welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states. canada, and all around the world. this is cnn's continuing coverage of the israel hamas war. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is back in israel at this hour with the warning of the growing number of civilian casualties in gaza could undermine international support for israel in its ongoing war against hamas. the secretary and israeli prime minister is expected to meet today. gaza city is now completed surrounded by its forces. this is one of the most intense instances of israeli bombardment since the war began. >> our soldiers have been operating in gaza city for several days. deepening the operation. our forces are in n significant areas of gaza city. >> the idf says 23 of its soldiers died in the gaza operationsns. the primarary objective e is locating a and d destroying the hamas tunnel network and eliminating explosives and other on scattered obstacles. >> reporter: the ground incursion with tanks and troops seems to be concentrated in the north. as you mentioned, the israelis say they now have gaza city surrounded. they don't want to give out locations but the video that you showed from earlier with the flares overnight, we know that is from an area of northern gaza called bait hanoon. you can see on the ground, there appears to be a smoke screen there. perhaps that indicates there are israeli troops moving in that area. but we don't know for certain. we have one marker of israeli troops on the ground. they say that from about a kilometer away from the hospital which is right on the outskirts of gaza city, they say that idf troops shot at the hospital, wounding a boy and a young man who were outside of the hospital. and also piercing a wall on the sixth floor of the building as well. this is the same hospital that says it received threats from israel to evacuate earlier this week. israel says that it has warned multiple times to evacuate. ahead of a potential bombing campaign of that site. there have been bombings right around that hospital. some according to the palestinians have actually damaged the hospital itself. but the hospital says it cannot evacuate because there have so, so many civilians. that are taking shelter there. so many wounded patients and they simply have nowhere to go. but the situation in that hospital and others like it will only get more dire as this ground invasion continues. the israelis continue to insist that hamas is using hospitals as shelters. the hospital says it doesn't let anybody in who is armed at all. >> scott, in the last hour, we watched as secretary of state antony blinken touched down in tel aviv. his third visit since the war began. he has a difficult balancing act. >> reporter: hugely difficult. the u.s. is eager to continue to make clear that it supports israel and its right to defend itself. it is also increasingly eager to stress to the israelis they need to operate within international law and limit the number of civilian casualties in these israeli strikes. two weeks ago, secretary of state antony blinken didn't give a clear answer when he was asked whether he thought the israelis were operating within international law. yesterday before he took off, he was asked whether they had shown restraint. he didn't giver a clear answer on that either. but he said israel can and should take concrete steps to limit civilian casualties. hamas is making this tough. using civilians as shields but israel as a democracy has a responsibility to rise to this chance. it is also a pr exercise he needs to be careful with as well. because look, many countries in the middle east, in the arab world already see the united states and other western countries as going out of their way to be outraged for the brutal terrorist attack that took place in israel, but not showing the same level of outrage necessarily when they see the level of civilian casualties in the palestinian size. this operation in gaza, it has a limited time frame before the outrage over the civilian casualties reaches a tipping point. >> scott, thanks so much. we want to go to cnn's selma reporting on the bombed and battered jibalia refugee camp. images in this report are graphic. >> reporter: the victims of jibalia victimized yet again. some of the survivors took shelter here. a u.n. school. only to be cut down. desperate moments after anises an israeli strike shown nearby. the u.n. said in total, housing some 20,000 displaced people. many of them, frightened young children. what did we do, this boy cries? we did nothing wrong. >> reporter: the living conditioning in these shelters are unbearable. but families come here for safety. that, too, is gone. >> bring me my son. bring me my son. >> reporter: this father screams. it is unclear if his child is dead or alive. three straight days of air strikes have brought more bloodshed. israel says it is targeting hamas infrastructure in this densely populated residential area. and says it killed a senior hamas commander with its strike on tuesday. but with scores of civilians believed killed, the u.n. human rights council warns what you see here are disproportionate attacks that could amount to a war crime. gaza doesn't understand why the world can't stop this. >> we keep pulling out bodies. small children, women. it is a catastrophe. this man says. if the countries of the world had any y shame, we wouldn't be in this situation. and more suffering i is all but certain. israeli i troops are inchingng closer. as