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