders in the north and south of Gaza?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you heard just that Omar in that interview, the vast majority of Gaza's 2.2 million strong population has already been internally displaced. They have received multiple evacuation orders. The vast majority of civilians have had to move and flee time and time again, not only from their homes, but also from temporary shelters.
And now, of course, in the last few hours, we have learned that the Israeli military has issued fresh evacuation orders to a number of neighborhoods surrounding the Khan Younis area in Southern Gaza. They have told civilians that they will be striking with force, according to the Israeli military, against Hamas targets, and have ordered civilians to move to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone on that coastal area of Gaza.
And this, of course, follows similar orders that were issued to civilians in parts of Northern Gaza, where we have seen strikes taking place, particularly around the Jabalia refugee camp area. We have seen hundreds of civilians there, once again forced to flee, gather their belongings.
The Israeli military has said that it has encircled now on the ground, the Jabalia area, again, saying that they are targeting Hamas militants in the area. But as we know, these are areas that are densely populated, still with civilians despite the repeated evacuation orders. And of course, we keep hearing these orders telling civilians to move to humanitarian zones, to safe zones.
Important to note that we have seen these safe zones, including the Al-Mawasi coastal area, being targeted in the past. So, there is real concern around where the safety guarantees really are for civilians in Gaza. And of course, as you mentioned just over the weekend, we have seen a number of strikes being carried out, particularly across parts of central Gaza.
And what is more troubling is that we are seeing areas that should be considered safe zones being targeted, including, of course, the Al- Aqsa Martyrs hospital compound, the compound surrounding the hospital, which is one of Gaza's last remaining functioning hospitals, was targeted by an Israeli drone strike.
Again, the Israeli military has said it was targeting Hamas infrastructure, but civilians were known to be taking shelter in tents outside the hospital compound.
[08:15:00]
This is somewhere where doctors have been working around the clock to provide care. Of course, it's one of the hospitals that is working with the support of the international organization Doctors Without Borders. So hugely troubling situation in Gaza of many civilians there.
JIMENEZ: And Nada, I think you know, over the past year, as the death toll has grown and as civilians have been caught in a cycle of evacuation orders from the north to the south and back and forth. And there's a danger and numbing to the situation here. And can you just give us a sense of the scale of destruction inside Gaza over the past year? I mean, how much of the area's infrastructure is still even operational?
BASHIR: I mean, it's difficult to put into words the scale of the destruction we've seen over the last year, it's almost unimaginable. Much of Gaza's infrastructure has now been entirely destroyed. Around 90 percent of schools have been damaged, completely out of service.
Of course, the schools have become vital shelters as well for many civilians, the vast majority of hospitals in Gaza now completely in operational. We know, of course, that so many in Gaza, the vast majority of 2.2 civilians are now displaced. Their homes completely destroyed.
And of course, the humanitarian toll has been so hugely significant. Of course, a huge famine now underway, spreading and advancing across parts of Gaza. Malnutrition a significant concern there. We've seen that ongoing blockade, preventing enough aid from getting in to Gaza, enough food, enough medical supplies, from getting to those most in need.
And of course, as you mentioned at the beginning there, Omar, the death toll is staggering. More than 41,000 people killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. According to U.N. agencies, more than half of them are women and children. The vast majority, of course, civilians, more than 90,000 people injured.
I think what's important to underscore as well is that there are thousands of people who are still missing. Believed to buried underneath the rubble. So, the full extent of the death toll in Gaza is still unclear. And of course, access to the Gaza Strip continues to be limited, not only to humanitarian organizations, but also, of course, the journalists as well.
This has been the deadliest conflict for media workers, according to the committee to protect journalists, more than 100 killed just over the last year. So, it is staggering. When you look at the figures, the data, altogether, of the impact and the implications of this war on the Gaza strip over the last year.
It is difficult to put into it and to really capture how devastating this has been, and yet hopes for a ceasefire continue to feel way off at this stage. We keep seeing diplomatic efforts stalling and stalling, and as this war now spreads and bleeds over across the region, hopes for a ceasefire feel even further away at this stage.
JIMENEZ: Yeah, perhaps even further away than even in the months after October 7th, a year ago. Nada Bashir, thank you so much. As we mentioned earlier, Israel is fighting on multiple fronts, not just in Gaza, and Lebanon, the IDF is urging those who have evacuated their homes not to return until further notice.
