We have Breaking News in from the Israeli Defense forces who who has just posted online, quoting now, that they are now launching an extensive attack on many centers of the terrorist Organization Hamas in the gaza strip. They say there are more details to come. Of course, a note of caution from our reporters on the ground. This is not the expected Ground Incursion that people have been anticipating could potentially happen. That is something they are anticipating because you have seen hundreds of thousands of israeli reservists amassing on the gaza border. This is something everyone is watching closely. You heard us discussing whether or not there will be a humanitarian corridor for the civilians. The millions of gazaans still there. The interior ones. We will follow all the latest developments here. Thank you some for joining us here on t source. Cnn news night with abby philip is up next. We are at a perilous moment in the war between israel and hamas. Appears Israeli Forces are on the cusp of a Ground Operation as retaliatory strikes are underway over the skies of gaza. Right now President Biden face as lifeordeath dilemma. Would American Forces be sent to rescue hostages . Some of whom are bloefd to be u. S. Citizens. I am. Im abby philip. This is news night. We just had several rockets that we just saw being fired from gaza. The iron dome is intercepting overhead. We are less than 10 kilometers, six or seven miles from the gaza border. This happened really right above our heads. And behind us what is happening here, too, is you have these Armored Personnel Carriers that are in a formation. Again, this is these are the scenes we have been seeing all across these communities in southern in israel across from gaza border, is preparations. Preparations. This massive mobilization that is happening of troops, 300,000 troops that are all starting to mobilize here. Tragically, the death toll is rising tonight. The attacks by hamas killing more than 1,200 people in israel. Thousands more are hurt. In the wake of these strikes, following the massacre. Palestinian Officials Say more than 1,100 with have been killed in gaza. Among those killed in israel, 22 american citizens and 17 more are still missing. The president and his administration speaking today on the fate of those hostages. We want make it real clear, we are working on every aspect of the Hostage Crisis in israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts. There is a lot we are doing. I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home. So about those who remain hostages right now, has the president ruled out sending any American Forces of any kind into gaza at any time to help secure their release if necessary to get them home safely . We havent made any operational decisions with respect to Hostage Recovery at time. We havent made any decisions about Hostage Recovery at this time. And in the meantime, israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu says that every member of hamas is a dead man as the israelis Christopher Morel tanks and forces to the gaza border. Lets go to my colleague anderson cooper. He is on the ground 19 miles north of the gaza border. Anderson, we just heard from the idf what theyre calling largescale strikes are underway at this very moment. What do you know . Repor that. Reporter we are 19 miles from the gaza border. Normally, over the last several nights we have been able to hear the steady pounding of our artillery and occasional jets flying over, bombing tarlgets inside gaza. We have not heard that over the last several hours. While the idf says they are triking a number of targets . Gaza, it must be a different part of gaza we normally hear from this vantage point. But as Jeremy Diamond was reporting, the bombardment in gaza has been massive, it has been constant, and it is in preparation for what is widely expected to be a Ground Operation, some 300,000 reservists have been called up. People are israeli zcitizens have been coming back to israel in order to fight alongside israel. And the question is when will that occur. There has been a unity cabinet formed, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, the leading opposition, benny gantz, former Defense Minister has joined with Benjamin Netanyahu. So that was one of the stages that people thought might be necessary in order to give confidence to people in advance of some sort of a Ground Operation. And, anderson, you know, with every passing second really israel is facing some really difficult choice on the issue of hostages, of which there could be as many as 150 or more. Tonight a senior hamas official says that its too early to exchange israeli hostages. But you spoke earlier tonight with a young woman whose grandmother was taken by hamas. What did she tell new you sn you . This young woman, you know, we have seen the video. I think you probalem have of. 572yearold grandmother sandwiched between two hamas gunmen on a Motorcycle Being who has been kidnapped and they are driving her through the streets in gaza. That is this woman, her name is anad, she is the Granddaughter Tv that woman. And for her family, that was the proof of life that the only the only proof of life they have had that their grandmother has been kidnapped and taken to gaza by these killers who shot to death her grandfather. The husband of that woman on motorcycle. So we are we have been talking to so many families who have loved ones missing or kidnapped, and it certainly complicates any advancing any Ground Operation that the israelis are planning. The fate, what to do with the about 150 hostages and how much that will be taken into account in terms of the planning and the execution of a Ground