Beginning, speaking just moments ago just the beginning of his countrys response and quickly escalating a war between israel and hamas began saturday at 6 30 a. M. With the Terror Offensive that left hundreds of civilians slaughtered dead. In the last hour we learned volunteers in israel checked more than 100 bodies from that massacre. Hamas claims to have taken more than 100 hostages and Islamic Jihad says theyve taken 30 and hamas warns they will start killing them if israel strikes gaza without warning. I want to go back on the ground with cnns Nic Robertson who is, i believe, stilld sderot. Nic, talk about what you are seeing there this evening. Yeah. Weve heard the fighter jets in the sky. We havent heard any major, massive explosions coming from gaza for a little while. There havent been any incoming Artillery Shells fired by rather, there has not been any incoming rocket fire from hamas into this area in the past hour or so, so in that way its been quiet, but one thing that were picking up on in that slightly quieter state that it is is outgoing artillery fire. Weve seen howitzers being deployed around here by the idf. Weve seen some of the sort of mechanized, very big howitzer guns that can fire a Long Distance and we know from previous standoffs and situations with hamas that this is the sort of area where Israeli Defense forces have placements of howitzers and theyll use the howitzers to fire Artillery Shells which can be very precise on to Precision Hamas targets within gaza. We can hear the outgoing shells and very faintly hear some thuds detonating at the other end. The israeli the idf is not saying it is using howitzers at the moment, but they have done so in the past and been very open about it and standard warfare procedure, and potentially as well, alongside the fighter jets with those Precision Air drop munitions, there is a possibility that the lighter weapon is also being used at the moment. The Artillery Shells to target hamas, and to target their firing positions. That would be very much in keeping with what israel has done and very much in keeping and getting a footprint on the ground and getting Forward Momentum and in keeping what the Prime Minister is talking about here which is building up and putting pressure on hamas, that our Military Hardware that weve seen coming in place over the last 24 hours and plus now in place, it seems some of it is being used to target hamas and gaza, anderson . Nic, i want to bring in also cnns Clarissa Ward who is in ashkelon also along the border or very close to the border with gaza. Clarissa, we heard from benjamin netanyahu, no real details about what the next stage of this war is going to look like. No specifics about a Ground Incursion. You were listening to his comments to make sure, but so far it seems he was talking in generalities. What are you seeing on the ground . Well, its really interesting, anderson, because i think everybody had been sort of anticipating that he might announce some kind of a Ground Incursion or offensive. As you say he was pretty vague with his language and basically just stealing the isteeling the israeli people for a fight that is not going to be easy and not going to be quick. Bee have seen armor in terms of personnel and we saw a large staging ground for tanks earlier on today so there has been a lot of speculation that this is what would be on the cards. The complicating factor as everybody has mentioned before is the wild card of what that would mean for these hostages, these dozens of hostages who we believe are still inside the gaza strip, who we do not know if they are still alive, but who, of course, now hamas has threatened to execute potentially broadcasting those executions. I will say that strangely, after more or less 24 hours of Nonstop Bombardment in the last 20 minutes or so it has suddenly gone very quiet here and i dont know if thats as nic was alluding to that they are using different sorts of munitions and weaponry at this stage, but the jets that had been overhead, and i should say its also raining a little bit. It could be a cloud cover thing. Frankly, its impossible to say, but it is a little quieter here in this moment after a day which was just nonstop, really ratcheting up the tension and the tempo and the specter of some kind of a Ground Incursion which for the moment at least does not appear from Prime Minister netanyahus comments to be imminent. And clarissa, in terms in gaza, the Israelis Have Cut Off electricity access that that crossing, that humanitarian crossing which is where supplies used to move between which was used, i should point out, by hamas militants, Hamas Terrorists to invade and attack civilians in israel saturday morn. Thats one of the major Crossing Points that they used, this socalled humanitarian Crossing Point they used to attack. Can you just talk a little bit about what you have been seeing and what weve been seeing in terms of the bombardment inside gaza . So, anderson, ive been covering gaza since 2006, and i have seen some pretty intense bombardment before. I have never seen anything on the level of what weve been seeing going into the gaza strip over the last 24 hours. 