ahead on "cnn newsroom." it became clear that president magill didn't really seem to have a very strong grasp on the situation on the ground on campus. >> fallout at the university of pennsylvania, both the president and the chair of the board resigning. we will have the latest reaction from the college and its students. plus, gaza shelters are teaming with infectious diseases. i will speak to an official in gaza about the rampant spread of diseases among the displaced. and we will also take you live to dough hoe where some of the leading voices are discussing regional diplomacy options for the israel-hamas war. ♪ university of pennsylvania president liz magill and the head of the school's board of trustees have resigned. it comes after the intense backlash to the comments made by three u.s. university presidents to congress about anti-semitism on their campuses. now, this all began amid a wave of protests over the israel-hamas war. many at college campuses, many of them expressing support for the palestinian cause, but there is a debate over whether phrases such as from the river to the sea amount to a call to eradicate israel. magill and the presidents of harvard and mit struggled to answer a congressman's question about where universities would draw the line. >> specifically calling for the genocide of jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment? >> if it is directed and severe and pervasive it is harassment. >> so the answer is yes. >> it is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman. >> it's a context depend anti-semite decision, that's your testimony, calling for the genocide of jews is depending upon the context? >> he will ease stefanik had a blunt response to magill's resignation, one down, two doing. it polo sandoval explains what happened here. >> reporter: in back to back resignations the president of the university of pennsylvania announcing that she would step down just moments before the university official who made her announcement announced that he, too, would be resigning. liz magill announced on saturday that she would be stepping down from her position as u penn president. per university statement she will remain tenured faculty at the university's law school and agreed to stay on board while they find an interim replacement. as we've reported before, students, faculty, even donors say that they lost confidence in magill after tuesday's pretty disastrous hearing in which she, long with the presidents of harvard and mit failed to explicitly say that calls for genocide of jews would immediately violate the respective university's codes of conduct. moments after magill's saturday evening announcement scott vox said that he would be stepping down as chairman of the board of trustees at the university. in his statement writing, quote, former president liz magill last week made a very unfortunate misstep. he writes following that it became clear that her position was no longer tenable and she and i concurrently decided that it was time for her to exit. also defending magill calling her a good person, a talented leader and in his words not the slightest bit anti-semitism. also sharing some perspective about what may have been magill's state of mind the day of this disastrous hearing on the hill, saying that magill was not herself at the time, that she was overlawyered, that she was -- and that she provided a legalistic answer to what was a moral question and that, he says, was wrong. polo sandoval, cnn, new york. it is just past noon in gaza and israeli air strikes and ground operations are ongoing across the strip. some of the fiercest battles are said to be in and around the southern city of khan yunis which the idf was described as a hamas stronghold. the israeli military is telling people to leave, specific areas, although due to poor communications it isn't clear if palestinians are able to receive those warnings. two large explosions at a building in central gaza early on saturday set off a frantic scramble to pull victims from the wreckage. one woman said their situation was unbearable. >> translator: the people died. we were asleep with the children. the tower was full, maybe 150 families. 150 families. we woke up to the bombing. look, none of this is our fault. we are already crushed under press. there is no benefit for us at all. we are ruled by iron and fire and then the wars. i don't know. people have died. everyone has died. they might as well kill us collectively and that would be the end of it. all people have died and have been displaced. we are under pressure and we are hungry. >> the hamas-run health ministry in gaza claims more than 17,000 people have been killed in gaza and nearly 49,000 wounded since the war began two months ago. cnn can't verify those figures. we are following all of this here in london. elliott, what is the latest on the ground? >> reporter: intense fighting continuing earlier this morning israel saying that it carried out more than 250 strikes on targets over the previous day including on a military communications center run by hamas adjacent to a mosque that was in the southern part of the strip. now, there's also been intense fighting throughout in other cities in the gaza strip, we have also heard from, for example, hamas itself talking about fierce battles from zero distance taking place. israel also saying that it's closing in on the command and control centers it says hamas has been maintaining in the northern part of the strip. i also released striking video footage of soldiers firing automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades at militants in the streets of gaza strip and also a raid on a house in gaza, throwing grenades in there, you see the explosions taking place and afterwards the blurred images of the militants israel says it killed in that particular battle. bianca, 17,700 is the hamas-run health ministry's total for the number of people killed, israel saying at least 7,000 militants have been killed by israel since it launched its attacks on hamas in the wake of the attack on october 7th but we can't verify either of those figures. >> elliott, do you have any updates on the hostages still being held by hamas. >> the latest is there are 137 hostages being killed. israel did say there was another death of a 25-year-old hajj, one sasha barra who was also killed. it also said in a raid israel tried to tree a hostage, didn't say it was specifically sasha, tried to free them unsuccessfully and soldiers were wounded in that account. israel determined to release those hostages, there