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CNN Live Event/Special
Israel at War; Increased Airstrikes Against Hamas in Gaza by IDF; Voluntary Evacuations Close to Lebanon Requested by Israel; Palestinian Civilians Urged to Leave by Israel in a Leaflet; Medical Equipment, Food, and Water Delivered to Gaza by Aid Trucks; 20 Aid Trucks Enter Gaza After Egypt-Gaza Border Crossing Briefly Reopened; Interview with Palestinian Red Crescent Society Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh; No Agreement Reached Following Gaza Crisis Summit in Egypt; Family Members of Freed Hostages Reunited in Israel; Biden Converses with American Hostages Who Have Been Freed; Israel Gets Ready to Launch Huge Assault to Gaza; Shocking Accuracy of Hamas intel; Leader of a Detroit Synagogue Found Stabbed to Death Outside Her Home; Russia's War on Ukraine; Russian Missile Strike in Kharkiv Left Six Ukrainians Dead; Ukraine Special Forces Conduct Daring Incursions Into Crimea; Some Israelis are Urging Restraint. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired October 22, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:00:00]
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong with CNN's continuing coverage of the Israel at war. It's 4:00 p.m. here in Hong Kong, 11:00 a.m. in Gaza Israel where the clock is ticking down to an anticipated Israeli ground offensive.
On Saturday, the Israeli military announced its bombardment of Hamas target in Gaza will become even more relentless than it's already has been. Hundreds of armored vehicles, along with thousands of Israeli troops are now poised along the Gaza, ready to strike Hamas at a moment's notice. On Saturday, the IDF again dropped leaflets over Northern Gaza, warning civilians to evacuate south or risk being considered a partner of Hamas.
Elliott Gotkine joins us now live from London with the very latest. Elliott, what are you learning?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: Anna, just in the last minute or two, the main chief spokesman for the IDF, Daniel Hagari, has been giving a briefing and he says that overnight, Israeli military killed the deputy chief of Hamas's rocket force along with dozens of terrorists. This is in overnight strikes in the Gaza Strip, this is an immediate briefing there. So, updated the number of people kidnapped and being held by Hamas and other militant groups to 212.
So, that's the latest and I suppose this is part of the ramping up of the airstrikes that the IDF said it was going to do over the weekend. paving the way for this very much expected and anticipated ground invasion. The chief of the general staff, Herzi Halevi, saying in no uncertain terms, we will enter the Gaza Strip. But of course, it's not an easy move for the Israelis to do. It's one that's been expected. It's one, I suppose, that the Israeli public is demanding after the Hamas terrorist attack of October the 7th. But of course, there is a danger both to Israeli soldiers, to their lives, for the potential to be taken prisoner by Hamas, and of course also for more loss of life of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
When he was speaking with troops, Herzi Halevi said to the troops to bear in mind or to have in mind the 1,400 people killed by Hamas in that terrorist attack over a couple of weeks ago. To think of the men, the women, the children, the babies and the like being killed and being kidnapped to help inspire them to complete their mission which they say is to destroy Hamas's military capabilities and take out its infrastructure so that it can never again do anything on a scale of what we saw on the October the 7th. Anna.
COREN: Elliott, Israel has also announced plans to evacuate communities near the borders with Lebanon. Do we have any indication on what they're planning?
GOTKINE: Yes. So, this is adding more villages and towns to others that have already been given voluntary evacuation advice. So, they're not being obliged to leave, but if they do leave, they are being put up into state subsidized guesthouses. So, this is both to protect their own lives and also to give the IDF more room for maneuver when it comes to flare ups or strikes with the militants of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that is in Southern Lebanon.
Of course, we've seen strikes from Hezbollah towards Israel. Just this morning, the IDF saying that it struck militants that were just about to launch anti-tank missiles towards Israel but it struck them first. We've seen this kind of happening on a daily basis. It's still simmering. It's not boiled over into a fully-fledged northern front just yet. But there are concerns that especially if Israel -- if and when Israel goes in on the ground in the Gaza Strip that Hezbollah will use that as a pretext to start attacking the northern border for Israel to kind of try to stretch the IDF as much as possible. So, there's a big concern there and the IDF says, it is prepared on all fronts. Anna.
