hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world as we continue our coverage of israel at war. i'm paula newton. and we begin with despair, outrage and arguments over a deadly airstrike on a densely packed refugee camp in gaza. and now a huge cloud of smoke can be seen from across the border in israel. israeli military has claimed responsibility for the attack saying that it was aiming for a top hamas commander and infect succeeded in killing him with gleams. the critics are asking at what cost? the scope of the devastation and the camp is not yet clear. the civilian casualty count appears to be significant. the impact of the explosion left huge craters in piles of debris that are being scoured for signs of life. one of them told cnn, quote, there were 78 huge hold in the ground full of killed people. body parts all over the place. it felt like the end of the world. and now earlier i spoke with the spokesman of the israeli defense forces to ask them why this type of a strike was a nuisance. >> the precision here is to hit a target buried underground, a tunneled conflict which reaches where this terrorist was hiding. and trying to use civilians which is the common practice of hamas, which is a war crime. and this also a war crime not to allow civilians to evacuate and hamas is doing both. and what we did here was to strike with the acquired, or the acquired amount of firepower in order to get to where he was hiding in order to achieve in military achievements that support the overall aim of the war. that is why this was struck, it is both legitimate and an important military strike to do. understand that the pictures are difficult, i understand that our human feelings were seen suffering and we relate to that. but if we are able to look from a little bit higher position this war is against a brutal terrorist enemy that is waiting for exactly these things to happen. >> now hamas has strongly denied that one of its leaders was even at the cat that was. did the hamas person accused civilians and the palestinian ambassador to the u.n. said that it should be to the international criminal court. i said despite the blast -- >> they called the death tragedies and they said the u.s. will keep working with the israelis on the need to limit civilian casualties. >> unlike russia and ukraine, and unlike what hamas did on the 7th of october the killing of civilians is not a warning of israel. i'm not denying that it's happening. of course it is. and it's tragic. but it's not the goal of israeli forces to go out and deliberately take innocent civilianize. and they have tried to make efforts to minimize that. >> now they're -- which registered more than 116,000 people there on the last count. witnesses to the striker describing horrendous scenes, children carrying other injured children. and we want when, you our next report will be difficult to watch. here is cnn's nada bashir. >> we horrifying scenes of utter despair. where is she? this man's plea. but everything here is gone. part of the refugee camp, among the largest and most densely populated in gaza now turned to rubble. the latest targets of israel's from atlas eight campaign. >> the idf has claimed responsibility for the airstrike. the targets they say, a senior hamas commander killed in the blast. >> we are focused again on our targets as senior commander. >> but this attack, this massacre, the doctors from gaza are describing it to hit civilians hearted. >> emergency response teams worked desperately in the hope of finding more survivors. that's why causes overwhelm indonesian hospital, corpses lying the streets. the numbers of those killed and injured, according to the hospital's director already in the hundreds. >> they were just in their homes, children, women, the elderly. we have no idea what to do. the injured are everywhere. >> inside the hospital mothers with their children, wounded and traumatized. but outside, survivors continue to dig through the debris of what was once their homes. desperate to find love once buried beneath with all fearing the very worst. some of the videos, which have emerged from the aftermath, the airstrike are simply too graphic to show. doctors tell cnn their bodies were found charred and dismembered, this comes after residence in northern gaza were warned by israel to evacuate southward. the many simply cannot leave. and while israel denies carrying out collective punishment against the palestinian people with scenes like this, reflected across thee gaza strip show that i it is civilians that are paying the price. not a beshear, cnn, jerusalem. for more on all of this we want to bring in our scott mclean and we do have reaction to what happened there. but also some information from the idf about casualties after a few days there in gaza. >> that's right paula. first let me give you the reaction. there have been some very strong reaction to the strikes on this refugee camp. and the american one that you played earlier is undoubtedly an outlier. you have not seen, with few exceptions, the volume of outrage coming from western leaders in response to this. and in response to israel's tactics in general that you are seeing from the region, keaton point. the saudis, the iranians, they are bitter rivals. they don't agree on very much. but they agree on the condemnation of what happened on the strike on this refugee camp. the iranians have called it barbaric. the united arab emirates, a country which has spent the last few years growing its diplomatic and economic ties with israel, it has also condemned this attack. the egyptians called it in human and said this, quote, egypt consider this as a new flagrant violation by the israeli forces against the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law. you have seen the turkish president. he has been very outspoken over the last few weeks. he has called israel's entire war effort a massacre and he said, this. the israeli ministration backed by the unconditional support of europe in america has been committing crimes against humanity in front of the eyes of the whole world for exactly 25 days. we believe that israel, which seems just completely lost its state of mind, and act like an organization must be stopped as soon as possible. you've gotten condemnation even from within israel, the human rights group said, look, not everything is allowed in war. including warren hamas. targeting civilians is always prohibited an israel must stop these attacks now. and even outside the region you've had the leaders of chile and columbia announcing that they had withdrawn their ambassador. so they'll be