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CNN This Morning

Israel: At Least 350 Israelis Killed In Hamas Attack; IDF: More Than 20 Communities Close To Gaza Being Evacuated; Biden: Support For Israel Is "Rock Solid And Unwavering"; IDF: Fighting Ongoing In Israel At 7 Locations; Blinken In Touch With Counterparts In Europe, Middle East Following Hamas Attack On Israel; Civilians To Be Evacuated By IDF From Towns Close To Gaza; In Retaliation, Israel Bombards Lebanon With Artillery Fire; Hamas Attack Leaves At Least 350 Israeli Deaths; Numerous Hostages Held By Hamas, According To IDF Spokesman; Gaza Attacks Claimed 313 Palestinians Lives; 7 Locations in Israel Still In Combat, According To IDF; Netanyahu: Israel "Embarking On A Long And Difficult War"; Interview With Council On Foreign Relations Senior Fellow And The Washington Post Columnist Max Boot; Israeli Husband And Father Pleads For Family's Safe Return. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired October 08, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:48]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Good morning. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, October 8th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: I'm Amara Walker. Our colleague, Becky Anderson is live in Tel Aviv. As we continue to follow developments in Israel, we will be checking in with her in just a moment. Fighting in Israel and Gaza is raging into a second day.

At least 350 Israelis are dead and more than 300 Palestinians have been killed. And thousands of people on both sides of the border have been injured since the attack began 24 hours ago. Today, Hamas says it has fired at least 100 rockets into southern Israel. Many of their fighters are still in the country after infiltrating the border yesterday.

At this hour, Israeli Defense Forces are still fighting to remove militants from eight different areas inside the country.

BLACKWELL: In Gaza, Israel is striking back. Israeli forces are using drones to keep Hamas militants from crossing the border into Israel. IDF has sent dozens of airstrikes into Gaza. They say they've hit more than 400 targets, including 10 towers used by Hamas in the compound that belongs to Hamas' chief intelligence officer.

One big concern, of course, for Israel is the number of hostages that has been taken into Gaza. IDF is working to determine the exact, the precise number of how many people have been captured. We're seeing video, though, after -- of video of Israeli citizens rounded up, kidnapped. We want to warn you that the one you're about to see is disturbing. These are people at a music festival near the Gaza border yesterday. They were kidnapped by Hamas militants, including the couple. You can see the woman was taken away on the back of a motorcycle. Her boyfriend was apprehended by several men. The families of that couple, they wanted to release this video, hoping that it will help secure their release.

CNN spoke with the woman's roommate just hours after she was taken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIR MOADDI, ROOMMATE KIDNAPPED: It's very difficult when you see someone that is so close to you and you know him so much being treated like this. It's very difficult to see it. It's make you like shocked and ask what did she do to get this? Like, why they should acted like this to her?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Yes, just really tough to watch these videos.

Let's go now to Israel. CNN's Becky Anderson is in Tel Aviv. Becky, we are now in the second day and we're still seeing this exchange of missiles and rocket attacks between Israel and Hamas. And, of course, Israel saying that its focus now is to gain control of Gaza.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, and we're hearing booms around us, some 60 or 70 booms since last you and I spoke just about 25 minutes ago. And, of course Gaza not very far away along this coastline from where I am here in Tel Aviv. At least 100 rockets fired on the Israeli town of Sderot by Hamas this morning, according to the militant group. That number may realistically be much higher at this point as Israel continues its response.

Last count, targeting close to 500 targets in Gaza overnight. Again, that number may be significantly higher now, but that's the number that we had, according to authorities, a little bit earlier on. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing that this is a war. That Israel will win, and saying the enemy, as he describes them, will pay an unprecedented price.

Quite what that war looks like. Going forward and what that price will be, particularly in terms of further lives lost, will only become apparent in the hours ahead. What is clear is that the dozens of Israelis, and we spoke to the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, just last hour, they will not put a precise figure on just how many Israelis are being held captive in Gaza as they try and establish exact numbers.

But it's dozens of Israelis. Men, women, children, the elderly, they say, rounded up and taken into Gaza as hostages. And the video that you just showed of the music festival and that man and woman being rounded up, put on a motorbike and taken back into Gaza.

