good evening. for the first time since the october 7th attack on israel and the war in hamas that's followed, hundreds of foreign nationals were finally allowed to leave gaza today. many more still remain. two allowed to leave are u.s. citizens. both were aide workers. in a moment, we'll speak to the niece of one of those aide workers, a 71-year-old seattle resident, who's been helping to make prosthetics for children in gaza when she was there on october 7th. the state department estimates there are about 1,000 americans and 5,000 other foreign nationals in gaza who want to leave. president biden today said he expects more americans to depart, quote, over the coming days. in another first since the war began, palestinians were allowed to cross gaza's southern border into egypt. this is a hospital in north sinai where some were taken for treatment. signals shift in the conflict that for a second time in as many days saw israeli strike targets north of gaza, according to the u.n. is the largest camp like that in gaza. it struck a quote hamas command and control complex and that, quote, hamas terrorists were eliminated in the strike. the director of oa hospital here in refugee camp said they received 80 bodies. cnn can't confirm either claim. we'll have the full report on the new strike as well as what it means for the humanitarian crisis in gaza, plus the attempts to release the hostages, which now number at least 240 according to the israel defense forces. melissa bell joins us from egypt on the release of injured palestinians. what more do we know about american who is left gaza today and others? >> reporter: you mentioned dr. okay mora, 71-year-old pediatric orthopedist. the other is a pediatrician. both were doctors, there to help gazan children, found themselves on the wrong side of the border. what we understand is that they're both now on their way to cairo, these just the first of the americans that are to be released. what we understand is that this is a comprehensive deal that will see all foreign nationals eventually getting out of gaza. >> reporter: a tired smile and a wave from one of the lucky few finally allowed to leave gaza since the war began. these families, just some of the first foreign and dual nationals finally permitted through the rafah crossing into egypt on wednesday. the result of a deal brokered by qatar between israel, hamas, egypt, and the united states, that will allow all foreign and dual nationals to leave the besieged enclave. also allowed to leave under the deal, the first palestinians, 81 of the most severely wounded, those desperate enough for urgent surgical intervention taken one by one in a convoy of ambulances to a field hospital set up a few miles away and to other hospitals in northern egypt. large crowds of foreign nationals had been massing at the border after hearing at the start of the conflict that they'd be allowed out. families desperately checking to see if they were some of those lucky enough finally to get through. >> translator: i'm an american living in gaza. we heard that the crossing was open, but unfortunately we discovered that it was open for specific nationalities at the moment. and we had to turn back because the cellular network was down and we weren't aware there was a list. we hope to see our names on the list tomorrow or the next day. >> reporter: as the only crossing from gaza to anywhere other than israel, all eyes had been on rafah ever since the total siege of the strip was announced by israel. and what's gone in has been painfully little, a further 20 trucks arriving on wednesday, a drop in the ocean, say eight organizations given the needs inside. >> and melissa, just to be clear, this is not having anything to do with the hostages that are still being held by hamas. what does this deal indicate about broader talks going on behind the scenes? >> reporter: well, these talks should be taking place at all is quite remarkable, anderson, and they should be bearing fruit was unexpected that this deal had been struck. you're talking about parties, many of which don't actually speak to one another. and given how tense the situation has gotten over the course of the last three and a half weeks, it seems unlikely there would be any glimmer of hope at all for these foreign nationals who had made their way south to the gaza strip to the rafah crossing. this break through tells us that not only is the qatari mediation fostering -- they are making progress. and i think you're quite right to point out that this is nothing to do with the negotiations about the hostages. it is important and i think an important glimmer of hope for the families of the hostages as well that these parties are talking. and despite all of their differences and all of the -- differences between them, capable of finding agreement and compromise when it comes to getting people out. we understand there were difficulties, for instance. hamas wanted some of its wounded soldiers to come out. egypt had been reluctant about what kind of people it was taking in. yet, here we are. we understand many of the foreign nationals will get out, and that is an important measure of the hope that exists in a situation that had seemed entirely hopeless, anderson. >> melissa bell, thank you. joined by leah oak mu rah. her aunt was one of the aide workers who was able to leave gaza today. i know you and your family was in constant communication with your aunt ramona. how did you feel she was safe, when you realized she was out? >> i mean, this day has just been incredibly overwhelming. we got word last night that there was a list of people who were going to be able to cross and then finally got word that ramona was, in fact, on the list. and my family has been up all night waiting, waiting for this wonderful news. so, we finally got text messages from her, as she was passing from gaza into egypt. and we are just -- we were so incredibly relieved. >> how is she doing now? do you know? >> i think she is just completely exhausted. the text messages ended several hours ago, when she said she was going to sleep. and i hope she is enjoying a very restful sleep in a comfortable bed after a delicious meal and a hot shower, which she absolutely deserves. >> i want to play an audio recording that your aunt sent you just yesterday. let's listen. >> in the last hour or so, drones started flying overhead again. it's the first time in this location hearing them. it's a warning for possible attacks tonight. makes it hard to go to sleep. 