Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Event/Special

IDF: Israeli Forces Carry Out Dozens Of Airstrikes On Hamas; Sources: U.S. Seeks Delay Of Israeli Ground Incursion; Hamas Govt. Media Office: 1,900 Plus Children Killed In Gaza; Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Intensifies Amid Conflicts; IDF Says Preparing For Next Stage In Fight Against Hamas; Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Intensifies Amid Conflict; Funeral Of Detroit Synagogue Leader Set For Sunday; Nine Republicans Officially Join House Speaker Race; Netanyahu Says French, Dutch Leaders To Visit Israel This Week. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired October 22, 2023 - 23:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:00:32]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, and welcome everyone. I'm Michael Holmes at the CNN Center with the latest on the Israel- Hamas war. And the conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate amid dozens of airstrikes carried out by the IDF on Sunday. Hamas says its fighters clashed with Israeli troops inside Gaza. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to troops in northern Israel reiterating the stakes of the current initiative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): You fought with exemplary heroism in Gaza. Your stories are very inspirational. I know that you lost comrades. This is very, very difficult, but we are fighting for our lives, for our home. This is no exaggeration.

This is war. We are now in a double battle. One battle is to block them here. The second battle is to win a crushing victory that will erase Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Mr. Netanyahu also met with the nation's war cabinet Sunday to discuss security. And the country's defense minister says it's likely invasion of Gaza needs to be Israel's last moves inside the region, vowing Hamas won't be around for long.

A second convoy meet this time of at least 14 aid trucks entered Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Sunday, as U.S. President Biden and Mr. Netanyahu affirmed a flow of humanitarian aid such as it is will continue.

Journalist Elliott Gotkine joins me now from London with more.

So, Elliott, obviously everyone anxious about the start of a ground operation. There's been this heavy shelling in the north of Gaza, Nic Robertson has been reporting on. So, what do we know about what might be to come and when?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Not a huge amount, Michael, to be perfectly honest. As Nic was reporting, you know, the most intense bombardment since the drop targeted (ph) to Hamas terrorist attack on October the seventh with airstrikes. And as you say, there were also the first skirmishes on the ground inside the Gaza Strip between Israeli troops and Hamas militants. In that clash, one IDF soldier was killed and three were injured. And Hamas says, from an anti-tank missile, Hamas says that it managed to destroy a couple of bulldozers and a tank.

But if (inaudible) it doesn't seem the starting gun for want of a better phrase of a ground invasion. There could be all manner of reasons as to why it's not happened just yet. Everything ranging from the weather, to attempts to secure the release of more hostages to perhaps indecision or perhaps just simply changing facts on the ground. We don't know when or how Israel is going to go in. It is adamant that it is going to go in.

At some point is what we're all expecting, I suppose is what the Israeli public will be demanding, given the savagery and the gravity of the attack. And of course, Hamas holding those 200 plus hostages still inside the Gaza Strip. But right now, Michael, I'm afraid we still don't know when this is going to happen.

HOLMES: Yes, the U.S. reportedly wanting a delay in a ground offensive. But you know, how much influence does the U.S. have on what Israel might be wanting to do and when?

GOTKINE: It has a huge amount of influence, Michael, but up to a point and Secretary of State Antony Blinken was pointedly asked this question to which he replied that, you know, going in that this is a decision the -- for Israel to make. And from Israel's perspective, they're saying that these reports of delays are just Hamas propaganda, that there's been no requests to delay. Clearly, there was at least some delay when President Biden came to town. Israel was hardly going to go in on the ground while the President of the United States, Israel's closest, the most important ally, was in town. But it does seem, we understand, that the U.S. has been pressing Israel for a delay in order to try to secure the release of more hostages in order to enable more humanitarian aid to go in and also to potentially provide safe passage for Palestinian civilians to get outside the Gaza -- to get out of the Gaza Strip.

But certainly, that there is a possibility that there's been a delay, perhaps giving Israel more pause for thought as to precisely how it wants to go in. Israel is clearly still trying to gather intelligence and make a final decision on that and also to obviously act on that decision. But whether there's, you know, more of a delay for the reasons I outlined from the U.S. or for other operational reasons, we don't know. All we know for now is that we've been talking about this ground invasion being imminent for what -- for, you know, more than a week now. It still hasn't happened, we still expect it to happen.

