Hello and welcome, everyone. Im michael holmes, continuing our coverage of israel at war. And we begin this hour with the latest on the war between israel and hamas. Diplomatic efforts now under way to try to contain the humanitarian crisis intensifying by the hour in gaza. Aid workers say the situation there has descended into what they describe as complete chaos. Tens of thousands fleeing after israel told residents to leave Northern Gaza, where more than a Million People leave, as it gears up for its next stage of its war with hamas. And palestinian Officials Say the death toll has surpasses 2,600. That includes 700 children. We do want to warn you the next video youre about to see might be disturbing. Handout videos like this showing small children on ventilators in a hospital in Northern Gaza as the u. N. Is calling for urgent humanitarian access into the strip. Meanwhile, americas top diplomat has been meeting regional leaders including those from egypt where he once again called on israel to protect civilians in gaza. As i said in tel aviv, as President Biden has said, the way that israel does this matters. Needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity. Taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. And for the First Time Since the conflict began, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas denounced hamass attacks on israel, saying the militant groups actions do not represent the Palestinian People. U. S. President joe biden, meanwhile, has a warning for israel. In an interview with 60 minutes. Calling for restraint, saying it would be a big mistake for israel to occupy gaza. Heres part of that interview. I think it would be a big mistake. Look, what happened in gaza in my view is hamas and the extreme elements of hamas dont represent all the Palestinian People. And i think that it would be a mistake for israel to occupy gaza again, but going in and taking out the extremists, hezbollah is up north but hamas down south is a necessary requirement. Do you believe that hamas must be eliminated entirely . Yes, i do. But there needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a palestinian state. Meanwhile, aid groups are preparing for the worst as the humanitarian crisis in the region intensifies with each day of the conflict. Those still trapped in the region, and they have no way to leave, continue to search for survivors of airstrikes as their own supplies dwindle. And the Director General of the Palestinian Red Crescent says hospitals face imminent shutdown since theres very little fuel left to run generators. Food, medicine, water also in short supply. Water from israel is being cut off in the gaza strip. People lining up for hours hoping to refill bottles and canisters from what supplies remain. Translator ive come to get water. We dont have any water. Weve reached a disastrous situation. Below zero. The situation is catastrophic by all standards, with a crisis in food, water, and electricity. I mean, people cant do anything in the current conditions. If you go to the homes and film inside, you will see extremely dire situations. And joining me now to talk more about the conditions in gaza and the urgent humanitarian appeals is hani al malhoun. He is director of philanthropy for the United Nations relief and works agencies. I want to get to the humanitarian situation first, but i do want to say you have family in gaza. More than a dozen have died, as i understand it. I cant imagine that loss and how worried you are about other family members. How are they . Not very good. First thank you for having me and giving me an opportunity to share my concerns about the wellbeing of my family. Im here obviously in personal capacity because of somebody who has family and a family man in gaza. Right now as we speak theyre not doing very well and im happy to elaborate as you ask. Medicine sans frontieres put out a statement and i want to quote from it. It says this. Hospitals are overwhelmed. There are no more painkillers now. Our staff tells us about the wounded screaming in pain, the injured, the sick who cannot get to the hospital. I mean, its so hard to comprehend that situation. No painkillers in a place that is full of wounded people. What is your understanding of the situation for civilians in gaza or even those whove headed south . It is called like judgment day. This is the end of days in gaza right now. If people cant find water, if they cant find fuel you know, my family is not is in Northern Gaza. Theyre not able to evacuate to where the israelis say will be a safer zone, even though that safe zone was bombed last night. So theres a lot of confusion. Theres a lot of really tension in the community because people cant find bread, fighting over a loaf of bread, fighting over some water, and my brother was telling me today in gaza he hasnt showered in a week, he has not hes afraid to eat because he would need water. There is very little resources. And you know, my mom was telling me the kids yesterday, the best they can get for them is dried fruits and dates. This is not humanity. Americas better than this. You know, were the leaders of the free world. And in the first few days the president was theres a, you know, drumming the war drums trying to in a way vilifying the palestinians here. And were being vilified in america and also in palestine where theres a lot of civilians. Youre talking about gaza where 50 of the population is under the age of 19. They have not had the choice to make a decision good or bad. They are still children. And this is where we are right now. Yeah. Theres a lot of talk about hamas being elected. That was 2007. There hasnt been an election since. And in that election they were throwing their opponents off rooftops and half the population wasnt even born. So thats an important