Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in washington with cnns breaking News Coverage of Israel At War. One week after the hamas Terror Attack that triggered this horrible conflict, the israeli Prime Minister netanyahu just posted video of his visit with troops positioned near the gaza border telling them and im quoting him now, the next stage is coming. Theres growing anticipation of a potential ground war as Israeli Forces keep Pounding Targets Inside Gaza from the air. This comes amid new setbacks for efforts to try to evacuate civilians including americans. Egyptian authorities reportedly are not allowing u. S. And other foreign nationals to enter the country from gaza. The United States has expressed hope the crossing might be open to americans today. Tens of thousands of gazans have fled their home after israel urged more than a million civilians in the northern part of gaza to move south. A new window given by israelis for safe passage expired just a short while ago. This crisis in gaza growing worse by the hour. The United Nations warning of the life and death stakes with more than 1300 fwbuildings flattened, water running out, and the reported death toll in gaza rising above 2,000. At least one overwhelmed hospital in gaza now using Ice Cream Trucks as more. All this as israel is defending against new attacks on multiple fronts now. A cnn team reports outstanding rocket fire and extended shelling from lebanon into israel. Hezbollah confirming by the way it did attack israeli positions today from lebanon. Our correspondents are from the region following all the Breaking News. Ben is in South Lebanon, but first, to rafael in jerusalem. A significant new development with this report that egypt is now not allowing american citizens to enter the country from gaza. From that Southern Area of gaza, entry spot into the sinai, into egypt. Give us the latest. Yeah, it is very significant, indeed, wolf, because that is a Connection Point from that part of gaza into egypt and what happened over the last few hours is that after hearing the u. S. State department has said that Palestinian Americans with american passports, there was going to be an opportunity for them to cross into egypt, many people flocked to that location. They went there and not only americans, but also many other foreigners trying desperately to get out of gaza. What happened was that there was a movement this morning on the egyptian authorities. They brought Concrete Slabs into the Border Crossing to stop those people from crossing into egyptian territory. Palestinian border official who told cnn that he saw how the Concrete Slabs were being placed there and he said hundreds of palestinians with foreign passports flocked to the crossing. He also said that the gates were closed and that no one was being let through. Whats happening here is that apparently, egyptian officials are trying to make sure, get assurances, that humanitarian aid is going to be allowed to cross into gaza before they allow the foreigners to go into their territory. On the other side of gaza, wolf, in the north, a humanitarian crisis continues to get even worse because theres 1. 1 Million People that have been told by the Israeli Military that they needed to evacuate the area. There was a sixhour window. That window is now over. But theres a question as to whether these people got the message. Whether they heard the problem is that internet and electricity, theres been constant blackouts and many people probably didnt even hear that. The question remains, wochlf, h do you move 1. 1 Million People from the north in gaza into the south and were talking about families with children. Many of these people have not had water and food for many days. The roads are impassable because of the bombings. And let me tell you, we ourselves have to go to a shelter last night in tel aviv after we heard very loud explosions and this is significant because it tells us that even after seven days of bombing gaza by the Israeli Military, hamas still has the capability of launching Rocket Attacks into israel. So a very complicated situation here on the ground, wolf. Horrible situation by all accounts. Stand by, rafael. Were going to get back to you. I want to go to ben in Southern Lebanon. Ben, i understand you and your team heard extended artillery and rocket fire not long ago. Tell us about that. Yeah, wolf, that started about 3 15 local time and lasted approximately two hours and only gradually petered off. Now, according to hezbollah, statement they put out, they targeted five positions in the Shahbob Farms Area. An area, disputed area between lebanon and israel. Originally part of syria. The israelis, the israelis say that 30 mortars were fired into israel and israel responded with Artillery Fire and during this change between the two sides, the israelis say they saw individuals trying to infiltrate into israeli controlled territory and they were hit in an air strike. That summarizes the events of the afternoon here. Certainly since weve gotten here, its the most prolonged and Violent Exchange of fire between the two sides. But its significant that hezbollah seems to have chosen the Shahbob Farms Area because as far as hezbollah is concerned, thats actually lebanese territory. So for hezbollah, theyre attacking Israeli Forces in occupied lebanese territory. Not actual what is