[23:05:04]

It still seems to be a question of when rather than if. And of course we simply don't know the timing. Israel is not going to give anything away, because they don't know how it's going to go in either. For now, we're still seeing those airstrikes. We've seen the Gaza Strip being pummeled.

Israel saying it's trying to clear out militants, targeting commanded, infrastructure, and also, of course, weapons. At the same time it's very concerned, of course, about the tunnel system that Hamas maintains underneath the Gaza Strip. And of course, the people being held, the more than 200 people are being held hostage by Hamas as well. But we still expect Israel to go in on the ground at some point, Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, yes. Elliot, good. Thanks for the update. Elliot Gotkine there in London for us.

Now, aid workers say their situation in Gaza has become a humanitarian catastrophe. Palestinian officials say more than 4,600 people have been killed in Gaza since the war started, among them 1,000 women, nearly 2000 children. And a warning that we're about to show you some images you might find disturbing. Parents in Gaza writing their children's names on their legs and arms, in case they need to be identified should they or their family be killed. A CNN photographer captured these gut wrenching images of dead children indeed with names written on their legs.

Well as Israel has been ramping up its aerial bombardment, hospitals in Gaza say they've been overwhelmed with casualties. One hospital officials summing up Sunday in two words, a quote "Bloody Sunday."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. IYAD ISSA ABU ZAHER, DIRECTOR GENERAL, AL AQSA MARTYRS HOSPITAL (through translator): it's impossible for any hospital in the world to admit this number of injured. And it's impossible for any medical crew to work with these large numbers of injured. And every injured person needs four or five specialized surgeons and surgeries. And this puts a large burden on the medical crew. And can't offer medical services the same way in a war zone that you would give to patients in a normal situation, injuries and the dozens.

There is no room or hospital beds for these injuries. The injured are at the doorstep of operation theater rooms, and on top of each other each waiting their turn for an operation. And the situation is catastrophic at Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And joining me now from Canberra, Australia is James Elder spokesperson for UNICEF. Thanks for making the time. I know you're between flights at the moment.

According to the Palestinian foreign ministry, now 40 -- nearly 4,700 dead, 13,500 wounded, nearly 2,000 children dead. They are staggering numbers, this video of wounded being treated on hospital floors. Just give us a sense, from your perspective, how desperate the situation is and how much worse it can get.

JAMES ELDER, SPOKESPERSON, UNICEF: Yes, Michael, you're right. I mean, the reported numbers of children who have been killed and of course, you just showed some imagery there in Gaza it's almost incomprehensible. But the fact remains that without a ceasefire, without a massive increase in aid, we are going to see the number of children, of boys and girls in Gaza, the number killed, we're going to see that skyrocket. We urgently, Michael, need a massive increase in aid there. It really is a matter of life or death now.

Getting medicines in, getting water in, there has grave shortages. So it can, unfortunately get much worse. It's hard to say that when -- you quote the numbers you say, of children being killed, but there is no doubt that the situation could get much worse for them because aid, the amount that they need right now is not nearly enough. You know, Michael, UNICEF has enough aid for a quarter of a million people. We could get that into Gaza in a matter of hours. We're not able to do that right now.

That has to change. We need unconditional aid. We need a ceasefire. The children of Gaza, they need it yesterday.

HOLMES: I -- you know, what -- when you talk about the wounded and yes, some of the images that are coming out of hospitals there, just hard to watch, some of we just can't air, is there any way of knowing how many of the wounded need outside treatment or surgery, surgery that they're not able to get in Gaza?

ELDER: Look, with all these things, the numbers are difficult. We know it's 1000s right now. You know that the hospitals we've heard for more than a week that there are more people than possible beds, that they are running out of essential medicines. We know that you've got children in incubators and they're going to have generators soon and doctors are going to have to choose who lives and who dies. So your question, Michael, on injuries is absolutely spot on as is just trauma.

