Hello and welcome. Im Lynda Kinkade with the latest on the israel hamas war. An Israeli Ground offensive appears all but inevitable. Authorities in gaza saying more than 4,300 palestinians have been killed in the past two weeks after the hamas Terror Attack in israel which killed more than 1,400 people with around 200 others missing or captured. Hundreds of Armored Vehicles along with thousands of israeli troops are now poised to strike at hamas at a moments notice. On saturday, the idf Chief Of Staff again repeated what theyve heard all week, that we will enter gaza. An Idf Spokesperson told cnn its not a question of if at this point, only when. The timeline, you know, that changes according to many variables on the ground, in the air, and across the sea. The important thing is that the idf will conduct significant Military Operations in order to defeat hamas, in order to bring our hostages home, and in order to fundamentally change the Security Situation that we have in southern israel, and frankly, all of israel. In response to the recent escalations by iran and its proxies, the u. S. Defense secretary has announced a significant boost in americas Defense Posture in the middle east. The directive includes more Missile Defense systems across the region, as well as placing more u. S. Troops under prepare to deploy orders. Elliot goch joins us live from london. The Israel Defense forces, idf has indicated it will increase strikes on gaza, again telling residents to head south, warning of significant combat. And on top of that weve got the u. S. Now stepping up its socalled deterrence in the region. What more can you tell us . Reporter theres been an inevitability about an Israeli Ground invasion, incursion into the gaza strip ever since hamas Terrorist Attack two weeks ago. We do now seem to be getting very, very close to that actually happening. Because israel has said, as you mentioned, that it is going to be increasing air strikes on the gaza strip to minimize the threat to its Ground Forces and also because its been dropping flyers on one neighborhood of the gaza strip, telling residents if they dont evacuate, they might be considered a partner to the Terrorist Organization, a reference to hamas. Weve seen this buildup of troops, over 350,000 reservists called up. There are hundreds of tanks there. Now the Chief Of The General staff telling troops there in no Uncertain Terms they will be going into the gaza strip. So it really is just a question of timing. But that timing does now seem to be very, very close by. But of course, weve been discussing this all week as well for the past two weeks, that a Ground Invasion is not going to be simple, not just because of the risk to israeli troops, both to their lives and for the possibility of them being taken hostage, but also because the risks for very large numbers of civilian casual tizz. And of course the Labyrinth Complex of tunnels that hamas maintains underground, its a risky operation but one israel kneels it has to do in order to achieve its objectives of destroying hamas militarily, also trying to get it hostages back. There are at least 200 people being held by hamas, more that are missing as well by hamas and other militant groups, and israel wants to get them back as well. A very complex operation, one that now seems not just inevitable but imminent as well. Weve also heard that the Israeli Defense force has attacked what it has described as a Terrorist Compound in the west bank, allegedly including a hamas cell within a mosque. Reporter the details are israel carried out a strike on what it says was a Command Center being maintained by hamas and Islamic Jihad and jointly those two military groups were planning an imminent Terrorist Attack and thats why it carried out this air strike. It says its Command Center was underneath a mosque. You can see those images there, a hole ripped in the side of this mosque by an air strike. The Palestinian Red Crescent says theres been one person killed and seven injured. The seems israel discovered this compound in july, during a major incursion, the biggest in jenin in some 20 years. Elliot goken, thank you for speaking with us. Nick ryan, a retired general with the australian army, good to have you with us. So the Israel Defense forces have warned residents in the north of gaza again to evacuate, dropping red leaflets, sending messages to anyone with cell Service Warning they might be considered as a partner for the Terrorist Organization if they dont evacuate. What does that signal about the timing of a possible Ground Invasion . It potentially signals that a Ground Attack into gaza is very close. But it also signals where the israeli army might seek to enter gaza. A large part of its forces likely to go into the north. But i dont think all of it will be going there. It will want to surprise hamas. It will want to deceive it. So other bits of the army will probably go into other bits of gaza besides the north. Major general, israel has warned that its going to increase its strikes, that it wants to destroy hamas and its capabilities. But overall, does it have a clear strategic end game . Well, i think thats the big question. At the end of the day, Military Operations should be supporting political outcomes. Its not clear what they might be, besides a destruction of hamas. At the end of the day, after this operation is complete, israel will want to work with someone else in gaza who can make