ground foforces backed d by constantnt air r raids move tow central gaza, the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians hang in the balance. the idf has warned all residents in the north to leave. an order deemed impossible and inhumane. where is the world, this woman screams? our children are being torn up before our eyes. and with the death tulipant mooing, pressure is growing on the u.s. and israel to stem the violence. cnn, london. it's believed hamas is still holding more than 200 hostages in gaza. countries around the world are trying to get them out as they also work to free foreigners trapped in gaza. while the israeli military has overwhelming fire power, hamas has spent years digging a complicated system of underground tunnels allowing hamas fighters to strike and then disappear without warning. we'll have a look inside next. stay with us. almost four weeks ago, hamas carried out a deadly terror attack in gaza leaving entire communities devastated. the israel defense forces believe 242 hostages are still being held. 6,000 american and other foreign nationals are trying to get out of gaza. an american pediatrician who had been trapped is now safe in egypt. she spent more than two weeks in a parking lot and was starting to run out of food and water. here she is. >> in the beginning we were in gaza city. and we were told to move south. moving south, it was still a lot of bombing. and so, there is really no safe place for the gazan people. when we went to the u.n. facility, all the gazans trying to go south, the first place they would seek refuge was the u.n. schools which were already full. we had 1 million people going to u.n. facilities that were not camps. they were vocational schools and storage centers and so, the toilets for those people, the water for those people was not adequate for the tens of thousands who showed up. we ended up about two-and-a- half weeks in basically a parking lot that was wardened off from the rest of the people. we were relatively lucky. but were running out of food and water also. >> another american crossed into egypt. >> i had a broad smile on my face and i really exhaled. the precious words, you know. when she said we are on the move. i knew i had confidence that their group was not going to move toward the border unless they had gotten some very clear and believable mesessages from the state department as well as the powers that be. when she said she was on the move, that is when i really started feeling happy. when i read the text messages we was across the border into egypt on her way to cairo, i was really happy then. i was satisfied that i knew it was over, the ordeal of being trapped in gaza. >> joining me from oslo. when we are talking about the hostages, many countries have been working furiously to get the hostages released. explain how complicated negotiations are when some countries cannot talk directly to hamas. who is involved? >> on the israeli side, israel doesn't want to talk to hamas. understandable maybe under the circumstances. the united states doesn't talk to hamas. but there are countries that can. egypt, the border country that doesn't have a good relationship with hamas but can talk with it and has in the past mediated between hamas and israel. but especially qatar and turkey. those are the countries with long standing relationships with the political leadership of hamas. the political leadership is currently in exile based in qatar. they can talk to hamas. and qatar has a good relationship, a workable relationship with israel. so it is actually ideally placed to mediate all the hostages releases. >> when i spoke to a former israeli ambassador to the u.s. the other day, he dismissed qatar as an honest broker saying they were a mouthpiece for hamas. is that accurate at all? >> well, he is contradicted by the national security adviser of israel who thanked qatar for itself health. intelligence works to affect the release of the hostage sos i wouldn't take those particular words very seriously. >> of course all of the families watching will hope that their relatives will be released but u.s. officials have expressed doubt about how serious hamas is about negotiationing. do you share that view? >> hostage release negotiations can drag on for a long time. i think it is all about the quid pro quo discussed. the situation in gaza is very difficult at the moment. and there are several actors involved so it is all very complex. there clearly is a will to move forward with it. so that's the one straw of hope that i can grab onto. >> the quid pro quo being israel would release thousands potentially of palestinian prisoners they have. now, we have seen more success in negotiation to allow foreign nationals and injured civilians out of gaza through egypt. is that reason for optimism or are the circumstances too different to compare the two? >> well hamas has a number of people captive. civilians, hostages, israeli soldiers. and it is going to give them different grade ins a way. it may warrant a release for humanitarian reasons. maybe children, the elderly. and then, move that way. in exchange for also palestinians in israeli jails. either convicted or not convicted. because many are not going through trial at all. are held administratively. who are also mostly because of the health situation or age. that is what is being discussed. i don't expect you know, a deal where everybody is released in exchange for everybody else. no. it will be incremental. >> and