[07:05:18]

We have to assume this will massively complicate the Israeli Defense Forces next moves.

Let's get right to CNN's Nic Robertson in southern Israel. Nic, explain where you are and what you're hearing there.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Becky, we're about 25 kilometers approximately from the Gaza fence. I'm hearing fighter jets in the sky above me. We've been hearing multiple repeated heavy detonations coming from the Gaza direction. And I can tell you, as we've been driving down here.

Security is very, very tight. The security personnel on checkpoints are really keyed up, if you will. The safety catches on guns is off. And that tells you they're concerned about the possibility of more Hamas infiltration.

Indeed, we saw a group of Israeli Defense Force soldiers scouring an open field this morning with a vehicle at the edge of the field with the hood up, the trunk was open as well. The doors were open. They were searching because they are concerned about these infiltrations.

And there was one in the town of Ashkelon, which we passed by earlier on today. There was one earlier on this morning where four Hamas militants were stopped by the Israeli Defense Force. So that's the scene around here.

The sound of jets, the sound of distant what appear to be airstrikes and that heightened security, even just us standing at the roadside here and our vehicle parked off to the side. Israeli security came by, checked us out. We're out of the ordinary here. They came by to check out again. They're concerned about Hamas militants. Becky?

ANDERSON: I spoke earlier to the IDF spokesman who announced at the time if evacuations are more than 20 communities close to Gaza. He wasn't prepared to reveal the details of -- what the military is now planning. I did ask him whether the plans were for a ground incursion because we are seeing the buildup of tanks and artillery, not prepared to reveal the details.

But at this point, you know, it's clear that any further attack on Gaza has to assume that there could be Israelis as hostages, as those who have been captured in what is a very congested Gaza. And that must be a real concern to the IDF at this point.

ROBERTSON: It absolutely is. The fate of the hostages is essentially in the hands of Hamas, who will use those hostages to put pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu and the decisions he takes and the instructions he gives to his defense minister and the IDF as he listens to their security analysis of the plight of the hostages, of what steps they need to do to execute on what Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he wants to do, which is remove the Hamas leadership who live in and among the population in Gaza that, as you say, is densely populated.

We spent the whole night until the sun came up this morning on the main southern highway from Tel Aviv to Gaza. We were a couple of miles from Gaza and we saw tanks, Israel's main battle tank being deployed, perhaps a dozen or so of them. A few howitzers moved into position. A couple of armored fighting vehicles moved into position.

We've seen a little bit of that again on the road this morning. But nothing like the numbers that would be required for a ground incursion here yet. But when that decision comes over, over what steps to execute on the prime minister's intent, there's going to be potentially that very real and real time because Hamas will exploit the hostages in terms of video releases, even live video.

We don't know at the moment quite what they'll do, but that would be their expectation for Israel security services. And yes, it's a, such a densely populated area. And typically when Israel has multiple airstrikes in Gaza or has incursions in the past, the Palestinian death toll among civilians is high. Hamas lives those civilians.

And it is often that death toll and the consequent international pressure on Israel that ultimately forces is forces both sides into peace talks. However, there is such political pressure on the prime minister here because of the unprecedented nature of the threat that Israel now faces to go further than he has in the past, Becky.

[07:10:05]

ANDERSON: Nic Robertson's on the ground. Nic, thank you.

Well, President Biden spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu and said that the United States stands with Israel and his administration's support for their security is, quote, rock solid, and unwavering. Biden also offered a swift condemnation of Hamas, calling them a terrorist organization in remarks on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, the people of Israel are under attack, orchestrated by a terrorist organization, Hamas. In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to them and to the world, and to terrorists everywhere, that the United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: CNN's Kevin Liptak joining me now from the White House. And he urged any external actors to not take advantage of this situation and get involved. But frankly, Washington must be very concerned about this escalating and escalating, not just here across, borders and to the wider region. What's the Biden administration's plan at this point, Kevin?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, right now, officials are sort of working through multiple channels to try and determine the scope of Israel's needs as it confronts this crisis, and you see this effort sort of down the military chain to determine what direct assistance the U.S. can provide to Israel as it works to confront this unprecedented rocket assault.