side. 400,000 people in Unrwa Schools and buildings right now, which is unimaginable. Theres word that aid could be coming through the rafah crossing from egypt soon but we dont know when exactly. How urgent is that situation . How desperate for those gazans who are waiting for i cant imagine what those facilities were looking at an unrwa school right now, actually, and packed to the gills with people. Its not meant for this. Absolutely. This is tragic. And i dont know how killing i dont know how targeting ambulances and firefighters just like 20 minutes ago in gaza helps take on hamas. This is a tragedy that could be prevented. Civilians should really be saved from this. You know, i have a family. My familys hiding somewhere up north. They cannot find a way out. And i hope my mother, my kids, my nephews and nieces are safe. If anybody has an idea how to get them out of there, please get in touch with me. I cant imagine the stress. Now, this is important too. The hamas the Terror Attack on israeli civilians is undeniably horrific, inexcusable. But do you worry that palestinians in gaza are all being treated as guilty even when they dont perhaps support hamas or what it did . Many in the world blame all palestinians for what happened. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there is people who came in this network, Made Genocidal statements. Some other networks as well. And nobody pushed back. It feels like our life have less value. And right now were begging the administration to get americans out of gaza. American citizens out of gaza. And this is, you know, why theyre working hard behind the scenes. Theres a loss of tension. People feel like were not valued as much. Im sure you hear about the kid in chicago who was killed in a hate crime today because their neighbor was oh my gosh, the palestinians are coming. So theres a lot we need to cool it a bit. Palestinians are not all muslims. Theres christian palestinians. I was at a rally at the white house yesterday hand in hand with jewish, christians, and muslims. This is not about muslims against jews. As you understand, yes, the attacks against israel are horrific, sure. But we dont have to have a parade for that and just ignore the palestinians. How many dead palestinians do you need . You have 500 kids that are dead or more by the end of the day. Im not sure. This is horrific. And im going to talk about it as much as you ask. Yes. And to that point, ive covered a lot of wars, i have to say, including in gaza. It strikes me that one of the risks is that people become numbers. Are you concerned that the humanity is lost . And in fact its over 700 children whove been killed. Do you worry that thats just a number and not 700 separate young lives cut short in the minds of too many people . You are absolutely correct. Im talking to you now and ive lost 16 family members. 14 who are related and two who were v are like from the extended family. And those are just numbers. Because the body count is rising we have not had a moment to reflect on all the tragedies. And thats the horrific. You know, my friend was saying the best hope they have is they turned into a facebook meme because nobody has time to bury, nobody has time to grieve. Theyre not even allowed to gather. Theyre not safe at the hospital. I lived next to the hospital. Theres bombing around it because people want them to evacuate the hospital. Youre talking about people in open heart surgeries, dialysis machines. How is that acceptable . You mentioned my unrwa usa affiliation at the beginning. Schools. At least 19 facilities have been damaged in this conflict. The staff dont feel safe. Theyre moving from one town to a town. Theyre trying to help the refugees with children. And you mentioned the number 400,000 palestinian refugees. It is a school. It is not supposed to have shower and there is a lot of complications that are not taken into consideration. Water. This is sort of like a crime. If russia did it everybody would be writing on facebook and all these ngos would be speaking about it. Now theyre beginning to speak about the atrocities happening in gaza. But to be honest with you, it doesnt feel like theres a mismatch between the attitude of america and the west and their behavior. What we see in gaza is horrific. Hani alihamdoun, i appreciate your time. And our thoughts are with your family. We appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Were going to take a quick break on the program. When we come back, israel learns more about how hamas fighters infiltrated the country for their deadly attack. What an idf spokesperson says it means for their war on the group. Well be right back. War between israel and hamas. And the world is watching. Americas top diplomat, u. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken, says israel has the right to defend itself but it should take, quote, every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. We came here with four key objectives to make clear that the United States stands with israel, to prevent the conflict from spreading to other places, to work on securing the release of hostages including american citizens, and to address the humanitarian crisis that exists in gaza. Blinken is promising the rafah crossing between gaza and egypt will be opened. It is seen as the only feasible route to get aid in and people out including americans. All right. Now im joined by jonathan kavrikas. Hes an International Spokesperson for the Israeli Defense forces. He joins me from tel aviv. Lieutenant colonel, good to see you again. There has been i think the same number of bombs or more dropped on gaza in a week or so as during the entire 50 days of the 2014 gazaisrael conflict. What is your assessment of the effectiveness of those strikes in a Military Sense of whats been