If you could just imagine the life of a little 12 year old girl in Gaza, she's already been through violent situations like this over her life. Right now, nothing compares to this is a high chance she's seen someone killed, maybe a friend, maybe she's injured herself, she's hiding, she's in a bunker, she's trying to move because a million people were told to evacuate, this is a trauma that's not going anywhere. But right now she's just simply trying to stay alive under bombardment, without access to water.

[23:10:16]

It gets difficult to over explain it, but it's what the secretary general, it's what UNICEF has been saying from day one, ceasefire, unconditional aid. And whilst we're talking about this unconditional release of these hostages, these Israelis, some of whom are children, get them back to their families now in Israel. HOLMES: Yes, yes. Water, food, medical supplies, they're all crucial, crucial, but the U.N. has said, I think the quote was, "without fuel, there will be no water and no functioning hospitals, bakeries." Without fuel, you won't get aid to civilians. And none of that has come in in these two small convoys. It's so much is even now.

But how crucial is fuel given what it's used for?

ELDER: Now you're so right. These early trucks, they're a flicker of hope, there's no doubt. But the despair, and to be perfectly frank, death dominates right now in Gaza. Fuel is absolutely critical. It's the generators to pump water to people, or at least turn up -- turn on the water supply again, otherwise, we are going to see children dying of dehydration. Get fuel to hospitals, so we can power, you know, incubators, emergency medical supplies.

The secretary general, Michael, talks that we need a minimum of 100 trucks a day going into Gaza. We are seeing a drop in the ocean when it comes to that. The children of Gaza are seeing many more bombs than they are trucks of aid.

HOLMES: And one final thing, I mean, UNICEF, you know, kids are your focus. I saw a video of a nine year old boy walking along a line of bodies looking for his family and he's opening up the shroud to look at faces until he found his mother and then kissing her face. It made me wonder what is going to be the psychological needs when this is all over. That kind of trauma is hard. And it's on both sides, too, kids saw a horrible things on the other side of the border as well.

ELDER: Yes, you could not be more on, Michael, you put a chill in my spine to that. The children in Israel, exactly, so horrendous, horrendous things two weeks ago and need time to recover, need that psychological support. They too need peace. They need to know that there'll be no rockets coming across their country. And for the children in Gaza, the trauma is at levels we've probably not seen before, probably affecting every single boy and girl there.

And yes, UNICEF, we are frontline. I have colleagues in Gaza. And what we know is the longer that fighting goes on, the longer the intensity, the longer we wait for the adults to bring a ceasefire for these children, the more ingrained that get. And that has long term effects, Michael. It's social, it's emotional. Goodness needs an income and we know that that young population of Gaza can offer so much, but if the bombardment continues, then trauma is something they will carry with them for a long, long time.

HOLMES: Yes. James Elder with UNICEF, thank you and thank you for the work your organization and others are doing. Appreciate it.

Well, due to evacuation orders, many towns along the Israeli Lebanese border all but empty. CNN's Matthew Chance is in the region and has the latest.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very quiet here in Kiryat Shmona at the moment in northern Israel. But that's mainly because the vast majority of the population of this city of more than 20,000 people, this town, have gone. They've been evacuated. And that's true of towns and villages all across this area close to the Lebanese border. There's been an order from the Israeli government for civilians to leave because of the growing threats of rocket attacks and another kinds of attacks from southern Lebanon where Hamas controls the territory.

Palestinian militant groups also operate in southern Lebanon as well. And indeed, the Israeli military say that those attacks have been increasing over the course of the past week or so with, as you say, drone attacks taking place, drone flights at least taking place across northern Israel from Lebanese territory, and anti-tank missiles being fired at Israeli installations along the border. There have been infiltrations of gunmen from the Lebanese side into Israel. The Israelis have of course responded in kind, they've been pounding areas with artillery strikes and airstrikes inside southern Lebanon and in Syria as well. We're very close to the border with Syria also.

