This is the aftermath in the city of ashkalon, not far from the gaza border. This all comes some 48 hours after hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack by land, by sea, and by air, killing civilians and taking hostages overnight. Israeli air strikes pummeled hundreds of targets in the gaza strip. Israels Defense Minister has this morning ordered a, quote, complete siege, saying electricity, food, and fuel will all be cut off. The videos show the horror on the ground at a Music Festival in israel are 260 people have been found dead. This is a drone video of burned out cars at the site. A dash camera video shows a hamas Fighter Shooting his rifle and taking a hostage. This morning, a spokesman for the Israeli Military say that hamas have brought dozen of hostages and there could be terrorists hiding in israel now. They came in in hundreds. There still could be terrorists. Were slowly scanning each of the communities and were evacuating the israeli population from these locations. Cnns hadas gold is live in jerusalem. Hadas, this has been such a fastmoving story over the course of the last couple of days. Wheres your sense of where the things stand right now on the ground . Reporter this is israels essentially worst nightmare. When my situation with Israeli Security officials over my past three years here or so, i dont think anyone ever imagined what is happening right now over the last two days or so. Earlier today, jerusalem, televiv were once again targeted by a barrage of rockets. I was in my apartment when this happened, and as soon as it was over, i came out on my balcony and i could see a plume of black smoke coming in the area of jerusalem. Jerusalem in these conflicts in the past seems to be taken out of the equation. It might get one round of rockets and thats about it. Its different this time. And it feels different across this region. This feels completely different. Thats what youre hearing from the Israeli Military as well. Theyre saying, this isnt an operation, this isnt a tit for tat, this is a fullout war. Israel has not properly declared war, guys, since the 1973 Yom Kippur War 50 years ago. And thats whats so stung ning about all of this. Here in jerusalem, ive been hearing a constant roar of fighter jets going overhead, likely flying towards the gaza strip. We know they have been pummeling the gaza strip, multiple airstrips down, but because of the blockade on gaza, the electricity, the internet is not really fully available there. Our full picture of whats actually happen in gaza, its hard for us to completely understand exactly the scale of whats happening there. Of course, we know there are hundreds of casualties, thousands have been injured. In israel, we know of at least 700 who have been killed. We know that theres at least 2,500 injuries. Guys, just what happened at that Music Festival by itself, this is the largest Mass Casualty Event in israeli history. And thats just one event of the many that were seeing right now. And only in the last few hours did we get confirmation from the Israeli Military that they have finally regained control of some of those communities in Southern Israel, where they were engaging with militants in firefights for 48 hours after this first happened. Thats just incredible, that there were still residents in Southern Israel being told to barricade themselves in their homes, to not leave, for fear of militants still being there. And theres a fear there could be other Sleeper Cells or other militants that might appear. We have heard from the minister of defense, who has declared a complete blockade on the gaza strip. This means no electricity, no fuel, no food, nothing will be going in and out of gaza for the foreseeable future. Eyes are still on the north. There were some reports that Air Raid Sirens have gone off in the north. That is a very, very concerning development. We dont have that confirmed yet whether that means there were rockets fired or not. If hezbollah decides to join this fight, we are on a whole different level of conflict here, the likes of which this region has never seen before. That would be from Southern Lebanon into north and from the south there from gaza. Hadas, your reporting has been extraordinary throughout this. Thank you very much for joining us live from vojerusalem. Cnns Nic Robertson joins us live. Youve seen the movement of the Military Equipment firsthand. What can you tell us this hour that everybody is working under the assumption that an assault and an incursion is coming. No official confirmation yet. What are you seeing . You know, i think its going to take realistically some time for that to actually happen. On a scale that perhaps people imagine. You know, i dont think its beyond the realms of possibility that if the Israeli Defense force got active and timely precise intelligence about the location of some hostages, that they would try to take that opportunity to get them. But i think thats exceptionally unlikely. And the sort of Ground Incursion that weve seen in the past, and ive been here before when thats taken place, its taken some time to gather the troops and equipment and material. And i dont see that many place yet. I do see increasing security. What you can see behind me now is gaza. Im going to step out of the way. Youre looking at Apartment Buildings in gaza, the city itself, that gives you a sense of the dense structure of the population. Im hearing a fighter yet. You can actually see the fighter jet overhead here, flying quite literally towards gaza literally. It would be hard to show. Well try to show some smoke coming from the horizon in gaza itself, that appears to be the aftermath of an