At least 1200 people are dead, 570 people in gaza, the west bank, 700 people in israel. Soldiers, civilians, children. The state Department Says nine americans are among those killed, and more may be missing. Around 150 taken hostage by hamas, and presently somewhere in gaza, the fates unknown. This afternoon. Hamas that is threatened to execute they. Now she says she has no idea her father, sister, cousin with special nines, grandmyowith demeantia. Another carried away to be used as a bargaining chip. Meanwhile, begging for the return of his wife and his daughters, ages 3 and 5. I tell them that be strong, hold on. Im thinking about you. Im working hard to try in order to get you back. Stay strong, trying to happy. Adopt be afraid. You know, its hard to say those things when i dont really know what conditions theyre being held in. Americans are believed to be among those kidnapped as the United States and the world plots the next moves. Nation scrambling to say their citizens out of area. Heres what happened to our colleague, rich and engle, there in israel. Stay down, stay down. [ explosions ] richard is okay, but this is very much a developing story, and we are going to go through it together. Thats where we start today, with ali velshi in tel aviv. Also the adviser to president obama, ben rhodes, and with me at the table for the hour, msnbc political analyst rick stengel. Ali, just getting into israel took a lot of effort. What did you find when you got there. Reporter when we determined coming in here and flight were being canceled. The most logical place is ayman, jordan, in a normal world that would be a twohour drive, allow time at the border. It took the better part of a day. We left amman, jordan, and this city, tel aviv, its late, but this is a vibrant city in which there would be people, taxis. Theres one car here, buses keep going by that are entirely empty. There have been jets flying by. About an hour ago, we heard eight successive iron dome interceptions here. We do know this is the time of Night Rockets do come in from gaza, and air strikes are going into gaza. Last night, the idf said they hit 500 hamas targets in gaza. In doing that, gaza is a very, very densely populated place, a lot of apartment buildings. They have started apartment buildings, office buildings, a everyone and movgsings saying they had great success, so hamas has responded say for every one civilian killed in these israeli attacks, they will execute one hostage. Thats what theyve said. Israel said theyll implement an entire siege on gaza. It gets fuel, food, everything it needs through israel. The electricity in gaza is provided by electrical generation plans that works on diesel fuel. Gaza probably has two days leave, maybe three at best, of fuel to generate electricity, after which are there wont be actual fuel to drive. Israel has called up 300,000 reservists, never before in its history has itsh courtr flights versus established to bring them to israel. Theres been a can i nettic situation in the west bank. Thats escalating right now. Theres no army in the west bank, the Palestinian Authority is there. Thats kind of stochastic violence there. Theres been an uncurse, very small, the israelis have fought that back, and of course in the south. Civil defense authorities are telling israelis all over have at least three days of water and nonperishable goods in anticipation this war could spread. Now theyre calling up 300,000 more reserves. Right now in this country and in gaza, a very stressful and tense situation. Rick stengel, ali velshi alluding to the remarks of the Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu. What stood out from those remarks . He has always conveyed a sense of being a staunch and strong leader, but that brand is more undermined by this than anything thats happened during his long time as minister. Hes the longest Prime Minister in history. He brand is im resolute against violence. Never trust the palestinians, and part of what he did in gaza he hoped that they look decent leaders in gaza. They relaxed their guard in gaza. They had recently increased the number of military on the west bank, taking troops away from gaza. This was an enormous intelligent failure. That is the question we keep returning to. How is it possibility this happened, the Intelligence Failure, the internal politics within israel, the regional dimension. Talk us through it all, how we arrived at this moment. Well, i think theres a question of Intelligence Failure in the plans around this attack, and then the broader context of why is this happening now, right . I think whats so striking about this, as ali was say about the electric grid, you can say thing about the internet. Its entirely israeli control, so it must have taken many months, prepositioned capabilities, prepositioned operatives for land, sea and air, and they clearly were able to do many months of planning in ways that avoided what people had assumed want an intrusive Israeli Intelligence capability. In terms of a practice matter, this says something about hamass capable, the lack of understanding, that tragically emessaged in the last few days. Why is hamas doing this now . As rick alluded to, theres been some analysis that perhaps hamas was focused on governs, than hits stated objective of violence resistance to israel. Clearly its showing the true colors are the brutal Terrorist Attacks with the entire to take the fight into israel. Why now . Only