join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on mobile and desktop today. i m anderson cooper in tel aviv with my colleague, jim acosta, in washington, d.c. this evening we begin this hour with the latest escalation of israel s war with hamas. israel s military is ramping up its bombardment of gaza. a short time ago, israel s military reported it s conducted dozens of strikes on hamas in gaza in recent hours. they say they ve destroyed two hezbollah cells in lebanon according to an idf post. israel carried out rare air strike in the west bank. they say they were targeting a tunnel system under a mosque. the idf says it thwarted what they called an imminent terror attack. the palestinian authority called it a dangerous escalation. anderson, israel s military now confirms that its troops clashed with hamas fighters inside gaza earlier today. it s just the second time israeli forces have confirmed operating inside gaza since the hamas terro
aviv, israel. we begin this hour with israel s military ratcheting up its bombardment of gaza. a short time ago, israel s military reported it has conducted dozens of strikes on hamas in gaza in recent hours as well as destroying two hezbollah cells in lebanon. it s part of israel s plan to prepare for a possible ground incursion into gaza. that order could come at any time. defense secretary lloyd austin says the u.s. is worried about an escalation in the middle east, so the u.s. will deploy missile defense systems like the one you see right there throughout the region to protect u.s. troops. erin, what s the latest on your end? reporter: all right. well, jim, here we are learning that the biden administration is pressing israel to delay a possible full-scale ground invasion of gaza. alex marquardt reporting that, saying the goal is to provide more time to negotiate for the release of hostages and allow for more humanitarian aid to go in to reach palestinian civilians. now