That was a point of discussion between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu when they spoke by phone yesterday. And we are told by a senior administration official that we may learn as soon as today the first round of U.S. assistance to Israel as this effort gets underway. But there is a complicating factor here, Becky.

You'll remember, Washington is in a status dysfunction. There is no House speaker and White House officials have been frank that they don't necessarily have an answer for what happens if the assistance that is needed for Israel would require congressional approval over the next couple of days or so.

And, you know, the other complicating factor, Becky, is that the U.S. doesn't have a confirmed ambassador in Israel at the moment. But the other effort underway right now is the diplomatic one. You do hear American officials talking to their counterparts in Egypt, in Qatar, in the United Arab Emirates, countries that could have some leverage with the Palestinians to try and lean on them, to encourage them to diffuse this crisis in any way that they can.

But certainly, the White House, the Biden administration watching this very carefully over the course of today. Becky?

ANDERSON: Kevin Liptak there at the White House. Kevin, thank you.

Joining me now is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kimberly Dozier. What do you make, Kimberly, firstly, of what you have seen over this past.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It is like watching a hostage taking of a plane on a massive scale. For the Arab world watching this. It is puncturing the view of Israel as invincible and it's doing that for Israelis too, which is why I think there's going to be some sort of massive blowback in the making.

We're probably going to see a ground incursion, especially as Hamas spokespeople inside Gaza are saying that they've hidden those Israeli hostages in tunnels. The only way that to get them out is to go in on the ground. And the Arab world will be watching.

When I've looked at media channels from the Gulf, they're not leading with the pictures of what is happening to Israeli citizens. They're leading with the pictures of what is happening inside Gaza. Buildings being crashed out. Now, that might be hard for an American audience to hear, but what it seems to be doing to me is after years of the Arab world, watching what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan and the fight against ISIS and the fight inside Syria.

The Palestinians with this horrible action are bringing the attention back to them and saying normalization between Israel and the Gulf states, not without peace or some sort of solution for us.

ANDERSON: Yes, and that Palestinian file is is absolutely key. And what Hamas says, its spokespeople have said, its military commander has said, and you hear this echoed by other Palestinians, that this is 56 years of occupation.

[07:15:05]

It is in response to a siege of Gaza. It is as a result of the desecration of holy sites, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and indeed, this ratcheting up of interest in Israel doing deals, normalization deals around the region. There are many who will say that, frankly, that deal, that normalization deal with the Saudis is frankly off at this point.

But I just contend that if, if the Saudis who now have an ambassador in Ramallah could act as a partner in any discussions on Palestinian rights going forward, that might come out of this -- not today, probably not tomorrow, but going forward, that could create an opportunity for some peace. But not, I would contend, with this right- wing government that Netanyahu is in coalition with a present. Your thoughts?

DOZIER: Absolutely. In the peace process in the past, I've watched violence become an inflection point where the international community goes, OK, we can't let this get any worse than this and they start to step in. And now you have Saudi Arabia, you have Qatar, you have various nations, Egypt as well with conduits to both the Palestinian authority and Hamas who can use this as a horrible opportunity to step back from the brink.

Unfortunately, we still have a lot of likely bloodletting to play out with those hostages inside Gaza, because this is really government cannot survive if it doesn't get them out. There's got to be some sort of resolution to that before they can move forward on any form of talks.

ANDERSON: And you talk about this current government. I just want to put this to you. Opposition leader Yair Lapid has said that he will put aside differences. And has offered to form an emergency, narrow professional government in this time of emergency to manage what he describes as the difficult and complex operation ahead.

Reports suggest he has demanded though that the very right wing of this government be removed if he is to get into coalition with president -- Prime Minister Netanyahu. Now, we don't know how that has landed with Benjamin Netanyahu, but it would seem to me that that would sit quite well with a Washington administration, with a Biden administration who frankly has real issues with this current Israeli government, correct?

DOZIER: Absolutely. But Netanyahu is in a very difficult position right now. He's suffering the blowback already from an intelligence failure, from the lack of swift response from the Israeli Defense Forces when the attack was playing out. It's been on -- every Israeli news channel, people under fire asking for help and not able to get that help.

So, for his survival, I don't see how he agrees to dissolve or kick out the most extreme parts of his government right now, even though, his opposition is offering him an olive branch of unity at this tough time. Again, high drama, high stakes, and we're going to have to watch how it plays out over the coming days and weeks.