it a more secure and process pruls gaza. So it reduces its threat to israel. What those political objectives might be, weve yet to see. There is a risk of miscalculation at every step. The u. S. , weve heard in the last hour or so, its now increasing what it calls deterrence in the region to discourage any other actors, any other nations from getting involved. On top of the two Aircraft Carriers being destroyed in the region, we heard its activated the deployment of an antiballistic Missile Defense system so shoot down and intercept missiles, as well as the patriot surfacetoair missile system. Describe for us what that signal is. Whats the likelihood of an escalation in this war involving multiple countries, especially given that u. S. Forces in the region have also already been fired upon . Well, what is possible is that with israel very absorbed in gaza, other actors, particularly hezbollah, but other nonstate actors from syria or iran may decide to exploit that opportunity. The u. S. As well as other countries in the region did do not want to see that. They dont want to see a spillover of conflict here. Its not just the United States and israel that have an interest in deterring other actors. A range of countries in the region also have a deep interest in ensuring this conflict is restricted to israel and gaza at the moment. Major general ryan, despite so much sympathy, the horrific Terror Attack in israel, we have since seen global backlash for civilian deaths in gaza, as well as the air strikes, israel cut off supplies of water, full, electricity. Israel has claimed that its restarted the water supply, but people in gaza say without electricity you cant pump the water. How does israel conduct a war in hamas without the collective punishment of 2 million plus citizens . I think this is at the heart of president bidens words last week when he said, you know, americans after 9 11 were enraged and heartbroken, but we also made mistakes. I think that was him telegraphing to israel, youre enraged, youre heartbroken, but please dont do anything thats going to compromise a longterm strategic solution here. I think america and israels other friends will be counseling them in the background, that yes, they need to take on hamas. Yes, they have a right to sovereign selfdefense. But they shouldnt, hopefully, be doing things that make the situation worse in the longer term. And in the last couple of days, Major General, we saw the release of two hostages by hamas, Two Americans. But there are around 200 others still in captivity. I spoke to the idf about how they can be sure those hostages are safe as they carry out these air strikes, one after the next. They told me they have intelligence to suggest that the hostages are being held eliminationwhere. But what are the risks for those captives held by hamas if israel launches this Ground Invasion, and how does that pose an additional challenge for the idf . Well, in these kind of urban operations, as good as the idf is and as deep as its knowledge of gaza is, theres still many, many unknowns. The locations of every hostage is unlikely to be known by the intelligence services. That means when israel does go in on the ground, every soldier will have in the back of their mind that they could be hurting hostages by their actions. That will have a fairly Significant Impact on israels operations. So, you know, i think it will be very difficult for the idf to assume it knows the location of every hostage. The idf has a very advanced military, especially when it comes to technology. But israel gaza and hamas have these hamas use these tunnels, underground tunnels, throughout the territory. How does the advances in technology that israel have assist them as they proceed . Well, they help, but no technologys perfect. You know, as military people know, the enemy always gets a vote. Hamas has been working very hard for decades, not just to establish these tunnels, but to hide them and ensure that the israelis cant pick them up. If israel knew where they all were, theyd be destroyed by now. Theyre going to be a factor. Just urban operations generally are very, very difficult even for the best armies, even for those like the israelis who have done this a lot. It will be slow going. It will be very bloody for soldiers and civilians, unfortunately. Retired Major General mick ryan, we appreciate your time from brisbane, australia, thanks so much. Any Israeli Ground incursion into gaza will eventually have to deal with what the idf calls the gaza metro, when is what we were just speaking about, the vast network of tunnels beneath gaza. Clearing them out poses an especially thorny problem for israeli troops. Cnns tom foreman explains. Reporter as much as we hear about the tunnels under gaza, there really arent many photos or eyewitness accounts as to exactly what they are compared to the importance of them. Generally, many of them seem to be dug by hand, relatively small, and reinforced with concrete so they cant easily be collapsed. How big is this network . Think about this. Gaza is only about 25 by six miles. Yet the indication is there may be more than 300 miles of Tunnel S Underneath that. The depth, unknown. Maybe a few meters, maybe more, and many appear fairly cramped. Possible uses . Hiding Command Centers, weapons caches, rocketry, and yes, maybe even hostages. Secret movement of key hamas figures. They might be in this area, go to this part of the area, and