Plus, ask how to get an 800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. Comcast business, powering possibilities. Hello. Welcome to all of you watching in the u. S. And all around the world. Im Maxwell Foster with coverage. 10 00 a. M. In london, noon in israel where israelis have reported theyve struck 150 underground targets in gaza overnight. After what israel called two targeted raids over the previous two days, the idf now says its expanding Ground Operations into gaza. One hospital said it received 22 bodies during the intense Overnight Bombardment along with hundreds of people injured. The israeli strike came exactly three weeks after hamas massacred over 1,400 people in southern israel, and more than 200 hostages are being held by hamas in gaza. As you can see in this new video, those strikes have continued into the daylight hours. Nearly all Communication Networks in gaza are reported to be out of service and have been for many hours. Cnns rafael romo joins us from tel aviv. Several things going on here. The immense amount of strikes probably but also this communication blackout. Reporter yeah, a couple of things is making the situation here way more complicated, max. You were mentioning a moment ago, those israeli warplanes that hit 150 underground targets overnight. Let me also tell you that we have learned that the Israeli Defense forces say that they also killed the head of hamas aerial operations. The israel Defense Forces said it had struck what it called Terror Tunnels and underground combat spaces during a period of very heavy air strikes on the north of the gaza strip, which explains some of the loud booms we heard for hours overnight here in tel aviv. The Israeli Military also says the man who was in charge of hamas Aerial Assets was among several operatives killed, and israel Defense Forces announce the expansion of Ground Operations in gaza. U. S. Defense secretary lloyd austin reiterated the importance of protecting civilians in a call friday with the israeli minister of defense. And, max, during the call, austin also stressed the importance of humanitarian aid delivery for civilians in gaza and hamas to release all hostages. Even after two weeks of air strikes, max, and artillery strikes on gaza, it appears that hamas still has the capability to launch Rocket Attacks against israel. Our team here in tel aviv had to go to a shelter friday afternoon when the Air Raid Sirens went off and we heard several loud booms. Authorities here say several people were injured after a residential building was struck by a missile, including a 20yearold man who suffered head and limb injuries. And then once night fell, Gaza Residents told cnn they were witnessing some of the most intense air strikes since the war began. There was widespread power, internet, and Cellular Service outages across the gaza strip. The tel aviv Telecom Company that provides mobile service says the intense bombardment destructed all remains routes leading to a complete interruption of telecommunications services. Max . What specifically was the purpose of this round of attacks . Reporter yeah. I had an opportunity to talk to a spokesman with the idf, and what he told me was that even though they cannot disclose their tactics, the overall goal here is to soften the ground, meaning to get rid of any possible traps that their forces can encounter Shoulda Ground Incursion happen in the next few hours or days. They were not really specific as to when this was happening, but it appears based on all the signs that we have seen here, thats the purpose, getting ready for what would be the large Ground Operation that not only prms. M. Netanyahu has been talking about for more than a week, max. About an hour ago i spoke with peter layton, a visiting fellow and the Griffith Asia institute, and he said the time for israels expected Ground Defensive is getting shorter. Certainly feeling like a largescale attack. I think time is is running out, and the israelis need to get a move on, if youd like. So i suspect that this is perhaps the start of this largescale assault, but i dont think they have very long for it. What surprises me most, i suppose, is the Israeli Air Force are reported to have dropped more than 7,000 or 8,000 bombs over the last few weeks. Theyve caused significant damage to the buildings in gaza city and north gaza, so i would think about now is about the right time for a ground incursion. I would also ask what is left now . Hamas is a fairly small organization. Thats an awful lot of bombs. Now, there are issues of the war expanding from the north, and that will be tying up various Ground Forces in the north as well, and economically speaking the war is certainly damaging israel. But the israelis seem to be losing i wouldnt say losing interest, but theyre becoming more and more concerned about the possible casualties here. Hamas is assumes to be ready and waiting and wants the israelis to advance and be attacked. Hamas cannot attack israel very well apart from some relatively small warhead rockets, so they need the israeli army to come forward, if youd like, so they can score some pure victories and die in some sort of hero manner. The israelis are mounting raids that are getting more and more intense. The last bombing looked very intense. As youve just said, the domestic situation in israel is turning against a fullscale invasion. Israel is claiming the largest hospital in gaza is the largest Command Center