considered israel proper itself. It may be a fine point but it may suggest hezbollah isnt ready to engage in a full scale war with islamabad at the moment, wolf. Keywords, at the moment. Ben, tell us also about the funeral today for a reuters journalist who was killed in the region. Very sad development, indeed. This is sam abdullah. A friend of mine. Ive known him for many years. We worked together in syria, iraq, and here in lebanon. He was killed yesterday afternoon while he and another fairly Significant Group of journalists were in an area on the border with israel. This group included afp, reuters, and jazeera as well. They were filming this exchange of fire between the two sides when they were hit by two guided rockets. They were all wearing press gear. They were very much out in the open so they werent hiding in a suspicious manner. It appears that reuters has concluded that indeed they were struck by israeli fire. An israeli spokesman said they were aware of the incident but have yet to provide any more in the way of details. Our deepest condolences to his family. Ben, you know gaza well. Youve spent a lot of time in gaza. The challenges are very significant with whats going on. The Evacuation Efforts and the crisis thats unfolding. Give us your thoughts. That you can evacuate 1. 1 Million People out of Northern Gaza within 24hour span is really i think the u. N. Has said its impossible. And certainly given that its an active war zone, theres a shortage of fuel. That many of the roads are damaged by the israeli b bombardment. Plus the fact theres a come pl complete siege on gaza. No food, no water, no electricity. Its going to be very difficult for somebody to go that relatively short distance if you have a car and its a nice, open highway, but its not. And therefore, its, people have gone though it appears that some of those who have taken advantage of what were supposed to be safe corridors have been struck by israeli aircraft. But just getting through there and ive seen on social media, some people saying oh, you can walk. Its just a few miles. But just imagine you might have old people, little children, they may be thirsty, they may be hungry. Its very difficult just to ask an entire population of a very large city, 1. 1 Million People, to simply go somewhere else and where do they go . Is there food there . Shelter . Water . Is it even safe . Much of gaza is being targeted not just the northern part of this strip and therefore, no, this is not something that somebody would like to contemplate if they actually had to do it. Wolf. Ben, thank you very much. Youll be with us throughout the day and rafael in jerusalem. Guys, thank you. Humanitarian crisis in gaza is growing more and more dire. Well take a closer look at the efforts to try to get Tens Of Thousands of people to safety. Thats coming up next as our special cnn coverage of Israel At War continues. The deadline has run out. Thousands of gazans are fleeing. Hospitals are so overwhelmed theyre now using Ice Cream Trucks as morgues. Were following the story from london. Selma, what do we know right now . Whats the latest . We know that six hour deadline has expired, wolf, and so there are countless civilian, Hundreds Of Thousands of them, that are absolutely caught in the cross fires of this conflict. The Israeli Military as you know says that it has set up the safe passage but the United Nations did not acknowledge these as humanitarian corridors. The u. N. Called this a violation of the rules of war. Said it defied basic laws of humanity and said it was impossible. You can see why. 1. 1 Million People, ablebodied or not, were supposed to move southwards as quickly as they can under siege and under Bomb Boardment and i do have some footage to show you, wolf, of one of those designated roads, one of those designated routes. I have to warn our viewers this is extremely graphic social media material but we want to show it to you. It shows a street that leads south and what you are looking at is utter chaos and carnage on that road. Bodies in the streets. Cars on fire. People essentially killed right by their belongings. The Palestinian HealthMinistry Says these are people, these are families who were struck by shelling as they fled. As they ran for their lives. Palestinian officials saying that dozens of evacuees have been killed or wounded in the last 48 hours. The Israeli Military said that it is looking into these allegations but it begins to give you a sense of just how dangerous it is to find refuge. To find safety. And then you have to ask of course when they get south, what is there . Well, humanitarian organizations, the u. N. Has said, think we cannot set up an entire infrastructure for 1 Million People in a matter of just hours. And those areas in the south, they have also been bombarded. They are also places of ruin an carnage in the last few days then of course you know that the border is closed there along the crossing. Very little will in cairo to open it at this time. So youre looking at potentially what Prime Minister netanyahu has already said is the beginning of this conflict. The very start of this conflict. Hundreds of thousands of israeli troops prepared potentially for a Ground Incursion and all of these families absolutely trapped in the middle. Thank you very much. Stay with us. Our special live coverage will continue