Dont go anywhere. We have much more from the region because cnn this morning starts right now. Announcer this is cnn Breaking News. Good morning, everyone. Im poppy harlow along with Phil Mattingly in new york. Our erin burnett is live near the gaza border. Its 6 00 a. M. Here on the east coast. 1 00 p. M. In israel where we are following Breaking News on several fronts in this escalating war between israel and hamas. The Israeli Military says 300,000 troops with tanks and artillery are massing near the gaza border as air strikes continue to rain down this morning. A Ground Invasion looking more possible as well. And they are now close to the gaza strip, getting ready to execute the mission that they have been given that we have been given by the Israeli Government, and that to make sure that hamas at the end of this war wont have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill israeli civilians. That is our military aim. The Israel Defense force releasing this new video of it bombing a University Hours ago. Idf officials says hamas has turned it into a Training Center to make weapons. This is a video of the destruction in gaza this morning. The government there warning that all electricity will completely stop shortly. Right now we dont know the fate of all the hostages who were kidnapped from israel and taken to gaza. President biden has confirmed americans are among the captives and at least 20 u. S. Citizens are currently unaccounted for. The Death Toll Surprise Assault continues to rise. Now at least 1200 people are confirmed dead as the scale and savagery, the massacre comes to light. Cnn got a firsthand look at an Israeli Community center where hamas butchered innocent civilians including women, toddlers and babies. Overnight, the first round of weapons and ammunition from the United States arrived in israel. We have Team Coverage from around the region and here at home. Lets get right to erin burnett near the gaza border. Erin, at this point, what are you seeing . What are you hearing . Reporter so phil and poppy, we are just three miles from the gaza border. And what we have been hearing is a lot of incoming and outgoing fire. We have heard air strikes. We have theres been obviously air Siren Warnings sort of in areas you can actually literally see them. I dont know if you can hear the Artillery Fire going on right around us. It is a very active location right now. Were three miles off the gaza border. Poppy and phil, i want you to look behind me because on this ridge, albert, our Photo Journalist is zooming in right now. And these are some of the Israeli Forces that you just heard about massing. What we see here are armored tanks. We see armored personnel carriers. And we counted just along this one ridge about 15 bulldozers. Heavy bulldozers, obviously. Military bulldozers. Obviously thats significant in the context of where we are, three miles from the gaza border. An ominous sign of what a Ground Invasion would look like and what it would entail when you talk about 2 Million People so densely packed on the other side of the border. As we were here, an air strike that we heard, one where we literally ducked for cover as we heard it. As were standing here pausing within a few seconds, up to 20 people in gaza were killed in that air strike. So, thats whats literally going on at this moment. Very active. And of course, just a few miles from here where Nic Robertson has been obviously very active there, too, as well with a lot of sirens and rockets incoming. As we just talked about these 300,000 troops, artillery amassed a the border, Jake Sullivan at the white house said yesterday theyre not expecting israel to pursue a siege, that word being critical of gaza. I know its impossible to predict whats going to happen, but youre there. Reporter well, you know, when you look at what were seeing behind us, and this is an open field. So theyre not just sitting here, right . Theyre sitting here with a purpose, right . Theyre sitting here with the purpose of going in and invasion. Thats why theyre here. And obviously when you think about gaza already, what does the word siege mean . You have 263,000 people already displaced according to the u. N. , poppy. They say already theres been disruption because of infrastructure strikes by israel. So sewage is piling up on the street. Two of their three major mobile Communication Networks are already down. The situation there already very dire. Depending on what word you use. I should also say, phil and poppy, while were here, i dont want to imply that theyre already sitting here and isnt more being added. We see active military Israeli Military going by on the road right in front of me. And as they go by, on the top of their armored vehicles, there will be someone on the top with a Heavy Machine Gunmaning that heavy machine gun. So they are very actively moving into this area even as we speak. When you talk about that 300,000, that is literally soldier after soldier moving in. Erin, i think theres been a lot of sense of an inevitable ground incursion. We have no idea what the timeline is. We only know what israeli officials have said publicly at this point. Given what you have seen at this point on the ground, do we have any sense of time line . Reporter well, i can tell you what the feeling is and the perception is from people around here is that its imminent. That doesnt mean that it is. That is definitely the feeling and the perception. I had a conversation with former Deputy Defense minister here also former israeli ambassador to the u. N. , and his Point Of View was, it is inevitable because