COREN: Yes, that is a very real fear. Elliott Gotkine joining us from London, many thanks.
Israeli forces acknowledge that they are preparing for a very complicated mission inside Gaza. Earlier, John Berman spoke with CNN military analyst James "Spider" Marks about Israel's next steps.
[04:05:00]
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: This is the restricted area right now where the Israeli military is massing. We have seen satellite images of tanks lining up, literally lining be up, they are preparing to go. I can show you where that is, this is not privileged top secret information. The Israelis have made very clear where this is happening. Those pictures were taken from up here. We can also assume there might be tanks preparing elsewhere in this restricted zone. So, Spider, what are they doing now and what are they getting ready to do?
MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST, HEAD OF GEOPOLITICAL STRATEGY, ACADEMY SECURITIES: Yes, at this particular point, John, what they're doing is what we call pre-combat checks. Individuals and teams are getting ready to go. There's a lot of silence. There's a lot of focus. This is business. Nobody's messing around.
They're also doing rehearsals. What's going to take place on the ground. They've got a scheme of maneuver. They have a plan. They're using sand -- what we call sand tables, and they're trying to figure out what they're going to do. They're going to refine that, but simultaneously they're doing intelligence collection.
BERMAN: These tanks that we see preparing to go in, when they do make that decision to go in, whether it's this weekend or a few days from now, what paths do you think they'll take?
MARKS: Yes, I think what's going to happen -- and it's more than just tanks. These are combat arms teams. So, you've got infantry that's mounted. You've got armored forces. You've got artillery, et cetera. And it's going to be preceded by good intelligence. I think what they would probably do -- look, the Wadi Gaza, comes through here.
BERMAN: That's a river, marshland, yes.
MARKS: That's the wetlands.
BERMAN: Yes.
MARKS: I think what they would do is I think they would enter in from here. They would come in on multiple axis of advance. They'd come in from the north, of course. They come in here. And also, Israel has a navy. They've got what's called corvettes which are small -- smaller attack ships. They've got 45 patrol boats, and they've got 10,000 sailors on active duty.
I would also anticipate activity that would look like this because what Israel wants to do, you want to secure this combat zone. You want to secure the perimeter and then you go -- all these units will link up, go to the same place, link up, then you begin the operation to go after very specific targets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Israeli Defense Forces insist that they do not target Palestinian civilians with their airstrikes. But many human rights observers believe the country may be pursuing a strategy of collective punishment. Civilian casualties inside Gaza are soaring, and the scale of human suffering is, frankly, impossible to calculate.
Francesca Albanese is a U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. She told Michael Holmes what she thinks about Israel's leaflet drop. Warning civilians in Gaza City to evacuate or risk being seen as partners to terrorists.
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FRANCESCA ALBANESE, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON PALESTINIAN: I just hope that your viewers appreciate how unlawful all this is. You cannot tell civilians that if they don't leave a given area, if they do not abide by a mass evacuation order to where, north to south of Gaza is being bombed. There is nowhere to go. And there are sick people, elderly people, there are families with newborns. There is no fuel too move around. Where do you want these people to go?
And it's absolutely outrageous to equate anyone who doesn't move to terrorists. There's -- there is this powerful dehumanization of the Palestinians in Gaza that emerges, clearly, from Israeli official statements. But it's also not fully appreciated by leaders in the west who continue to rally around Israel and its right to defense.
This is not right to defense, Michael. This is -- we are far beyond what is -- with what could ever be allowed as a right to defense. There are limits in international law. Any action must be proportionate and respect the principle of distinction, precaution, proportionality. There is nothing of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Well, aid organizations are calling for unrestricted access to Gaza. Saying in a joint statement from the U.N. that time is running out to help the thousands in need of medical assistance. CNN Salma Abdelaziz shows us the dangers that come with this growing humanitarian crisis. Her report includes disturbing video.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Hospitals in Gaza are crumbling. Everything is running out, from surgical equipment, to medicine. And the tiniest lives, are left hanging in the balance.
