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Now, meanwhile, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu has been saying that this is just the beginning. This video, from the last hour show the iron dome at work. Intercepting rockets that were fired from gaza, over nbcs Richard Engels position in Southern Israel. And now hundreds of thousands of israelis mobilized as the country rallies for war. Raising questions about whether a Ground Invasion is imminent. Plus, we have the desperate search for hostages. Hamas, with a terrifying threat to execute hostages every time Gaza Civilians are hit without warning. And later, President Biden set to deliver remarks in just about two hours on the terror attacks. What he plans to say to the world. We begin with the very latest on whats happening on the ground in the middle east. Joining us now nbc news chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel in Southern Israel. Hes on the phone, nbc news correspondent matt bradley, and richard, weve been speaking with you over the last hour, weve been really watching and witnessing by your side the most extraordinary images of missile after missile after missile being sent from the area there in gaza, into to where you are, over and over again. This iron dome, hitting them in arab. But some got through. Reporter some did get through. And we just left ashkelon to move to another area. The barrage seems to have stopped. Or at least paused for now. So were using that as an opportunity to change location. We there were some of the rockets that got through. We saw Emergency Response crews dealing with it. There are some images that have been captured showing fires on the streets in the port. And there are some casualties, but it was not what hamas has been promising. Hamas was sending out Text Messages in hebrew to israelis telling people to evacuate the city, that ashkelon was going to be destroyed at 5 00, local time, on the dot. One hour ago. Many rockets were launched. Almost all of them were intercepted. And thats what were seeing now. This, weve been talking about over and over again, this is not over. Theres been another incident, another attempted infiltration into Northern Israel from lebanon. And im sure matt bradley can talk more about that. And theres still attempts in Southern Israel by the israeli army, ongoing efforts. With clear and search the communities along the border with gaza. And then, of course, there is this, for now, air campaign against the gaza strip. And weve spoken to many military analysts, generals, exgenerals, over the course of the last four days. I think they will all tell you, it is very difficult to achieve israels military objectives by air strike alone. Israel says it wants to get the regime change. Destroy the regime, and find a replacement for it. But how is it going to destroy it by only bombing it from the air, when hamas still has plenty of rockets. Theres another thing that we havent said much is public opinion. We are talking about what it happening in israel. We are talking about the victims and the atrocities and the hostages. But if you watch channels, mostly theyre focusing on the victims of gaza which are also in the hundreds. The civilians that are being killed in these strikes by hamas. And, richard, its so important what youre mentioning, because the fact is that, you know, and weve said it over and over again, you know, gaza is one of the most densely Populated Areas on earth. More than 2 Million People were crammed in there. With no way out, really. I mean, they cant go israel. Reporter no. Out through egypt. And im thinking, richard, if israel decides, and, you know, the israeli Prime Minister is saying that the war against hamas is just beginning, if this next phase is one of a ground war in to gaza, the israelis were there before. But this was a different time. And certainly, it seems as though it would be of a such a difficult, intense nature, its not fallujah, its not even i mean, im thinking like the battle of leningrad. I mean, what would that be like . Reporter it would be an absolute nightmare. Its been a nightmare in the past when israeli rooms have troops have gone in. And it would be worse now. Hamas has said it spent a year training for this operation. Hamas, these people know what theyre doing, they clearly have gotten better. Ful they spent a year preparing for this assault, its also logical to assume they would have spent time preparing for the consequences of it. So where israel has gone in the past, hamas booby traps, there are tunnels, there are land mines, and thats in years past before hamas had this level of sophistication. And this level of training. So if and when, if israeli troops go in, they will face a ground they will face a very tough fight. Hamas will be dug in, ultimately. Hamas, one would assume, Will Solution the conflict, with alarming force. But the people of gaza will suffer and huge consequences. They have they didnt vote in the hamas government. Ive been to gaza, many, many times, there are many people there who dont support hamas. Who feel totally oppressed by this notorious infamous government that they did not elect. Hamas threw out the opposition, the political party. But the people who are there, i dont want to say theyre hostages, but in many ways theyre also hostages to this government of hamas. They