And they are now warning, Lebanon, yet again and warning Hezbollah that if this continues or if it is escalates there will be a very strong response indeed from the Israeli military. They say they don't want a second front to open up, but you know, as they're focusing on the south, and as they prepare for that operation, that land operation in Gaza, but they have moved 10s of 1000s of troops, at least into this region, in preparation for what they say will be a very determined and strong and destructive response against Hezbollah and against Lebanon if the attacks from that southern parts of the country persist or escalate.

[23:15:37]

HOLMES: Still to come, after so much anguish and loss a story of bravery and triumph out of southern Israel. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A group of brave volunteers managed to fight off more than 30 Hamas terrorists during that surprise attack just over two weeks ago. Incredibly, no one inside the small kibbutz in southern Israel was killed. CNN's Erin Burnett spoke with some of the heroes of the Mefalsim community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: You were at the gate, they tried to come in the vehicle gate and I know in very we saw all the burnt out cars they used to block, you were able to stop that. But they burst to the pedestrian gate. And we have footage of some of this --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BURNETT: -- from the security cameras.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly, yes.

ELI LEVY, MEFALSIM VOLUNTEER SECURITY FORCE: They were actually -- they were actually -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

LEVY: Yes, they were actually shooting anti-tank missiles on the gate. So there's an actual carnage going on outside the gate. People are trying to rush in from the party, people that were just driving.

BURNETT: There -- right. They're trying to come in for safety.

LEVY: They're trying to come in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEVY: The gate is close. They cannot see the terrorists and they just go outside and run to the gate and they're being shot from short distance. Fall down.

[23:20:03]

BURNETT: So the terrorists at the gate are trying to come in, these people are rushing in.

LEVY: Yes.

BURNETT: So they basically just --

LEVY: Yes. But there is --

BURNETT: There is like picking them off as they run in.

LEVY: Yes. But there's -- are actually taking cover around the gate from the outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And firing at them.

LEVY: And firing at those civilians that's running through the gate. Studying them after they were shut down to make sure they are dead. And they are engaging, there is a small unit, this bomb shelter outside the gate, some of the party members were hiding there. So you can see a group of terrorists going in and doing the massacre there.

NOAM KAZAZ, MEFALSIM VOLUNTEER SECURITY FORCE: They throw hand grenades.

BURNETT: Grenades into the shelter.

KAZAZ: Yes.

BURNETT: Yes.

KAZAZ: You can see the movie, the security movie, you can see the hand of the -- they always throw --

BURNETT: Throw hand grenade.

KAZAZ: -- throw hand grenades inside. YARDEN RASKIN, MEFALSIM VOLUNTEER SECURITY FORCE: So, I went out solo and starting moving towards the main gate, but not in a straight line. When I went through the houses, I got to a parking lot number two that is like on the -- and there is a hill, a small hill over watching it but from outside. And there were two or three guys wearing black looking at the road. I wasn't sure if this is our people or maybe I don't know what. And then the moment they turned around, I saw AK-47. So --

BURNETT: So that's how you know, you own M16s?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BURNETT: All of you?

RASKIN: We don't use AK-47.

BURNETT: Right. So you know --

RASKIN: That it's not us.

BURNETT: -- immediate signal that that --

RASKIN: That's not us. I shot at this group, one of them got hit. The other one -- the other two scattered.

BURNETT: Do you have any idea how many, I mean, obviously have M16s, you have magazines, but just a sense of this went on for hours. How many bullets did you even shoot? I mean, do you have even idea --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BURNETT: -- of what this took?

LEVY: I know,

BURNETT: You know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we shoot 100.

LEVY: I shoot 240 bullets.

DAVID ROSENBERG, MEFALSIM VOLUNTEER SECURITY FORCE: I knew that I have only six magazines. And I counted every bullet. I knew that I cannot shoot like I have a backup or something like that. So, I've been shooting -- every bullet has its own target. I didn't try just to make them lie.

BURNETT: Right. You had to shoot to kill.

ROSENBERG: I had to shoot to kill.

BURNETT: So, I know you all know you've seen this. This is what was found on them. I mean, at least on somebody, right? This is their plans, I mean, of what they were going to do. I just was reading through it.