We need power. We need access to clean water, this doctor says. Without basic services, this will be a humanitarian catastrophe.
Already, seven hospitals and 21 primary health care facilities here are out of service, according to Palestinian officials because of shortages. After intense diplomatic efforts, prayers of relief at the Rafah Border crossing, as a trickle of aid was allowed in from Egypt.
[04:10:00]
But the 20-truck convoy is only a drop in the ocean of need here, equivalent you just three percent of what entered this enclave daily prior to the conflict.
More than 200 additional trucks of assistance remain stalled on the Egyptian side, according to the U.N. And every hour, costs lives. And so far, no civilians can leave the enclave. 10-year-old Palestinian- American Aiden is among those trapped. AIDEN BSEISO, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN: And we have no place to go. All the streets are bombed, they are literally gone. How are we supposed to go out? How? It's all closed.
ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): Even if people are allowed out, it will be a limited number, most likely only those with foreign passports. Sealing some 2 million others, half of them children, into this hellscape. But some refused to go even if they could, fearing Israel intends to bomb and besiege them out of their homes, never to return. Even as Mahmoud (ph) buries his children, he says, he will keep fighting just to exist here.
We will still be patient, as long as we are live on this Earth, we will be patient, he says. We will never leave this land.
After the October 7th terror attacks, when Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in Israel in a brutal surprise incursion, Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas. But with hundreds of airstrikes pounding the densely populated enclave a day, innocent blood is being spilt.
Innocent children were struck down while they were sleeping, this woman shouts. What did they do? Did they carry weapons? These are innocent children who know nothing. Tell us, when will this end.
There are calls for a ceasefire to get civilians out of the war zone and allow more aid into Gaza. But the police fall on deaf ears, so far. Israel is preparing for the next phase of its operations, a potential ground incursion that can only bring more suffering.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Nebal Farsakh is a spokesperson with Palestine Red Crescent Society. She joins us live from Ramallah in the West Bank. Nebal, great to have you with us. Aid distribution delivered Saturday was a drop in the ocean. Explain to us the conditions that Gazans are living under and the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding.
NEBAL FARSAKH, SPOKESPERSON, PALESTINIAN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY: So, for the 16th day, Gaza has been under intense bombardment, whether residential buildings, homes, schools, hospitals, even places of worship have been under intense bombardment. The situation in Gaza is just heartbreaking and overwhelming. It can't even be described. 2 million Palestinians now stuck either in their homes or in schools or even at hospitals where they take shelter without having food, water and even without electricity.
All those Palestinian civilians are in urgent need for every basic humanitarian need which is only food and water, and this is literally what is happening. People now are spending days without having a piece of bread. As for the hospitals, unfortunately, hospitals are overwhelmed. They are working on full capacity. They start running out of medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel which is needed to have electricity because they are completely relying on backup generators to have electricity. On top of that, up to the moment, seven hospitals went out of service, either due to the bombardment or because they run out of supplies, as well as 24 medical centers went out of service. We have around 24 hospitals now under the threat of being bombed at any second due to the Israeli evacuation orders. One of them is our hospital, Al-Quds Hospital. We have received threaten to evacuate Al-Quds hospital immediately because it's going to be bombarded. Up to yesterday, we were able only --
COREN: Nebal, if I can just jump in --
FARSAKH: -- to get into Gaza 20 truck --
COREN: -- if I can just jump in there.
FARSAKH: -- 20 trucks --
COREN: Nebal, if I can just jump in there because you've hit on a point that I want to ask you about. Israel is calling on the evacuation of your hospital, Al-Quds Hospital. It obviously treats hundreds of patients. You have lodged two appeals, to no avail. What is going to happen?
[04:15:00]
FARSAKH: Yes. As you mentioned, we have call on the International Community for over a week to stop the evacuation orders simply because we don't have the means to evacuate our hospital. We have around 500 patients who are currently in the hospital. Many in the intensive care unit, most of the people in the intensive care unit, most of the patients are with critical injuries. They are children who were bombed due to Israeli bombardment.