were more demonstrations in tel aviv yesterday calling for the israeli government to do more and the international community to do more and they heard first-person testimonies from people, a 77-year-old woman talking about when she was held militants took away her oxygen canister, they were deprived of sleep, food, medications as well and this continues to be very much uppermost in the mind of the government of israel as it tries to not just destroy hamas and prevent it from continuing to govern inside the gaza strip but also to try to get those 137 hostages, men, women and children, back home into israel. bianca. >> elliott gotkine, thank you for joining us all morning. the war was left israel's relations with turkey severely strained. turkish president ray sip type erred won was called israel a terrorist state, but the two stations still have strong trade ties which could prevent a total diplomatic breakdown. >> reporter: this is the voice of israel's domestic intelligence chief played out in a recording obtained by israel's kahn tv. in it he vows to take out hamas no matter where they are. >> translator: the cabinet said it's a go, in the words of the street it is to eliminate hamas and we are determined to do it, everywhere, in gaza, israel, lebanon, turkey, qatar, everywhere. >> reporter: in response turkey which has hosted hamas leaders before issued a warning. according to officials who spoke with a state news agency, there will be serious consequences if israel attempts to carry out assassinations in turkey. this latest exchange shows how far the relationship between the two countries has fallen since the war began. from this first ever handshake between president erdogan and prime minister netanyahu in september to statements like these just weeks later. >> translator: hamas is not a terrorist organization but a liberation group that struggles to protect its land and citizens. i say very clearly and frankly that israel is a terrorist state. netanyahu who is a butcher of gaza beyond being a war criminal will certainly be tried as a butcher of gaza. >> reporter: netanyahu said last month that israel refuses any lectures from turkey saying that erdogan supports the terror state of hamas and bombed turkish villages inside turkey itself, a reference to its decades long war against kurdish militants. >> they hate one another. >> how far back has this war set israeli and turkish relations? >> well, so long as bibi and erdogan are in power i don't think they will meet again. >> reporter: relations go back more than 70 years when turkey became the first muslim-majority country to recognize israel. but the palestinian issue has always been a sore spot. after nine turks and an american of turkish origin were killed by israeli troops en route to gaza. since the war began turkey has seen huge pro-palestinian rallies, one led by the president himself. president erdogan was cut off communications with prime minister netanyahu and turkey has recalled its ambassador to israel, but there are still billions of dollars in annual trade between turkey and israel that hasn't gone away. >> trade relations continue, flights continue, oil goes to -- oil goes to israel through the strait. so long as turkey and israel believe that strategically they need one another, however the political relations might be, this is going to continue. >> reporter: some ordinary turks and institutions have been publicly boycotting brands with alleged links to israel and turkey says that since the war began trade has dropped by more than half, driven by consumers and traders, rather than any official sanctions. and despite the growing outrage and fiery rhetoric, erdogan insists that turkey can still broker peace. >> what he seeks is to be a partner to a resolution. >> it doesn't seem like calling israel a terrorist state is likely to -- >> he thinks he can walk back from that. >> he hasn't gone too far? >> i doubt that he thinks that way. whether or not the others think that way, we will see when this war is over. >> reporter: scott mclean, cnn, istanbul. turning to the u.s. where a state of emergency has been declared in some communities in eastern tennessee after twisters swept through the area. an eyewitness captured video of this tornado as it moved over madison, causing electrical flashes and an explosion. >> oh, [ bleep ]. oh my god. >> at least six people are dead and nearly two dozen are injured. this is the scene in clarksville on saturday where buildings were torn to shreds. the mayor lamented our hearts are broken. officials say they are still in a search and rescue phase and are trying to see if there are any more casualties. authorities are urging residents to stay away from the damaged areas as emergency crews work. witnesses described what happened. >> walls bursted, the windows bursted, everything just like exploded. this is what it really felt like, it felt like everything exploded, like a lot of pressure built up and just popped. leaders are meeting in qatar for the doha forum and the palestinian prime minister has just weighed in on whether israel can achieve its goal of eliminating hamas. we will have a live report from cnn's becky anderson in doha coming up p next. welcome back. the desperate plight of palestinians in gaza is the primary focus of an international forum now under way in doha, qatar. we will take you there live in just a moment. weeks of israeli bombardments have left parts of gaza in shambles. israel says it is targeting hamas after the palestinian militant movement attacked the country on october the 7th, leaving about 1,200 people dead. amid the bombing of gaza two large explosions at a building in central gaza early saturday set off a fran sick scramble to pull victims from the wreckage. residents say many people had taken shelter there. and in the southern gaza city of khan yunis the israeli military is telling people there to leave specific areas, but due to poor communications it's simply not clear if palestinians are able to receive those warnings. joining us now is cnn's becky anderson, she's just moderated a panel at the doha forum where much of the discussion was on the israel-hamas war. becky, great to have you on the program. what did the world leaders have to tell you about this continuing war in israel and gaza? >> reporter: well, i sat down with the qatari prime minister who is also the foreign minister here, jordan's foreign minister, and the palestinian prime minister, all on the same panel. we started by talking about what is going on on the ground and getting an