the israeli position on the expanding the ground operation is that will put more pressure on hamas. and that will incentivize them to cut a deal and free the hostages or at least some of them. does this argument have merritt do you think? >> i could be wrong, but i don't ththink hamas will releas hostages because it feels under pressusure from the isisraeli ground d defense. the e israeli grouound defense end up r rescuing some of the hostages. i'm not sure and i'm not a military expert. but i think the only way the hostages will be released in number is through negotiations. >> we'll somewhere to leave it there. hope that happens. thanks for joining us, really appreciate it. >> thank you. well, it's been 17 years since hamas took control of gaza. and israeli officials say the militant group has spent that time building rockets training for war. digging a complicated network of tunnels. new propaganda reveals the dangers they could be facing. >> reporter: the hamas propaganda video showing its fighters emerging from underground tunnels in what appear to be the northern outskirts of the populated areas of gaza. they fire at the israeli lieutenants advancing into gaza. one shows a hamas soldier stalking an israeli tank, putting an explosive device on the machinery. running away. seconds later, the device detonates. the hamas fighter disappears into the ground through a trap door. a political leader of hamas spoke about the tunnel's vital role in the hamas military strategy. we have built the tunnels he says because we have no other way of protecting ourselves from being targeted and killed. these tunnels are meant to protect us from the airplanes. we are fighting from inside the tunnels. while israel has unleashed thousands of air strikes across gaza since october 7th, hamas is trying to show off its air strike capabilities. it released this video of a munitions strike dropped from a drone over israeli soldiers. it is not clear how many casualties it inflicted on the defense force. several soldiers can be seen running away from the site. the israel defense force has released this hamas propaganda video which captures the elaborate maze of tunnels. the militant organization uses the tunnels to store weapons and to launch air strikes toward israel. veteran israeli journalist has reported on hamas for decades. he says the underground tunnels are known as the gaza metro. >> they have spent billions of dollars. they build houses, tunnels, it's a huge project. >> reporter: israel says dismantling the tunnel is the only way to dismantle hamas. funding for israel may be in danger on capitol hill. coming up, why democrats in the u.s. senate and the white house are threatening to block the funds. stay with us. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? have we piqued your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible. welcome back to our coverage of the israel hamas war. the u.s. house of representatives has multibillion dollar stand alone aid bills for israel, but they are refusing to take it up. >> reporter: the house passed a 14 billion-dollar aid package for israel. 12 democrats voted in support of the bill. and two republicans voted against it. so really an example here of how partisan even a nonpartisan issue has become. the reason democrats were against it is because of mike johnson and the way he decided to put this bill together. he decided to exclude ukraine money. that has been a priority for the white house but it has become divisive in the republican conference. and he decided to include partisan cuts to the irs. he wanted to pay for the measure. not just a straightforward emergency supplemental. typically those bills are not conditioned upon anything. that is one of the reasons why the white house has issued a veto threat for this bill. but it is going nowhere in the democratic controlled senate. and one democrat who did vote support of the bill in the house, even he was unhappy with how it all came together. >> i'm willing to give everybody the benefit of the doubt when they come into a leadership position, but this was it. his first full week, first big vote. national security issue for the american people. and he played politics for it. >> the house and senate really on a collision course here. speaker mike johnson has said he would try to pass a ukraine aid package at some point in the near future. something to set up a fight with democrats so at this moment, just really uncertain how this is all going to play out. cnn, capitol hill. joining me now is natasha, professor of government at the university of essex in england. thanks so much for being here with us again. on the last question we heard there, how this will all play out. first, you know, both parties say they want to pass aid to israel. so what happens now? >> that is a great question. normally, a bill in support of an ally would have overwhelming support. mike johnson is tying it to spending cuts to the irs. in the name of fiscal responsibility. the very agency that is going to help collect taxes, and help improve the budget deficit. instead we will see that it could lead to a 12.5 billion addition to the deficit. so this is very shortsighted upon the republicans in the house. and he is trying to appease the extreme right in the house. that is very shortsighted among things. and you are going to see that the senate will try to come up with their own package. now here you have a little bit more alignment between mitch mcconnell on the republican