ANDERSON: What we do know is that we are at a period, quite frankly, which is an inflection point or could be an inflection point. It's quite frankly, we haven't been here in 50 years.

Thank you, Kimberly Dozier.

And still, the State Department coordinating an international response to the fighting in Israel and Gaza. The strong message of support for Israel is up next.

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[07:23:21]

BLACKWELL: There is strong condemnation from Secretary of State Antony Blinken of the attacks by Hamas on Israel.

WALKER: Yes, Blinken says he has been speaking with Israeli officials as well as leaders in the surrounding countries, and he has called his European and Middle Eastern counterparts to discuss the attacks.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand joining us now with the very latest. Natasha?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Amara. So Secretary Blinken engaging in really intensive diplomacy over the last 24 hours, calling his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, really driving home the message that the United States expects these regional allies to condemn the violence and to condemn Hamas.

Now, the message has been that all leaders in the region need to work to try to ferment peace and use their leverage and their influence with the Palestinians try to calm the situation. But Blinken was just one of several members of Biden's national security team who were huddling with the president yesterday, engaging in these national security discussions to try to figure out what exactly Israel needs next in order to support itself and defend itself against these ongoing attacks by Hamas.

Now it is unclear just what the administration can provide right now to the Israelis because, of course, there is so much dysfunction in Washington right now with the lack of a speaker of the House which -- and a congressional authorization may be required in order to create a new assistance package to Israel at this moment.

So that is still very much top of mind here in terms of what the U.S. can actually provide to the Israelis at this point. But another point of discussion has been what intelligence occurred before, was present before this attack occurred and whether any signs were missed.

[07:25:09]

That is something the President's national security team has been discussing with the Israelis and with counterparts. One big question, given the sophistication of this attack, given the fact that Hamas was apparently able to carry it out, was shrouded in so much secrecy, has been whether Iran was involved.

Right now, administration officials say it is just too soon to say. However, that is something that they're going to be looking at very closely in the coming days.

BLACKWELL: Natasha Bertrand, thank you. And be sure to watch State of the Union with Dana Bash. She will speak with Secretary of State Antony Blinken this morning at 9:00.

WALKER: Let's dig deeper now with CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem. Good morning, Juliette. So you wrote a piece in the Atlantic that came out yesterday about this devastating attack.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes.

WALKER: You don't agree with the 9/11 comparison because, for the U.S., the surprise terrorist attacks on American soil had to do with our leader's failure of imagination about what could happen. For Israel, the threat to its existence has been there since the country was created. So characterize, you know, what we saw happen yesterday morning.

KAYYEM: Yes. So, I mean, Israel exists with a threat, an internal threat, but also threats on its borders. It is -- has one of the most sophisticated, aggressive, and some would argue, you know, sort of extrajudicial counterterrorism strategy. It makes incursions against terrorists.

It has signal intelligence, technology intelligence, it's had -- it has defenses, all of it. And the United States supports that effort or has supported that effort. So that when we learn that hundreds of Hamas members, maybe even up to 1,000 have been planning an event that could -- that wasn't overnight, it was months, if not a year on a specific day, the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War with incursions that are not just the bombing, but the drones and by air, by sea, by land into Israel and then take Israeli citizens back to Gaza.

That's a level of sophistication without apparently much notice, much understanding by the Israeli intelligence agencies. That's just a part of it.

The second part, as Kim was saying, and as what we're seeing on TV in Israel is, even if that incursion takes place, the flat-footed response by the Israeli military in protecting Israeli citizens is something that is inexplicable to many of us who know how seriously that country takes preparedness, how militarized it is.

And these are things obviously right now. Israel is not going to be able to face, but these are -- or to figure out, but these are questions that have to be asked. Israel exists, not just because of its strength, but because of the perception of its strength. That perception has been destroyed in the last 24 hours.

WALKER: It sure has. And of course, those questions will have to be answered by Netanyahu and --

KAYYEM: Yes.

WALKER: -- leaders regarding their failure to prevent this attack from happening. KAYYEM: Yes.

WALKER: And of course, the response that is ongoing right now. But drawing from your experience, Juliette --

KAYYEM: Yes.

