Military aircraft closer to israel amid concerns of a larger regional conflict breaking out. Was iran involved in hamas planning and new attacks from the north . Americans among the dead. The state Department Says at least nine americans have been killed. More than 1200 people, soldiers, civilians and children are death on both sides. Those numbers are expected to climb even higher. Im Andrea Mitchell with our continuing coverage of the war in israel. A constant barrage of israeli air strikes lighting up the sky. 300,000 israeli troops have been called up after this weekend marked the most extensive invasion of israeli territory in decades. These tanks are at the border area between israel and gaza. Any Ground Invasion will be complicated of the desperate hostage situation. A heartbreaking dilemma of one israeli mother who was brave enough to come on and talk to me about it at this hour. I could hear people speaking in arabic outside their door, and they broke in. The last thing i heard was the youngest who is 12 saying, im too young, dont take me. I think any mother in the world should try and imagine her children in her situation and then think again. Thats all i want. I want the world to ask them to release children, to release elderlies, to release the civilians they took. There is no reason to hold them there. They are not soldiers. They are not part of the war, and they have nothing to do with it. Well start with nbc news chief Foreign Correspondent richard engel, david miller, and hallie, a Senior Policy Adviser in the Obama Administration serving as a Policy Adviser to former ambassador samantha power. Richard, night has now fallen. Are Hamas Terrorists still in the area in southern israel, or have they got it under control . Reporter they have not gotten it under control. Military officials that weve spoken with believe that there are still hamas militants on the loose. There are not any active gun battles at the moment that im aware of. There have been other infiltrations. I was told by a senior Military Official that some of those infiltrations were taking place around sderot. The waves of attacks where the militants go through holes that they blew up in the border fence and enter israeli territory and go on a Killing Industry or attempted Killing Sprees are very much continuing. And the rocket fire from gaza into israel. It is not contained. I was told as well that there are about 30 different holes in the fence, that about 90 of them have been blocked. The other 10 are being watched from the air. If militants try to use them to escape gaza, that theyre targeted, but sometimes the militants do slip through and theyre still actively trying to find other ways to get out and continue this offensive. How did they get through the fence so easily with such sudden surprise . You know that border and you know how well defended it is. I think they just had the element of surprise and they used overwhelm manpower. Were talking about hundreds of militants. A senior official told me that the number is close to a thousand hamas militants just on that first day, on that morning of the on saturday. It was a sustained attack as well. I didnt quite realize how long the militants were on the ground and how long they were on a Killing Spree before the situation had any kind of control and before Real Rescue Operation was launched. I just spoke with a woman whose daughter was at that overnight rave, that Music Festival. The attack began around 6 30 in the morning, and it was continuing with the militants first Firing Rockets and then moving in among the Festival Goers who were trying to escape but got themselves tied up in traffic as they were all trying to flee the scene. It went on, this chaos and killing and people trying to escape and not knowing where to go and talking with their relatives for about four hours. It seems as well that the israelis in the area were themselves couldnt respond because they were engaged in firefights in multiple locations. How were they able to do this . By overwhelming the israelis, bombing the border fence in multiple different locations, streaming out in large numbers, using paragliders to go over the Israeli Defenses, using boats to go around it, a highly complex assault that lasted for a long time. Now these families are trying to figure out where their loved ones are. Are they alive . Are they dead . Have they been brought to the gaza strip. Ive interviewed many people in war zones, and some of the accounts im hearing here are among the most difficult to report on and difficult to hear that ive heard in a very long time. Aaron, you know richard has a lot of experience in many war zones and this sounds horrific. How could such a complex operation be pulled off without iranian involvement, specific iranian orders . There was obvious coordination with the Iranian Revolutionary guard corps and perhaps through Palestinian Leadership in dohar. Yeah. The irgc has a lot of experience. Im sure there was a lot of training, a lot of lessons learned. But at the same time, hamas is not a wholly owned subsidiary of tehran. No one knows that border area better than the israelis and hamas. Remember hamas demonstrations in the preceding two weeks on reflection now appear to be more or less reconnaissance, to test the vulnerabilities of that fence and determine at what points infiltration could occur. Yeah, it was a coordinated operation, but i dont think we should lose sight of the fact that despite the coordination and the effectiveness, it was in the end a massive terrorist strike. I was in jerusalem in 1973 during the attack on the border. Those wars were on the border. Sadat had a limited objective, leading the a peace treaty six years later. Hamas objective, other than to demonstrate the centrality was to strike fear