2 Million People there, of course. The vast majority of them are civilians. Tonight there is no food going in, no fuel going in, no electricity. It is dark. It is quieter right now, but it has been a horrendous day. The latest death toll that were hearing is 560 palestinians have been killed. I think there is an anticipation that that number is only going to get much higher as the coming days unfold and its unclear for those civilians who are trapped there where they can go, what they can do, how they can protect themselves, anderson . And Nic Robertson, in terms of military movement, what are you seeing . Yeah. Quite literally while weve been chatting here weve seen another Military Convoy come down this road. One of the reasons we put ourselves here this evening is to have this view of what happens in gaza through these nighttime hours, but also this main road here and theres a lot of Military Traffic on it, and just down here there is a lefthand turn and if you take that lefthand turn theres only one place where that road goes to. It goes toward the gaza border fence, and we just saw another large Military Convoy come down the highway and take that lefthand turn down there toward gaza. It doesnt mean that theyre going in, but you can see very clearly about that convoy it was loaded up with boxes and supplies under tarp as the troops in their vehicles, as well. They had a lot of supplies latched on the back. There was, without giving away too many details here of what were seeing unfolding in front of our eyes, this was a unit that was going in with everything they needed from food to fuel to troops to weapons to go in and stage somewhere and maintain a presence there for an extended period of time, and as i say, that road that they took it goes only one place, towards the gaza border fence. Indicative of just more forces being deployed, ready to help secure the border or for any other potential mission that might come their way, such as an incursion. Anderson . Yeah. We should point out there have been troops going toward the border to try to shore up the border over the last 60 hours. That has been one of the, obviously, there were a number of Infiltration Points for Hamas Terrorists into israel throughout the day saturday into sunday and most of those have been shored up. Some are still patched up and obviously, its still a great concern. Clarissa ward and Nic Robertson, thank you. The u. S. Response, the u. S. Is sending some of the most advanced Military Assets to the middle east including the newest Aircraft Carrier and the heavily armed strike group and squadrons of u. S. Fighter jets are also being deployed to the region. Joining me now is retired u. S. Army major mike lyons. Major lyons, talk about what kind of capabilities those assets have and the role they will play here. I think first and foremost the navy is going to project power and provide a platform for the potential for americans to get out of that country and be the place that as they have released or they have come about will go there. There have to be a way also to threaten and deter from proxy forces that the iranians still support any kind of way to reinforce hamas with naval assets and i think theyll do that as well. Theyll have to steer clear because hamas have potentially missiles that could hit those ships and theyll be on alert. On the air assets, theyre providing second and third tier overall air support. The israeli idf has enough capability to start this air war which as theyve done right now as they position those Ground Forces in place. I think the warfare remains deception so theyll pick and choose the time when they want to mount that offense, ground operation into gaza. The capabilities of hamas have certainly surprised, gotten the attention of a lot of governments around the world in terms of a the israeli operation inside gaza. What should Israeli Forces expect if there was to be a Ground Incursion because certainly, there are very few people who were not caught by surprise with the coordination and the planning abilities and the projection of force that hamas was able to do saturday morning completely without, it seems any warning to Israeli Intelligence and u. S. Intelligence or other intelligence agencies. Thats right, but it was still fundamentally what wed call in the armed forces light. It was not any kind of tanks. It was small arms and hang gliders and it was more of a Terrorist Attack, but what the idf will bring will be Shock Attempts and deception and theyll bring things that once they isolate targets they will be killed very quickly. I think right now the Ground Forces are staying out as the Special Forces are maybing sure that theyve got any chance of capturing hostages from intel that they know. I think you will see a lot of stories of the rescue of some of those hostages by some really brave Israeli Forces that will go quickly in the night and the middle of the night and rescue them because it is so close to when those kidnappings took place. Any kind of operation in gaza city, it is a warrants of streets densely packed blocks. There are a lot of People Living in a very small amount of space and there is a terrorist group which runs the place and is very well entrenched and very well prepared and entrenched and house to house clearing and weve seen it time and time again. In gaza city, everybody in israel knows that that would be an extremely difficult, difficult