And the Israeli military continues to pummel the suburbs of Beirut. Hezbollah, meanwhile says it launched rockets targeting an Israeli military base near Haifa. At least five people were wounded there. Lebanese authorities meanwhile say more than 1400 people in Lebanon have been killed and 1.2 million others displaced by the recent fighting.
All this as the world waits to see how Israel will retaliate against Iran for last week's deadly missile attack. Ben Wedeman joins me now live from Beirut. And Ben, I know you and your team have witnessed explosions there over the past 24 hours. We're hearing that the Israeli military has told people inside Lebanon who have left their homes to remain away until further notice. What do we know about where the Israeli operation against Hezbollah goes from here?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, they're doing a two-pronged operation, in a sense, Omar. On the one hand, yes, they are continuing to pound the southern suburbs of Beirut yet again, overnight, we saw huge explosions, and there's still smoke rising from the southern suburbs.
We hear a drone overhead. I don't know if you can hear it, but this usually presages further strikes. So, they're hitting hard at the southern suburbs of Beirut, which has been described as a stronghold for Hezbollah, but actually it's also home to hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom don't necessarily support Hezbollah itself.
Now further south, what we see is that the Israelis are continuing to pound villages and towns in the south, along the border and beyond the border as well. Today, they issued another set of warnings or evacuation orders for 25 villages, many of them on the western sector of the border near the sea. This certainly indicates that they are preparing for a ground invasion.
[08:20:00]
At this point, they've issued warnings or orders evacuated orders for perhaps as many as 150 of those towns and villages in the south telling them to go north of the Awali River, which is about 50 kilometers from the border, and telling them not to go, come back until further notice.
And also, not to even try to drive south, because oftentimes, people will leave their homes in a hurry and then send one or two, usually male members of the family to go back to try to retrieve some of the things. Because we've spoken to many people who have left the South. They leave essentially with just the clothing on their backs, so they need the things that they left behind, and oftentimes going back is a very dangerous mission, Omar.
JIMENEZ: And look, there are the military operations that we've seen from the Israeli side and from the Hezbollah side as well. But while all this is going on, civilians are caught in the middle, over a million displaced according to Lebanese authorities. I mean, where are they supposed to go? Are they being given any specific guidance by the government about where they can get help?
WEDEMAN: The government and also non-governmental organizations have been very active opening up schools, which of course, class has been suspended until the fourth of November, opening up schools, churches, mosques, other buildings that where they can house people.
But it's just not enough. Keep in mind, of course, Lebanon has been in the throes of a profound economic crisis now for the past five years, so the government's resources are very limited. Now we were actually yesterday, we were on the Cornish, which is a broad Boulevard going by the sea with a large, broad sidewalk.
There are people camped out there in tents. And we spoke to them, and they said the schools, every shelter that's been made available, are crammed to the gills that they prefer to basically sleep in the open rather than to go to these centers that are so crowded, where resources are so short.
So normally, on a Sunday afternoon on the Cornish Sea, you'll see people jogging on bicycles, basically enjoying a day off in the good weather that we have at the moment, though, it's a little cloudy today, but now it's just full of people who are homeless, displaced, trying to get by in a country where resources are so scarce and spaces are limited.
So, it's a very difficult situation for anybody who is looking for a place to stay, looking for a mattress to sleep in, looking for a roof over their head, Omar.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. And we can hear those drones. It sounds like overhead still going right now, so we'll keep an eye on your position. Ben Wedeman, please stay safe. Thank you for your reporting as always. Still ahead a call for peace from U.S. leaders on this somber anniversary. After the break, we're going to take a look at how the U.S. President and the U.S. presidential candidates are marking the year since the October 7th attack. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:25:00]
JIMENEZ: Welcome back. Both U.S. presidential campaigns will take part in ceremonies marking one year since the October 7th attacks. Donald Trump will attend observances in Queens, New York and in Miami. Then he'll be on Fox News in a pre-taped interview.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff will plant a tree at their residence to mark the anniversary of the October 7th attacks. The attacks as well as the U.S. relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were among the subjects the vice president discusses in a new interview with CBS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With all due respect, the better question is, do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people, and the answer to that question is yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Now, that was when she was asked if she had a close ally in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, to mark the October 7th anniversary, President Joe Biden and the First Lady will light a memorial candle at a White House ceremony later today. Arlette Saenz joins us live from the White House with a look at this somber day ahead.