WALKER: -- and history, how have intelligence lapses or failures like this? How have they happened before?

KAYYEM: Yes. So for a variety of reasons, one is we don't imagine it. We think that the threat is going to remain the same. That was the case in the United States with Al-Qaeda. We just -- we simply could not -- we didn't think the threat was changing.

In this case, at least in talking to people yesterday, in this case, there might be a variety of explanations. Some are that Netanyahu's focus, of course, was on internal domestic politics, which have been divided over his plans to change the judiciary's role with protests out in the streets and the use of the military to protect settlements.

A second may be an over reliance on technology, right? The idea that a dome would save Israel as compared to, in some ways, good old fashioned intelligence gathering, which is infiltrating Hamas, paying members of Hamas to give up information. So there's going to be a variety of explanations.

What we do know that though now is the threat was changing. Hamas and members of Hamas were planning a very different type of incursion into Israel, surprise attack on multiple fronts with the use of hostages, which is going to complete -- complicate Israel's response and its ability to respond. That threat was not picked up on. That changing threat was not picked up.

WALKER: It was not. And, you know, what's really mind blowing, you know, I'm sure to you and to those who know about Israel's intelligence apparatus, you know, how sophisticated and extensive it is and how it has informants --

KAYYEM: Yes.

WALKER: -- embedded with militant groups, not just with Hamas, but across the region.

[07:30:06]

So, you have that part, and then you also have the physical security at the border. I mean, didn't they just erect a huge wall that extends 20 feet above the ground and goes way into the ground to cut off these Hamas tunnels and so on? So, tell me about the physical border that was breached, and that to me is shocking in itself.

KAYYEM: Right. That's exactly right. And that comes to, sort of, how did they -- how did the defense -- not only did -- how did the intelligence fail, but the defenses seemed to fail because Israel, obviously, wasn't just sitting there waiting. They have been investing in a number of efforts on all fronts to fortify their defenses in areas that might have been subject to attack. And one of them includes, as you describe, is a technology investment with satellites and drones and cameras and triggers, so that if people were coming unlawfully, coming through the wall that that would be triggered.

We don't know how it -- how much notice the Israelis had that, obviously, there had been a massive breach. We also know that Hamas was able to come in through air and other means. But that -- those investments suggest that Israel certainly would have had the capacity to respond faster because it would have given them some notice and they didn't seem to work. Where there seemed to be, as someone described in the Israeli part is just so flatfooted. I mean, just hours and hours of people waiting for the kind of response that you would expect from the defense forces in Israel.

So, this is also something that will have to be looked into. Look, this intelligence failure and the response failure are going to play into Israel's capacity and its choices in how it responds. It is clear it doesn't have that much intelligence on what's going on. In Gaza, they have dozens, if not more, Israeli citizens now being held captive. Whether that is resolved through a ground war or some other way is dependent on how good the intelligence is, and right now it appears that it was weak.

WALKER: Yes, a lot of credibility issues now. Juliette Kayyem, thank you.

We'll be right back.

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[07:36:19]

BLACKWELL: More than 20 Israeli communities close to Gaza are being evacuated. The IDF is continuing their retaliatory strikes against Hamas and they are warning civilians in Gaza to move away from Hamas- related facilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: IDF says today, their focus is control of Gaza and the borders there. One concern is for Israel, the other players in the region, potentially, and if they will join in to help Hamas. The IDF says, it's ready, should the violence in Gaza expand to the West Bank or Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

WALKER: Now, earlier today, Israel returned fire on Lebanon following what they called a shooting from the country's border. Subsequently, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a missile strike on three Israeli strikes -- sites, I should say.

Our Becky Anderson spoke to IDF Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht last hour. He said, it would be a mistake for Hezbollah to join in with Hamas. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. RICHARD HECHT, INTERNATIONAL ID SPOKESPERSON: Israeli military is united, ready on all fronts. Also, we've ramped up our defenses in the north. We've mobilized reserves. We're also looking at Judea and Samaria. We've mobilized more reserves. We're ready for all scenarios. And -- I don't want to use the word worry. We are motivated to defend our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's go back to Israel. And CNN's Becky Anderson, of course, the question is what does and where does Israel go from here?