Operation. All right. Anderson, keep us updated as the night goes on on any strikes that we see tonight as the potential for this Ground Operation seems to increase by the moment. We appreciate you joining us. And tonight israel preparing for a Ground Operation and mobilizing forces with its border with the gaza strip. Now, one of the countrys largest mobilizations in history could very well be underway shortly. Positioning 300,000 israeli reservists near that border, it signals a possible invasion could be imminent. Lets break this down at the map with a former Deputy Assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine and eurasia under president obama. Evelyn, israel is describing this as large scale strikes in gaza tonight and were seeing the troops you saw it in jeremys live shot, amassed at the border. I want to just show everyone here what were talking about when we talk about the work requirements. And what would that mean for israel to move into gaza from its territory . Yeah, i mean, all of your coverage has indicated heavily populated, densely populated highrise building. Its urban. Its difficult under any circumstance. Now we know that these terrorists inside of gaza, the hamas fighters, never access to drones and so the technological capability they have could also counter any of the israelis coming in with tanks and heavy formations. Yeah, i mean, as you mentioned, these are, as you can see here, tightly packed. The highrise buildings whchlt i look at these images i wonder these are the aftermath of strikes in the last week. Right. What do you see here as a National Security person when you see this kind of terrain, what is israel trying to accomplish with these strikes . Well, obviously, its punishment, retribution, they are trying to signal, of course, the civilians probably to take cover, you know, go away as much as they can. Do you see any tactics in there . Not really. And i think, you know, getting a little bit ahead of what you might ask about getting hostages out, thats where you really need to have tactics because you need intelligence. You need special operators, frankly. You cant have regular infantry trying to take the hostages back because you want to take them back alive. And going through i mean even if its not rubble its difficult to know where you are. And there are those tunnels that are a feature of how hamas operates in gaza. This is just an image here of what one of those tunnels looks like. Right. And they are hiding likely in there and moving around. The hostages may or may not be in there. Most of the accounts by experts and others who know how hamas operates say that the hostages probably wont be kept together, which makes it much more difficult. And i doubt that they have a roster of exactly who they have in their hands. Thats also difficult. When it comes to the embedding of hamas in the civilian population, which is what israel says has already happened, when we think about a largescale Ground Operation there, what happens to palestinians who do want to flee . Where do they go . Looks like there is not much option because the egyptian border, too to my knowledge, is not open. And this right here. This is that border with egypt. Yeah. All of this right here. This is israel. So they are not they are not going yeah, they are not going there. Thats the sea. So, yeah, i mean, i think what we need to be looking for is are there diplomatic efforts underway to try to create a relief valve. Of course, you have would have to screen to make sure you are not letting. So the Hamas Terrorists out with innocent civilians. And real quick on the north here with lebanon, we did not see any incursions from lebanon today as feared. What would happen if that were to occur . Yeah, i mean, that would be, obviously, a twofront situation for israel in terms of military attacks. They have experienced that in the past. They have been relying, frankly, on russia to kind of give them a guarantee that they will keep hezbollah from attacking in the north. Last time i was in the golan area was couple of years ago and they talked about how they were relying on this russian guarantee which we dont know how long that will hold. Every one is holding their breath with the northern border and also, frankly, the west bank, to make sure everything stays calm. Thank you. And tonight a senior hamas official is claiming that saturdays Surprise Attack on israel has been two years in the making. Saying in part, we have been preparing for this for two years. We manufactured a lot. We have local factories for everything. Lets go straight to cnn chief Global Affairs correspondent matthew chance. He is in tel aviv. Matthew, what did this official specifically claim . Reporter well, i think he gave us a realistic picture of the time it took for hamas to plan this highly sophisticated operation. He was speaking on Russian Television, one of the arabic language channels. So thats how we have encountered this interview he gave to Russian Television. He said also that none of hamas allies or supporters knew about zero hour, didnt know exactly what the timing would be for this Operation Woto be launched. That tallies with some of the sources i have been speaking to in israel. One israeli official told me earlier today that it believed that iran greenlighted the operation by hamas, which killed so many israelis. Although the official said that he didnt believe and Israeli Intelligence didnt suggest that iran knew the actual timing of the operation, nor what the consequences of it would really be. The horrific consequences. I dont think really anybody sort of, like, predicted that, not even hamas. But they were aware iran was aware of the operation