We don't have the means to evacuate them safely. If we are going to evacuate, that means the killing of the patients. Not only us, even the W.H.O have stated that evacuation orders for hospitals are impossible to implement, and they constitute a death penalty for patients. That's why we still count on the International Community to intervene immediately and stop the evacuation order.
We don't want to witness a second massacre at what happened at Al Ahli Hospital which was one of the hospitals that has received the evacuation order from the Israeli occupation forces That's why we still count on the International Community to take action ahead and stand for humanity. Stop attacking medical care facilities and hospitals. Hospitals should be protected --
COREN: Nebal, I know you have
FARSAKH: -- according to the --
COREN: -- your organization -- if I can just --
FARSAKH: -- and international law.
COREN: If I can just interrupt, you have said that humanity is on the line, and you are appealing to the International Community to stop what, obviously, will be an airstrike if the Israelis are asking you to evacuate. But why is the IDF targeting your hospital?
FARSAKH: As I said, not only our hospital, it's around 24 hospitals in the targeted area where Israel has warned the people in Gaza and the north to evacuate themselves to the south. This decision evacuation orders not only for Palestinian civilians, it also include hospital which are around 25 hospitals. Only one of them in the south, the rest of 24 are in the -- in Gaza.
And Israel has issued these evacuation orders, forcing hospitals to be evacuated from Gaza which I, as I said, W.H.O., all international organizations even has -- have said repeatedly, we don't have the means to evacuate hospital. This is impossible. We'll risk the lives of our patients. Taken into consideration that in our hospital now, we have over 12,000 civilians, most of them are children and women. Those who are unable to evacuate themselves to the south due to continuous bombardment and there is no way for them to go because there is no transportation, complete destruction of the infrastructure and roads.
So, they just hold (ph) refugee to the nearest hospital. They came into our hospital as a safe shelter for them. But unfortunately, this is not the case because now we are under the threat of being bombed at any moment because of the continuous Israeli threat to bomb Al Quds Hospital. Demanding immediate evacuation. We can't even do it. As a humanitarian organization, we can't put the lives of our patients into danger.
COREN: No, of course not. Nebal Farsakh, we certainly appreciate you joining us from Ramallah to explain to us what Gazans are going through. And we just got a wire saying that the Egyptian Red Crescent is expecting more aid to come into Gaza later today. Let's hope that that transpires. Nebal, thank you for your time.
Just ahead this hour, an Israeli woman talks to us about her loved ones held in Gaza and the heartbreaking losses she's already suffered.
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[04:20:00]
COREN: A Gaza crisis summit in Cairo, Egypt ended on Saturday without an accord because of, "Differences", so say two officials. Arab leaders had gathered to try and thwart a growing escalation of the situation in Gaza and to try and protect its civilians. Israeli and senior U.S. officials were not at the summit. Israel's foreign affairs minister said, it was unfortunate that some of those attending, "Had difficulty condemning terrorism."
The European Council president said the world was watching for them to make a good faith effort to help resolve the conflict.
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CHARLES MICHEL, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT (through translator): It's a conflict and tragedy that has caused so much suffering and so much hardship. This is a tragedy and a conflict that generates around the world beyond the region. So much polarization. So much division. So much tension. And our responsibility is to step up to our duty to make sure that we truly and seriously move forward in the path to peace, stability and security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Hamas' military wing says it is prepared to release two more hostages, using the same procedure it used to free two American captives on Friday. But Israeli officials are dismissing those claims as false Hamas propaganda. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying, it will continue to do everything necessary to bring all of the hostages back home.
While those two American hostages who were released Friday have reunited with family members in Israel. Judith Tai Raanan and her 17- year-old daughter Natalie spent nearly two weeks in Hamas captivity before they were handed over to Israeli forces at the Gaza Border. Natalie's father said she is expected to come home to Illinois to celebrate her 18th birthday on Tuesday. Natalie and her mother spoke on the phone with U.S. President Joe Biden after they were released. The White House posted video of the emotional call on social media.
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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Hey, Judith.
