Were following Breaking News out of the middle east. Im Boris Sanchez with Brianna Keilar in washington, d. C. Were seeing live pictures now out of gaza where we have been watching explosions lighting up the sky. We want to bring in anchors jake tapper Anderson Cooper live for us in tel aviv. We are seeing an intensification of explosions over and in the gaza city, more than weve seen in recent days. The idf, Israel Defense forces v n , have not commented on what seems to be an uptick. They have not commented on their upscale of operations targeting hamas. On a day weve been learning more about Hostage Negotiations with hamas and the humanitarian crisis in gaza growing dire by the day. There had been a lot of anticipation about a potential breakthrough of sorts in the hostage crisis. That, obviously, is now overshadowed by this. We dont know what the developments are on the hostage front. This would seem to suggest its not going as desired. I mean, you wouldnt have an intensification of the bombing campaign, one would think f they were about to release a bunch of hostages. The level of explosions weve been hearing, even in tel aviv here, feeling some of the impacts of those explosions all the way in gaza, are Nic Robertson is in sderot for us. Talk about what youve been hearing when this uptick began. It began about three hours ago. Its been heavy through the afternoon, but it really began about three hours ago, i would say. Heavy Artillery Fire and missile strikes going into gaza. There are a couple of Artillery Batteries not far away from where we are and they were both Sending Repeat heavy round after round. You could hear the guns firing. You could hear the detonations behind us. Then after that, there were the tank fire started up. Tanks were in positions close to here that we havent heard before. A lot of tank fire. Really sustained from a number of different tanks. During that time, a huge wall of smoke came up from gaza, carried on the wind through the area where we are here. You could taste it, you could smell it. It was a sort of smoke that the military would use to maneuver hidden from the enemy. We dont know if this was smoke for an incursion or the tanks being used for an incursion. When we stood here on the recent nights and seen tank fire, it means we find out the day after from the idf there has been an incursion. They were the hallmarks here of a potential incursion, but from where weve been, it is the tanks and the ar tull herry pieces Artillery Pieces and small arms doing the pieces, perhaps drowning out the negotiations going on in doha, perhaps adding emphasis to israels position. Hamas has also responded by firing its rockets into tel aviv where you are. So, you know, is what were seeing on the battlefield an amplification of positions held of those talks to create nor pressure or a breakdown in talks. What were witnessing here is a definitive uptick in tensions, in Artillery Fire and tank fire. Where it goes after tonight and what it means going forward, is not clear as we stand here. The guns doing the talking tonight. Anderson and jake. And nick, there had been a report about a large amount of smoke that had drifted across into southern israel. Is that something you witnessed and what is that . Very hard to tell. I was talking with an idf spokesperson while literally enghuflds that and asking them what was going on. The idf doesnt comment as you know in real time about operations. And they said they would have to get back to me about what it was. We saw fires on the Hillside Last Night caused by flares that had been fired up, come down, hit, set the grass afire. That was not what we experienced tonight. We experienced a huge wall of smoke that literally grew up into the sky. It was just at dusk. It was dark clouds billowing up high, you can see it moving up and up and we realized it was coming towards us. Behind me there are buildings and Street Lights here on the edge of town, and we could literally see that smoke engulf those buildings and blow past the Street Lights here on to the position we were in and then fill the sky behind where john, our cameraman, is standing right now. It was a dense smoke. It was slightly to the throat. It tingled to the nose. It wasnt smoke that gets fired like tear gas, it wasnt that sort of thing, it was a dense smoke that enveloped the surroundings, the sort of thing that is called in military terms a smoke screen for troops to maneuver under. We dont know if thats what was happening. Tanks that are mobile were firing in that area at that time. Nic, its easy to forget because israel has this incredibly effective Missile Defense system, the iron dome, but since october 7th, palestinian groups, hamas, Islamic Jihad and others, have just been blanketing israel, attempting to blanket israel with rockets of their own, roughly 15,000 rockets that they have. Theyve been largely destroyed by the i were dome. If it werent for iron dome, the israeli casualties would be in the tens if not hundreds of thousands. It seems today in tel aviv, because of the alerts, it seems like there was an increase in palestinian attacks on tel aviv and anecdotally because of the app they have for israelis in terms of the red alerts and different neighborhoods, different areas of israel, it seemed anecdotically that there was an increase in palestinian rocket attacks on israel. What was your impression in sderot, which for people not watching, is much closer to gaza. People not familiar with israeli geography in gaza. Was that your impression as well . It