what is israel supposed to do when you have this much death in a Terror Strike on your country. They are really left, they feel, with no other option. Defense minister said all restraints are off for idf forces occupying who may go into gaza. What does that mean . We dont know. Theyre here. Theyre in open air. They are very visible to any militants in gaza who, as i said, are just a few miles away. Theres no attempt here to disguise what their plans are or where they are. I dont know if you can hear it, but you do hear a regular fire and artillery here in the distance behind me. Erin, live near the israel gaza border. Well check back with you throughout the morning. Thank you very much. More on the military side. The idf announcing hours ago that it struck what it called a hamasadvanced detection system for aircraft as well as Bank Branchs Hamas allegedly used to Fund Terrorism and other sites. All while israeli troops amass during the gaza border. We have seen over the course of the last several days the ramping up of these air strikes. Obviously the building up of israeli troops on the border. What does this mean for preparations for what could be an incursion that does not have any precedent base on that conflict . Yeah, phil. This will be quite something because the type of incursion that were looking at here is one that could conceivably affect everything right in here. And what i mean by that is this, lets take a look and put some troops out in this area right here. This is really what youre going to be seeing in these areas. And when you see some of these areas right here in gaza, youre going to be finding a very difficult area for them to get into. As erin was talking about, youve got a lot of different areas in which the israelis are going to be responding to each of these areas. And youve got really a response that is calculated to i think eliminate a lot of what hamas Fighting Capability is. When we see that, well know it. But it looks like the invasion is more inevitable than it was just 24 hours ago. What about what weve seen develop overnight and that is the idf announcing theyre striking inside of lebanese territory. Since saturday, there had been some strikes in the south of lebanon into israeli territory. But what does this Development Mean . So, some of the strikes right here, poppy, into lebanon, are actually quite important because what the israelis are trying to do is theyre trying to warn the hezbollah forces and any other forces that are right in lebanon, several other militias there, theyre trying to warn them to stay out of this. Hezbollah has basically made noises that they would be supporting hamas in gaza. And that they would provide some type of aid potentially to them in any of these areas. But that is the kind of thing that we see here. And what we could have happen is basically a multifront war. If that happens, that could create some major problems for israel because if they work here and here, they could, in fact, have to divide their forces. Thats something that they have to be very careful about. But right now, a large portion of their forces are in gaza, or near the gaza border, but they also have a large portion that is facing the hezbollah forces and lebanon in the north. We just showed video the u. S. Plane carrying ammunition landed in israel, in addition to u. S. Military personnel who have come into the region obviously. Warships were sent into the region as well. How critical are the supplies as u. S. Efforts to continue to supply israel given whats expected in the weeks ahead . These supplies, phil, are critical. The reason for that is that all of the things that are provided right here are really just in time provisions for the Israeli Military. They need our support because they dont have the stockpiles to carry this operation out in a way that would allow for them to respond to what has happened to them in these areas around gaza. So, what they need is as much ammo as they can get. They need intelligence support and special operation support and these are the kinds of things that are going to be part of this whole effort. So what we can expect more flights like the one we just saw coming into israel to provide that level of support and thats going to continue for as long as this lasts. Thank you very much. U. S. Government sending a message to hezbollah. You just heard the colonel talking about that, saying stay out of the war in israel. Thats a quote. We have new reporting on that ahead. And were learning more about the barbaric nature of the hamas attacks. New remarks by Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu say their tactics make them, quote, worse than isis. We were struck saturday by an attack whose savagery i can say we have not seen since the holocaust. We had hundreds massacred. Families wiped out in their bed in their homes. Women brutally raped and murdered. Over 100 kidnapped including children. Theyre even worse than isis. Welcome back. Journalists are trying to keep the world informed about this war, some are paying with their lives. Press Freedom Organization say at least seven journalists have been killed since hamas launched its attack. Three were shot and killed in gaza. One died with her family when an israeli air strike hit their home. And new video this morning shows the Funeral Procession for two members of the press who died in a bombing on a civilian building in gaza. What you see there covered in white sheets also with Those Iconic Press Helmets placed on their bodies as a tribute to their work. The third journalist was also killed in that same bombing. New