assessment of that. remember, the israelis have categorically ruled out a ceasefire and an end to the military operation, they say, which will continue until hamas is destroyed and all the hostages held in gaza are freed. look, two months on there is still 137 hostages being held and israel is yet to come up with compelling evidence to support the idea of their goal of eliminating hamas and freeing the hostages without continuing catastrophic loss of life. now, qatar of course has been at the heart of these mediation talks for two months now on trying to get these hostages freed and palestinian prisoners released in exchange. remember there was a truce for a week where 100 hostages were freed and three times that palestinian prisoners released, but that was it. that was a truce, a humanitarian truce, which elicited those efforts, which elicited those releases, but then that stopped. now, qatar, i say, has been at the heart of these negotiations, integral to getting those talks up and running, and the qatari foreign minister and prime minister told me just earlier on that he is deeply disappointed that both parties, both israel and hamas, are not willing to really properly engage as they were in those talks. they do continue, but nothing like the pace. he went on to say this, though -- >> for the way forward we are going to continue, we are committed to have all the hostages being released, but also we are committed to stop this war and to stop the bombardment of the innocent palestinians. it always takes two parties to be willing to such an engagement. unfortunately, we are not seeing the same willingness that we had seen in the weeks before. >> yeah, and you can hear his frustration and disappointment there. look, part of the conversation that we had today was also about not just what's happening now, but what happens the day after as it were. what happens once this conflict ends? what does a post conflict gaza look like? who governs it? how is it run? and what does a political horizon look like for the palestinians living alongside, you know, if possible, the israelis going forward. what does peace, security, dignity, self-defense look like in the days, weeks, and years ahead? the u.s. administration is keenly eager to engage particularly with regional partners here in the gulf and around this region of the middle east in how they might be involved in what that gaza and wider palestinian story would look like going forward. the region is very reticent to do that, given that they have been calling -- and these calls are echoed around this region -- for an immediate ceasefire. and do remember the u.n. resolution which called for exactly that last friday, led by the uae which leads the arab group, that resolution was vetoed by the united states which staunchly still stands as a steadfast ally of israel and says it has a right to defend itself. i talked to the palestinian prime minister, though, about what these plans for a post-conflict gaza might look like. he is working with the u.s. to develop a plan that the palestinian authority would be involved with in governing gaza going forward. remember, the palestinian authority is not involved in the running of gaza at present. that is the political wing of hamas. the palestinian president, prime minister, has said on record that he believes that hamas could have a junior role in that governance going forward. but here is where we stand, israel is bent on destroying hamas. so i started by asking the palestinian prime minister whether the eradication of hamas was even realistic. we went on to talk about whether it was realistic that hamas would be involved in governance going forward. but he told me it was absolutely not going to happen that israel would destroy hamas. he said that that was completely not supportable so far as the palestinian authority was concerned. but on the issue of hamas being involved in a sort of governance story going forward, if they were to sign up to it, this is what he told me. >> i think it's very important that we should all realize that hamas is an integral part of the palestinian political mosaic and, therefore, for israel to claim that they are going to eradicate, eliminate hamas, i think this is something that is totally -- first of all, it's not going to happen and totally is not acceptable to us. >> reporter: that was the palestinian prime minister speaking to me earlier. so, as i say, two months on with a conflict raging, you've just been reporting there on what is going on on the ground and as antonio gutierrez described here, the continued catastrophic loss of life. he's been talking for weeks about the head of the united nation nations, the chief of the united nations talk being gaza being in the midst of a catastrophe. he is calling on the united nations security council to do more. there have been draft resolutions on the books that have been pushing for ceasefires, but those haven't even been tabled mostly because of the inevitable vetoing by the united states. so the friday story once again at the united nations extremely disappointed and the u.n. chief says he will continue to press the united nations security council for more, but as things stand at present it does seem there is no end to this crisis. bianca? >> becky anderson in doha, thank you so much for bringing us all the very latest from the key players in the region. i'm bianca nobilo in london. for our viewers in north america, i will have more news for you in just a moment, but for our international viewers, "tech for good" is next. the power goes out, and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book. who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up. plus, now through december 31st, eligible xfinity rewards members can get 25% off a storm ready wifi device. welcome back to our viewers in north america, i'm bianca nobilo in london and this is "cnn newsroom." i want to get back to our top story this hour for you. the president of the university of pennsylvania has resigned following a firestorm of criticism over her comments about anti-semitism on campus. president liz magill's testimony to congress last tuesday ignited widespread criticism and a donor's threat to pull a $100 million donation. she struggled to answer when asked if advocating for the genocide of jews would violate the university's code of conduct. the chairman of the university's board of trustees, scott bok, also announced that he's stepping down, minutes after announcing magill's resignation. the presidents of harvard and mit who also testified are under wi