JUDITH TAI RAANAN, RELEASED HOSTAGE FROM HAMAS: Hello, President Biden.
BIDEN: I'm so glad you're home. Well, not home. I'm glad you're out.
J. RAANAN: Thank you so very, very much.
BIDEN: Hey, Nat. How are you? God loves you.
NATALIE RAANAN, RELEASED HOSTAGE FROM HAMAS: I just want to say, thank you for your services for Israel.
[04:25:00]
BIDEN: I -- look, that's been long serving. I'm just delighted that we were able to get you out. We've been working on a long time. We're going to get them all out, God willing. I just want to say --
J. RAANAN: Yes, God willing.
BIDEN: -- I hope you're all -- I hope you're both -- how are you feeling? You both in good health as well.
J. RAANAN: Yes, sir. Yes, we are. And thank you very much. God bless you.
BIDEN: Well, God bless you guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COREN: Well, now to an update on another family in Israel torn apart by the Hamas attack on October 7th. Five members of Hadas Kalderon's family were taken as hostages by Hamas, including her children and their father.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is Rotem (ph). For the past two years, he has been fighting lymph node cancer, but now it's his will fight to do anything he can to return his entire family home that was kidnapped by Hamas to Gaza.
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COREN: Well, that is Rotem (ph), a cancer survivor whose two siblings and father are believed to be held by Hamas. My colleague Lynda Kinkade spoke with Rotem's mother, Hadas Kalderon last hour. She confirmed that her mother and niece have been killed, and shared what she knows about her loved ones who are still missing.
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HADAS KALDERON, FAMILY MEMBERS KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: We know they -- they've been hostage. We don't know much. No information. No nothing. We don't know if they get -- if they are staying in good situation. If they get food, water. If any aid. We don't know, you know. They opened the aid for Gaza, you know, the human aid. They didn't open the aid for the hostage.
It's amazing (ph). I think we've been abandoned, you know, twice. We've been abandoned in the first time, in the 7th of October for eight hours, nobody come to help us. We've been alone in this massacre. And they destroyed our -- all kibbutz, kibbutz near Oz. This was first time. The second time is now which they don't put at the -- they don't think they have to -- it's the main goal is to take children out. And it's not the main goal for the government. It's one of the other subject, but it's not the main goal
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COREN: If you'd like to help humanitarian relief efforts for Gaza and Israel, head to cnn.com/impact. You'll find a list of vetted organizations, answering the call on the ground. That's at cnn.com/impact.
We'll take a short break. When we return, a closer look at the vast tunnel network underneath Gaza. Stay with CNN.
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[04:30:00]
COREN: Welcome back. I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong. All eyes are on the Israeli-Gaza Border at this hour, waiting for a possible ground incursion by the Israelis to begin. The Jewish state has been dropping leaflets onto Gaza, warning people to head south or be considered, in their words, a partner for the terrorist organization. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Ashkelon.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, in case there was any question that Israel intends to go into Gaza Strip with troops, a ground invasion, those questions are being put to rest this evening by Israel's military chief of staff. The top general saying, "We will enter the Gaza Strip." What he is also telling his troops is their mission. And he says that it is to, "Destroy Hamas operatives and infrastructure." Now, these comments add to others by the defense minister, by the Israeli prime minister, all making clear that a ground invasion is certainly approaching.
Now, on the ground, what we also see are the signs of a potentially imminent ground invasion as well. As we were driving along the Gaza Strip today, within about eight kilometers or so of the Gaza Strip, what we found was not one, not two, but four different groupings of dozens of tanks, armored personnel carriers, as well as these D9 bulldozers which the Israeli military uses ahead of ground troop to try and dig up and set off any potential IEDs, as well as any other obstacles that may be in the way of those forces.
Now, put together these four groupings that we saw in just about one square mile of an area, represented hundreds of tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as those bulldozers, and there were also infantry troops positioned along the way. Now, the only question appears to be exactly when the Israeli military will move forward with this invasion. Certainly, Hamas seems to continue to be dangling the possibility of additional hostages being released as one way to try and delay this ground invasion. But Israeli's military continues to insist that it will move forward at a time and place of its choosing.
