From israel to gaza. As a Ground Defensive is expected to begin soon. More than 360,000 military services have been mobilized. Just to put the size of that in perspective, the total number of u. S. Forces in the reserves across the air force are marines and navy. It is just over 330,000. Israeli Men And Women Living Overseas in the United States and across europe are getting notifications that they are being called to serve. They are packing their belongings up. Theyre returning to fight. Over 100 hostages remain unaccounted for as families in israel play pray for any sign of survival. The Israeli Military is also preparing for a potential second front in the israeli lebanon border, with a buildup of battle tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers a few miles from lebanon. This comes as the idf attacked several hezbollah targets today in lebanon. Late today, axios reporter said that iran sent to message to israel on saturday, saying that it does not want further escalation in the hamas israel war. It will have to intervene if the israeli operation in gaza continues. A few of the major questions now, and we are going to dive into all of them over the next two hours. When will israeli troops push into gaza . What is next . What will that look like . . What happens to civilians that are not able to get out or choose not to leave . There are more than 1 Million People in Northern Gaza told to abandon their homes. This morning, they were promised a short window for safe passage. It was hardly safe, as the air strikes continued. As many as 70 people, mostly women and children were killed yesterday after israeli airstrikes hit convoys of Palestinian Evacuees hitting south in gaza. United nations called israels evacuation impossible. The situation in gaza is a matter of life or death. For many, the prospect of moving their families away from their homes with the risk of never being able to return, and with limited prospects for shelter, food, and survival on the other side making it an untenable choice. Hospitals staff said they could not evacuate or abandoned their patients. Ahead of gazas largest hospital, 35,000 people are taking shelter inside. And nbc news camera crew gained access to the hospital and saw Young Children with bloody limbs and always lined with families awaiting updates for their loved ones. There are also reportedly between 500 and 600 americans stuck in gaza. Earlier today, egyptians and israelis were said to have reached a tentative agreement allowing u. S. Citizens, and some foreign nationals to leave gaza through the rafah Border Crossing in northern egypt. Those on the ground say that they were simply left waiting, trapped in gaza. Unable to cross. The Palestinian Americans from new jersey said, quote, nobody has any information or any update. As we wait for the Ground Defensive to begin, we are also bracing ourselves for a deepening humanitarian crisis. For the next two, hours were going to be talking across the region with military escorts, bringing you everything we know about the facts on the ground. We are also going to be expecting President Biden to speak in about 30 minutes at the human rights campaigns annual national dinner. If he does address the war, we will bring you those remarks as soon as they come. Just moments ago, we learned the President Biden spoke with prime netanyahu today for the fifth time. The to discuss the situation on the ground. Netanyahu thanked biden for the deep and unconditional support for israel, and the two agreed to keep in contact. Also moments ago, the State Department confirmed that the number of americans killed in the conflict so far is up to 29. At least 1300 people have also been killed in israel, and over 1900 in gaza. We begin our coverage tonight on the ground in israel with Nbcs Richard Engel and alison barber, who are both near the Israel Gaza Border. Thank you both for being there. Richard, i want to start with you. Tell us what you are seeing, where you are, and what your expectations are over the next 24 to 48 hours. I can tell you what we are seeing, and also what we are hearing. Right now, it is quite quiet. Perhaps the quietest night that we have had over the last several days. Gaza city has been blacked out behind me. We are on the israeli side of the gaza border. Where we, are even though its in israel. It is relatively abandoned. Nobody on the streets, its extremely quiet. In the background, just where you can sort of see the edge of the lights, thats where the city begins. Thats where palestinians have been told to leave. You can hear tank fire. You can hear it echoing through this empty city as the sound waves bounce off of the buildings. Inside of gaza, there is a spirit of panic, and also one of defiance. People in gaza city are not just bracing for a fight, they do not want to fight. Those that have chosen to stay in gaza have chosen to stay either because they do not want to leave because israel is telling them to leave. We have spoken to people they believe they should not have to leave, that they are staying there because this is their home. Many people in gaza were made refugees by previous rowers, and they fear that if they leave now and head south, they say they have nowhere to go. If they go south, there will be another generation of displaced people. This conflict has seen so much different from the outside, as it is seen in gaza. From the outside, it is quite simple. Hamas, a Terrorist Organization, carried out a brutal atrocity, and it did so butchering 1300 israelis. Now it has no choice but to go in and disarm hamas, and destroy hamas. For the people Inside Of Gaza who did not generally elect hamas because it was initially elected, and then took over. The people there feel that theyre pending by