I mean, it's dated October 2022. They were -- I mean if that they were planning it for a whole year. The details in here -- I want to ask you at one specific thing. I mean, they knew everything about your --

ROSENBERG: Except our names.

BURNETT: Yes. Except your names. But they put their phone numbers in here. They put, you know, the task, kibbutz, Mefalsim raid Plan B 14. I mean, it's military.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very specified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is military.

BURNETT: God is great the martyr, (inaudible) brigades, they label it all. But at the top, they have, you know, the cameras that are going to be visible, who was going to come to help you, they knew the tank brigade. But it's this part I wanted to ask you all about. This was exactly what they plan to do inside the kibbutz. The duty of where they were supposed to go, what street numbers, everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know where the generator is. It doesn't mention in here.

BURNETT: Did they -- did you -- now that you see this --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BURNETT: -- and you saw them, were they trying to execute this plan?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For sure.

BURNETT: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

LEVY: Their plan was actually to engage the security group to open the main gates to allow vehicles in to sabotage the main power and the generator. And to make as much casualties for -- from the security team to allow the second wave to go in. And the fact that they know the exact street where to go to, where the generator is and stay to the --

BURNETT: Yes, I mean, it's street by street.

LEVY: Street by street, that's exactly what they were executing. Exactly. They came to the exact point where the gates are. For instance, the point beside my house is the gate --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a small gate.

LEVY: Small gate that is close.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hidden gate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in the plan. I actually saw a page which --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which I saw symbols like their gate.

LEVY: Yes, actually arrows.

RASKIN: Arrows, gate, gate, gate.

BURNETT: When you sit here now and you think about it, that they didn't just plan and train. I mean that this is -- I mean this is military. I mean this is -- how do you even react to that? This took --

LEVY: It's terrifying.

BURNETT: This is dated October 2022.

LEVY: Yes. It's terrifying because it is a military plan that the competence, that there is trained on, it was quite clear they knew exactly what they are doing. They were disciplined. This is a military grade planning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:25:07]

HOLMES: That was CNN's Erin Burnett reporting.

There's still to come one the program. Thousands of Israeli troops massing at the border with Gaza for days now. We'll have a report ahead on the apparent delay and that expected in incursion. Stay with us. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: More on our top story this hour, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Hamas and Israeli forces engaged in limited clashes inside Gaza on Sunday. Israel's military ramping up airstrikes on the enclave warning of the next stage in its war against Hamas. IDF spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, spoke earlier with Julia Chatterley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: The Israeli groups are both trained, equipped and ready to conduct major military operations. And until that happens, we continue to target Hamas leaders, their infrastructure, their logistics and all of their other military components in the Gaza Strip. As we speak, we're hunting commanders. And the aim -- maybe other things are discussed, but the aim is very clear, we need to fundamentally change the security situation in Gaza and make sure that at the end of this campaign Hamas doesn't exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:30:10]

HOLMES: Meanwhile, at least 14 humanitarian relief trucks entered the Gaza strip from Egypt Sunday through the Rafah Border Crossing, not nearly enough say aid group, it did contain some food and some medicine. These trucks arriving a day after a convoy of 20 Egyptian trucks unloaded, humanitarian aid in Gaza using the same crossing.

The anticipated Israeli ground incursion into Gaza still appears inevitable if timing uncertain. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Sderot near the border with Gaza and has more.

(BEGIN VIDETAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): Bristling with battle ready troops, farmers' fields north of Gaza churn with the controlled fury of a nation readying for an incursion to strike Hamas. Yet, they are waiting with no explanation why.

ROBERTSON (on camera): It feels like that early rush for battle readiness has passed, the troops are deployed standing by. The question is how long can they be kept out here?

ROBERTSON (voiceover): According to former IDF General Israel Ziv as long as is needed, there are military gains.

ISRAEL ZIV, FORMER IDF GENERAL: We are now improving our intelligence and our capacity of targets.

ROBERTSON: But the political calculation here is more complicated.

RON BEN YISHAI, FORMER IDF MEMBER AND MILITARY ANALYST: I think both in Washington and in Jerusalem. They understand that the legitimation, legitimization window is closing quickly.