And in line with that, Israeli military officials now say that they are increasing their strikes. That they are intensifying those strikes in order to try and minimize the risk to their own troops when they move in on the ground. But the question of what the impact will be on Gaza civilians who have already suffered so much in two weeks of bombardment by Israeli forces, more than 1,600 children are believed to have died, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.
That question of civilian casualties still remains going forward. Israel's military has directed civilians to move out of the northern part of the Gaza Strip and to move south. And when I spoke with a special forces commander just the other day, this commander said that civilians have been directed out of those areas. And he said, "Anyone who has chosen to stay there has chosen a side." Indicating to his troops that any person who remains in that area could potentially be an enemy and could potentially be a target.
Now, at the same time that commander said that his troops will still try and avoid civilian casualties. But those comments and the broader specter of this war and how it has already impacted civilians inside of Gaza certainly raises the possibility of a very bloody time, bloody days, bloody weeks ahead.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Ashkelon. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: An Israeli ground incursion into Gaza will eventually have to deal with what the IDF calls the Gaza metro.
[04:35:00]
It's a vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza. And clearing them out poses an especially thorny tactical problem for Israelit troops. CNN's Tom Foreman explains.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As much as we hear about the tunnels under Gaza, there really aren't many photos or eyewitness accounts as to exactly what they are compared to the importance of them. Generally, many of them seemed to be dug by hand, relatively small, and then they're reinforced with concrete so they can't easily be collapsed.
How big is this network? Well, think about this, Gaza itself is only about 25 by six miles, and yet the indication by some experts says there may be more than 300 miles of tunnels underneath that. The depth, unknown. Maybe it's a few meters. Maybe it's a whole lot more. And many of them appear fairly cramped.
Possible uses, well, hiding command centers, weapons caches, rocketry, and yes, maybe even hostages. Secret movement of key Hamas figures. So, they might be in this part of the area and then go to this part of the area and be undetected because they can't be spied by satellites or people who are trying to look with drones or anything else. And they would represent a safe place in this small area, relatively safe.
And that a lot of conventional weapons would not easily penetrate this, but in fact, you might have to bring in bigger, sort of, bunker buster bombs if somebody really wanted to be able to go through the reinforcement and all of that Earth to get underneath. But that's why this is a focus, not only for Hamas but for the Israelis, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Tom Foreman reporting there. Well, still ahead, CNN has gained access to some shockingly accurate maps and other materials. Some of the intelligence Hamas used to carry out its bloody rampage. Our Matthew Chance will have that report.
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COREN: Welcome back. It's been two weeks since Hamas launched its major attack on Israel.
[04:40:00]
Hamas video, maps, and documents obtained by CNN are revealing just how much Hamas killers knew about the Israeli communities where they slaughtered 1,400 people. The material includes detailed attack plans, specific information about security in homes, and even the best rooms to hold hostages. We caution you, some of the images are graphic. CNN's Matthew Chance shows us the chilling evidence.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): CNN has gathered chilling new insights and details on the Hamas assault inside Israel, including disturbing video taken by the attackers themselves as they rampaged through Israeli homes, killing on site, and then being killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
CHANCE: Searches of their dead bodies revealing a trove of highly specific Hamas battle plans, including these detailed maps, now shared with CNN by the Israeli government, showing communities near Gaza, like Kfar Aza, targeted by the attackers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
CHANCE (voiceover): These were the terrifying scenes inside as Hamas gunman recorded themselves moving freely through the gardens of Israeli homes.
Code red, code red, the Israeli loud speaker blares in Hebrew, punctuating the sporadic gunfire. After the attack, Israeli first responders saw bullet holes and bloodstains in room after room in what looks like a coldly, methodical killing spree.
CHANCE: But while hundreds of Israelis were killed, some Israeli communities managed to repel the Hamas gunman and save lives. At kibbutz Mefalsim, also near Gaza, residents pushed back at Hamas attack and found documents on the bodies of the militants they killed with disturbing, highly accurate intelligence on their homes (ph).