be undetected because they cant be spied with satellites or drones or anything else. And they would represent a safe place in this small area. Relatively safe, in that a lot of conventional weapons would not easily penetrate this, but you might have to bring in bunkerbuster bombs if somebody really wanted to go through the reinforcement and all of that earth to get underneath. Thats why this is a focus, not only for hamas, but for the israelis too. Our thanks to tom foreman. What could qatars role in this war be . Well talk with a middle east expert about how qatars influence in the region could become a liability. A peace summit called by egypt ended without an accord due to, quote, differences according to two officials. Arab leaders gathered in cairo saturday to try to deescalate the situation in gaza and protect its civilians. However, israeli and senior u. S. Officials werent there. Egypts president called for negotiations for a twostate solution and the establishment of an independent palestinian state. Israels ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was unfortunate some of those attending, quote, had difficulty condemning terrorism. To get a better understanding of how countries in the region are positioned, Hussein Ibish is a Senior Fellow at the American Task force on palestine. Good to have you with us. Quick correction, im senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in washington. Excellent. Good to get your perspective today. Thank you. I read that piece you wrote in the atlantic describing qatar as a diplomatic broker, given its ties to hamas. You warrant the ties are a liability. Can you explain why . We can see qatar help with the release of two hostages, Two Americans. Surely at this time theyd be considered an asset, given that direct line of communication with hamas . No doubt. At the moment theyre an asset regarding hostages. And also, they have this background of being a huge asset to the pentagon. Because they built this huge, Fabulous Air Base called al uded and handed it over to the United States on incredible terms, terms really no other country would agree to, basically giving the u. S. Virtually extraterritorial jurisdiction there. It functions almost as u. S. Territory, basically. Extraordinary. So thats something that the pentagon really cherishes. On the other hand, as time goes on, given how deep qatars links to the hamas are and all these senior hamas political leaders living in qatar at the expense of the qataris, it may become an issue with israel, the west, and other arab countries because they sayategory of isis and al qaeda. You cant do this, you have to choose between us and them. If that happens, theyre going to be in a very, very difficult spot. We know that qatar has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars each year to gaza. You write, with the consent of the u. S. And israel. Does it need that consent . Yeah, i think so. As a practical matter, it does. Because israel allowed a qatari official to bring its literally brought in cash. Its not bank transfers. Its actual cash that comes. Sometimes, anyway. And all of the yes, i think israel could block it if they wanted to. Because what hamas is doing excuse me, what qatar is doing for hamas in this case is paying, among other things, paying the Public Employees payrolls. The teachers and the doctors who work for the government and the Police Officers and all the bureaucrats and all the Civil Servants in gaza get paid so that families have food on the table. It basically has been propping up the gaza economy on a monthly basis. And so that has been okay with israel, the United States, the palestinian authority, the plo, and egypt and jordan and everybody else. But i think at this point, any additional aid to hamas takes on a very different tinge. And they give them a lot of support beyond that. As i say, they have almost all of the Political Leadership of hamas living there as close and trusted friends. Thats a problem now. I mean, they may be protected by the pentagon and by this base that they pay for and gave to the United States, but its going to be tricky. Theyre going to be in a tough spot. Israel has indicated that it will launch a Ground Incursion. Its ready to proceed with that. Yeah. Is it walking into a trap . Well, ive written that from the very beginning. And i think it is. I think hamas wants exactly that. Hamas engaged in an act of spectacular overkill. When terrorist groups or Insurgent Groups to that, theyre trying to provoke an emotional overreaction by the targeted power, by the stronger, dominant power. To get them to inflict on themselves damage and a blow that the Insurgent Group would not be capable of doing. Think of 9 11, how it provoked the United States into irrationally attacking iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9 11. But it was a blow against american prestige, interests, sense, everything that continues to reverberate to this day. We did much more damage to ourselves than al qaeda could have by stupidly invading iraq. I think hamas is trying to get israel to make that mistake, come in on the ground, engage in the kind of close quarters, housetohouse combat that favors guerillas and militia groups, not regular armies. Ideally theyd like israeli troops to stay. Now we have to run this place, hamas is destroyed, and the remnants of hamas can create an insurgency that at first is very small, maybe, but over time g