So, the president, the vice president, both taking part in memorial events today. What do we expect? And is the administration sending out any positive signals about any options to restart any sort of ceasefire talks?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are each observing the October 7th anniversary in their own ways, mourning the loss of those who were killed on that day by Hamas, as well as reiterating U.S. support for Israel's right to defend themselves.
Now Biden and the First Lady, Jill Biden will be joined by a Rabbi here at the White House a little later this morning for a traditional yard site candle lighting ceremony that is a tradition in the Jewish faith used to observe the anniversary of a death. Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, will be planting a tree at the vice president's residence.
A bit later this afternoon, they will plant a pomegranate tree, which is a symbol of hope and righteousness in the Jewish faith. Now, both Biden and Harris, in statements released this morning, renewed their calls for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, hoping to secure the return of hostages, as well as find an end to this war.
President Biden in that statement writing quote, we will not stop working to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that brings the hostages home, allows for a surge in humanitarian aid to ease the suffering on the ground, assures Israel's security and ends this war. Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity and peace.
It comes at a time when many of the families whose loved ones remain held by Hamas in Gaza are hoping for some progress in those talks to try to secure the release of their loved ones. But so far, there really has not been much momentum in recent weeks to get closer to that type of an agreement.
There are four Americans who are currently believed to be still alive and held hostage by Hamas and I learned this morning that yesterday, two senior White House officials, Amos Hochstein, as well as Brett McGurk, did hold a call with the families of those American hostages.
Now, President Biden has said that he will work tirelessly to secure their release, but it really remains unclear whether the U.S. might be able to help secure such a deal that would return those hostages back to their loved ones. The anniversary of October 7th is also coming at a very complicated and contentious moment, as you have seen this conflict in the Middle East really widening on several fronts.
Both Biden and Harris, in their statements this morning, said that the U.S. continues to support Israel's right to defend themselves, wants to ensure that they have what they need to defend themselves, including in the face of attacks by Iran. You saw the U.S. really step up last week in aiding Israel to try to thwart the barrage of missiles that Iran lobbed in Israel's way.
So, it really comes at a very precarious moment in the Middle East, as President Biden is eager to try to prevent this conflict from widening out even further, even as Israel is now approaching this conflict on multiple fronts, not just fighting Hamas in Gaza, but also fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, something that the administration has said they want to find a diplomatic solution to.
And then there are the threats that Israel is facing from Iran. Of course, Israel has vowed to respond to Iran's attack last week. The U.S. is in constant contact with their counterparts to try to determine those next steps, at a time when Biden is trying to prevent a wider regional war from occurring.
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JIMENEZ: Arlette Saenz thank you so much. And stay with us for more coverage from Israel, where the country is marking one year since the deadly attack by Hamas that killed at least 1200 people and dozens of hostages taken by Hamas on this day, one year ago, are still being held. We'll hear from the mothers who are holding out hope their daughters will soon come home. That's after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JIMENEZ: A somber Day of Commemoration has begun in Israel to mark one year since the October 7th Hamas attacks. Vigils and memorial events are taking place across the country. 1200 people were killed that day, and more than 200 taken hostage. 100 Israelis are still being held captive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOA ARGAMAN, FORMER HOSTAGE: The entire country is in mourning. We've all lost someone close to us, and we are all left with a huge hole in our hearts. I still don't know where to start picking up the pieces, how to find hope and how to look forward. I'm still asking why? Why this happened? Why it happened to our loved ones, to those dearest to us?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: One year on, Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 people, and today, the Israeli military issuing fresh orders to evacuate people in parts of northern and southern Gaza. Now, one year on, there are still dozens of hostages from the October 7th attacks being held in Gaza.
CNN's Bianna Golodryga spoke with the mothers of two captured female soldiers who are supporting each other and holding out hope that their daughters will some-day, be freed. And a warning that the report you're about to see may show some disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's any parent's nightmare not being able to protect their child. Yet, that's exactly what happened one year ago on the morning of October 7th, when then 19-year-old, Naama Levy was dragged by her hair at gunpoint by a militant. Her pants soaked in blood in one of the first harrowing videos that Hamas released of that fateful day.
She was abducted alongside several other Israeli female soldiers at Nahal Oz Military Base near Israel's border with Gaza. Scene here in another chilling Hamas video. Among them was her friend Liri Albag, who was 18 at the time. They were all working as IDF observers, a role that involves monitoring border security. Military service is mandatory in Israel. Naama tries to tell her captors that she has Palestinian friends.