cant leave, because israel, for reasons all too obvious in the last four days does not open the border. Egypt doesnt open the border, so the people there, if youre born in gaza, you stay in gaza, you cant leave. And you are governed by hamas. Which every few years attacks israel because it wants to destroy the fate of israel. It wants to achieve the Leadership Position in the arab world. For all of its different motivations and bring this kind of horrible reprisal onto the entire strip where 2 Million People live in very poor and very densely Populated Areas. R. So important. And if you would richard, stay with us, but i want to go to matt who is there in lebanon. You were Hearing Explosions the last time we spoke. Whats going on now . Reporter well, jose, we are still Hearing Explosions. And in fact, these are outgoing attacks by what we understand to be rockets. Most likely fired by hezbollah. Outgoing, very far in the distance over my Left Shoulder here. Weve also seen streaks of smoke to indicate that this is outgoing. And weve also heard from Security Forces and from local media that the israelis are returning fire with artillery. So this is kind of ratcheting up. And hezbollah, just over the weekend, ago knowledged they have lost three of their fighters. Now, we can say this is a major escalation, and it is, but the fact of the matter is this is a very choreographed situation. Over the past decades weve seen this warfare, this style, between hezbollah and israel. Its choreographed. Nobody seeping to be deviating even with the appalling violence going on where my colleague Richard Engel is at the moment. And not like 2006 where the israelis launched an attack that brought hezbollah to its knees. They dont want to see this escalate and hezbollah, and the entire nation of lebanon, honestly, youll remember that explosion a couple years ago in beirut, this country is economically ravaged and nobody wants to see a massive war. Despite the fact there are a lot of sympathy in lebanon for the palestinians. As i said before, jose, that could change at anytime, hezbollah like hamas is backed by iran. They could be getting input. They could be getting actual direction from iran, tehran, deciding what theyre going to be doing. And we just heard from the ayatollah of iran coming out today and saying iran want behind this attack. Right now on this border, were not seeing quite yet an internationalization of the conflict. If we do, that would be a really big crisis, an even bigger crisis for the entire region. If we start bringing in other militant groups, hezbollah has more access to weapons, more access to power here in lebanon than even hamas does. So that would be a disaster for israel and the people of lebanon. Jose. Yeah, and i thank you for that, matt. Richard, you know, its an area you know so well, as does matt. But just the possibility and the fear of this expanding which, you know, hezbollah is different than hamas, in so many ways, including the fact that hezbollah has actually had essentially a Working Government in lebanon. In the past. I remember, boy, maybe 25 years ago, visiting lebanon, and you couldnt go from beirut to betadine or beirut without being stopped three, four times without hezbollah checkpoints. And, richard, your experience with syria, with the wagner group that has been supporting assad and his sons family there, this is a very dangerous group and this is a very wide area that could be, if it gets involved, really change a lot of things. Richard. Reporter oh, hezbollah is a much more powerful organization than hamas. Hamas runs what is effectively a very large penile colony in the gaza strip. And it rules it by force. Hezbollah runs a country. They control the airports. They control international ports. They have access to the finance system. The leaders can travel freely in and out of the country. It is a very different different scenario. Theyre also far better equipped. They have tremendous Military Skills that they honed from years decades actually, fighting against the Israeli Military. With hezbollah entered into this conflict in a series way, we would be seeing a different kind of war. There would be ships american ships coming in to evacuate citizens from the region. We would see massive oil fluctuations. Oil price fluctuations. It would be a different scale of conflict. It still could come. And what i think is a key factor, as i was talking to you about earlier, its really public opinion. Hamas launched this war under the name of pretending protecting the al aqua mosque in jerusalem. Its the third holiest site in all of islam. For muslims around the world, its deeply sensitive. The Israeli Government has been allowing rightwing extremists to enter into the Al Aqsa Mosque, with provocative action, giving them a great deal of latitude. Hamas is claiming that its murderous kidnapping rampage, when it ripped old women and children from their homes and brought them over the border is being carried out in the name of Al Aqsa Mosque to satisfy the muslim world. Its a narrative that does appeal to many. Its a narrative that i think deems traction. If the Israelis Go Into the gaza strip. And suddenly, there are thousands, Tens Of Thousands of palestinian casualties, the idea that hamas is defending islam could resonate. And that could trigger, i think, hezbollah to enter into conflict. If