withdrawing their ambassadors to israel in the wake of these strikes. your point, paula, about the soldiers killed from the idf, the more soldiers that have been killed inside got what they say that nine more soldiers were killed in the northern gaza strip. they gave the names of all nine and what they denied though is any kind of detail about how or where they were killed, paula? >> and more to that point, scott, what more are we learning about how far into gaza idea forces may be at this hour? >> yes, so the israelis for obvious reasons are not giving much information if any at all about where exactly they are. and we had beast on photos and videos and counts from cnn teams, and near the gaza strip they have been able to verify some bits of information. so we know, and we can bring up a map, there are the locations that we know that the israeli troops and tanks have entered and one is the press corps, neither and the other is the northeast corner of the strip and then another side about ten miles or so southward. all three of these entry points are in the heart of gaza. the northern part of gossip. that is your has been telling people to evacuate from and while the south and central bits maybe safer there's really no safe place in gaza. because their airstrikes are being carried out all over the place. we've also had some video evidence showing israeli troops on the ground. i could show you one of them. this is from over the weekend. it shows israeli troops waving their flags on the roof of a beach front resort in gaza. this is about two miles or so south of the perimeter fence. one of the soldiers in the video there say that we will not forgive nor forget and will not stop until the victory we also have more evidence of where israeli troops are tanks have been. this is from the main road which by sets gaza. it from earlier this week. it shows an israeli tank firing on a passenger vehicle, the local journalist to shot this video said that that tank was targeting anything that came near. and idf spokesperson leader acknowledged that he didn't actually know who was inside that vehicle. but he justified the attack by saying that it could've been hamas. because, of course, hamas is not a conventional military. and the you civilian equipment for military purposes. paula? >> yes, all of this leading to the point that the idea of continues to say that northern gaza, it is not safe. and they wanted people to move to the south. and again, given the airstrike there the idf itself acknowledging they are responsible for that and that there was a loss of civilian life. our scott mclain for us, really appreciate it. >> military advisor at packs for peace and a former u.n. were crimes investigator and i will get, actually, to your resume because it's very pertinent here as well. to make a fine point of it you've actually been in charge of high value targeting at the pentagon. so we really want to talk to you to try and understand what went on here. of course it's difficult to, at this, point verified the civilian toll. this is a contentious point between israel palestinians, but really, let's be clear. innocence died here, period. so, in terms of how these airstrikes are planned, is israel's justification rooted international rules of war as far as you know? >> yes, so israel clearly has a right to defend itself. but that right is not limited. they have to follow the laws of war. and when we look at it and the way that i did it when i was doing the marketing during the iraq war in 2003, you have two different things that you have to consider, basically. right? one is that you have to always distinguish between the military objects in the civilian objects. that seems pretty obvious, right? we want to just how good the military side. and then you have to do it proportionately. and that means that any military action that you take campy up we buy civilian harm. so when we look at this strike two of the questions that israel had to ask himself are, one, can we target this densely populated area? the refugee camp? i've been. there it is one of the most densely populated places on earth. can be targeted in a way, that we're not going to spread the harm so wide that we're going to win ultimately. but, also can we get to that leader and is that leader so important that the civilian harm that can be caused by that strike is going to be justified? and that's the question that the tigers have to ask themselves. >> do you think the ask themselves those questions when you see -- >> yes. yes, i think that israel's playing fast and loose with the law. i think that their interpretation of civilian harm is a very permissive. and i look at when we were targeting during the iraq war in 2003 and we had a number. and that number was 30 civilians killed in any strike that we were going to have against a non-crusade. so the leader of the iraqi military and the government was worth 30 civilians. as much of, as that may seem, that was the calculus. that was made and to look at a hamas leader, no matter how important and to think that he's worth dozens if not hundreds of civilians killed, we don't know how many people were harmed in this event. he really boggles the mind. and it's hard for me to understand. i think we need to ask the israelis if you are conducting a strike and it was israeli civilians that are going to be killed, would your still pulled the trigger? >> which brings us to the point of proportionality. this fight has already been relentless. it's been going on for less than a month. is that level of intensity necessary? and i ask you, as well, is it even smart at this point in terms of protecting israel's security? >> well you know i think the most important thing here is to protect the civilians and israel and gaza. and i don't think that the current campaign is doing that. i think what we need to do is ratchet things down, move quickly to a cease-fire and find a political solution to this. so it's very difficult in the current climate. the civilian harm that was needed out, clearly hamas committed war crimes. and that is evident. the rafah tax into israel and war crimes but the responses cannot be one that is such were civilians are constantly upping the price for these strikes. and i fear that we're just going to continue to see massive civilian harm. in just two weeks of this war we have seen more bombs dropped in gaza and the u.s. dropped at the height of the war in afghanistan in any single year. >> that's extraordinary. just you putting it that way, and actually giving us an idea of what we've been looking at in the last few weeks. and unfortunately, most