CHANCE (voiceover): Including precise numbers of armed guards there, regional defense force, at least 20 residents, one document reads, and 10 soldiers.
YARDEN RESKIN, KIBBUTZ MEFALSIM RESIDENT: They knew basically the size of our security team. They knew about the other three or four entrances to the kibbutz.
CHANCE: It sounds like they knew everything.
RESKIN: They knew everything. Where the generators are. They knew where the armory is. They knew about rural roads around the kibbutz.
CHANCE (voiceover): Security footage shows how Hamas gunmen killed an Israeli outside the kibbutz gates before being repelled. Even with detailed intelligence on their targets, not every Hamas objective was achieved.
Nearby kibbutz Sa'ad wasn't even attacked, although we now have documentary evidence that Hamas intended to inflict the maximum possible human casualties there and to hold hostages. A highly detailed street map found on another Hamas gunman, and obtained by CNN, shows individual buildings inside identified and accessed for their military value.
The communal kitchen, for example, is described as the main place suitable for holding hostages. Inside the guard room, the soldiers must be neutralized, the Hamas instructions say. While the kibbutz dental clinic is designated a place for first aid for both enemies and friends. Israeli residents of Sa'ad say they also found that level of detail astounding.
SARAH POLLACK, KIBBUTZ SA'AD RESIDENT: Shockingly, the details are very accurate. The map is a map of our kibbutz. It's very accurate. It's horribly accurate.
CHANCE: If they'd have come to your settlement, they would have known exactly where to go, exactly where to cause the most damage.
POLLACK: Yes, and we now see that their goal was to take hostage, including children.
CHANCE (voiceover): Israeli officials say they found other documents too that advise attackers to kill anyone posing a threat or causing a distraction, to keep captives away from arms or means of suicide, and to use them as cannon fodder. It is a dark turn.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
CROWD: (Speaking in a foreign language).
CHANCE (voiceover): Even for a group seen here parading before the attacks that's come to symbolize the uncompromising face of Palestinian resistance and violence against Israel. Israeli officials say a document referencing ISIS and al Qaeda, which CNN has not been able to authenticate, was found on one Hamas gunman killed during this attack on kibbutz Be'eri. The document, given to CNN by a senior Israeli government official, praises jihad against Jews and crusaders.
[04:45:00]
Israeli officials say, that's evidence Hamas is in increasingly influenced by global jihadi ideology, an assessment many experts have dismissed. But in the wake of the unprecedented brutality of these attacks, U.S. officials tell CNN the Hamas threat may now be reassessed.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Let's take a look at other news around the world now. The leader of a synagogue in Detroit was found stabbed to death outside her home Saturday morning, according to police. They say, Samantha Woll's death leaves many unanswered questions and they're still trying to figure out what happened. The police chief says, a motive is not yet known. And Detroit's mayor says, Woll's death has left a huge hole in the community. The FBI and the Michigan State Police are helping with the investigation.
Well, now to the war in Ukraine. Officials in Kharkiv say a Russian missile strike killed at least six people. According to the regional prosecutor's office, Russian forces fired two missiles at a building belonging to a logistics company with employees inside. At least 16 people were injured in the attack, and search and rescue operations are underway.
Ukrainian special forces are launching raids on Russian occupied Crimea. They're using unconventional methods in hopes of throwing Moscow off its guard. Fred -- Flat -- Fred Pleitgen, I should say, explains.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A brazen attack from the sea, Ukrainian forces using jet skis to land in Russian occupied Crimea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
PLEITGEN (voiceover): The fighter speaking goes by the call sign Musician. He tells me, the operation was successful but tough.
While we were landing, the sea was storming, he says. The waves were up to two meters high, plus, Russian forces were patrolling, the raptors.
The Ukrainians say they also managed to destroy a Russian military gear before racing off across the Black Sea. Using larger boats to carry fuel for the jet skis on the long journey back to Ukrainian-held territory. Musician says, these missions are militarily essential.
It helps our forces in the trenches, he says. We distract the enemy's attention towards us and the enemy is forced to relocate their personnel and vehicles to the Crimean seaside.