the arab world if the muslim world feels engagement. But as matt was saying, they dont really want to do this right now. The country is bankrupt. Theyve had a currency collapse. If hezbollah goes into this war, israel will respond and destroy the country. Destroy the infrastructure. And it is very possible hezbollah would be blamed for that. But hezbollah would also be blamed if thousands of palestinians are being killed and they do nothing. Richard engel and matt bradley, thank you both very much. I want to bring in ruby chen, hes in his son is missing, Israeli Defense force soldier. Dual israeli american citizen itay chen. I thank you very much for being with us. I really appreciate it. I dont even know how you are able to be this extraordinarily strong. What is it that you and your family are doing . And i know that this your sons unknown is what do you want us to know . Well, i was listening to richard talking before. All of that macro politics and international affairs, like i want to talk about something basic. I want to talk about family. Okay. We just completed a Press Conference that similar families like myself, dual citizens, u. S. Citizens as well. We have about ten of us identified here in israel where Family Members either are in hostage or missing. And like any family, listening to us now, im sure the basic thing that you want is to be together with your family. And be there on those special moments. Our family, this saturday, is intending to celebrate its bar mitzvah of my youngest son. Itay stayed at his base, the previous weekend in order to be home this weekend with us and celebrate. Thats what we want. We want to be able to be together, whole, as a family. Celebrating, you know, our special moment, and special occasions, like any family that is listening to us now. Yeah, take me back to last saturday. When is it that you last heard from him . And since . So, itay last communicated with us saturday morning. Sending a message saying that there are missiles and his base, which is on the border of gaza, is being attacked. And we know that he was out there and he lost communication with other people shortly after. What we know from official idf representatives that talked to us is that itay is defined as missing in action. What does that mean missing in action . It means that since saturday morning, theres no one that has seen him, identified him and saying that he is next to him. He has not been found in a hospital. He has not been identified as deceased. And, basically, its a war zone that, you know, theyre still trying to find where he is. Thats the kind of situation that we are at. Yeah. And, ruby, you know, we were showing a picture of your son who is just like all of your other children, The Pride And Joy of any father or any mother. 19 years old. What is it you think, ruby, that, first of all, we should know about your son . And then what is it that anyone, we, or anybody else, could do to help you . Yeah. So, my background, im a new yorker. Grew up in flatbush. Its a tough neighborhood. But it gives you the dna that prepares you for life. I like to say im a proud outcome of the new york Public Education system. You know, we got to be able to get along with a lot of people. Different places, different religions. And thats the type of values and culture that i tried to provide to my son. As a new yorker, you could guess, avid sports fan, New York Knicks fan. Of course, my child, a really avid basketball, nba fan as well. But he decided to be a lakers fan and kobe bryant. But i guess thats what all kids do to us, doesnt it, jose . Yeah. Well, there are some things that we cant control. In our children, i guess. Ruby. But ive got to tell you, you know, there is and i was really speaking earlier to an extraordinary mother who is praying and hoping that her daughter is can come home, too. And im just thinking, ruby, you know, what is it that you want us to know . And what is it that we can do to help . Yes. So, President Biden, we support very much, and hes been saying all of the correct things. You know, were dealing with an organization that does not act as innocent lives weigh in nations outright. Its a different animal. I dont even know how to call it when you have a representative of that organization taking Holocaust Survivors and small children as hostages. And massacring, you know, kids, that have a festival of music. So, we applaud President Biden, secretary of state for the words and support that they have given so far. But speaking on behalf of myself and my family, we urge President Biden not to take a back seat here. And take the lead, only dealing with this situation. And especially, with u. S. Citizens that their location is not known at the moment. We urge President Biden, with the power that the United States has, both politically as well as other capabilities that the u. S. Has, to take an active role in talking to the hamas. And the minimum is acting according to the riyadh rules and the International Law and any soldier or civilian that is held hostage, regardless if its an american, german, israeli, to allow representatives of the red cross, to visit them, to get medical care, and to know what the status is. That, i think, is the minimum requirement. And, two, of course, is ending this as quickly as possible. The picture you see in the background is us in front