Breaking news hour for all of you. Begin with the news, a rising death toll and new concerns as following the deadly hamas attack on israel. Right now, missiles are flying across the night sky as Israel Pounds Gaza and Palestinian Territories. This in retaliation, rather, for the Surprise Attack early saturday morning. [sirens] irate sirens aplenty there. Rockets are also flying from gaza into tel aviv. In fact, just in the last few hours, hamas rockets were said to be intercepted by israels iron dome. But at least one building in tel aviv was struck, and Rescue Workers were seen combing the rubble for survivors. You see right there for yourselves. President biden reiterating u. S. Unwavering support for israel today. Were going to have more on that for you in just a few minutes. But the dates carnage has left more than 200 israelis dead, this, according to israels foreign ministry. At least 232 people in Palestinian Territories killed in retaliatory israeli strikes. This according to the gaza health ministry. And there are new concerns over civilians and members of the military who israeli Officials Say have been kidnapped, how it may affect the way israel responds to the attack in the coming hours. We are going to discuss all of that. Our team of reporters and analysts are standing by to cover the very latest developments for you on this Breaking News. Weve got you covered from israel to washington. And beyond. Were going to go first to nbcs raf sanchez, who has been close to the action all day long for us. Raf, thats because you are in southern israel. You are very close to the gaza border. Tell us whats happening there right now. Why are very close to the gaza border, alex, we can hear the booms in the distance as these israeli airstrikes continue inside of gaza. Alex, this Surprise Attack began at six 8 am local time. With that first barrage of rockets, air cover for the hundreds of Palestinian Militants who crossed the border by land, by sea, and by air. By air in the form of hang gliders and paragliders, something we have never seen before. They surged into the southern towns, and communities across israel, taking hostage, killing people. Alex, it is now midnight local time. We are 18 hours into this. For israelis, this is a nightmare that they cannot seem to wake up from. The rocket fire continues, and in towns like sderot, which is just on the other side of this Israeli Security forces checkpoint, the fighting continues. They believe that there are still Palestinian Militants at a large inside of these israeli communities. Which is something that just 24 hours ago seemed completely unthinkable. Israeliss security in the knowledge that their military had the watch at the border, that there was a sophisticated border barrier, keeping the problems of the gaza strip on that side. And keeping israelis safe on this side. And this turns out not to be the case. There is not only this massive loss of life, as you said, the Israeli Foreign ministry now says 200 israelis have been killed today. There are also, as you said, according to the Palestinian Health ministry, more than 200 palestinians killed inside gaza by this wave of israeli airstrikes. Alex, on top of the loss of life, there is also a Hostage Situation unfolding on a scale israel has perhaps never seen before. We believe that there are still two Hostage Situations inside of israel, where palestinian gunmen have israeli hostages at gunpoint. They are surrounded at this stage by Israeli Special forces. But much more concerningly, for the government of israel, is the fact that according to the israeli military, there are both israeli soldiers, and civilians who are being held captive right now inside of gaza. It is the fate of those Israeli Citizens on the other side of the border that will be weighing so heavily, right now, on decisionmakers from Prime Minister benny met as they decide their next moves. Israeli military has said all options are on the table. Including a full scale Ground Invasion of gaza to find these hostages and to bring them home. Alex. And to bring th extraordinarn these two locations inside of israel. We are going to have, as you, said there are hostages there and they are being surrounded by the Israeli Defense forces. However, im curious how those hostages that have been taken into gaza how were they transported . I mean, is it by the sheer aggression, bold aggression, if you, will of these militants . There were some descriptions they got on motorbikes . How does that work . You put someone on a motorbike, you wrap yourself around them and you make them go with you. Im just trying to envision how these people were taken across the border. Alex, ill give you one example that is being very widely reported in israeli media right now. There was a Music Festival happening not far from the gaza border, Late Friday Night into saturday morning. And as these hamas militants swept through the border area, they ran into these young people who were at the Music Festival. There is a video that is all across Israeli Social media right now, that appears to show a young woman who is at that festival, basically being barreled onto the back of a palestinian motorcycle. And driven across the fields to the gaping hole in the gaza Israel Border fence. Then taken inside gaza, the only video we have seen so far of her inside gaza, shes drinking water, she appears to be unharmed. In that initial video, you see her Boyfriend Being Led away with his hands tied behind his back. We dont know what has become of him. But that gives you a sense that once the Palestinian Militants realized