ANDERSON: Lieutenant Colonel Hecht suggested to me earlier, it is early days. He said, we are at the beginning of this. That is how the IDF spokesman described where Israel stands right now. The primary goal at present, of course, is to stabilize Israeli defense, which of course is being breached, the border between Israel and Gaza, and protect that border with Gaza.

After that there is every chance that Israel is planning a ground incursion, although the complications of that given the tightly congested space in Gaza, the risk of hitting civilians not least the multiple dozens of Israeli hostages now being held by Hamas militants have the complications of any ground offensive, of course, are absolutely massive.

And then there is escalation away from Gaza. The IDF told me that they stand ready should the violence in Gaza spread to the West Bank or Israel's northern border with Lebanon, as you've just reported. Israel already responding to those rockets from inside Lebanon. Those have been claimed by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, who have praised the attacks and said they are in touch with Palestinian groups at home and abroad.

So, as Israel works through its next steps, it is, "Early days." And it remains to be seen what happens in the hours to come. We are hearing a lot of activity, a lot of booms here that we can hear in Tel Aviv. And of course, Gaza just down the coast from here. And we await to see what happens next. Palestinians that we have spoken to, not surprised, I have to say, at the events that we are witnessing. Many don't believe there was any one specific trigger for this but a build- up over the years. This is what one influential Palestinian politician, Mr. Barghouti, told CNN.

[07:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, MEMBER OF THE PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL: I care about the life of everybody, whether it's Palestinian or Israeli or anybody else. I don't want anybody to die. But I also see we should be treated as equal human beings, and that means we are entitled to freedom. That means we are entitled to ending occupation. The main cause of what is going on is the continuous occupation, is the fact that the world has been silent about Israeli crimes against Palestinian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: A yearslong complaint, of course, no one expects that that will be sorted out today. There is always an opportunity that through war comes peace, and those optimists out there will perhaps believe that something can come of this. But in the -- certainly, in the immediate hours to come, this country and this surrounding region is very tense and very concerned about what happens next. We're going to have more on CNN's continuing coverage from Israel after this short break.

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[07:45:30]

BLACKWELL: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows this will be a long and difficult war as Israel respond to Hamas' surprise attack. Max Boot is a senior fellow and Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a columnist with "The Washington Post." His latest piece on this conflict is titled "This is Israel's 9/11. The Consequences Will Be Dangerous and Unforeseeable." And I should probably should not call it a conflict, this is war as it's been declared by Israel.

Max, good to see you. Let me start here with, you know, before this attack by Hamas, the conversation regarding Israel was about the potential for normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, a U.S. and Saudi defense treaty as well. That clearly is not the priority anymore. But to what degree could this have been the cause of the catalyst for what we saw that those inside Hamas did not like the closer relationship that could have been fostered?

MAX BOOT, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS AND COLUMNIST: I think there's a lot of speculation that that was, in fact, one of the modus for the attack, although of course we don't know for sure. What we do know that there is this larger competition going on in the Middle East, between Iran and its proxies. The so-called Shiite Crescent versus Israel and the Sunni Arab states, in particular Saudi Arabia, UAE, and other. And the fact that Israel was drawing close to a normalization accord with Saudi Arabia is something that was very deeply opposed by Iran and its forces. And this is an attack that could very well disrupt those negotiations at least for the time being.

And so, therefore, there is that speculation that that was part of why Hamas chose to strike now.

BLACKWELL: You think that the relations, the deal that could have been reached is -- has been derailed more than delayed?

BOOT: It's definitely been delayed. Whether it's derailed or not I think remains very much to be seen. I mean, but one of the points that I make in my column is that, you know, if this is in fact Israel's 9/11, and it certainly looks like that right now, it's going to have all sorts of repercussions that are going to be dangerous and unforeseeable. I mean, it was very hard to imagine on 9/11 or the day after that we would wind up being ensnared in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq for two decades to come, and the face of global geopolitics would change in a fundamental, profound ways. And I think we know that there will be very profound and serious consequences from this attack. What they are, we don't know.