reports say israel is Counterstriking Inside Lebanese territory after antitank missiles were launched at a lebanese. It fired on israeli site in response to the killing of three of its members on monday. Now the u. S. And its allies are warning hezbollah not to take advantage of israels war with hamas and risk escalating the conflict. Here is defense secretary lloyd austin speaking just about an hour ago. No other party hostile to israel should try to exploit these dispeckable attacks. Cnns Natasha Bertrand joins us live from the pentagon. The unekwif kl drum kbeet phil, u. S. Officials are extremely concerned that hezbollah could take advantage of this chaos to move to enter the conflict. They have been sending messages to hezbollah through a number of channels including the speaker of parliament to warn them not to join the war. And that if they do, there will be consequences. Now, france has also been sending messages to hezbollah through at the request of israel and in coordination with the u. S. Warning them not to get involved because it could have devastating ramifications. Now, at this point, u. S. Officials tell us, as well as western diplomats that hezbollah does not appear particularly eager to join the conflict, according to one western diplomat, quote, the preexisting will of hezbollah is there not to escalate for now. But look, u. S. Officials are not taking any chances here. And for that reason, they are backing up their warnings with action. Thats exactly why we saw the u. S. Move that Aircraft Carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean as a deterrence measure to warn any potential nations as well as nonstate actors including hezbollah and other groups against taking action and joining this war in force. Here is what Jake Sullivan, the National Security adviser, said about this just yesterday. Let me be clear, we did not move the carrier for hamas. We moved the carrier to send a clear message of deterrence to other states or nonstate actors that might seek to widen this war. Reporter now, there are a number of down sides to hezbollah for joining this war, number of political and Economic Risks that u. S. Officials dont believe theyre willing to take right now. But look, u. S. Officials are concerned that some kind of escalation could even happen unintentionally. That things could perhaps spiral out of control at that northern border. And we have already seen, as you mentioned in the intro there, phil, a number of attacks back and forth between hezbollah and the israeli army. So far no signs that hezbollah is going to join the war in force with the full strength of its military might. It is a very sophisticated military power. But, at this point, u. S. Officials there just continuing to send these messages through back channels and hoping that nothing seriously escalates here. Yeah. And that back and forth we are seeing in effect there, its not just shots back and forth. Three Israeli Soldiers were killed on attack on the border with lebanon according to the idf released just moments ago. Well see how this continues to play out. The warnings very clear. Thank you. Secretary of state Antony Blinken is expected to travel to israel to reaffirm u. S. Support after hamas devastating attack. Blinkens trip comes on the heels of an impassioned speech yesterday afternoon from President Biden calling for israel to take any necessary action to protect its citizens. Listen. My team has been in near constant communication with our israeli partners. And partners all across the region and the world. From the moment this crisis began. Were surging additional Military Munition to replenish iron dome. Were going to make sure that israel does not run out of these critical assets. To defend its cities and its citizens. Joining us now from tel aviv, former israeli ambassador to the United States and also joining us this morning, cnn Global Affairs analyst kim dozier. Appreciate you being here very much. Kim, your analysis was very helpful as we heard the president speak yesterday, not calling for restraint from israel. Can you speak to what you see as a narrow window that israel has to fully respond here . Reporter well, theyre already circling gaza with 300,000 troops. But reports are coming out as they pounded the area with air strikes, softening it up, taking out possible opposition before moving in that civilian casualties are growing. Hospitals are reporting being overwhelmed with casualties, having supplies running out and also full of palestinian families that dont know where else to go, dont have bomb shelters, u. N. Schools where they sheltered, those are all full. They cant get other the borders. So theyre crowding into hospitals. Those are the kind of photos, videos that are flooding the arab world and will eventually cause especially once an incursion happens, the more civilian casualties reported, thats going to cause international outcry. Where as right now the focus is still, at least in the west, on the atrocities committed, the deaths of Israeli Citizens in the attack on saturday. Ambassador, to kims point, the white house, the administration is very aware of this fact and that reality. And yet, the speech from President Biden yesterday was among, if not the most impassioned speeches i have seen him give and watched him fairly closely over the last two and a half years. Youre also a historian along with your role as a former ambassador. Put that into context what happened yesterday. I got to put a finer point on it. It wasnt the most impassioned speech President Biden has ever given on any subject. It was certainly