for hamas. It is preparing a major assault. He does his control in different departments of the hospital like the room and others. He uses the places to do commanding control, terror activities, launching rockets, et cetera, et cetera. It is here at the chief hospital where hamas operates some some of command and control cells. This is where they operate inside and underneath the hospital and other hospitals in other territories. Hamas also has an entrance to the tunnels from inside the hospital. Meaning from different places of the hospital you can go to an Ujds Ground Tunnel that will provide you shelter. Well, palestinians reject israels claim. Theyre saying the hospitals are used to treat patients and not hiding anyone. Theyre calling on the u. N. And islamic and arab countries to intervene and stop the maddening bombing of the medical system. Joining us now the clinical director of medicine. What do you make of that briefing from the idf suggesting that the hospital that you know is being used as this Command Center . Well, its really yesterdays news. We heard this in 2009. They ham the same claims then and then also during the attacks in 2014. The same claims were raised by the israeli army. Ive been working since 2006 on and off, and during all the latest incursions, ive been able to walk freely wherever i want in the hospital. Ive been filming, picturing patients and staff. My film has never been controlled. Ive never seen any signs belonging to Political Leadership there. These claims are told again and again to validate the attacks on hospitals, and weve seen a large number of attacks on palestinian hospitals and primary Health Care Clinics during the last three weeks. So the total capacity of the ministry has been largely diminished due to the bombing and killed a lot of the clinical staff. These claims are not substantiated and as a Medical Doctor i would never work in a hospital which was used for dual use for some military purpose. The international organizations, International Red cross, they all have stakes in the hospital. The new medical complex has been checked and controlled by international agencies. So, you know, i challenge the israelis. Show the proof. Currently the situation is extremely precarious. They have hundreds of patients actpatients, actually around 40, 50,000 refugees have taken refuge in the hospital in addition to the wounded and their families. Theyre lacking electricity, water, everything you need to run a hospital. I dont know which word were going to use now. Its no longer a catastrophe. Its a massive historical disaster, whats going on now. For the last three weeks, more than 3,000 palestinian children have been killed during the bombardment. Thats 1,000 palestinian children a week. Imagine some Military Organization would kill a thousand u. S. Kids a week. I mean there would be a reaction. Can i just can i just ask you as well. You talk about the challenges of doing any medical work at the hospital. We now know the internet and phone lines are being cut off in gaza. I i dont know if f youve mana to Reach Anyonone there, but wh sort of challenge is that going to add to their work . I tried this morning to call and to text 15 different contacts, medical contacts in different hospitals in gaza, and i have received absolutely no reply. There are no reports coming out, and, of course, the coordination of whatever medical relief there will be, coordination of international efforts, whatever they will be, will be largely impossible without the communication system. And also bear in mind that the Palestinian Health care system tries to distribute the wounded between the hospitals according to the capacity. Also their supplies to the extent they have supplies. So losing your communication system, your mobile phone, your Texting System is, of course, an extremely difficult thing during such a massive patient load as the Palestinian Health care workers are facing. Now, that adds to the lack of fuel, the lack of electricity, the lack of water, and the lack of food. We know that the medical supplies are running short, running dry. They dont have anesthetics, they dont have suturing material, bandages, so on, so its impossible to even try to treat the thousands of wounded. And the last number was 19,000 war wounded. I a among them, 6,400 palestinian children were wounded in gaza. Dr. Mads gilbert, Clinical Medicine at the University Hospital in north norway. I appreciate your time. Still ahead, the u. S. President questions the death toll in gaza as reported by the hamas controlled Health Ministry, selma. Well have details for you. Gaza is largely under a Communications Blackout right now amid the looming threat of an Israeli Ground offensive as they continue targeting hamas. A local Service Provider says most of the phone and internet links have been decimated as israeli air strikes pounded the enclave. Theyre severely disrupted. Multiple humanitarian groups say they cant get in touch with their ground teams on the ground. All the while, according to a u. N. Official, the situation is rapidly deteriorating. As we speak, people in gaza are dying. Theyre not only dies from bombs and strike. Soon many more will die from the consequences of things on the gaza strip. Basic services are crippled. Medicine is running out. For more im joined by salma abdelaziz. Its going to be such a challenge for all the agencies involved. You know, were struggling to get the information out of