hamas knows. I think, one, perhaps theres a feeling as the Israeli Government was kind of focused on the judicial overhaul at home, perhaps hamas thought that was time to make a move may they thought theres no movement to the plinkial state, we want to establish ourselves as the van guard of palestinian leadership. The last one, which is important, the normalization talks weve been having, where israel has been engaged in normalization agreements,ened negotiating importantly with the saudis a Normalization Deal that essentially cut out the palestinians. I think hamas probably felt like they had an incentive to both spoil that deal, and i think its hamas saying we dont like where the status quo is going in this region and we will be heard from. Tragically the means through which hamas does that is the kind of horrific violence we have seen. Tragically the Palestinian People in gaza, thats starting a Cycle Of Violence where innocence and palestinians will suffer the most. And ali, im so glad you were there, because ritz hard to wrap your mind around the humanitarian crisis thats currently unfolding and whats already transpired, and what is likely to transpire in the coming days. Reporter you cannot wrap your hand on what happened friday night into saturday. It would take a normal perm years of therapy just to process that. Now we are seeing yet more rockets on either side. Heres the difficulty. There is a lot of justified anger at hamas for what has happened here, but there are people who are now calling for the collective punishment of the gazans. That is a war time. You cannot punish a child for the invasion. Israel has called for that and is getting support for that. In the way of what happened friday night and saturday, one can understand the emotions running high and the sympathies for that, but gaza ive been inside gaza. Its one of the worst places on earth on a good day to start with. I dont even know the expression. You can call it hell on earth. We already think 120,000 people are displaced from their homes because of the attacks. You cant get out of gaza. Ive seen people on twitter saying why dont they leave . You cannot leave gaza. You are encircled by egypt and israel. We dont know what egypt will be doing, but theres a humanitarians disaster even if theres no more attacks. By shutting out the electricity appeared diesel fuel and food, that would already be a human marine disaster. This is only going to get worse, and not a Single Person whom ive spoken to here has said otherwise. Nobody thinking this will get better anytime soon. Thats why we wanted to talk to you and rick. Youve been in the. We understand President Biden met with his his security team. This afternoon hes been speaking to other world leaders. Tell me the types of situation going on inside our government right now. This has probably overtaken the agenda completely, in the sense that on usually youre in a lot of meetings in one day. Im sure theres a freestanding meeting in that situation that continues the entire day. Theres questions around immediate need. The iron dome system, israel may need to be replenished. Is there any more Military Equipment that israel needs . They have a very capable military, so some of this is not so much things they may need, but backfill capabilities. Then theres question around regional escalation. The reason we see an aircraft deployed, the message is we dont want to see this escalate into a regional wash. We dont wasnt to see hezbollah get involve from lebanon. Theres many flash points. Theres lebanon to the north. Theres violence in the west bank thats going to happen in either direction, and the potential for a regional conflagration if iran gets involved. I think iran is very focused and concerned about that. At the same time, youre trying to look ahead. What ali was saying, its a complicated time when emotions are so high, but at the same time when you do see things like tremendous, food and water shut off in gaza, youre thinking a week from now, we could be in a completely catastrophic humanitarian circumstance in gaza. You know, electricity that powers hospitals. Thats what powers water is something people need to survive so at a certain point you start to game out, how do you simultaneously israel ace right too defend itself, but try to counsel some dry of restrait to prevent that regional situation to try to create some space for dialogue. How do you get those hostages returned home safely in the midst of a bombardment or Ground Invasion . That gets harder, not easier, if the fighting escalates. Its a very complicated series of decisions around both the nearterm support, but also look around corners to think about ultimately how do we get on to some kind of deescalation. If its trying to level gaza, that has more risk in not only the tragic load of human life, but the regional escalation that im sure the white house is trying to prevent. I think ben described it well. Most of the meetings we had were run by ben. In terms of looking around the corner is the idea thats been alluded to. Theres sympathy for israel now. It was a brutal attack, but if it imposes a carthenan pieces, theyd lose some of that sympathy. How does this compete against the needs of ukraine . Israel is asking for some of the same weapons. We have a twofront war that were assisting with. That will put terrible pressure on ukrainians, a lot of pressure on congress. Its a very, very difficult situation. Again, speaking of