As coverage continues of the war between Hamas and Israel, CNN reporter Nic Robertson choked up as he discussed the likelihood of rescuing Israeli hostages.
There are 30 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas, according to another terrorist group in Gaza, Islamic Jihad — but it’s unknown if that number is accurate,” Robertson said.
As Robertson related how he asked a major in the Israeli Defense Force how they planned to get those hostages back, the journalist had to pause as, visibly emotional, he caught his breath and collected himself.
“I’m sorry, Abby. He told me that they were going to do everything in their power to get them back — no one would be left behind,” Robertson said. “But I think I picked up from him the extreme difficulty that is presented here, because Hamas won’t give them up. And where they’re scattered, where they’re being held — underground tunnels, bunkers scattered across Gaza — it is an almost impossible task.”
When speaking with Israeli military spokesperson Major Spielman, Spielman told Robertson, “We know Hamas here took the men, women and children, dragged them literally from where you and I are standing right now, not that long ago, to the Gaza Strip from right here.”
“These families in these homes, right next to us — some of them are missing,” Spielman said. “What we’re doing right now is trying to eliminate the Hamas infrastructure as effectively as possible and guard that gate. The same openings that they came through, more and more terrorists are still trying to infiltrate.”
Spielman added, “This is the most devastating attack in the history of the state of Israel, over the last 75 years since the state was created. We have hundreds of civilians that were killed. We have men, women and children and grandmothers sitting in Gaza in some basement.”
Robertson followed up, asking how these people would be rescued from Gaza.
“What I can tell you is that we’re not going to stop until we exhaust every means possible of doing so,” Spielman said. “We will not leave any person behind, and we will do anything to make that happen. That’s what’s changed, Nic, over the last 24 hours.”
Robertson’s coverage Sunday also included sharing what happened when Hamas attacked an Israeli music festival, sending attendees fleeing — but leaving at least 260 dead.
“Couldn’t run fast enough. They had no weapons to fight back. They were no threat to those gunmen. They could have run past them, and nothing was going to happen to the gunmen,” Robertson said. “So this was extreme brutality that was executed upon these people. And the numbers keep growing, because the discoveries keep happening. And it’s the shock of the numbers that I think is just stunning Israel right now.”
Earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that hostages being held by Hamas include a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair. She is believed to be the woman seen in a viral video of a member of Hamas posing with her.