israel, under attack, theyre trapped. This is a moment theyre going to die tonight, and they might as well die in their homes, or die tomorrow. They might as well die in their homes. Why run to the south and and a potentially getting killed on the road, or end up stranded and dying in the desert . The people in gaza right now, blacked out, many of them are sheltering in hospitals. The israelis are not so much talking about deadlines anymore. We can focus on the deadlines. The deadlines have all come and gone. The israelis are saying to forget about the deadlines. Just go south. They made more appeals to the people of gaza. Save your lives. The people there, as i was saying, said we are not going to go. We are going to stay. Whatever comes is going to come because our lives are so terrible anyway. There is such a high risk of dying. We might as well stay here and see what happens. So important to hear the perspective from within. Remembering that there are more than 2 Million People there with few options. A wanted to ask you. It seems like former what richard is saying, its a lot quieter than it has been. I know youve been on the border, covering the border, because ive watched our coverage for 90 days now. Does it feel quieter to you . Have you seen israeli tanks, Military Equipment Crossing . What do you think that means . Its been a little bit quieter in the last couple of hours than it was in this area around this time last night. That being said, we are seeing a lot of tank movement. Just running into look offside because there is a Tank Crossing on the road right behind, or right in front of me rather, where we are standing. Just moving towards the direction of gaza. The last few days, our team has seen hundreds of israeli tanks and military vehicles along this area. We are on the Israel Gaza Border on the north side of it. We have seen massive amounts heading towards gaza. Oftentimes, you see troops, just packed full of troops. We are starting to hear some booms heading in the direction of gaza. This is been happening on and off for the last couple of hours. Lets see. Im looking to see if we can see anything here. We will often hear that boom that starts, sounds like the, under some sort of storm is brewing in the distance. From where we are, we can see the skyline oftentimes of Gaza Lighting up with just a flash of orange. We have seen a lot of Military Equipment moving through this area. We have seen over the last couple of days a lot of Flatbed Trucks carrying massive amounts of artillery, as well as heavy moving equipment. Again, all headed towards the direction of gaza. Tonight, we are hearing another boom in the distance right now. We have seen a couple of waves of airstrikes in this area. At one, point maybe four hours ago now, there was missiles that had come from the israeli side over here and headed towards gaza. Again, there has been that rolling boom. We have also heard at one point what we thought was an Artillery BombardmentInside Of Gaza. The big question that we have been asking israeli forces, i spoke to a spokesperson with the Israel Defense forces on thursday. It is about the possibility of evacuations. There is obviously, as you reported so well, telling civilians in the northern part of gaza, particularly around gaza city to evacuate south and go past the gaza river. Moving is difficult. The power plant Inside Of Gaza is out of fuel now. The u. N. Has sent hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in their schools. And in their hospitals in the area. If people wanted to leave gaza, that is not and has not been an option. The only Land Crossing but they could possibly get out of that does not go into israeli territory is that crossing on the border with egypt. Egyptian officials have said that it was closed. It was never fully open. On tuesday, because of israeli airstrikes near the area, the damaged and made him in operable. When i spoke with a spokesperson for the idf and asked if they would support egypt opening that up to people, they said they could not discuss diplomatic discussions. Ultimately, his answer was that they have tried to warn civilians to get out of the way and evacuate elsewhere. He was adamant in saying that this is a war in a situation of hamas alison, thank you so much. The Rafah Crossing is something we will all be watching. A lot of americans and former national out there as well. Richard, before you go, i want to ask about reporting you have been doing instead of a hospital at gaza. Hospital officials have said that they are not going to leave, they cannot leave, what are we learning about what is happening there. But people are sheltering in hospitals in gaza city. That happens every time this conflict. Every time there is a conflict in gaza, people rushed to mosques or they rushed to the hospital. The main hospital in gaza city according to the director, we have seen pictures tonight from the hospital. There are 35,000 people sheltering in that hospital. The men are outside, they are sleeping in the parking lot. They were holding a small rally in the parking lot trying to keep their spirits up. The women and children are inside. It is one of the last buildings that has power. They are running a generator with power, hospital Officials Say they have two or three more days. They think with gasoline, keeping the place running. This hospital has not been given a specific Evacuation Order for people to leave, but other hospitals have. Three other hospitals in gaza city were told directly that they should take their patience and head south. They should evacuate the buildings. Those other three hospitals refused directly, saying we cannot do that. That would be inhumane. It would be cruel and impossible. They are staying at the hospital. The other