there right now. And were talking about death tolls as well. Reporter absolutely, max. Just to give you one anecdote of how difficult the situation is on the ground right now since last night, ambulances have no way of communicating with people who are hit in air strikes. They have no way of knowing which direction to head, so they just start driving essentially toward where explosions are to try to help pull people out. We have a very difficult situation on the ground before last nights intensification, and there was a debate that was sparked by President Biden when he doubted, when He Cast Doubt on the death toll coming out of gaza. Now, always in any conflict there is a, lets say, war for information as well as the war that is actually occurring on the ground. But before i show you this report, before i show you how this controversy unfolded before President Bidens comments, it is important to note that thousands of palestinians have been killed. That is something that United Nations, Rights Groups, and the u. S. Agree on. Take a look. Reporter families are mourning and counting their dead. An e7bdless stream of funerals echoes throughout gaza. And as palestinians bury their loved ones, Doubt Is Cast by the u. S. And israel on the death toll being released by hamas. Hamas seized control of gaza in 2007. No elections have been held since. The militant group is the military power here. It controls the government and, therefore, all ministries, including the Health Ministry. President biden says thats why he has no confidence in the reported gaza death toll. I have no notions that the palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. Im sure innocents have been killed and its the price of waging a war. Reporter this is how the hamasrun ministry responded, publishing this document, a 212page report listing the i. D. Numbers, names, sex, and age of more than 6 thoug palestinians that have been killed since october 7th. Among them, nearly 3,000 children. The total figure is expected to be even higher because of hundreds of unidentified bodies, it says. The Ministry Says its committed to accuracy. It accused some of dehumanizing palestinian victims. Our people are not anonymous entities that can be ignored, it said. The Palestinian Authority which rules the west bank also hit back. There are certain leaders who dont want to see the reality. The numbers are correct. They are our numbers. These numbers are fed to us from the hospitals of Gaza Every Single Day that are received by our Ministry Of Health. Reporter skepticism over the death toll spiked after the explosion at gaza citys hospital. Within hours the hamasrun Health Ministry said at least 471 were killed. The u. S. Gave the more conservative estimate of 100 to 300 killed. It was at least a couple of hundred. Thats terrible and thats atrocious and thats sad, and we all obviously grieve with the families affected by that, but the numbers are unreliable. Reporter groups and the staterun didnt have cited this in the past. But the u. S. Says recent statements and figures from hamas are unreliable. Human rights watch, an independent body responded. Weve done research during multiple rounds, escalations, and weve always found the Ministry Of Health data generally to be reliable. The conversation should focus on how World Leaders can stop further mass atrocities and not nitpicking whether a number thats generally proven to be accurate may be a little bit off. Reporter and access is limited. Foreign media has been denied entry into gaza, and for local journalists, conditions on the ground make reporting difficult. Cnn and other news outlets cannot independently verify the figures. And while some argue over the death toll, bodies keep piling up. Now, max, the United Nations and Rights Groups say palestinians are dying at an alarming rate, many of them children. United nations last estimates about a week ago was more than 60 of those killed are children. We reached out to save the children, the uk charity last week, they said on average every ten minutes one child is killed in gaza. When youre talking about those 2 Million People trapped in the war zone, again, half of them children, 1 million trapped, there is very considerable fear that this bloodshed only increases, only intensifies with israels growing attacks. Of course, Last Night There was an intensification of those air strikes. Very difficult to get a picture of whats happening on the ground, but absolute fears that this is an unprecedented level of bloodshed in gaza. Could we just talk kwifly about chi fa hospital. Weve got israelis saying its not only a hospital but a Command Center with tunnels underneath. Just describe it, how its affected and how concerned you might be that its going to you know, the israelis are talking about it in this way. Reporter Al Schiff Fa Hospital is more than a hospital, max. It was essentially the nerve center of gaza city. You had hundreds of refugees, and right now you have hundreds of refugees of displaced people who will be staying at the hospital, hoping, praying its a safe place. Youll have thousands of wounded people who cannot be moved, who cannot be evacuated. Youll have the doctors, aid agencies, youll have journalists camped o it at the hospital as well, hoping to get electricity, hoping for power so they can continue to film, continue to report. Whats interesting about israels claims is theres very little proof if you will that israelis have provid