Oh, and all on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Wireless that works for you. Its not just possible. Its happening. Good evening. Im jake tapper and this is special coverage of israel at war. Americas closest ally in the middle east and its only democracy is under attack as we speak in a highly coordinated staged Terrorist Attack by hamas, an attack on israeli civilians unlike anything that israel has ever seen, according to the Prime Minister of israel. Netanyahu, Prime Minister netanyahu, is vowing to take, quote, mighty vengeance. Thousands of rockets lighting up the skies over gaza city. The death toll has risen tonight to at least 300 israelis killed. More than 1,500 injured after Hamas Terrorists invaded several israeli towns earlier today, by air, land, and sea at daybreak. A surprise attack, shooting at civilians, kidnapping many along with Israeli Soldiers. The Israeli Defense forces said the number of civilians captured by hamas is, quote, a significant number, but they would not be more specific than that. Tonight, most israelis are likely holed up in their homes while others in gaza have been urged to get out of gaza immediately for their safety, warned by the Israeli Government. The ongoing threat is so dire, netanyahu and Opposition Parties have discussed forming an Emergency Coalition government as israel faces war. There is, of course, the looming question of how could an assault of this size and scale happen . How did israels intelligence fail to anticipate and stop this . Well have much more on that ahead. United states President Joe Biden has condemned these attacks, reiterating americas unwavering support for israel. Tonight, u. S. Officials say it is too early to say whether iran was directly involved in this attack. But the u. S. Government says it is looking into that question very closely. Lets go straight to Cnn International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson live in israel for us near the gaza border. Nic, thanks so much for joining us. What is the latest at this hour . Reporter weve been able to hear fighter jets flying overhead, jake. Weve been used to hearing them flying overhead throughout this evening, into the night. Generally followed by explosions coming from gaza, which is about 2 1 2 miles from where we are. The checkpoint behind me really is the Limitation Mark of where we are, an area in israel fully under israeli control. Beyond that checkpoint, thats area, areas that still may be hamas militants operating that israels Defense Forces are still in contact with them in some areas. About 20 minutes ago we were able to hear in the distance heavy machine gunfire. We think fired from a helicopter. We heard the helicopter before. Thats Something Else weve heard throughout the evening. And also around that time, there was another salvo of rockets 20 minutes or so ago fired out of gaza. The iron dome intercepts intercepting them over our heads here. This appeared to be a smaller salvo than the sal slows weve seen this evening and appeared to be potentially shorter range, falling or targeting along the coast. Not reaching farce tel aviv, as they were earlier this evening. And then this morning in that big barrage. Jacques . Nic robertson in israel newer the gaza border, thanks so much. Insight from israeli diplomat schak sar, Acting Deputy Consul General for israel in new york. Mr. Sar, thanks for joining us. I cannot imagine how difficult and painful it must be to see your home now at war. I think just to illustrate for viewers here in the United States and Around The World, israel has been in war before. Obviously we have covered them. But there is something more significant about this attack, i believe, based on my conversations with israelis today, than in previous attacks. This, ive heard it said, is Something Like israels 9 11 or israels pearl harbor. This day, this attack on israeli civilians, it was such a shock. Do i have that correct . Yes. Definitely. And you showed some of the pictures and the footage coming from israel this morning. It was a massacre reminiscent of pogroms. And a very, very difficult day and night for israel today. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad committed multiple war crimes. Abducted innocent civilians from their homes. Mothers, children. Without even stopping for a moment and thinking about what theyre doing. You show the horrible pictures and the footage coming from there. So unhuman. This is, indeed, a very, very difficult day to israel and i think the world. And it is, in addition to the sabbath this morning, obviously, it is also a jewish holiday. I believe its shmin yatsera. Also the 50th Anniversary of the yom kippur war, another time when israel had a sneak attack. And another time that there was a massive Intelligence Failure where there was a Massive Attack on israel that was not anticipated. What have you heard from israeli officials and israeli citizens, people you know back home, about what theyre going through, what they are experiencing . So just imagine. As you mentioned, its saturday morning. Its a holiday. A very important jewish holiday. Peaceful morning in israel. And then suddenly, hundreds of militants infiltrate israel with a barrage of 5,000 rockets shot over israeli cities. And just committing a massacre. And you can imagine how we feel. You mentioned earlier the other occasions, 50 years. But israel is dealing with several fronts at the same time. Its the gaza strip. Its the Northern Borders and its the axis that the iranians are trying to build around israel. This is very, very difficult. Theres a lot of tests for the