Ukraine has started a major against Russian military targets in and around Crimea. Hitting the HQ of Moscow's Black Sea fleet, damaging a submarine and a Russian landing ship, as well as hitting an airbase. The Ukrainians use drones and cruise missiles for some of the attacks, but rely on a network of undercover partisan groups inside Crimea for information and targeting.
One of the groups agreed to answer our questions but only in writing only for security reasons. We constantly monitor all military facilities on the territory of the Crimean Autonomous Region with the help of our agents and residents of Crimea who constantly inform us, the ATESH group writes. A wide and developed system of agents allows you to make a choice.
One of the key target Ukraine has hit several times, the Kerch Bridge linking occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland. The attacks have led to severe disruptions. Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, vowing revenge. There will definitely be a response from Russia, he said. The ministry of defense is preparing proposals.
For the Ukrainians, missions like these are also psychologically important, one of the planners of the jet ski raid tells me.
We are fighting a trench war on the front lines and the armed forces success is not so obvious, he says. And special operations of this kind in the rear or in the sea, they inspire and give energy to keep fighting.
And the fighters in the Bratstva units say their next infiltrations are already in the works but they won't say when, where or how.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.
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COREN: Still to come, some influential voices inside Israel are calling for restraint in responding to Hamas. This, as huge build-up of Israeli troops takes position at the Gaza Border, that's up ahead.
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COREN: In Spain, thousands demonstrated in Barcelona and Madrid to show their support for Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war. With protesters marching and shouting in Spanish, Gaza is bleeding out and the world is watching. And in Tunisia, demonstrators waved Palestinian flags. They shouted that the world needs to, "Wake up. Stand up. Speak up and stop the genocide." Police in London say, more than 100,000 people marched through the city to the prime minister's residence. They waved the Palestinian flag and shouted, free Palestine.
As the world waits on edge for the ground invasion in Gaza, some voices inside Israel are calling for restraint. One of them is journalist Gideon Levy. He wrote a piece in Haaretz saying, "The reckoning must be with Hamas, not with all Gazans." He called on the Israeli government to follow international law. He spoke earlier with my colleague, Michael Holmes.
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GIDEON LEVY, JOURNALIST, HAARETZ: Moral suffer of innocent people will not make Israel more secure or will make Israel more peaceful, right? Their life will be more peaceful here. We have to follow certain restrictions. And I'm not sure that while you bomb from the air and destroy all neighborhoods you really can at all make the separation.
Look, what happened on Saturday the 7th was a barbaric terroristic action by Hamas. They deserve punishment. Israel has the full right to crush Hamas. But the question is, first of all, is it possible? And secondly, what will be the price?
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And thirdly, Israel should keep some restraints even after this barbaric attack. Israel does not want to be compared to Hamas, I hope.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: And to that point, I mean, how much of what's happening in Gaza to the civilians? How much does that risk actually increase radicalization, not just among Palestinians but elsewhere in the region. But among those young Palestinians, I mean, a lot of them weren't -- you know, were turning away from Hamas in a political sense, could this turn them back?
LEVY: Much more than this. I -- you know, the visions, the images are shown all over the world, except of Israel by the way. The Israelis are exposed less of what's going on in Gaza, and know less than anyone in the United States or Europe about the agony there. But in any case, people who are exposed to those scenes cannot remain indifferent and cannot become Israeli lovers. You can't. You can't avoid anger to see those scenes and the scenes are horrible and they should stop. They should at least be minimized.
And I don't feel, especially, on the eve of this ground operation, which I'm not sure until this very moment if it is a clever step, if it's not a hell of a risk that can lead us to a much bigger catastrophe.
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COREN: Wise words from Israeli journalist Gideon Levy speaking to my colleague Michael Holmes.
We are keeping a close eye on Israel's next stage on its war in Hamas. In the last 24 hours, the Israeli Defense Forces saying they will ramp up their bombardment on Hamas targets inside Gaza as they ready for a ground operation.
I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. We'll have the latest for you at the top of the hour. Please stay with us.
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