achieved including who youve taken out of the hamas leadership . Yes, that is a process at work. We are actively targeting the leadership. We are degrading their military capabilities. We are trying to suppress rocket fire toward israeli cities and civilians. And we are actively stopping or limiting their ability to launch attacks against israel, mostly on the ground and from the perimeter close to the border. We have been able to strike and kill a few hamas key officials. Many more are on the list from yehi asenwar, the butcher of khan younis and all the way down to the lowest levels of military commanders. Theyre all on the list, and we are hard at work finding them in their hiding places using the best Intelligence Tools that we have at our disposal including with the i. S. A. , the Israeli Security agency. And at this stage i could say that were in the early stages. Were operating against an enemy that is cowardly and hides behind civilians. But we are making Good Progress and we are very determined to continue and to make sure that we dismantle hamas. You mentioned intelligence. I mean, weve spoken about the idfs small penetrating missions, if you like, probing missions into gaza. And theres more information that came out today on what was collected in an intelligence sense, operational plans, encrypted phones and things like that. What can you tell us about what was found and how that intel might be useful in a Ground Incursion . Yeah, i think that what youre referring to is intelligence that was collected based on the terrorists that infiltrated into israel, and what weve collected from what they carried with them. In terms of communication devices, maps, various Encryption Methods and other very useful types of or sources of information that we are now compiling, analyzing, cataloging and making sense of, both for future nearterm operations and also for longterm goals. So its been useful. And thats usually normal in Military Affairs that as the dust settles youre able to collect intelligence and start making sense of what your enemy did. How is the idf working to find and rescue those hostages . And also how can you be certain i suppose you cant that the hostages are not being held in places that youre bombing or places that you will attack in a Ground Operation . It must be incredibly difficult. Yes. This whole situation, frankly, is unprecedented. Never before have we faced such a situation. And i dont think that any western country has faced a similar situation. So its uncharted territory. But we are very focused on getting every piece of intelligence that we can, formulating a plan. And of course eventually getting all of these people home back to israel. Ill say this at the outset. It is undeniably true that hamas hides among the civilian population. Its a fact. Intimidates the population. Is indifferent to palestinian civilian deaths and suffering. Thats a given. But it was interesting because there was a poll by the Washington Institute just in july of this year that said 62 of gazans supported hamas maintaining a ceasefire with israel. 50 of gazans agreed that, quote, hamas should stop calling for israels destruction and instead accept a permanent twostate solution based on 1967 borders. Which was a fascinating poll. Im just curious from a Military Standpoint are you worried that the level of Civilian Casualties so far will actually reverse that, perhaps increase public support for Terror Groups like hamas . I dont think so. First of all, we will try to keep that number as low as possible throughout this war. Weve said that theyre not our enemy. I dont think that it will because i think the gazans understand that all of this destruction and the casualties that are now happening in gaza is because of hamas actions. I think even people that were out chanting on the streets and supporting deep down inside they understand that what hamas did was so basically fundamentally perverted and they understand that they unleashed violence and significant suffering on themselves. So at the end what i hope is we will dismantle hamas and then in the future i cant put a time frame on that but in the future the situation in gaza will be better. First and foremost for us thats what i care about. For israeli civilians living in communities nearby. But also for palestinians because a gaza without hamas is a much better gaza. I wanted to get this talk of the Rafah Crossing Being Open for aid to come in. Does the Israeli Military have any objection to that that you know about . And also a Double Barrel question. Is there any chance of a ceasefire before your operation is complete . Yeah, ive heard reports about separate initiatives, direct bilateral, or between egypt and hamas regarding goods to be provided. I dont have anything to say about it. I know that we tried to facilitate the Safe Exit Of Americans and a few other internationals from gaza. That was thwarted by hamas. They simply didnt open the gates, and the whole thing failed. And i am aware of various reports of entering aid, et cetera. At this stage i cannot confirm anything. I know that many are involved in it and its at the, you know, high priority. But at this stage i cannot confirm exactly whats going on and what has been decided upon. Its always good to get a situation report from you, Lieutenant ColonelJonathan Conricus in tel aviv. Thanks so much. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Now, israeli troops continue to mass near gaza ahead of an expected Ground Offensive against hamas militants. The last time the idf went into gaza to target hamas leaders directly was 2014. Nic robertson looks back at the operation then and what israel is planning now. Reporter close to gaza preparations under way for a muchanticipated Ground Offensive. Troops from different units training together