ideas. And talking about iran, theres definitely an iranian footprint. Iran is funding, iran is supporting with training and with weapons hamas, the pij, and other Terrorist Organizations around us. Yeah. Hamas claims it has dozens of israeli captives, in addition to Israeli Soldiers, civilians. Later in the broadcast, were going to be talking to a mom whose teenage kids were kidnapped by hamas. Were going to be talking to her about what shes going through. There are reports of hamas taking some of these hostages down into tunnels. This must complicate israels response . Obviously, you know, in terms of the military response, you dont want to hit any of your own people. And i dont know how many hostages hamas has taken, but it sounds to me like it could be in the hundreds . So were talking now about hundreds of hostages, of israeli civilians and soldiers that were kidnapped and abducted to the gaza strip. Around 300 official. This is the official death toll. Around 300. But unfortunately, its not the last number that were going to see. Death toll is going to be, unfortunately, much higher. Thousands of casualties. Now were talking about 1,500. This number is going to rise. And as you show, with the footage next to my picture, the barrage, the rockets. They are continuing. So we are still at war. This is an unprecedented and unparalleled moment. We are in a state of war. And i believe also the israeli reaction would be unprecedented. Tsach saar, appreciate your time this evening. The Israeli Defense forces says its Main Objective is to reestablish control and the number of civilians kaup toured is, quote, significant ran joining us, jonathan konk iikas. You have called this a pearl harbor moment for israel. One of the questions ive heard a lot of people asking is about the Intelligence Failure, and obviously intelligence in real life is not like it is in tv shows and movies. Intelligence failed to what happened on 9 11. Intelligence failed to realize what happened on january 6th, 2021. Intelligence failed to realize what happened during the u. S. Withdrawal from afghanistan. So by no means is intelligence operations in the United States infallible. But that said, what went wrong here for israel . Yeah, it is a very difficult day here in israel as we are counting our dead and wounded and coming to terms, wrapping our heads around the situation that we have many israelis captive, abducted by hamas that are now in the hands of a murderous Terrorist Organization in gaza. What happened . Hamas planned and put into motion a premeditated attack where they used all of their resources available, all of these resources by the way have been provided to hamas by iran, which is by a long margin the biggest World Promoter or supporter of terrorism. And hamas used all of their weapons, their operatives. And were talking about maybe up to 1,000 terrorists who were able to infiltrate into israel during the day, or at least many hundreds. The numbers are still being verified. And they were able to launch an attack, a multidimensional attack on the ground, at sea, in the air. We will have to investigate and we will have to ask ourselves tough questions. How this happened . How hamas was able to launch such an attack with such horrible consequences for israeli civilians . And we will have to provide the idea well have to provide honest answers to israeli public. And it will take time to set things right in israel again after the fighting ends. That, as important and interesting and pressing as it is, and i understand the interest, is of secondary importance. The number one priority is to make sure that we clear all israeli communities of terrorists that are still inside israel as we speak. Yeah. 4 15 a. M. In israel. We are still fighting, clearing the last houses and locations and communities and bases. Hopefully at the break of dawn, we will be able to declare that we have finally restored sovereignty and order in israel. But that has not yet been achieved. And that will be our number one priority. Then we will lock down the border and make sure there are no other terrorists coming in. Then we shall start to focus on hitting hamas like we have never hit hamas before. So how many hostages do you believe hamas has . How many Israeli Soldiers and civilians did they kidnap . Hamas in their gruesome brutality abducted women, children, elderly, and then disabled elderly persons and dragged them, some of them live, some of them dead, into gaza and have paraded them on the streets of gaza. To be lynched and displayed. There are, unfortunately, a significant number of israelis in hamas hands. Is that hundreds . I cant say the number. You cant say the number . I cannot say the number. It is an extremely delicate situation that were dealing with. It is unprecedented. For israel to have so many of us, our civilians and Service Members in the hands of a jihadi Terrorist Organization. But i can say, unfortunately, that we are talking about substantial numbers. Its not one or two. And that will, of course, have a very heavy influence on future decisionmaking in israel. The Israeli Cabinet convened and finished its meeting a few hours ago, and the idf has been ordered to take away from hamas any and every military capability and its ability to govern the gaza strip. That can be interpreted in many ways. Yeah. And it leaves room for people to ask questions. But what the idf will do is make sure this kind of attack will never, ever be launched by hamas against israel again. So i heard Prime Minister netanyahu say that anybody in any palestinians in gaza who dont want to be hit in the response from israel to