fight. Well, and thats why theyve called up the 300,000 reservists that they have. Based on what the Prime Minister said, that looks like what theyre going to target and go after. It will be the house to house, street to street and hitting each one of those specific buildings and i think youre, unfortunately, going to see Collateral Damage that we havent seen in combat and conflict that weve not seen this century going back to what happened during the second world war. I know right now projecting Tens Of Thousands might even be lower and there could be Hundreds Of Thousands and hamas is making a bet that the Israeli Government and the idf wont be able to get away as they try to show that on social media, and just from what the Prime Minister said theyre not going to stop and theyll do whatever they can and theyre not going to have i military presence and they will not have a Government Presence when this is over. Well, theres a lot still to be learned again. Benjamin netanyahu not surprising some today by not specifically talking about whether there would be a Ground Incursion, perhaps not wanting to tip off their hand or perhaps that decision hasnt yet been made and he didnt specifically mention that in his remarks this even. T stay with cnn for special live coverage from this region. Well be right there are a lot of questions and concerns about whether iran had anything to do with hamas Terror Attack in israel in terms of planning and funding and coordination. U. S. Intelligence officials are actively trying to determine exactly what, if any, role iran played. Iran obviously backs hamas and is is right behind Islamic Jihad as well that operates in gaza. Irans president called the attack a victory. Its Foreign Ministry claims that iran was he claims that iran are involved and are accusations made for political motives. Susan glasser is a staff writer with the new yorker. She joins me now and just penned a piece of Nick Sullivan taking on another crisis, Jake Sullivans trial by comek bah inside the white house, and his battle to keep ukraine in the fight. Susan, i appreciate you being with us. Obviously, iran is a major backer of Islamic Jihad and hamas. What do you think about the possibilities of a direct link between iran and the hamas attacks . Well, of course, were going to learn a lot more in the coming days both about what kind, if any warnings, even if they were quite general. The israelis and possibly that the u. S. Did, as well. No one has said anything about any specific warnings, but in a bigpicture sense, anderson, youre absolutely right. This is a group that has been funded, supported and sustained in part by support from iran. So there is a nexus there. Also looking at irans longtime support for hezbollah which is involved in an exchange of fire with israel right now and the Northern Borders of israel. Again, the real worry here in addition to whatever reprisals were now going to see in gaza is that the threat of a wider, more regional war. Obviously, this is also a moment where the Biden Administration has been trying to broker peace talks with saudi arabia and would benefit iran if that deal did not go through. You know, we have seen we have seen fighting here, obviously for a very long time. 2006 on the northern border and the fight against hezbollah and lebanon, incursions into gaza, the Israeli Forces in gaza in control of the city until 2005 when they pulled out. There is a certain pattern if these things. Its usually an exchange of rocket fire between Israeli Forces and hamas forces in gaza. Everybody seems to say this is going to be different. What do you think this looks like moving forward . I mean, there are a lot of unknowns, obviously. Does hezbollah get more involved . What sort of incursion does take place in gaza and also what the International Response to it as people around the world watch gaza city without electricity being pummeled . Well, thats the horror of the situation. Whats different, first of all, it must be said is the horrific scale and nature of this attack on unarmed civilians across a large number of israeli communities. Were looking already and many, many hundreds dead and the final death toll isnt even known yet. There is an unknown number of captives in gaza and what will happen to them as the scale of israels response becomes clear. That will all shape how the world looks upon this and what the International Consequences are, but right now i think we can already say that this is going to be different than the previous exchanges of rocket fire and retaliation. That cycle has been broken by a dramatic Terrorist Attack. So i think we are looking at what the Israeli Government has called a fullscale war. Thats not a term that they have use in the previous rounds of this and i think were at a rupture point. What do you think the options are short of a Ground Incursion . Is it possible for them to retrieve the hostages . Is it possible for them to really effect if the e Lum Na Elimination of hamas as a threat to israel is a goal as stated by the Israeli Government, can you do that without being on the ground in gaza . Yeah. I mean, rate ight now it seems people are almost expecting and bracing for a fullscale Ground Conflict in addition to the exchanges of missiles and rocket fire that w