2100 tonight. >> talk about what your aunt was doing in gaza. she's been there a number of times before. >> yes. she is an incredibly remarkable person. she's an expert in practice prosthetics. she worked for many years at the university of washington. and since she retired, she's been working with the palestine children's relief fund, which is an aid organization that brings desperately needed medical care to the children of gaza. and ramona's skills are unique in that she is able to build and fit prosthetics from the very limited material that people in gaza are able to get in through the blockade. so, she's able to make these prosthetics and fit them to children. and she teaches other medical providers in gaza how to do that as well. she's been to gaza several times to do this work. she's very dedicated. she is incredibly passionate about the idea that shchildren everywhere should be able to run around and play soccer with their friends or go to school. she goes to gaza to make that happen for these children there. so, she was there on what should have been a routine medical mission, starting from the end of september. and then got trapped there for many weeks in just awful conditions. >> it's so awesome that in her retirement she's chosen to, at great risk to herself and great inconvenience even in normal times, do this for people. >> yes. we are just so proud of her and what she's able to do. and not just her skills and her dedication to it, but her bravery really and how passionate she is about this cause, about taking care of the children of gaza, and helping them leave fuller lives in the conditions that they're in. >> leah oak mu rah, thank you so much for your time. i appreciate it. let's go now to the latest on the second strike of the jabalia camp. jeremy diamond has details. >> reporter: this all that remains. for the second day in a row, israeli jets striking the jabalia refugee camp, flattening apartment buildings. hundreds were wounded and at least 80 people were killed, according to the director of the nearby indonesian hospital. the idf said it struck a hamas command and control complex in jabalia, killing hamas militants. but civilians also clearly among the casualties, including children rushed out of the rubble. tonight, the united nations human rights office raising serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes. israel blaming hamas for using civilians as human shields, as it continues its offensive. [ speaking in a non-english language ] a top israeli commander now says his forces are closing the in on gaza city, hamas' stronghold in the gaza strip. >> translator: we are deep in the strip at the gate of gaza city. in the last five days we have dismantled a lot of the abilities of hamas. we have attacked strategic positions. all the explosive abilities, underground facilities, and other systems. >> reporter: five days after israel launched its ground offensive in gaza, israeli forces are advancing towards gaza city from three different directions. in the north, israeli armor and infantry have been spotted advancing from both ends of the strip. israeli tanks also appear to be closing in from the south. cnn geolocated this tank at the strategic nets rein junction, a main road into gaza city. israel is also moving some of its artillery closer to gaza. >> until recently, this field was filled with artillery positions. you can see these mounds where howitzer guns or other types of artillery would dig in. as israeli forces move closer into gaza, those artillery positions are also moving closer to support the troops on the ground. now all that remains are these, boxes of munitions, artillery used by the forces that were here. the question now is how deep israeli forces will move into gaza. >> the only way to get to what hamas has built over a decade inside the gaza strip, the only way, is through a ground operation. >> jeremy diamond joins us now from ashkelon. what more can you tell us about the international response to the strikes at jabalia? >> reporter: you saw in our piece the u.n. human rights council is raising the specter of war crimes because of the high number of civilian casualties. there's also been very strong condemnation from several arab countries, including qatar, which has been involved in mediation efforts. the foreign policy chief also saying he is appalled by the high number of civilian casualties in the strikes. the united states, for its part, is trying to avoid being critical of israel. the national security council spokesman john kirby saying he didn't have latest details on this strike. but in private they are raising the issue of trying to minimize civilian casualties. israel is putting the blame on hamas for using civilians as human shields, and they are pressing forward with their advance. tonight the israeli military saying that they have broken through hamas' northern e defensive lines. tonight, anderson, they are also announcing that 16 israeli soldiers have now died in this expanded ground offensive. >> jeremy diamond, thanks. my next guest is chief surgeon with the international committee of the red cross. he's been in gaza since last week working the south of the european gaza hospital. i spoke to him earlier by phone. >> doctor, can you say where you are in gaza? >> i'm between com units and rafah in the south. >> what are you seeing in term of medical needs at the hospital where you're working? >> i mean, there's a huge number of patients, more patients than there are beds. and there's a lot of traumatic injuries, particular a lot of burn injuries, significant number of burn injuries. unfortunately a lot of children. >> i know you have worked with burn injuries a lot throughout your career. in terms of equipment, do you have the medical supplies needed? >> they are in short supply. everything is in short supply. particularly, for example, we require an awful lot of dressings. >> the area you're in in the south, that is where hundred of thousands of gazans have fled from the north. the idf has been telling them to go south for weeks now. are there internally displaced gazans sheltering at the hospitals, as we've seen at hospitals in the north? >> yeah, yeah. many, many. i mean, i've been in the last week to three hospitals, and in two of them, they're very significant numbers. so, hospitals are often set in grounds, university campus almost, and it's a huge number just milling around both inside, in the hospital, in the stairwells, in the corridors, but also in the outside areas between various buildings. occasionally there's a few tents. but otherwise also people just out there. >> you've worked in a lot of very dangerous places in a lot of very