people of gaza have been living through -- >> thank you so much. really appreciate your expertise on this. >> yes, thanks for having me. >> the rafah border crossing from egypt to gaza is set to open wednesday, and egyptian border officials said 81 seriously wounded palestinians will be allowed through. and that is to be treated in hospitals in egypt. on tuesday, dozens of trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered gaza through the rafah crossing. israel said trucks carried only water, food and medical equipment. but not feel. the u.s. said it's a start is only a fraction of the aid that people in gaza need. new york state, and then the blinken said the u.s. is trying to get about 100 trucks to enter daily with humanitarian aid. alyssa bell brings us the latest on that struggle to get that aid into gaza. >> on the road but at a standstill. trucks carrying much needed help for gaza. some stuck here say the driver's from more than two weeks. >> the people across the border have nothing. if you saw the way they're living, you'd want to carry the aid yourself and going on foot. >> yet, the bottlenecks say egyptians have been called by the complexes really inspection process which requires each truck to be checked. >> even before the war, the rafah crossing here was a crucial audrey in and out of gaza. the food program reckons that even before this conflict began, more than three weeks ago 80% of gaza's population was reliant on humanitarian aid. and a big portion of them came through here, the trouble, is a little it is actually now getting through. >> i even as aid workers warn of hunger and dehydration unicef said the territory only has 5% of the water it needs. it's an imminent public health catastrophe with the massive placement, the overcrowding, and the damage to infrastructure. >> authorities in the region say they're doing all they can. >> all state agencies that are moving to solve this unprecedented humanitarian crisis with the innocent residents of the gaza strip are exposed to today. >> here, at the rafah crossing there is the only road in and out of gaza. it does not lead to israel. it's controlled by egypt and that is why some of that aid has been able to get in. the issues for the palestinians inside is that egypt is no longer refugees. and it said it does not want the palestinian people to be forced to be removed from their land. >> for those inside, so many displaced because of the intensification of israel's bombardment. every truck health. >> and for those lining up here that's enough to make them try. >> implementing international humanitarian law, opening the rafah crossing all the way and bringing in more aid in trucks because what enters the gaza strip is like a drop in the negotiation of our children and women need. >> and for, now so much of that remains stuck here at rafah. the last lifeline, in and out of gaza that, so far this war has seen precious little crossing. melissa bell, cnn, at the rafah crossing in egypt. >> still to come for, us protests among congress on the push for the war efforts in israrael. details after the break. plus, iran-backed houthi militants in yemen s say they launched an attatack o on israe. how they're getting involved in israel's war and hamas. in washington you can hear there are protesters calling for a cease-fire in gaza repeatedly interrupting the senate hearing while others in the audience raise their hand painted red in the air. about a dozen protesters were arrested by capitol hill police. the protests happening as top u.s. officials including secretary of state anthony blinken and defense secretary, lloyd austin were making their case to lawmakers. urging them to approve emergency military aid for both israel and ukraine. arguing there is a clear link between the two conflicts. >> allowing russia to prevail, with iran support will simply in bolden both moscow and iran. to put it safely, her adversaries be they states earn on stage this is all one fight. and we have to respond in a way that recognizes that. if we start to peel off pieces of this package, they'll see that, the understand that we are piecing welcome all while they cooperate increasingly. >> now despite the push by top officials, to tie israel and ukraine funding together deep divisions remain within the u.s. house. when republicans under the leadership of nearly mounted how speaker mike johnson are proposing a stand-alone aid bill just for israel. but that proposal seems likely to be dead on arrival in the senate where we are seeing a rare play bipartisan unity. as leaders of both party agree that israel aid should be part of a larger package that includes ukraine aid. listen. >> the house gop packages willfully inadequate. it has a hard right fingerprints all over it. making aid to israel who just face the worst terrorist attack in history contingent on poison pills that help ultra wealthy tax cheats. >> we'll see if the bill comes out of the house, and if it will work out of margin that it has. now all of you, as you've expressed is that we need to treat all full of these areas. all four of them. ukraine, israel, -- and the border. >> now with the situation in the middle east growing increasingly tense, the u.s. is sending 300 more troops to the middle east in the wake of the current israel hamas conflict. the u.s. defense department said that they will be going to israel, the deployment comes as iranian-backed groups have carried out more than two dozen attacks on u.s. forces in iraq and syria. the u.s. defense secretary said the protection of the u.s. troop civilians is the administration's top priority. but austin had the stern warning for iran. >> if this doesn't stop then we will respond. we maintain the right to respond. we have the capability to do that and we will respond in a time and place of a choosing. >> in the meantime, israel's military insisted it sorted what they called aerial threats from the red sea using its arrow defenses them for the first time to intercept a surface to surface missile. around back to the militant groups in yemen say it launched the attack. and the world is watching now -- frfred playing ten hazard repor. > i iranian-backeked houthi fightersrs in the lemon, with a show of force. while only hitting u.s. and israeli flags and it's exercise, the houthis say that they have also launched a massive long distance attack on israel. using ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones. >> the yemeni armed forces confirmed that thihis operation is the third in support of our oppressed brothers and palestine, he e says. isisrael confirmrmed