ROBERTSON: Civilian losses in Gaza are growing more than a third of them children, according to Palestinian health officials. Lengthy negotiations have led to two American hostages released as a tiny amount of humanitarian aid has crossed into Gaza that Israel fears ends up in Hamas's hands.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's calculus of when to send in ground troops has never been so fraught under pressure from the White House for more hostage releases.

YISHAI: Netanyahu is in real problem. He has he cannot say no to Biden. But he cannot say yes to the humanitarian aid that drifts into northern Gaza.

ROBERTSON: But he is also under pressure at home too, military and others hawkish for a decisive blow against Hamas.

ZIV: We are finishing preparing, you know, the down force because we've changed plans. And we are going to for heavy maneuvering.

ROBERTSON: Netanyahu's dilemma compounded by his dependence on American weapons.

YISHAI: The pressure is from Washington is real, is real and strong. And the Prime Minister says many times to his ministers. Listen, we are getting from the United States more than we you know.

ROBERTSON: Where less than a week ago, these fields were teeming with tanks, troops making last minute repairs. Today there are just tracks in the sand.

ROBERTSON (on camera): There's a soldiers jacket here, bread and a bag on the table. The question is where have all the tanks gone forward for an incursion? Or back to base for a pause?

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Close to the frontline in Gaza these days more questions than answers and incursions still highly probable but when. Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Aid might be arriving in Gaza but workers say the supplies aren't nearly enough for the besieged enclave. Earlier I spoke with a Palestinian journalist in Washington who told us about the challenges her family is facing in Gaza amid this humanitarian crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAILA EL-HADDAD, PALESTINIAN AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST: They've lost all power they had a little bit last week they don't have any more they have no more water. My cousin's wife doesn't have any way to make formula for her infant twins. And yet, the children keep saying to me, you know, I mean, they have names, they have lives. I just want a Rubik's Cube when this is all over it. That's what he keeps saying.

But we're sort of watching this unfold on our screens. And meanwhile, humanitarian aid is being weaponized. And I feel like I'm in some kind of Orwellian -- twisted Orwellian reality right now.

HOLMES: Yes.

EL-HADDAD: And meanwhile, officials here are just guessing not whether there should be a ceasefire but how many liters of water each person in Gaza should be getting that's what I've been hearing.

[23:35:07]

HOLMES: It must be -- I can't imagine what it's like to, as you say, just sit and watch from afar. I mean, you made the point Israel wanting Palestinians to evacuate south, even though it's hitting targets in the South. These flyers you mentioned are interesting and we confirmed them too and translated them. They're telling Palestinians who won't or can't leave the north they could be considered and the wording is, quote, a partner for terrorist organizations in a ground operation. What is your reaction, your family's reaction to that sort of warning?

EL-HADDAD: I mean, they were aghast. My cousin's wife for that sends me a video rocking her infant twins and said so now we're essentially being told that either we leave our home by force and get displaced and join, you know, million others in tents without food or access to water or were terrorists.

I mean, she literally had no words and she said we're not leaving. We're going to stay right here and die in the dignity of our own homes. And I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm expecting at any moment to hear -- to see you their names on the, you know, in the news that I keep getting every minute by minute. We just -- we lost several members of my mother's family in Khan Yunis in the south and we lost some -- just found out very close friends in central Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Laila El-Haddad there speaking with me earlier. Quick break. Now when we come back, the frustration boils over among U.S. Republicans as they struggled to elect the Speaker of the House. Also still to come. Argentina's presidential race headed to a runoff between these two men after neither won enough votes to win outright in the first round.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:25]

HOLMES: A Detroit synagogue leader who was killed over the weekend as being mourned by her friends and family. Samantha Woll was found stabbed to death outside her home. Police say they discovered a trail of blood leading to the house where they believe the crime happened.