I think the most immediate consequence is going to be that Israel is going to have to figure out what it is going to do with the Gaza Strip because Israel had gotten used to dealing with Hamas. They didn't like it. I mean, Hamas has dedicated to Israel's destruction, but they thought that Hamas was deterred from large-scale attacks. They thought that Hamas was like the lesser evil compared to the alternatives. But now that no longer seems to be the case and Israel is going to have to figure out what happens to this densely packed territory with some 2 million Palestinian inhabitants.

BLACKWELL: And also, to contain it. The IDF spokesperson told Becky Anderson that it would be a colossal mistake for Hezbollah in Lebanon to get involved. Well, Hezbollah has claimed responsible for striking three sites in Israel. Israel -- the IDF has responded by firing back into Lebanon. If Hezbollah were to engage in a more significant way, how would that change this war? What do you expect that would mean for, not just Israel, but the region?

BOOT: Well, if Hezbollah were to get involved in a much more serious way, which I think they would only do with a go ahead from Tehran, that would be very bad news for Israel, because Hezbollah has an armory of something like 150,000 missiles and rockets that it's built or acquired from Iran. And so, if they were to suddenly hit Israel with everything they have, that would be a massive, massive escalation, but so far there is no sign of that happening.

And in the past, when there have been prior conflicts between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah has basically stayed out of it. There has not been a major war between Israel and Hezbollah since 2006. So, right now, I don't think there is any indication that Hezbollah is planning a massive escalation.

[07:50:00]

I think the rocket strike you just alluded to was kind of a small symbolic gesture. But there is no question that if Israel becomes deeply involved in ground fighting in the Gaza Strip, you know, that could lead Hezbollah to seize an opportunity and attack Israel. It could also lead to an uprising in Jerusalem and the West Bank. So, this is a very dangerous volatile situation, and you know, Israel has to move as quickly as possible to contain the danger.

BLACKWELL: Yes. All right. Max Boot, always good to have you, thank you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv for you. An Israeli man says his wife, his two daughters, and his mother-in-law have been abducted by Hamas militants. He told CNN's Erin Burnett that he knew they'd been taken when he saw them on a social media video, and now he is pleading for their safe return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YONI ASHER, FAMILY TAKEN HOSTAGE: Later on I saw the video which confirmed that my wife and my daughters were taken, like you see in the video that is on the social media that everyone saw. And I -- all day long I talk to press and I tried to talk to officials from the state, but no one talked to me yet.

[07:55:00]

I don't think -- I don't want this -- the situation regarding to hostage. And the situation is not looking good. My wife and my mother- in-law also have German citizenship. So, with your permission I would like to approach the German government, the German prime minister, dear Mr. Olaf Scholz, and the German Ambassador, Mr. Steffen Seibert, my wife, Dawn (ph), a German citizen was taken with her mother, a German citizen, today by Hamas terrorists to Gaza. I beg you, if you can please help us. We are begging for your help, for you -- if you can do something to succeed to take the -- my kids and my wife out of there as soon as possible.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Yoni, I truly cannot imagine what you are -- the fear that you have right now. as you hope that they will be safe. When you first saw that video, and you're saying now that you had been able to see the tracker move to Gaza, so you knew something was wrong, something had happened. Your call had been disconnected. But how did you even process this video when you actually saw these images? It wasn't something that maybe you were afraid it happened or in your imagination that this was real and there is video.

ASHER: As soon as I was disconnected with them and the phone was located on Khan Yunis in Gaza, I immediately suspect that they were abducted. And later on, when I saw the video, there was no doubt in my mind. I recognized them, surely, my wife, my two daughters -- my two little daughters, that were on this cart. So, I know for sure that they were taken. And I don't -- I have nothing to do but talking to the press. And all day long I'm trying to send pictures of them and send details to reporters and start trying to get to officials and I can't succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, as Benjamin Netanyahu calls for unity in what has been a very divided country, opposition leader, Yair Lapid, telling me the prime minister he will put aside their differences, suggesting forming an emergency government together to manage what he describes as his complex operation. Reports also suggesting that Lapid demanded the far-right ministers in this government, this current government, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, be removed. It is not clear yet how that will land. But what is clear is that a new government would certainly suit Washington who's been trying to break the stranglehold of this right- wing government. The stranglehold it has on government policy here. We'll have more from us as we continue to cover what Benjamin Netanyahu has described as the state of war.

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