people at alshifa our also remaining at the hospital. Patients on the ground, all of the beds are full and they are running low on supplies. There are many women and children. We saw images of not just taken by hamas, propaganda videos, this was taken by our own team. People that ive known personally for a long time. When the camera pans left and right, you see lots of injured women and children. It is not entirely surprising considering the 40 of the population of gaza is under 15 years old. It is a very young population. It is a very dense population. When you carry out strikes in gaza, even if it is trying to target hamas. Even with all of the precise Military Equipment and intelligence, there will be many casualties. If israeli tanks tonight, tomorrow, they really have no idea when. It is all a Guessing Game at the stage. When they do go, in its very likely that they there will be israeli casualties certainly, its going to be hard to fight Inside Of Gaza with all of its tunnels. As you, said youre going to be talking about that tonight. It also makes it extremely hazardous for the people that are still in that city. Richard angle, thank you very much. Thank you for being on the ground, and for your reporting. Well well let you to get back to that. We appreciate you being with us tonight. Joining us now are to retire generals, barry mccaffrey, and steph twitty. I want to thank you for being here as we understand this. General mccaffrey, i will start with you. The idf said today that they are preparing to implement a wide range of defensive operation plans, which include, in their words, it integrated and coordinated attack for the air, sea, and land. It seems quite on the ground there right now, from richard and alisons reporting. What does the next stage look like . What are you watching for . As youre looking for that to begin. Its going to be a bloody mess, thats no question. Hamas might have as many as 30,000 fighters. Theyre using the civilian population to protect themselves. Theyre underground, they will resist. The refugees are obviously in desperate circumstances. Theyre moving south out of the main combat zone. The idf has no option but to respond if they grant immunity and hamas, Inside Of Gaza, there will never be another piece in israel. They are going to go in and try to dominate the surface level. They will go underground with tunnel rats and intelligence, special ops. They will try and capture and exterminate the hamas leadership. They will stay for a month, the three months, and hopefully it will give them a couple of years for peace. Thats what were about to see. Weve been watching a great deal of hostages, the reporting suggests that they would be in the tunnels. They would be spread out. Theyre being used as human shields. Lieutenant general, we have overseen a lot of operations. If israel wants to destroy hamas, how did they take into account these hostages . Do they get these hostages back . They are also launching this crowned defensive. How does this work . Ill tell you, it is no easy answers to any of this to include the hostage situation. As you know, hamas has complex tunnels underneath gaza. It would probably have intelligence, although i do not know right now. Many of the hostages are dispersed. Throughout gaza as a whole, currently they have special operating forces trying to figure out two things. Number one, where the hostages are, and number two, what are the vulnerable locations for the Ground Forces to come in . The other piece of this is this hostage situation, it could go either way. Sadly, you are dealing with hostages that might die in this case. They might be used once the Ground Attack commences. It might trigger hamas, just the next few. Lets hope that it does not end this way. We are hoping that there is diplomacy behind the scenes that perhaps can be helped out here. I say all of this to say that there is no good options. Lets hope for the best. Lets hope we can find them and get them home. General mccaffrey, i wanted to ask you about the iran and hezbollah. We have seen a lot of activity on the border with lebanon. We have seen iran delivering a message to the u. N. Today, saying that they do not want to escalate, this but they will have to intervene if israel proceeds. How concerned are you about this escalating into a larger war in the middle east . And about hezbollahs role, and how it could expand here . I think that is a central concern of the Biden Administration in this the magnificent Secretary Of State tony blinken is working the regional capitals right now. The saudis undoubtedly do not want to see the situation escalate. By the way, 100,000 fighters over in lebanon are likely to ensure this battle. There are shia muslims. They are responding and funded by the iranians. I think that the idf has a Working Background Assumption that at some point, they will enter the fray. This whole situation is going to get much worse in the coming weeks. Israel has no option. They cannot live with the current situation. And certainly from hamas and gaza. Theres been a lot of discussion about the rules of war. I want to ask you about this. As she is under significant threat from hamas, from hezbollah, what does it look like . Explain to us what that is, what would violate the rules of war . What i will tell you, jen, ive been in this exact situation that israel is in right now. You have a population of 2 Million People, and you have to go in and conduct urban warfare. First of all, you need a professional military to go in and do such a thing. Those that are going to be keeping the populist first and foremost. If youre a professional, that will be your number one. The problem is, you have too many young people in the third most dense population in the world. No matter wh