and terror and to kill and ultimately to undermine the israeli governments capacity to protect its own citizens. That is the critical point here, a governments responsibility to protect and secure a normal life for its citizens, and that objective, that vulnerability the fact that you still have palestinian infiltrators. Theyve secured rural villages, but you still have reports of palestinian individuals operating in that area. So a tragic day with transformative consequences. I think at some point we need to focus on that. Hallie, youve warned about the dangers of disinformation. Donald trump immediately saying falsely this was the result of the 6 billion of iranian money that was unfrozen in terms of the money that was unfrozen because of the return of the prisoners, the american prisoners. What are the accurate facts here as far as you know it . They say not a penny of that money, of the 6 billion has been spent, its still in the central bank in qatar. Yes, andrea. This has been an horrific surge of terror with an enormous human toll with hundreds killed, thousands injured, and hundreds potentially being held hostage. What weve seen from donald trump and other republicans is disinformation. Theyre either misinformed or miss informing. In the case of donald trump, its both. They know that not a dollar of that money that has been unfrozen has been spent nor will it be spent by the iranian regime. It will only go to third parties for humanitarian purposes, for medicine and other humanitarian needs. It is not in any way connected to what has occurred in israel. After Israeli Forces left in 2005 is something theyre prepared for, but not with hostages. How can they accomplish the Ground Invasion in all these tunnels and not knowing where the hostages are . Reporter well, it would be a nightmare scenario. This is already a nightmare scenario. Just so you know, it started to rain here. If i lose connection or i become very wet looking, thats why. Theres a bit of a Storm Descending on us right now. It is a situation where the israelis seem to have no good options. Doing nothing right now leaves the hostages there, leaves hamas with a victory, leaves this Country Feeling incredibly vulnerable and doing something, doing a Ground Invasion is potentially very costly. Hamas already claims that israeli air strikes killed four of what theyre dubbing as prisoners, what everyone else is calling hostages and theyre blaming the israelis for it. How do they do this . Theyre truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thats why negotiations, and ive been told that there are negotiations already under way to free the hostages have begun. But theyre extremely difficult. Ive spoken to people directly involved in the talks. They say theyre not encouraged at this stage anyway. The families here, going back to what you were just talking about. This isnt just a Military Operation like the 6th Of October War when sadat wanted to take over the sinai and this country was caught by surprise. These were kids at a Music Festival, families in their homes and elderly were taken, children were taken. People who needed medicine, taken without their medicine, disabled children were taken, whoever they could get back into gaza and now hidden in different locations was taken. The human cost that the people here are feeling is tremendous as Family Members were literally ripped from their hands. I mentioned that festival and the reason its on my mind, i just finished an interview with a mother of a young woman named romi. She was at this concert, she was there with a friend, having a nice time and suddenly she calls her mom and says something going on. Theres rocket fire. Im afraid. I dont know what to do. I dont know where to go. Her mother very calmly, this is israel and there is rocket fire with frequency said, okay, be safe, be as safe as you can, find some shelter. This will likely pass, dont get too upset. She calls back, theres gunfire. Mommy, theyre coming for us. Shes on the phone the whole time. Im hiding in the bushes. They are able to the family is able to coordinate a rescue operation. Theyre calling friends, calling everyone they can in the area. They get cars to the location thats what im saying, this went on for a very long time before any help was coming. This mother got cars to the daughter in order to get them out. They got into the cars, but then because everyone was panicked, they were stuck in a massive traffic jam. The mother is on the phone for a long time and now the gunshots are closely. Shes telling her mother, im scared, were all shot, were bleeding. Shes giving her daughter first aid information on how to stop the blood. Her voice is fainter and fainter. Then she hears arabic voices very close, and shes lost contact after this. There are stories like this all across the country as people are coming to terms, not with a military action, but with pure rage, pure hate, pure terror. Richard engel, unbelievable. Thank you for your reporting. Aaron david miller, hallie server, thank you as well. Coming up, well talk about the Hostage Crisis. Ill speak with an american in israel whose family was kidnapped and taken to gaza. In just 60 seconds well be right back. Kwleer clear allergic reactions to ubrelvy can happen. Most common side effects were nausea and sleepiness. Ask about ubrelvy. The new subway mvp rewards earns you points when you order. Superbowl mvps really do get all the perks . Im talking about subway mvp. Its a way bigger deal. Do you get a trophy for that . I wish. Get rewarded like an mvp. With israel now dealing with a Hostage Crisis in gaza, a new video shows a 12yearold taken by militants over the weekend. His sister confirmed to nbc news he was kidnappedlo with other members of his family. The Family Members range from 1280 