absolutely was. Like you, we were watching and listening to those and it was ping, ping, ping, ping, as another area lit up in Central Israel where you are, in a whole area around tel aviv, that central area. Not so many rockets here on our location today. What i can tell you specifically from here, perhaps anecdotal, but we know from our experience here when you take out the iron dome from the equation and we understood thats what happened here temporarily, the missiles hit. They hit the building next door to us and a number of other locations here in this town. Iron dome is absolutely essential, but hamas knows that. Islamic jihad knows that. They will have, over the past few weeks, tried to analyze when their missiles get through, what pattern of missiles. How many did you fire in which direction. How many did you fire in a slightly different direction and how soon after. They try to create parnes that will defeat the ability of the iron dome. The iron dome is an intelligent computerized system that detects incoming missiles and know whiches battery to fire against them. When the battery is fired it needs to reload. Hamas will have studied this to find the weak points and perhaps thats what were witnessing this evening when i saw the lights light up and hear the pings, that was the sense it created. Jake . It seems, anderson, they dont seem to be targeting military targets. It seems to be focused on Population Centers in israel. They dont have the targeting capability. Theyre just trying to hit downtown tel aviv. Right. As jake was saying today in tel aviv there were more Air Raid Sirens at least three or four. In quite some time. Jeremy diamond is with us, in ashkelon, also very close to the border. Thats just north of gaza like on the talk about what you have been hearing over the last several hours. Well, anderson, we have been hearing really the most intense, the most sustained bombing of gaza i think ive heard in the nearly three weeks i have been in this area. The sounds, the loudness of these booms has really been unlike anything i have heard in these last several weeks, and amid all of this, what we have also heard is rocket fire coming from gaza towards right here in ashkelon. We had a siren go off an hour ago as well as earlier in the day, and it rockets, as you guys know, over in tel aviv and in Central Israel as well. All of this, you know, points to an intensification of this israeli campaign, whether or not this is the beginning of israels planned Ground Invasion of gaza is yet to be confirmed. What we are hearing is also inside of gaza, that they are getting the sense that this is indeed the most intense bombing they have had since the beginning of this conflict and we are also learning that a Palestinian Telecommunications company says all of their service has been knocked out essentially, which is something to consider as we look at the possibility that this could be the start of israels invasion of gaza. Beyond that, of course, we have to look at what has happened over the last several days. Israel has been making clear they are preparing the terrain in gaza for that Ground Invasion. Theyve been intensifying air strikes, taking out not only senior hamas commanders, but the kinds of commanders who are going out, who are in charge of Firing Rockets, in charge of commanding the kind of smaller units that would do much of the fighting inside key parts of the gaza c gaza strip and the military going in and conducting raids, targeted raids, inside of gaza. The past two nights we have seen tanks cross into the gaza border conducting raids within a couple kilometers of the border and last night we also saw the israeli equivalent of the navy s. E. A. L. S. Conducting a Maritime Raid on gaza in the southern part of the gaza strip. All of this intended to prepare the terrain for a Ground Invasion, to probe hamas responses as they see Israeli Forces approaching and also, of course, to go after the tunnels. Miles and miles of tunnels under gaza which the Israeli Military knows will be their number one challenge as they bring in a ground force, expected to bring a ground force, into the gaza strip. Okay. I want to bring in colonel Cedric Leighton if i can. Colonel, youre an air force colonel, am i correct . Thats right, jake. Absolutely. So the reason i ask is because i believe that the idf feels that they have reached basically or are about to reach the end of their the capabilities of the efficiency of the air campaign, of phase one of this war on hamas. That theyve reached the maximum that theyre going to be able to do to hamas leadership and to the infrastructure of hamas for want of a better term their war machine, their ability to wage war against israel, from the air. And they started in recent days to talk more about the miles of tunnels that hamas has spent literally 20 years building underneath gaza. And, in fact, the min sister of Defense Galant said today in a briefing on the record something along the lines of all the money that went into gaza over the years, did they build a university . Did they build a factory . No. They built tunnels and rockets. And they really describe this elaborate network and describe them as bomb proof, air strike proof, and this is something that they, a, that this is why they think they took the hostages, kidnapped these people, so as to prevent the israelis from just like fire bombing napalming the tunnels because there are 224 innocent people in there. What can they do in phase two with a Ground Incursion when it comes to the tunnels . That sounds