the scale of their success, as a tour, that they had so fully breached the fence, that they had swarmed into these israeli towns and communities, their top priority was trying to get these hostages back into gaza, where they will be seen as unbelievably valuable bargaining chips. Alex, you remember, that more than a decade ago is real, in order to secure the release of a single israeli soldier who was being held captive by hamas in gaza, released more than 1000 Palestinian Militants from israeli prisons. We do not know the exact number of hostages inside gaza right now. But it is much more than that one soldier. Israel, tonight, is weighing what price is it prepared to pay to get these people back. Whether it comes at the cost of a full scale Ground Invasion, or whether at some point there may have to be negotiations in some kind of prisoner swap. The Israeli Government has shown, again, and again, it is committed to bringing its people home one way or another. Alex. Let me ask you quickly, have you heard rocket fire from your position there . Heading from israel into gaza. Because you have reported, as have many others, that israel is going to tread very carefully for fear of injuring or killing a hostage unintentionally. They will be very, very careful trying not to kill these hostages. We have all day, alex, seen israeli Fighter Aircrafts in the skies above. We have heard them striking inside of gaza, just a couple of miles from where we are now. What weve also been seeing are the Bright Lights of the Israeli Iron Dome interceptor missiles striking through the sky. You know when you see them, that the sky is also full of palestinian rockets. More than 3000 rockets have been fired so far today, according to the israeli military. And nobody knows how many more are yet to be fired. Alex . Okay, raf sanchez, a very busy night for you. Thank you my friend. Lets begin right now nbcs Richard Engel. Okay richard, we are about 12 hours or so into this attack. What are you hearing about whats going on right now as it is unfolding . So, im in istanbul, turkey, right now. The leader of the hamas Political Wing was here, and he has spoken a short while ago. And declared this a great success, declared victory. And said that this will continue, and this will escalate. Prime minister netanyahu also said this will likely escalate, he warned hamas militants to abandon their positions, because all positions are going to be destroyed. So we look like it seems like we are heading to a military escalation, potentially a full scale ground warlike rough was just talking about. Ive also been speaking with u. S. Officials. U. S. Officials are worried this could escalate beyond just a conflict between israeli and palestinians, and could in fact become a regional war. Specifically, they are worried about hezbollah, which is a Militant Group in lebanon that is very sympathetic toward the palestinians. It is also backed by iran, and they are worried about iran also taking advantage. Be it using this as a moment to capitalize on. And there is a precedent for something similar, like this, on a smaller scale. And it led to a regional war. Im talking about in 2006, there was a smaller incursion, the palestinians captured some israelis. There was it a several days of airstrikes in gaza. Then hezbollah, to the north and south lebanon, decided that this was the opportunity to strike israel while it was week. And we had a major regional war. So that is of concern the u. S. Military, with officials that ive been speaking to, it is something that we have heard the white house speak about. President biden. Seem to be referring this is specifically when he said that nations, or actors that are hostile towards israel should not try and capitalize on this moment. So we are at a stage where the two sides, hamas and israel, are still talking very much about escalation. And the u. S. Concern that it could escalate beyond just the israelis and palestinians. Also going back to the place where ralph is right now, southern israel. Ive been talking to israelis in these communities. And many of them are sheltering in their homes. Some of them are expressing not just fear, theyre expressing disappointment. Where are our soldiers . There are Community Watch activities being organized where people are trying to defend their own Apartment Buildings as they wait for more soldiers to come into the region. Ldiers to cotheres a Real Sensf Uncertainty in southern people are afraid of what could happen next. Theyd become accustomed to living with rocket fire. They become accustomed to living in next to a dangerous area. But they had always thought that the border was quite hermetically sealed, and not to see hundreds of militants blasting holes in the fence, and then dragging hostages back into gaza, which is for the israeli military, i dont want to call it a black hole, but a very a place where they know if theyre going to be entering into gaza, they will be Fighting From Street To street. Richard, hamas was earlier described on my broadcast as being somewhat isolated. Im curious, barring a large multi state actors incursion or war, what is the calculation for hamas . What do they hope to gain from this attack . Because the response from israel could be very costly to them. Im curious the end goal. So, hamas has its isolated in terms of states. Now the palestinian cause, and we are going back to even the 70s and the a. G. s, was the cause in the arab world. Every day, people would talk about the palestinians. They would talk about the end to fatah. They talk about the symbolic aledo are of yasir