right after a quick break. The Safe Passage Deadline has now run out. Thousands of gazans are trying to flee from the northern part of gaza to the south. Here with us now, peter, a spokesperson for the idf. Lieutenant colonel, thanks very much for joining us. The socalled Movement Advisory for gaza residents looking to evacuate has now expired. So what does that mean for the Tens Of Thousands still hoping to get out . Is there still a path for them to leave safely . Absolutely. The whole idea is that people will vacate. So that we can continue our strike. Our efforts to destruct and destroy hamas operational capabilities, its leadership. The master mind of the massacre down to the terrorist that breached the barrier into israel. So yes, we are calling on everybody in the north of the gaza strip to evacuate. And to go down south beyond the gaza in order to enable us to differentiate between palestinians not involved and the hamas terrorist organization. Lieutenant colonel, were just getting pictures coming in now on the Prime Minister netanyahu visiting troops, israeli troops, right near the gaza border. How imminent is the expected Israel Ground incursion into gaza . The idf has recruited some 300,000 reservice. We are gathering and mounting our forces on the border in order to be prepared for the direction if that is inside given to the idf in order to mobilize. We have to be prepared and we are preparing our forces so that we have the knowledge, know how, and operational plans to destroy hamas and prevent them from ever being able to wield that sword of death over our civilians ever again. When you say destroy hamas, ive been told Lieutenant Colonel that the israeli objective in moving thousands, Tens Of Thousands, maybe Hundreds Of Thousands of troops into gaza would be to capture or kill the hamas leadership and to destroy or capture all the hamas weaponry. That potentially could be used against israel. Are those the two main objectives . Our mission is very clear. Hamas can never be able to hold the government, the gaza strip as a Staging Ground for massacres against israel. We will destroy its infrastructure. We will take out its leaders and we will utilize all of the tools and weapons that we have in order to restore security to the state of israel. They cannot be permitted ever again to come into our houses and butcher our babies. They can never be permitted to launch Rocket Attacks at israel. You know, wolf, we destroyed yesterday some drones that they put on the rooftops of houses with explosives that they intended on launching them from those rooftops. They dont care whos in the house. They utilize the urban arena in order to launch their attacks and we are currently operating to destroy and all of those capabilities so that they can never be a threat to israel again. So much of those hamas capabilities are right in the middle of heavily populated palestinian areas in gaza. So how do you achieve those objectives without killing a lot of palestinians . Men, women, and children. Thats precisely the reason were telling people to leave. We need to be able to differentiate and part of the reason were calling on them is because hamas has embedded itself so deeply within gaza city specifically. Its become the fortress of terror. That is what theyre doing. We will strike them. That is why people need to move. That is why when we see them that people are actually listening to us and not listening to hamas, it means that people understand that we are serious this time and we have, we do mean business. The terrorist organization, hamas, has, they have failed miserably. The people of gaza. And we refuse to be held hodstae by them and so should the people of gaza so were happy to see them moving south and vacating the area up north and we hope we will be able to differentiate this way between those that are involved and those that are not. On the other Breaking News were following right now, our cnn team saw Heavy Artillery and outstanding rocket fire in Southern Lebanon as hezbollah says it attacked israeli positions. What can you tell us about the status . The situation in Southern Lebanon in the northern part of israel . I can confirm that about 45 minutes ago, we did have an exchange. We had some mortar rounds fired at israel from Southern Lebanon. We are responding to that as we rightfully should and we have lots of forces on the ground prepared for any eventually. Were on high alert and taking all necessary precautions to be prepared for a prompt on lebanon. And i would take advantage to tell hezbollah look very closely at whats happening to hamas in gaza. They need to be operate very cautiously and i would warn them from stepping over that line. So what i hear you saying is theyre potentially in the next few days, could be a two front war. A war in the south against hamas and gaza and a War In The North against hezbollah in lebanon. Is that what im hearing . I hope not. Hope is not a method and that is why we have recruited some 300,000 reservists. Many are located on the frontier with gaza but many of them are also prepared on the border with lebanon in the north. So we need to be prepared for that but we dont want that to happen as i said. Recommend that hezbollah do not take that step towards us. As far as the humanitarian situation in gaza thats now unfolding, Lieutenant Colonel, the u. S. Government s