side and chuck schumer on the democratic side. they both agree that aid is needed to ukraine. that ukraine is facing winter. in the middle of a stalemate. you will see some sort of package put forward to offer ukraine aid and aid to israel at the same time. that is typically what is done. you normally don't tie aid to conditions and this sends a really terrible message to our allies that you will have foreign aid tied to an extreme ideological agenda that could put the aid at jeopardy. >> i want to explain what this means not only for america's allies but their enemies as well. i want to go back to something you said. and delve into that a bit more. what it says about how the gop will function under his leadership going forward. what you said there about how much power the extreme right wing of the party will hold going forward. it doesn't seem like, seems like he will be held hostage the way mccarthy was. >> he is clearly being held hostage. maybe that is what his agenda is. to focus on these shortsighted policies. to play some kind of gamesmanship. a game of chicken. so gauging in these ploys. that is not the way foreign aid usually is allotted. it is normally something that receives overwhelming support because you have an ally in crisis i guess in this case, we are referring to israel. and ukraine which is a key country fighting against russian aggression which affects u.s. security as well. we are seeing polarization affecting u.s. politics. but also, the disarray in the republican party that they are placating elements of the republican party that don't understand the way international relations work or alliances work. this will have detrimental consequences for our alliances. >> the world is watching as this divided superpower struggling to help its allies because it is paralyzed by political dysfunction as you set out there. the other countries hopeing to capitalize. >> definitely. the big winners in this recent israeli gaza conflict are of course russia and iran. russia is eyeing what is u.s. is going to be doing. eyeing the 2024 election. and it is looking to see, you know, what a motivation the u.s. has to continue to support both countries. to support israel and ukraine and it is banking on this idea that the u.s. no longer wants to support the war in ukraine. that it doesn't think it has the capacity to do so or it doesn't think it should. so this will embolden the russians but of course it will also embolden countries like iran that are seeing the u.s. waffling and allowing polarization and politics to get in the way of providing aid to one of its long standing allies. and what we see with iran as it grows bolder, its proxies start to engage in more dangerous behavior. like the rebels based in yemen. shooting missiles at israel. we will see more of these types of actions by iran supported proxies that of course creates more danger and insecurity in the region. >> all right, appreciate your analysis. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. >> thanks for having me. for some relatives of those held hostage, no new is good news. we will talk to three israelis desperate just to talk to their family again. stay with us. 242 people are still being held since the deadly october 7th attack. israeli spokesperson says they are on a mission to get everyone returned home. >> the current ground operation is advancing conditions to help free our hostages. we have already seen four hostages released under heavy international pressure. hamas isn't suddenly going to develop a humanitarian backbone. we are moving in, in order to free the hostages and put the pressure on hamas to release them immediately and undeniably. there is no excuse for abducting them and holding them in the gaza strip. >> it has been nearly a month. more than a dozen family members were adducted between these families. they only want their relatives back. >> thank you so much for joining us. i am so sorry for what you are dealing with. two have been released. three killed. how are you coping? >> coping is a really big word i think. each and every day i wake upened i just start doing everything i can. everything in my power to try to bring them back any means necessary. >> two of your family members were released. judith and her teenage daughter natalie. describe the moment when you saw those two family members walk across the border from gaza. >> they have been through hell. they were given back in the same clothes they were kidnapped in. we were relieved by their release and thankful for the american administration and president joe biden for the efforts to bring them back. it gives hope for returning the other family members and all the other hostages. >> have they spoken to you about the weeks in captivity? >> spoke a lot. what has been said in these conversations are between us. we are just happy to have them back and with that, we don't have the privilege to celebrate as well as the privilege to mourn our dead family members. i can't allow myself to really open myself to feel something because it can break me down. and i really need to keep going every second until they are back. >> all the family members that have been taken hostage by hamas. the youngest is just three years old. what are your hopes for the coming days, the coming weeks in terms of getting news of your loved ones? >> when you see the innocence of someone who has literally her whole life ahead of her and you try to imagine where she is now, under a tunnel, at gunpoint, she