[08:35:00]
She had taken part in an Israeli Palestinian peace initiative. Liri and Naama's mothers are still stuck on that day.
AYELET LEVY SHACHAR, MOTHER OF OCTOBER 7 HOSTAGE NAAMA LEVY: This terror attack is ongoing for a year now. Our girls are in the same terror attack.
SHIRA ALBAG, MOTHER OF OCTOBER 7 HOSTAGE LIRI ALBAG: Liri and Naama, are little girls, they're young girls that one years are there in hell.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Hamas' rampage left more than 1200 people dead. Another 250 were taken hostage. Over 100 are thought to remain in captivity to this day, according to Israel's Prime Minister's Office, but it's unclear how many are still alive. The attacks triggered Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed more than 41,000 people. For these two women, a ceasefire deal is standing in the way of their reunion with their children.
ALBAG: People in the world forget them, our government and the media -
SHACHAR: The media -
ALGAB: -- and all over the world, they forget that they are still there.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): In July, the families decided to release this updated photo of their daughters in captivity, saying that time is running out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People made this for her?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, it's for when she comes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does this say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALEL: We missed you. You are our sunshine.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): When I visited the Levy home earlier this year, I was struck by how Naama's bedroom looked more like that of a preteen than a nearly 20-year-old. For now, they hold on to the memories and the hope of embracing their girls again.
SHACHAR: We are hoping, hoping that they are together there and helping each other survive. You know, we're trying to be strong for one another here.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Lives upended, and as the conflict continues to widen, there is seemingly no end in sight to their anguish. Bianna Golodryga, CNN, New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JIMENEZ: We want to update one of our top stories this hour. An Israeli strike has killed three Palestinians in a central Gaza refugee camp and the Israeli military says it struck Hamas targets. One of those attacks targeted a hospital compound where 11 people were injured. An Israeli drone hit tents housing displaced Palestinians.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, more attacks are imminent. The Israeli military has told people who fled their homes not to return until further notice. This as they hit multiple Hezbollah targets around Beirut. Hezbollah hit back. It says it launched a barrage of rockets targeting Israeli and Israeli military base near Haifa. Five people were injured. Paula Hancock joins us now from Abu Dhabi with more.
[08:40:00]
JIMENEZ: So, Paula, let's focus on Gaza for a moment here, because there seems to be no let up here. What is the latest that we're hearing there?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Omar, if anything, we're seeing an increase in the Israeli military activity in Gaza at this point. The IDF has issued evacuation orders for parts of Northern Gaza, the Jabalia Refugee Camp -- which is effectively most of Northern Gaza, saying that it is still an active combat zone, telling residents to move south to what it calls the humanitarian zone Al Mawasi, where we've heard residents on the ground being skeptical about that move.
We've seen Israeli air strikes on Al Mawasi in the past, some are refusing to leave northern Gaza, and at the same time as that, we're seeing fresh evacuation orders for parts of Southern Gaza, as Israel says it will be carrying out significant military operations.
Hamas, for its part, is saying that there has been fierce fighting with Israeli troops. So, a year on, we are seeing still Hamas is a fighting force. According to the Biden Administration, it has been degraded significantly, militarily and politically, and could not carry out an October 7th style attack today.
But they are still able to fire rockets out of Gaza as well, which we have seen today. On the anniversary we saw five, excuse me, nine rockets fired from South Gaza this morning, and we know that at least two people were injured as one of those landed just on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. And then also, there were five intercepted from the north of Gaza.
And we have been seeing casualties increasing once again in Gaza, for example, on Sunday, there was a mosque in Deir El Balah in Central Gaza that was targeted by the Israeli military. They say Hamas was using it as a command-and-control center.
What we have seen is that almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the past year alone with this continual fight between Israel and Hamas. Now, there is no distinction in these numbers from Gaza officials when it comes to militants versus civilians, but certainly the images that our teams on the ground have been sending to us show a lot of women and children in the hospitals Omar.
JIMENEZ: Paula Hancocks, thank you. And breaking news into CNN, there has been another Israeli airstrike on Southern Beirut. We want to show you some live pictures here. You see some smoke there in the center of your screen there. Our Correspondent Ben Wideman earlier said he heard drones buzzing overhead, which usually means a strike is imminent.