this Terrorist Attack on israeli civilians should get out. But obviously gaza is a place that palestinians cannot get out from. Will there be an opportunity for palestinians who are in gaza who want to leave, perhaps even opponents of hamas, to leave that area . Yeah, it is a densely populated area. It is an area where hamas has built all of its Military Infrastructure underneath the civilians. Right. Using the civilians as their human shields. Right. That is how they have designed their posture. That is not a bug, its a feature of how hamas operates. And what we are saying for the sake of civilians, they should be as far away as possible from anything related to hamas. Weve said it in arabic by Arabic Language spokesperson calling on gaza civilians, go as far as possible from anything related to hamas. Yes, its not switzerland and they need and its difficult, its a difficult place. But they should go south. They can go towards the shore. They can be in locations that are not close to hamas facilities. They shouldnt be they shouldnt have allowed hamas in the first place to build and to use them as their human shields. But thats a discussion for another time. But what matters now is that, yes, we care about human life and we do not want Palestinian Civilians to be affected by the coming fighting and by the level of destruction we will rain upon hamas. Again, its worth mentioning and reiterating that responsibility for everything thats happening, for the dead, for the butchered men, women, and children and soldiers in israel and for the Palestinian Civilians lies squarely with hamas. They started, they are the aggressors. We are responding to their aggression. And we are defending ourselves against their aggression. And thats important to keep in mind, because this is how it started. We know how things start. We also know that as soon as we start to defend ourselves, israel is called out and held to impossible standards when it comes to hitting military targets and defending ourselves against terrorists. And i hope that people keep that in mind as the battle continues. Yeah. And were only at the beginning. Jonathan conricus, appreciate your time. Well talk to a former u. S. Ambassador to israel next, stay with us. Were back with cnns continuing coverage of israel at war in response to the hamas Terrorist Attacks this morning. As attacked are launched into israel, many people are sheltering, some going to Bomb Shelters for safety even in israels biggest cities. Ari goldberg, an american who now lives in tel aviv. Ari, youre originally from new jersey. Tell us whats going on where you are . Honestly, ive been here for nine years, and its by far the worst situation ive ever seen in my life. Just this morning, as you heard, it was a jewish holiday. Im an orthodox you, so i didnt have my phone on me. I went to synagogue this morning to go pray. And were in the middle of dancing, and all of a sudden Air Raid Siren sorry, rocket siren. And someone shouted siren, everybody to the floor. We crowded down on the floor. There were a bunch of little kids that were borderline crying, hysterical. And then one of the fathers next to me, okay, guys, lets start singing, lets sing together, try to cheer up the kids to help them a little bit. Only then busting out our phones to understand what was going ging on. People told us the situation down south, theres a war starting. We went home just to be near Bomb Shelters. And then later in the afternoon, a friend of mine came knocking on the door frantically and told me they called up the reserves, they called everybody up for the reserves. I got in my car, drove over to his base. On the the way i saw tons of roadblockings, checkpoint, where theyre searching every single car, looking for terrorists. I saw thousands of reservists lined up going back to base. It was horrible. Then i got home only late tonight after being stuck in all the traffic, and i checked twitter. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff you see on the news is not the worst of it. On twitter, a lot of its not censored. Theres videos going around of people harassing in gaza, a kidnapped little boy who must be 5 years old. Yeah, i saw that. Parading around of an almost naked woman, her corpse, covered in blood. Parading her around and celebrating and giving out candy and fireworks. The pictures also of old, elderly people at bus stops sorry, im getting very emotional. Understandably so. Elderly people shot at a bus stop . Yeah, the images are absolutely horrific. Its hard. Young people who are at a Peace Festival who were kidnapped and shot. Horrible. Theres a picture going around of clearly very elderly women, probably in their 70s or 80s, with Gunshot Holes in their heads and dead on the floor. And thats something that youre not going to see on the media. Fortunately we have twitter, which is doing a pretty good job of showing us whats going on. I will warn People Watching, theres also some bogus stuff on twitter as well. There is a lot of bogus stuff. Yeah, and theres other stuff too. Ari, you i dont know how old you were on 9 11. You look relatively young. I was 4 years old. 4, so you dont remember 9 11. I was going to ask you to compare but its not a fair comparison. I dont remember so much, to be honest. Ive heard people compare this to israels 9 11. I think People WatchingAround The World maybe dont understand. Because israel is at war quite a bit, relative to other countries. But this i think this targeting of civilians so specifically is what is shocking and the kidnapping of so many hundreds of civilians. No, its horrible. I mean, i didnt really get to re