absolutely terrifying to go into the tunnels. It certainly is, jake. Youre getting at the right point here because there is a certain separation that happens with an air campaign. You know, if you look at the american air campaigns both in iraq n 2003, as well as in bosnia with the serbians in the late 90s, there was a certain point where there was a degree of saturation that was achieved and in this particular case you have a limited area that you can deal with. You only have 130 or so square miles. You have a limited area in which the hamas forces operate in and youve got those tunnels that you mentioned. So when it comes to bombs that can actually penetrate the ground and go into Something Like a tunnel area, theyre basically limited to, at best, abili about 100 feet or so. Thats the most they can cause damage at. That would affect entrance, affect shallow tunnels and things like that. But what youre looking at is probably deeper tunnels and when it comes to this part, what the israelis have done, theyve basically softened up the terrain and now with phase two of the operation, ther still going to use some Air Components to do it and thats what were seeing tonight and israel and gaza. What else is happening is that the Ground Forces are beginning to move and based on who im hearing from Nic Robertson and Jeremy Diamond and you, we are looking at a clear effort to go in on the ground and to select certain areas perhaps where they think the hostages are also the Command Elements of hamas are located. This is the next phase of the operation. The potential second phase of the operation has begun this evening. We do not have confirmation on what is happening on the ground. We have our reporters in ashkelon and sderot. Were going to take a short break and our coverage continues in just a moment. Rear admiralal. Lets listenen in. Theyre g going to save yo life. The enemy is launching missiles and if youre going to safe spaces youre going to save your life. Recently we managed to get man alerts from citizen regarding troubles with the application of the Central Command. This application is one tool in order to let you know and alert you in real time. There are alerts and telegrams of the Central Command. Use all the tools in order to be informed. So far, we notified 310 dead soldiers and 229 abductees. Our hearts are with the abductees in the shabbat evening. World report committed for the National Commission to return them home. We are summarizing the third week of the war. Hundreds of thousands of idf soldiers are around the borders of the state. In the air, ground and sea, in order to pro the the state. Protect the state. In the last day, we see many more rockets launched towards israel. I said, and im going to say again, we have good protection for the state of israel, and we know how to deal with threats. We saw the air force. This is not not a defense. Please listen to the instructions of the Central Command and the safe spaces are saving lives and were going to intercept as many as possible, but its not automatic. You expose the hospital to activity didnt mean the idf is going to attack there. Is there going to be any deal for the ceasefire for hostages . Were going to bring Additional Information and many more videos of interrogations of terrorists and bring Additional Information regarding using infrastructure, by using hospital, all civil infrastructure, useing the civilians as a live human shield. We cannot let terror be active from hospitals and attack our citizens. With cannot let it happen, not the state of israel, it will not let it happen. Regarding the rumors about a deal with the hostages, i advise you not to deal with rumors. We are talking terror and psychological terror and hamas. We are going to bring you reliable information, give it to the families and then update the public until then dont give into the psychological terror of hamas. Last question. Few targets supposed to be safe and continue the School Activity that were defined by the Central Command, were attacked today. We are trying in the shadow of war, with the coordination of the municipalities, and ashkelon, and the rest of the municipalities were going to review and if we can have routine to let thunderstorm have education, Education System working, its a big dill aemma,t we are in charge of it, the Central Command, and the public will know about the instructions. Shabbat shalom. That was rear admiral Daniel Hagari of the idf saying the Ground Operation in his words is expanding. The exact size and scope he did not go into. Colonel leighton is joining us as well, colonel, to you, what does that mean, Ground Operation expanding . So, anderson, i think what were seeing here is more moves by the Israeli Forces using armor and possibly Infantry Units and squads going into target areas is what it sounds like at the moment. Now, this, you know, incursion may take the form of a Massive Movement of forces or it may take a the form of a smaller, more precise Special Operations like movement. We dont know that yet, obviously, but it seems as if this is the start of that particular movement that will, perhaps, gain them a little bit more territory, perhaps theyre going after certain targets. It seems to also be done in concert with both air activity as well as naval activity, so it seems to be a multipronged approach using all the elements of israeli idf, Israeli Defense force power, that could mean theyre going after targets in the north it seems like, more gaza city and the area south of there. Basically say the nor