difficult circumstances. how does this compare to other war zones you've been in? >> this is probably my, i think, 13th or 14th trip to gaza. everything is on a bigger scale here at the moment in terms of the number of internally displaced people. the difficulty and access to supply and those that are running out. the ongoing and significant number of injuries and often highly complex injuries, different types of warfare create different types of injuries. at the moment we're seeing a majority of explosive injuries, which cause significant damage to the body, which require complex surgery to repair, as opposed to, for example, gunshot injuries. they may be devastating to one limb, for example, but they're usually more limited in terms of the impact on the body overall. >> how concerned are you just in terms of your own physical safety, the safety of the hospital itself, how concerned are you? >> as an organization, we have a lot of security measures in place to manage risk. i have faith in the organization and the people that really are helping to treat, you know, absolutely need this treatment. and they have to put up with the risk, if you like. so, there's no reason that they shouldn't have to put up with it at all. >> dr. potokar, i really appreciate your time, what you're doing. thank you. >> thank you. coming up, with some foreign nationals being allowed to leave from gaza to egypt, i'll speak to the parents of an american israeli he sh goldberg poland. he's believed to be kidnapped in gaza after half his arm was blown off while he was hiding in a bomb shelter. tensions on the rise in the u.s. at one campus jewish stutudents have opted t to dodo classsses m fofor their owown safety.. we'll tatake you thehere. it -- stupid thing to even say. this is the longest 26 days of your lives. does it feel like a lifetime? i mean, what is it? i mean, i asked you before how you get through each day. >> right. it's a different dimension. it's a different type of time. it's really -- it's indescribable. the days seem -- on the one hand, they seem super-duper long. and then when we look back and think of everything that we've done in a day because we're constantly throwing darts in every direction and trying every angle or strategy that we can think of and talking to everyone we can. >> i want to add that i'm an entrepreneur. i'm used to working with a plan, a daily plan. and either we hit the plan or we fall behind or we get ahead. but they're milestones. and we know how we're doing. part of the torture of these 26 days is we work all day every day around the clock and still, when we lay our heads on the pillow for a few hours at night, i don't know if we've advanced the project, the project of bring home hersh and all the hostages. there's no way to know if we are pushing this ball forward towards the goal. it's one element of the frustration. and it makes the days just blend together. >> have you had any more contact -- i'm sorry, rachel. go ahead. >> i was going to say, and there's also, you know, the fear that is every few minutes of, is he alive. you know, is he in pain? is he getting the care that we hope that somebody gave him? is he getting the antibiotics that we've been told that he must have? so, it's just this constant mind game of what is actually happening. >> when i talked to you in jerusalem, you had made contact with several people who had been in that bomb shelter with hersh, where hamas was tossing grenades in, where, i think, as many as 17 or 18 people died in that shelter. a number survived. you had talked to, i think, three of them. have you been able to talk to anybody else? have you gained any more -- did anybody else have any interaction with hersh? >> it's interesting timing on that question because first of all, we visit regularly with our friends, parents of -- who is hersh's very close friend who died in the shelter. >> who tossed back -- >> his heroism just becomes more and more clear as time goes on. we were visiting with them yesterday, and three of the survivors of the bomb shelter came over to meet anare's parents and basically to thank them on behalf of anare for saving their lives. we were there for the meeting, and it was, as you can imagine, quite emotional. and then there are thousands and thousands of stories of the day, october 7th, and how people experienced it and are interwoven. i was at a meeting last night and i walked out and some young woman came over to me and introduced herself and said, my best friend was in the shelter with your son. and she was killed. we want you to know that i'm so following this story and so pulling for hersh. i need people to just survive from that bomb shelter. and it's just these interwoven stories that keep on happening from that one bomb shelter of 29 people. >> that's incredible. i think about it -- i think about that a lot, that bomb shelter. is there anything, john and rachel, you want people to know? >> my plea, which is, kind of, why rachel has the number on her now is, we know that news cycles move quickly. congressional cycles move quickly. we don't have a finger on the pulse of how much are people still talking about the 239 hostages being held in gaza? but my plea to the world is, don't move on from this. don't forsake these people. don't forget about these people. don't let this fall off of the agenda. >> rachel goldberg, john poland, thank you so much. >> thanks for having us. coming up, the increase on tension between students in u.s. colleges, as the nation records a spike in anti-semitic incidents, including the arrest of a cornell university student who according to, in his words, shoot up a kosher r dining hala. s and all of our stuff where we want to go. but, our cars can't take us e with unpaid tolls. vehicles with overdue, unpaid tolls may not be able to renew their registration until outstanding balances are paid. payment assistance is available. visit bayareafastrak.org/ase so go pay your unpaid tolls y and keep your wheels on the ! nice footwork. man, you're lucky, watching live sports never used to be this easy. now you can stream all your games like it's nothing. yes! [ cheers ] yeah! woho! running up and down that field looks tough. it's a pitch. get way more into what you're into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. moments ago cornell university cancelled classes friday in recognition of the stress of the past few weeks. a student appeared in federal court after his arrest. authorities say he admitted to posting threats online to kill members of the school's jewish community. pat patrick dai is a junior at the school