At a memorial service on Sunday, Woll was remembered as a model citizen who was endlessly positive and loved bridging divides.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA NESSEL, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Samantha Woll may have been the nicest person that I have ever met, or will ever meet in my lifetime. Sam did more for our community, our state, our world, our lives in her short time here on Earth than most will ever accomplish in 1,000 lifetimes over and her killer will not rob us of the memory of her joy and warmth and kindness that she leaves behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Woll had led the Isaac Agree Synagogue in Detroit since 2022. The police chief says they're still investigating her death they have no evidence to suggest it was motivated by antisemitism as of now.

In Washington, nine Republicans have entered the race for the Speaker of the House of Representative round. What is it for? They will make their case before the Republican Conference later today after Jim Jordan failed three times to win the spot last week.

The House has been paralyzed without the speaker for nearly three weeks now, which House (INAUDIBLE). Speaker Kevin McCarthy himself calls embarrassing. Manu Raju has more now on the ongoing drama. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): House Republicans remain in turmoil almost three weeks after the unprecedented ouster of a sitting speaker. Kevin McCarthy was pushed out after eight Republicans joined with Democrats and voted out Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. This was initiated by House Republicans and they have not been able to coalesce around anyone to replace McCarthy as of yet.

And the House can't do any business, no legislating at all until the speaker is elected and they have been unable to unite behind any candidate. Firstly nominated Steve Scalise, the House Republican majority leader, he was unable to get the votes to be elected Speaker. He bowed out before going to the floor.

Jim Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman was nominated then to be the next Speaker of the House. He did go to the fourth, three times and he failed to win over enough support. He can only afford to lose four Republican votes on this party line vote. He lost 25 on his third ballot. Ultimately, he bowed to reality and stepped aside.

And now nine Republican candidates have filed to run for Speaker unclear which of those nine will ultimately get the Republican nomination. And more importantly, who can get the 217 votes that they would need on the floor of the House to be elected speaker. It is unclear if any of them can given the sharp divisions within the ranks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the biggest F.U. to Republican voters I've ever seen.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): This conference is absolutely broken.

REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD) Americans are sick of it. And I know most members of the House are sick of it. It is time for big boys and big girls to stop with the nonsense.

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): The swamp is swamped gets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to get over it and we need to move on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot have an entire branch of government offline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to get our act together because I'm getting calls from my constituents and saying what the hell's going on with you Republicans?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think history will assign the blame in the right places.

RAJU: Now, a bit here about the timing. On Monday evening, that's when the House Republicans will meet behind closed doors yet again. Those candidates will try to make their pitch to the conference will answer questions from their members. They'll do that one by one. And we'll see how that ultimately goes.

Then Tuesday morning is the significant vote behind closed doors. Republicans will have a secret ballot leadership election. That means that majority of their conference will vote to nominate the next speaker candidate, that person it will be a secret ballot election. So it's unclear exactly who's the front runner and who might emerge here. But we'll see if the how close that that person who gets the nomination is to the magic number on the House floor, 217 votes to be elected speaker.

This is challenging for any Republican candidate because in the narrowly divided House, the only 221 Republicans, Democrats are going to vote for Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic leader, that means that person that candidate the Republican nominee, must limit defections in the ranks and it is unclear if any of them will be able to do that after we've seen just Republicans going after each other, after McCarthy was pushed out, unable to get behind anyone.

[23:45:04]

Unable to do the nation's business and much businesses waiting, dealing with aid to Israel, calls for aid to Ukraine, avoiding a government shutdown by mid-November. None of that can be dealt with the Republican agenda is completely stalled amid this GOP leadership infighting. Can they get it resolved this coming week? That remains a huge question but a possibility it could still be unresolved and slip into another week if they can't get their act together behind the nominee. Mana Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Argentina's presidential races have indoor runoff according to partial results from Sunday's first round.

Far-right economist Javier Milei is one of the candidates and next one second round. His supporters celebrated just as they did after his shocking win in the open primaries back in August. He will be going up against the economy minister Sergio Massa.

With 90 percent of the votes counted Massa leads with 36 percent to Melei's 30 percent The candidate wins the runoff will begin a four- year term on December the 10th.

Iran has given prison sentences to two journalists who first covered the death of Mahsa Amini, state media reports. Amini died in the custody of the so called morality police last year, her death sparking protests across Iran.