arafat. For the last several years, theyve been making peace deals. This happened during the trump administration. The abraham accords. You saw the uae, there was talk that perhaps even saudi might join this. So hamas has become increasingly politically isolated. But it still has the people. It still has the ability to connect directly with people here in istanbul, and many people in this city. I cant generalize for everyone, but people across turkey are generally sympathetic towards the palestinians. I think thats the case across the middle east. If suddenly we see a major operation by israel, of a scale beyond what we are seeing already tonight, what hamas you asked about their calculation. Hamass calculation would be, yes, all of these countries have joined the abraham accords, making us more and more isolated. But the people will still be with us, especially if they see the israelis smashing palestinian buildings. And they see many funerals. Now, there will be others. Particularly in the United States, who will say the palestinians are getting what they deserve. Hamas launched this attack. It blew holes in the border fences. Went across deducted people. Went on a murderous rampage and killed, i think the latest estimate is around 200 right now. It started out as one this morning. It was initially reported that one israeli woman had been killed. Now, 12 hours later, we are at 200. So we will see where this continues over the course of the next 24 hours or so. There are still several ongoing battles on israeli territory. This is not even over yet, at this stage, to know where its going next. But i can tell you, from all the conversations that ive been having, and having covered hamas, covered the palestinians for a while, the reason they would want to do this would be to bring the palestinian issue to the worlds attention, to not be isolated, to not have more countries like saudi arabia sign what they would consider to be separate pieces with israel, to force this issue front and center. I guess you could call it celebrate a military success. Because gaza is a closed off area. That people in gaza dont have the ability to travel. They dont have the ability, really, to work. Except in their own local communities. When you are in gaza, you sense this feeling of hopelessness, and frustration. So attacks like these, as brutal and callous and cynical as they are, objecting young people from concerts, dragging old women and girls over the border, taking them to who knows what kind of dungeon, as savage as those attacks are, they will have a degree of sympathy in the gaza, because people will say they get their least getting a taste of their own medicine. Frankly, that kind of message does have some sympathetic appeal across the wider middle east. It will resonate throughout the arab world, potentially. Okay, Richard Engel, many thanks for that early stages assessment. I appreciate you so much. For all of you, we heard from the president just a short time ago. Lets go right now to nbcs Allie Raffa Standing by at the white house for us. Allie what did President Biden say today . Has he given any indication of what the u. S. Might be doing in the coming hours or days . Alex, President Biden delivering a short but still very powerful message during his remarks from the white house earlier. He did not mince words when he described this attack. He called it, quote, unconscionable. He said it was an attack by, quote, terrorists. The stress that the u. S. Is and will continue to be supportive of israel for the long haul. He said that was a huge focus of his call with Prime Minister netanyahu earlier this morning, when he said that he will continue to support israel in any way they need. And vowed to continue that support for as long as they need, to be able to continue defending themselves. The president , notably, also issuing a warning for israels enemies who may take advantage of the situation. Take a listen to a bit of that here. Theres never justification for Terrorist Attacks. The support for israels security is rocksolid and away unwavering. Let me say this as clearly as i can, this is not a moment for any party in israel to exploit these attacks, to seek advantage. The world is watching. Alex, weve heard netanyahu vow, quote, Mighty Vengeance against hamas militants as a result of this attack. But how the u. S. Could and would be involved in that help, in that support, is still a big question looming over this whole situation. Could that come in the form of more funding, more military aid, more Intelligence Gathering . We know from u. S. Officials that the u. S. Has already started to enhance their Intelligence Gathering with israeli officials. But what could come after that is still the big question that we expect to learn more of in the next few hours and days, alex. Yeah, absolutely. The Intelligence Gathering in helping israel, and that, front i think thats a guarantee. As maybe more of what you alluded to. Thank you so. Much appreciate, that allie raffa. New pictures and details coming into msnbc at this hour. Were going to bring you the very latest from the ground there. But next, msnbcs jen psaki with a little a look at whats likely happening behind the scenes at the white house right now. T now. Gillettelabs. This green bar releases trapped hairs from my face. Gamechanga . While the flexdisc contours to it. So the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke. For the ultimate gillette shaving experience. The best a man can get is gillettelabs. This is Spring Semester at fairfieldsuisun unified. They switched to google tools for educati