So, we'll keep an eye on these pictures and bring you updates as we see -- as we see them. We have seen explosions there over the past 24 hours at various points. No word yet from the Israelis on the target. But to talk about all of this, I want to bring in Middle East Analyst and Former Pentagon Middle East Advisor, Jasmine El-Gamal. So today, obviously, is a year on from the October -- October 7th, Hamas attacks on Israel. But when you look at region wide, really, between Lebanon, Iran, Gaza, of course, and Israel, are you surprised where Israel is militarily and politically in the region a year later?
JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FORMER PENTAGON MIDDLE EAST ADVISOR: Thank you for having me, Omar. And it is -- it's a very -- it's a very somber day. And you know, not just when you think about what happened a year ago today in Israel, of course.
But when you look at everything that's happened in the region since then, you know you were talking to your correspondent earlier, and she was talking about the numbers of people killed in Gaza. 41,000, 2000 killed in Lebanon, over a million displaced in both countries, and, of course, the Israeli hostages, 101 hostages that are still in Gaza.
Now, when you ask me if I'm surprised at the extent of the Israeli reaction, I would say that I'm not entirely surprised that the Netanyahu's government basically chose to respond to what happened to October 7th militarily. People like myself, and it gives me no joy to say this obviously, Omar, we had been warning about this type of response back in October of last year.
And arguing for the need to try to resolve these issues diplomatically, working with Israel's newfound allies in the region, post Abraham Accords, they had the UAE, they obviously have long standing peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, and so there definitely was a different way to go about this.
[08:45:00]
Instead, what we've been seeing is this extremely militarized response across the region, which, if you talk to anybody, whether it's in the Middle East or people in Western governments working on the Middle East, are saying that this is only going to make Israel less safe, that it's only going counter to what Israel, Israel's objectives were after October 7th, which is to make Israel safe and secure in the region. What we're seeing right now is the absolute exact opposite of that.
JIMENEZ: And as you know, the United States has been a close ally with Israel throughout all of this. I mean, historically speaking, but especially so over the past year. And there's an extra played from an upcoming 60 minutes to interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, where she was asked if the U.S. had a close ally in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
And she sort of reframed the question to say, the U.S. and Israel have a close alliance. So, I wonder how you look at the relationship between the United States and Israel right now? And whether you think the nature of that relationship has changed over the last year.
EL-GAMAL: That's right. I saw that clip earlier, and I thought it was -- it was very interesting, an interesting reframing of the question by Vice President Harris. And I think it was her way of trying to differentiate between this current Israeli government and the overall relationship, she said, between the American people and the Israeli people.
And I think that that's a useful distinction. I think it might give us a window into how her policies might differ slightly from that of President Biden. She was making a point to say that the Israeli U.S. relationship is larger than just one government, and that this -- larger than this Prime Minister of Israel.
I mean, it's no secret that the U.S. administration has not been pleased with Prime Minister Netanyahu's choices over the last year. But that said they have actually not done everything that they could do, and of course, that's the main criticism against the Biden Administration, is that they have failed to use the immense leverage that they have with the Israeli government to try to shape its response in ways that could have minimized the damage that's been done.
U.S. officials will tell you, of course, that their interventions with Prime Minister Netanyahu over the last year have resulted in some, some changes in policy, but the bar is so low. It's something like the Israelis, and in the beginning, didn't want to let in any food or water or turn on any electricity in Gaza, and then they let in a trickle. I mean, that's the type of things that were -- that we're looking at when the Biden Administration officials say that their interventions have made a difference.
But when it comes to the overall trajectory of the conflict, of what's been happening in the last year Omar, you'll remember that one of the very first things that President Biden said to President Netanyahu last October was, don't make the same mistakes that we did after 9/11. Don't squander the goodwill that you have right now by making the wrong choices.
And unfortunately, what we've seen over the last year is one wrong choice after the other, bringing the region closer and closer. I mean, I would say it is in full blown conflict right now. We're still waiting to see what the Israeli response will be towards Iran.
But right now, the Middle East is on fire. It is burning, and there is no prospect towards anything that I would call peace or security for any of these actors or any of the people in the region one year on.
JIMENEZ: And quickly before we go, we just have about 30 seconds here. But do you believe there is any path or any place you would start towards any sort of meaningful ceasefire deal? I mean, it seems like we're further away now than we were even a month or two after October 7th of last year?