is three years old. we are at the point that any news is good news. we hope for any sign of life. >> your cousin, and her husband were captured by hamas. >> my cousin got into a safe room. at 7:00 in the morning she started to say she sees terrorists outside of her window. it is built line by line. the house is line by line. so she saw them moving line by line. using explosives. yelling, shooting. so, at 8:25 in the morning she texted her mom and said mom, they are shooting at us. she left her mom a voice message. she told her that she loves her. she loves her dearly and she is sorry she is not there with her. and that was it. and at 3:30, when the army, they found the house. glass shattered. bullet holes. signs of struggle. some blood. and they were gone. hamas has released a video of your cousin pleading for a cease fire. we are not going to show that video. but i would like to gauge your reaction upon seeing that and hearing what she said. >> thank you for not showing it. secondly, when i saw the video, my first reaction was to smile. because she is alive. just imagine for three weeks not knowing. over three weeks now. not knowing if she is alive or dead. not knowing if she is well. several hostages have been released or rescued. does that give you hope? >> it is a very tricky question. because i have hope. i have hope for the past three- and-a-half weeks. but we are dealing with a terror organization. the israeli prime minister has rejected calls for cease fire saying now is the time for war. qatar which is negotiating hostage releases has said that would jeopardize a negotiation. >> plead and demand that anyone who has any influence on this matter put the hostages on the first priority. >> the community that was affected the most on october 7th was the community that fought the most for coexisting and believed in peace. and did everything in their power to push for it. we are peaceful people. we want this. we don't want revenge. >> if i can turn to you, your sister-in-law aviva and her husband keith, aged in their 60s , grandparents, taken hostage by hamas. what can you tell us about them? >> aviva has dedicated her life to kindergarten caretaker. she takes care of babies. her life is family. my wife sandy says all the time is that aviva is in gaza. if she is taking care of babies, she'll be okay. because that is her life. keith is just one of these very friendly, comes to any place that comes to say hello to everyone. super friendly. both of them are just gentle people. the last thing i would ever imagine for them. >> thanks so much for sharing your stories and i really hope that you are reunited with your loved ones very soon. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. coming up, china grieving the sudden death of its former premier, many considered the last of the reformists within china's political elite. stay with us. in philadelphia, jewish groups along with those of other faiths could be heard chanting peace right now in the city's biggest train station. groups are calling for an immediate cease fire in gaza. and in miami, florida coalition for palestine held a 48 hour sit in. the organizers named the event 48 hour ins solidarity in reference to the 1948 arab israeli war that resulted in the creation of israel. the sit in began tuesday evening and concluded in a candle light vigil thursday night. funeral services have been held for the premier of china who served as president xi's number two ten years. state media reports he died last week with sudden heart attack. the passing of the reform leader is seen as the end of an era for china's political elite. ivan watson has more. >> reporter: china's strong man leader. li died suddenly of a heart attack last week months after stepping down following a decade as china's lead premier. he worked tirelessly f for our coununtry many years sayay t th woman inin beijing. deep down, we hope news of his death is false. his death sparked an outpouring of grief. many images of public mourning are now banned on the chinese internet. in this tightly controlled society, grief for a former top official can become an expression of dissent. >> in china, there is a limited channel for expressing anger. if you try to remember the passing of a leader in china, sometimes it can be very safe. because of police knocking on your door. lee was once seen as a contender for the country's top job. many now remember him as a symbol of what could have been. an english speaking bureaucrat open to enterprise. in 2022 after growing government restrictions on foreign influence and business and culture, lee appeared to voice opposition. >> no matter how the international environment may change, china will keep to the course of wider openness. the course will never be reversed. >> reporter: while his boss declared china eradicated extreme poverty. lee famously reminded people some 600 million chinese could barely afford rent because they earned less than $140 a month. he did a lot of good for ordinary people, say this woman in beijing. he especially helped the working class. with li's passing, analysts say the last of the so-called reformists in china's political elite is now gone. outlineing the hard line nature of the leader who still stands firmly in power. ivan watson, cnn, hong kong. >> and that wraps this hour of our coverage. the newsroom returns after a short break. is it possible my network could take my business to the next level? 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