earlier strike that has taken place in gaza. But from our position now, we have views over gaza, the gaza strip and i can still hear that fighter jet that i saw flying through the sky on its way to gaza. Often, when we hear or see those jets flying, and its flying relatively low, and i can see it relatively easy, when we hear that, we hear them coming over. Normally you get an impact in gaza. Its not clear if thats what were going to see or witness from here right now, but its typical of what has been happening over the past 24 to 36 hours, with increasing frequency, as israel tries to stop those additional rocket strikes being launched, as weve witnessed earlier today. Nic, as somebody who has so much experience in the region, in that area specifically, can you explain to people what the effect of the Defense Minister ordering a full siege, cutting off electricity, water, food, what does that mean in practice . Reporter its going to mean an increasingly difficult humanitarian situation in gaza. Gaza is incredibly poor. You can hear that fighter jet again. Its incredibly poor. Has one of the densest populations in the world. They absolute their economy absolutely is on its knees and relies on the ability of palestinians to come into israel to work and get some money, which keeps the Economy Ticking over. That and humanitarian aid and financial, you know, financial stipends from states that are trying to feed the civilian population in gaza. It is a population that will very, very, very quickly feel the effects of an electricity stoppage, it does have a border with egypt, and it is possible to get food and electricity from egypt. But it has come to rely on israel for a large part of the populations needs. So it will be felt. And that will be a Pressure Point on the government, on the leadership of hamas. But it will also be it will also be something that hamas will use to further their position that, you know, we will lead you in this tough situation, its israel thats the problem, not us thats the problem. That will be their message. But it is likely to be a scenario where we will hear from aid officials about the decline in the health situation, in the decline of safe drinking water, in the decline of enough food for populations there. So 2 Million People is a lot of people in a tiny space not to have clean water thats getting filtered that wont be filtered without the electricity. The pressures will grow, without a doubt. No question, nic. As nic was pointing out, we are now looking at live pictures of gaza city. You can see the smoke rising from what appeared to be a strike coming right around the time that nic was pointing out the israeli fighter jets or jet that was flying over the top of him right now. This is continuing to be an escalating situation that weve seen back and forth over the course of the last several hours, as things continue to move towards what has been a very Fluid Situation. One with very little if any precedent up to this point. Nic robertson has been on the ground, is keeping us posted. Thanks very much, nic. Well keep you posted on those strikes, but the death toll rises. We are learning more this morning about the victims and the families who are in mourning. We are about to introduce you to a man who lost his daughter and his soninlaw and nearly his lost his grandchild as well. Elon trohan says that his daughter and her husband both lost their lives shielding their 16yearold son, rotim. A bullet penetrated his grandsons stomach but he did survive and is recovering right now. Hes an israeli scholar and Professor Emeritus at brandeis university. I am deeply sorry for the loss of your daughter, debora. Thank you. Thank you. So are we. Tell me about her. Tell me about her. Debora was a child of light and life. She rather than becoming a scientist or a physician, she said to me one day, dad, i have to do music, because its in my soul. So she went to the equivalent of the Berkeley School of music in boston, she went to the Ramon School Where she met her husband. Actually, Debora Grew Up and thats where im speaking to you from. Those jet planes are flying over my house in gaza. And to give you a sense of geography, it is 45 seconds from gaza to my house. Thats the time that we have to go into our domestic bomb shelter. So she is a singer, a child of life, she was the center of organizing festivals, of parties, of celebration. And it was a natural role for her. Shes the part of a family of six children and is used to the commotion and the Wondrous Tumult Of Being in a big family and that kind of excitement and pleasure was communicated to the people amongst whom she lived. Can i Say Something to you . Of course, of course. Can i Say Something . You had on before parents who want information on their children. I want to tell you is that i had too much information. This is not a normal war. It isnt like theres a front and a rear. We were on the phone with debora as she was killed. We were on the phone the entire day with our son our grandson, rotim, as he lay first under her body and then found a place to escape under a blanket in a laundry. In other words, we live in an age of cell phones. We all knew, most of israel knew what was going on. We had contact with and have contact with our loved ones, our husbands, our children, our family members, our friends, our neighbors. We were participants in what can only be called a pogrum. This is not a military event. This is not a military strike. The historic interpretation or explanation of a pogrum is when a military strikes at civilians. And this attack was rehearsed, well rehearsed, well planned, carried out. And if you look at what theyre doing, theyre