politics, you have the inevitable rise of gas prices. Thats also something that is dangerous i think at the u. S. Had counsel caution on the part of netanyahu, maybe favor the idea of a war cabinet in israel, and they wouldnt want israel to dissipate that moral advantage that they have right now. Ali velshi, rick stengel references ongoing crisis in ukraine. Another story that you have covered extensively. I wonder, having been on the ground, theres a delicate period, that we are in now, and then the weeks and the months that follow. What is it that you are watching for in the next 24 to 48 hours, ali . I have to say, ben and rick have said it very clearly. You have to look around corners on this one. Emotions are running high. A lot of people are pretty sure they know the right thing to do in the moment. A lot of that feels like punment and retribution. There are huge a consequences to getting this wrong. Iran, were not sure what role iran has played on this thing yesterday, but iran does stand to gain from chaos amongst people in the middle east. We have to be very, very very thoughtful. Its very heart in times like this to be thoughtful. Dig deep into the well and think four times before anything is done. Ali velshi, my friend, as always, thank you so much for your reporting and being on the ground for. Ben rhodes, thank you as always for spending time with us. When we come back, were going to talk with a member of congress on what if anything can be done . Reps have left washington without a House Speaker. And more on the hostaging taken and the unimaginable horror of what they and their families are going through. All those stories and more when deadline white house continues salve this. Do not go anywhere. . This do not go ywanhere [man struggles] i need some sleep. [man relieved] if you struggle with cpap, you should check out inspire. Inspire. Sleep apnea innovation. Learn more and view Important Safety Information at inspiresleep. 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Unlike chrome, the Duckduckgo Browser has privacy builtin. It comes with a private alternative to google search, which doesnâ– t spy on your searches, and it blocks cookies and creepy ads. And theres no catch. Its free. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you around. Join the millions of people taking back their privacy by Downloading Duckduckgo On Mobile and desktop today. We are following the unfolding chaos after hamass Surprise Attack on israel over the weekend plunged the region into violence. There are swirling questionss to how the sudden and unexpected assaulte together. Wall street journal rep that iranianurit Officials Helpedas plan the attack, but u. S. And israeli officials have disputed that account, saying they do not have evidence corroborating a link to iran. Meanwhile, the white house says military assistance is on the way to israel. Joining our conversation, Courtney Kube is with us. Plus barry mccaffrey. Rick is still with you. Courtney tell you what you can with. Its the gerald r. Ford it also brings with it, in addition to being an Aircraft Carrier with fighters jets, helicopters, survailance, up to 6,000 to soldiers, and they have missiles, the ability to hit targets on land and provide air defenses. This is a massive show of support of presence and of strength. I call it a show of strength, because thats one of the Main Missions of this Carrier Strike group. According to Defense Officials who weve been speaking with, its to deter this conflict t an official explained that part is to deter any other groups that support hamas, like iran. The goal here is to send in this massive presence with the hope that some of this fighting, some of these groups that support hamas will think twice before they may expand this in the region or even getore involved he cflict already. I will say also, on the point of irans involvement, this Defense Official repeated what weve been hearing over the last 24, 36 hours, which is that, look, iran has had a role in supporting hamas with training, with equipping, as well as other groups in the region, but as of now, they dont have any evidence of direct links between iran and the planning or the execution for this group we do keep hearing the phrase as for now so the u. S. Is continuing to look into this. Courtney, as we were coming on air, President Biden was out with a statement that we now know at least 11 american citizens were among those killed. Talk to us about the efforts to get more people out. Yeah. So, as of now, its still in the planning stages. Not been any order or any kind of a real order to move forward with any type of american evacuation. Were talking about tens of thousands, probably more than that. We dont really have thousands. American and dual citizens who could potential be eligible for some sort of evacuation. The pentagon is looking at options, but it will be an enormous logistical undertaking. This is a case where the u. S. Navy ships could play a role, where theyre part of a platform or Landing Strip to get americans out quickly if theyre in imminent danger. At this point theres been no orders to move forward. I have to say, in addition to the Carrier Strike group, its not getting as much attention because its not as visual of a presence, but the u. S. Is sending upwards of two den Attack Aircraft into the area, into the region, f16s, f15s, a10s, but also there was a squadron of f35s already in the middle east as part of the deter