and the plan before the operation took place. So thats something significant. And that puts a bit of light between what the zblirz are saying and what the u. S. Is saying, which is that there is no u. S. Intelligence, no direct link at this moment that they have established between these attacks against israel by hamas and the regime and individuals inside iran. But its very early on in this crisis. So well see how that develops. Also, this hamas official again speaking on Russian Television said that russia was very supportive of hamas. Now, obviously, with we know that russia has a relationship with the Palestinian Militant Group as well as others in the region as well. But no israeli officials that i have spoken to at least are doing a direct connection between what happened here at the weekend and russian involvement. In fact, russias official position is that it supports a twostate solution, called both sides to step away from bloodshed. That doesnt mean to be brief, that doesnt mean this crisis doesnt play into the hands of Vladimir Putin and russia. First of all, it distracts international attention, specially u. S. Attention, away from the conflict in ukraine. That may result in a reduced supply of relatiweapons to ukra. It also may push up oil prices. Russia is one of the biggest Oil Suppliers in the world so that could bennett putins government economically as well. Very interesting development. How intertwined this official is a seems to say that they are with russia right now. Matthew chance, thank you so much. And up next for us, the first images out of the site of a massacre. Pictures. Family photographs on the wall. Cnns Clarissa Ward went to the kibbutz where hamas went doortodoor executing civilians and she spoke to some of the survivors of that siege. If you know anything about what they do to people in gaza, that is worse than death. Underway tonight over gaza, we are only beginning to learn the horrors suffered by the residents of a kibbutz in southern israel one of the worst hit communities. More than 100 people there were killed and officials expect to find even more victims as they search through the rubble. Cnns Clarissa Ward was able to gain access to that kibbutz and i want to warn you that the video we are about to show you is violent and hard to watch. Reporter it was 7 11 a. M. When the militants arrived. Surveillance footage shows them lying in wait until a car arrives. They shoot the driver and enter the compound. More poured in on motorcycles. Eerily at ease and in no apparent hurry. Thomas hand heard the gunshots and immediately thought of his 8yearold daughter emily who was staying with a neighbor. She doesnt do it very often, but unfortunately that night, that particular night, friday night, she went to sleep at her friends house. Reporter for 12 hours, he says he was pinned down under heavy gunfire, unable to reach his daughter, as hamas went doortodoor executing his neighbors. Waiting. Thinking the army are going to be here soon, know, hold on a bit longer. And longer. And longer. Reporter by the time the military gained control, this is what remained of the once tranquil community. Late wednesday afternoon Israeli Forces let journalists in for the first time after days of pitched battles. I saw houses, fight here myself in the first only to get in the kibbutz, only to come from apartment to apartment. It took a lot, a lot, a lot of time. Does that weigh on your conscience, to know how long it took . You know, we have a very different question to ask ourselves. Now we look forward to defense, the people to take the survival and switch ourself from defense to offensive operation. Im sure that we ask ourself all the difficult question. Reporter for now, there are more pressing questions. The bodies of more than 100 residents have been recovered. But the army says that many more are still missing. You can see the amount of blood. This was a massacre. Reporter and the full scale of the horrors that transpired here are just starting to come to light. Pictures, family photographs on the wall. Thomas waited two agonizing days before getting the news. I just said, we found emily. She is dead. And i wepnt, yes i went, yes, and smiled. Because that is the best news of the possibilities that i knew. That was the best possibility that i was hoping for. She was either dead or in gaza. And if you know anything about what they do to people in gaza, that is worse than death. That is worse than death. The way they treat you. Theyd have no food. Theyd have no water. Shed be in a dark room filled with christ knows how many people, and terrified every minute, hour, day and possible years to come. So death was a blessing. An absolute blessing. Reporter Clarissa Ward, cnn, israel. I want to bring in now his family was kidnapped in bet er i. Huh thank you for joining us. Im so sorry to hear about your family. My understanding is that you dont know where they are. How did you learn that your sister and all of her family were missing . What did you last hear from them . So before the looking at the photos, the kibbutz, i was brought up there until i was 25. I was living there. My dad, my two sisters. So just watching this videos again, its heartbreaking, you know. Really heartbreaking. About my sister i spoke to her when this transpired and i lost touch with her about nine. She was there with her husband and two children. One is 15, a boy and a girl, 13, just had a bar mitzvah in june. And another son, who is older, who is 17. He was not with them. And i spoke to them in the evening. And he said that someone on the kibbutz that i know is with us, pulled them, saw them being pulled out of the house, you know, the safety room, and