taking hostages from infants to senior citizens, people older than i am, denying them their rights. I wonder if theyre giving them their medications. If theyre giving them visitation, theyre allowing them to communicate . In short, this is a Human Rights Outrage that really echos what the kind of pogrums that made my grandparents leave europe for the safety of meamerica. We know among those hostages, according to the israeli ambassador, include Holocaust Survivors as well as children and elderly, as you mentioned. Absolutely. Ilan, you had to taken the phone call from rotim, and we are so thankful that he survived, but he had to call you and tell you that his parents are alive saving his life. Was texting. He was told not to speak, and therefore he was to hide and use texting. By the time he was rescued, he had 4 left in his battery. Other people ran out beforehand and he was lucky to have his, t chat that was invented to help them. That chat extended from Southern Israel up to the north. Up through the galilee. And it included people who were social workers and a trauma specialist, telling him how to breathe. What to do with the bleeding the blood that was coming out of his abdomen. How to what actions might be helpful, encourage him, telling him that, youre a hero trying to raise his spirits. T to endure more than 12 hours of hiding when he could hear outside people speaking in arabic and engaging in shooting. You should know that he was in a safe room, but that made no difference, because the terrorists who came, they had explosives and blew up the front door to their house and then blew out the front door to their socalled safe room. This was an unbelievably well prepared attack on a civilian population. It was not an attack of military against military, so it was planned. And thats going to be our problem Going Forward with hostages. The hamas wants hostages. They planned on having hostages. And how we deal with that is a conundrum that very few other countries have ever dealt with successfully. After all, in america, how long did it take to get people out of iran and so on or somalia or other places . So we have a firstclass problem, but what we do know is that we will not tolerate thousands of rockets being sent against a civilian population. I heard before somebody talking about the outrage of ngos that are concerned about human rights. I would like to hear ngos being outraged about the ending of thousands upon thousands of rockets that are inaccurate against civilian population centers. That is an outrage. Sorry. No, do not apologize. You got me excited. This is a hard time in which to live. Do not apologize. You lost your daughter and your soninlaw. Just before i let you go, is rotim going to be okay . Rotim will be fine. He is the brunt of the shot was born by his mother and it penetrated his stomach very a short distance, missed any vital o organs. There are also some splinters near his eye and ankle and other places, but theyre minor. The other children lots of siblings, its a big family here, were walking with him through the halls of hospital. Hes 16, resilient. He survived this. Hell survive more. But the trauma of the this is going to last his lifetime. Of course. Of course, it will. And saved by his mother. Ilan troen, thank you. Thank you. These are live pictures this morning. Israel continues its strikes into gaza. We are just learning from the State Department that Nine Americans have been killed in israel since saturday. Were going to get an update from the State Department, Spokesman Matt Miller will be with us. Stay with us. Happening now, you see the smoke rising above gaza, as israel continues to launch counterstrikes in response to the attacks by hamas militants. This just in, the state Department SaysNine Americans were killed in those attacks in israel. Joining us now, state Department Spokesman matthew miller. I appreciate your time. To start there, it had been four, its now been updated to nine. Can you tell us more about what you know about the americans that have been killed so far . So ill start with, yes, i can confirm that Nine Americans unfortunately have lost their lives as a result of these horrific attacks in the region. We are in close contact with the government of israel, as they continue to conduct Security Operations to locate missing u. S. Citizens, missing israeli citizens. And we are, of course, in close contact with the families of these nine deceased americans and offering them any consular assistance that we can provide. Does the u. S. Have any sense of how Many American citizens or dual citizens are missing at this point . Its very hard to say. Its a number that moves all the time, as the Israeli Military continues to conduct military operations. There are missing americans who are unaccounted for. Weve continued to work. Some of them will be located, we suspect, some of them may unfortunately turn out to be deceased, but we will work on that with the government of israel in the coming days. And is there any Information Available as to whether or not any of them have been taken hostage . We cannot confirm that at this point. There are reports of that, but there are americans who are unaccounted for, and our first provider is to locate those americans, find out what their status is in the coming hours and days. You know, matt, the secretary secretary blinken, you could see through the readouts of the phone calls, its been a furious effort on the diplomatic side over the course of the last 48 hours. Is there a sense inside your department right now that an offensive from israel, a Ground Incursion is almost an inevitability . I think i will let israel speak to th