years old. The family says they were taken to gaza. Joining me is their relative abby, living in israel for the last eight years. Abby, first of all, how are you holding up, and are you in a safe place . Were safe right now. Thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate the support and coverage. Tell me what you know about how your relatives were taken . We all woke up like all israelis to sirens at 6 30 in the morning. We went to the bomb shelter. He came back and started getting videos of Hamas Infiltrating The Country from land, air, sea and sky, and then began getting Family Whatsapps that our family who lives in a kibbutz on the gaza border that hamas was there and shooting. What was your last contact with them . We heard from them around 11 00 or 12 00 in the morning on the first day of the war on saturday with these text messages. We understand the army recommended they stop using whatsapp because they could identify where they were. At that point we know they probably threw some Smoke Grenade or tried to burn the bbutz and slat tered almost everyone. Those that werent slaughtered, many were taken hostage and kidnapped into gaza which is what we believeappened to five members of our family. Have you gotten any information from the government about your family . Nothing from the government. Have a video which gives us hope that erez is alive. At this point we want people to be aware that this is happening and this is a humanitarian issue, that this is every parent and every sibling and every persons worst nightmare. Did you ever anticipate that Something Like this could happen . Youve lived with Air Raid Sirens, the threat of rockets coming from gaza. But never a fullscale invasion, by land, by sea, by air. This is unprecedented and horrific. You get used to air ride side wrens that you feel protected by the iron dome and you feel some modicum of safety. This feels like a complete violation of everything. This is absolute terror. Abbey, we wish you get some good news soon. Our thoughts are with you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Best of luck and stay safe. Thank you. Right now we have immanuels of israeli tanks amassing near gaza. Scores of flights in and out of the region have been canceled. The u. S. Government is urging caution for anyone travelling to israel or the west bank. With me now is raf sanchez from ashkelon, israel. Raf, whats the latest there . Reporter andrea, literally in the last few minutes weve been watching the Iron Dome Intercepter missiles lighting up the sky as more rockets continue to fly out of gaza. I want to update you on news breaking in the last ten minutes. We have a new Audio Statement for a spokesman for the socalled Military Wing of hamas. In this statement, abu abaida is his name. Hamas will begin executing a captive in return for bombing inside gaza without pre warning. Andrea, this is the first time that hamas has explicitly threatened to execute hostages incited gaza. Its obviously been implied and what the world expected given the absolute carnage they wreaked inside gaza. This is in israel bombs any Civilian Housing Inside Gaza without pre warning. Now, that is a chilling message for the families all across israel tonight who are desperately seeking news of their loved ones being held captive inside gaza. I spoke earlier to a man named yoni asher. His wife and two young daughters age 3 and 5, were visiting their grandmothers house in a kibbutz near the gaza border on saturday morningment i want you to take a listen to his description of the last phone call he had with his wife. She said that theyre hearing gunshots. Not much longer passed, and about 10 00 a. M. We had a phone call. Hamas people was inside the house. She told me that my motherinlaws spouse went out to speak with them. From what im guessing, i guess that retrospect, he wanted to negotiate with them, tell them to take some money and leave. I couldnt stand. I couldnt believe what im hearing. It happened so fast. We discovered that the mobile was inside gaza. Reporter no, yoni tracking his wifes cell phone, using the find my iphone app, seeing the phone was inside gaza and hoping and praying that perhaps these hamas militants has stolen the phone and taken it with them. Andrea, it wasnt until he saw a video published by hamas where he watched his wife being blindfolded by a gunman, one arm protectively around the shoulders of one of their young daughters that he realized his family is now hostages of hamas. He said to me, if there was any arrangements where he could go to gaza and surrender himself to hamas to secure the freedom of his family, that is a deal he would take in an instant. Its something were hearing again and again from families all across israel tonight. Its just horrific. Is there any indication from the government, we are expecting to hear something from Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu shortly. Any indication that they would stop the aerial attacks or at least give warnings on the aerial attacks to protect the hostages . Do they believe this threat . Reporter we havent heard any official reaction. This latest statement from hamas just came out a few minutes ago. Israel says that it goes to enormous lengths to avoid any civilian casualties inside gaza, that it only targets military infrastructure. I the tell you, andrea, having spent a lot of time in gaza, i have met palestinians who have told me they have received phone calls on their cell phones from Israeli Military officers telling them that the building they live in also contains hamas infrastructure. The building is going to be bombed. I met a man who said an israeli soldier said stayed on the phone with him for 45 minutes making sure the building was evacuated before it was bombed. It is true that israel