EL-GAMAL: Omar, the very short answer is that Prime Minister Netanyahu and on the other side, Sinwar Yahya Sinwar as well, are not interested at this moment in making a deal that they will have to be forced to by outside parties. And so, unless that pressure is brought to bear on the Israelis by the U.S. primarily, and on Yahya Sinwar by Qatar and Egypt, we will not see the parties moving any closer towards a ceasefire. There has to be more pressure put on both parties.
JIMENEZ: A lot to reflect on a year out from October 7th, when really the tragedy, of course, in Israel, but the general structure, the geopolitical structure of the Middle East, changed in an instant, in a day, really. Jasmine. El-Gamal, thank you for your time and perspective. Really appreciate you being here.
EL-GAMAL: Thank you Omar.
JIMENEZ: All right, everyone. We'll be right back.
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[08:50:00]
JIMENEZ: One year ago today, Hamas militants killed at least 1200 people in a brutal terror attack in Israel. More than 100 people were killed in a single Kibbutz, and another 30 of its residents were abducted to Gaza. CNN's Matthew Chance spoke to some of Kibbutz Beeri survivors.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a painful wound that still has Israel reeling, even a year since Hamas rampaged through Kibbutz Beeri and other Israeli communities near Gaza, that wound has far from healed.
CHANCE: Driving through the streets of Beeri, and you really get a strong sense that the scars of the October 7th attacks are still very much here. Almost every one of the houses along these roads has been damaged and was overrun. The families inside torn apart, people killed, abducted to Gaza, traumatized.
YARDEN TZEMACH: Used to be family house, a beautiful home -
CHANCE (voice-over): Inside one burned out shell Yarden Tzemach tells me how his neighbors, the Haran Family (ph), were killed and kidnapped from their home. Bullet holes and scorch marks where Palestinian gunmen ran amok.
Kibbutz Beeri lost more than 100 people in the October 7th attacks, one of the unsuspecting Israeli communities worst affected. Another 10 residents are among the hostages still being held in this ongoing ordeal. It's hard to imagine people ever feeling safe here again.
TZEMACH: I believe that it's possible. It will be a big challenge, and it might take a long time for people to feel as safe as we felt before October 7th.
CHANCE: But you said yourself, you know that that feeling of security that you had on October the 6th -
TZEMACH: Yeah.
CHANCE: -- that was an illusion.
TZEMACH: It was an illusion.
CHANCE: What I'm asking is, do you think that a community so close to Gaza can ever really be secure and safe?
TZEMACH: You know, once something happens, you know that it can't. You always have the in the back of your mind that it can happen again.
AMIT SOLVY, FINANCE CHAIRMAN FROM KIBBUTZ BEERI: They killed my sister over there. OK, she's one of them.
CHANCE (voice-over): But among this close-knit community, brutalized and scattered, there is determination to rebuild.
SOLVY: Beeri will recover the most of the people will come back, rebuild their lives, rebuild their house, rebuild the Kibbutz, and Beeri will come again, I hope, stronger than before. But there is no infrastructure for kids. There's no school. People with family cannot coming back yet.
CHANCE: How difficult is it for people to come back emotionally?
SOLVY: Emotionally -
CHANCE: -- after what happened must be difficult?
SOLVY: It's difficult. It's hard. I think that berry recover again. It takes time. It will take time.
CHANCE (voice-over): Meanwhile, building is underway. 100 residents have already returned, where most are still living, an hour's drive from the memories of home contemporary houses in Israeli Town of Hatsuri (ph).
CHANCE: Hi, Matthew. Hi, hello. Like Ayelet Hakim, who says her family's narrow escape from being killed in their Beeri home still keeping them away.
[08:55:00]
AYELET HAKIM, DISPLACED KIBBUTZ BEERI RESIDENT: It's a trauma of living in a house where vicious terrorists invaded and sitting in my safe room for hours and hours not knowing what's going on and being and felt like I've been threatened. So, I feel in that house. I feel unsafe in that house.
CHANCE: But in the Kibbutz?
HAKIM: Not on the kibbutz. No, if I have a house, no.
CHANCE: Not a house in Kibbutz you want to go back?
HAKIM: Yeah. Kibbutz Beeri is my home. That's where I want to live.
CHANCE (voice-over): But living after so much death and destruction here will never be the same. Matthew Chance CNN in Kibbutz Beeri, Southern Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE) JIMENEZ: And our thank you to Matthew Chance for that reporting and thank you for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Omar Jimenez. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.
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