The two journalists were charged and convicted for quote, cooperating with the hostile U.S. government and collusion and propaganda against Iran.

Just to have, an inside look at a unique hospital in Israel how doctors are treating patients underground as the wall rages above on the surface that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:50:51]

HOLMES: The French president and Dutch Prime Minister are expected to visit Israel in the coming hours according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, Emmanuel Macron, and Mark Rutte will arrive in Israel on Monday where they will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Other European leaders joined the U.S. and Canada in a joint statement on the conflict, affirming their support for Israel and also calling for the adherence to humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians. Sunday was a day of global protests as tens of thousands marched in support of Palestinians.

In Brussels, demonstrators gathered outside the European Commission headquarters calling for a ceasefire and in Sarajevo thousands were seen waving Palestinian and Bosnian flags also demanding a halt to the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

Now, we as Israel grapples with the fallout from the Hamas attack on October 7, one hospital in Tel Aviv is taking care of patients in a unique way. CNN's Sara Sidner takes us inside this hospital sheltering people underground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A doctor checks in on a patient just an ordinary day in the hospital, except there's nothing ordinary about where this is taking place.

RONNI GAMZU, CEO, TEL AVIV SOURASKY MEDICAL CENTER: This is the bunker underground hospital. This is a functioning hospital, in the highest level, every service, every technology, everything that they need, we provide them and everything is being supplied here.

SIDNER (on camera): It has the look and the feel of a regular hospital with all the things that you would expect, except for when you turn the corner and you can really see this is an underground parking garage at least it was.

SIDNER (voiceover): Vehicle parking spaces are now for patient beds, driveways for pushcarts. This is how Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center is preparing to treat patients in wartime.

SIDNER (on camera): So it's as perfectly normal as usual in the most abnormal scenario.

GAMZU: Exactly. This is the right place to put it.

SIDNER (voiceover): This is the result of 14 years of planning for war.

GAMZU: We plan this underground hospital 14 years ago, more or less after the second Lebanon War. Tel Aviv was for the first time got missile attack. SIDNER: That was them before Hamas stormed across the border by land air and sea on Shabbat (ph) killing, kidnapping and maiming men, women and children. Several floors above the hospital bunker 60 hospital beds are now filled with victims from the Hamas attack.

TOMER ZADIK, INJURED AT FESTIVAL ATTACK: I went to a party with my friends. It was a music festival. And in 6:30, something like that alarm started.

SIDNER: He and his friends managed to jump in their car but then --

ZADIK: There was a squad of terrorists just started spraying at us shooting without conscience.

SIDNER (on camera): Shooting at you just indiscriminate.

ZADIK: Yes, just shooting without conscious.

SIDNER (voiceover): His car among those abandoned on the side of the road. He ran and hid for the next five hours, blood pouring from his arm where a bullet smashed through his skin and bone.

ZADIK: There is no one in this world who wants peace more than I do. Teust me. I've been falling down. I got shot over this. I don't want this. None of us wanted this to happen.

SIDNER (voiceover): Do you still think that peace is possible?

ZADIK: Wow. I used to believe in peace all the time. But like now after seeing what I saw, Yitzhak Rabin was the Prime Minister of Israel said something very important. Yes. He said it pays to not make good friends you make with enemies but even enemies need to be human beings.

[23:55:06]

SIDNER: No matter who you are, this hospital will treat you deep below the earth's crust. It has already moved a whole section of the hospital to get the staff and patients prepared for life below during war.

SIDNER (on camera): What do you think about being at a parking garage?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's enjoying every minute of it.

SIDNER: Does this feel different this time?

GAMZU: It's feel different because we know that we it's not like kind of a limited operation. It's a war time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Sara Sidner reporting from Tel Aviv there and finally the New York Giants on Sunday honored the 10 Americans still unaccounted for after the Hamas terror attacks. The team displayed American flags in 10 empty seats at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants were hosting the Washington commanders, Hamas released to

Americans last week but the U.S. Secretary of State says 10 other Americans are unaccounted for and that at least some of them are being held hostage.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes and I will be back after the break with more news on the Israel-Hamas war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)