CNN’s Clarissa Ward Dodges Missile Attack While Reporting Live from Israel

Fighting has escalated in Israel and the Gaza Strip since a Palestinian militant group launched a surprise attack on Saturday

Clarissa Ward, chief international correspondent at CNN, had just begun reporting a live segment from Israel when Hamas rockets flew overhead, forcing her and her crew to duck for cover.

In footage that aired in real-time on CNN, Ward, 43, and three others rushed to the side of a road near the Israel-Gaza border.

They huddled side-by-side, close to the ground in a roadside ditch as they heard the attack above them. The cameraman repeatedly said, “It’s okay, it’s okay,” as they took cover.

Related: Joe Biden Offers Support to Israel as Prime Minister Says 'We Are at War' After Hamas Attack

Less than a minute later, Ward began explaining the situation at the scene to CNN’s team, apologizing for her “un-elegant position” as she remained close to the ground.

"We have just had a massive barrage of rockets coming in here, not too far from us, so we have had to take shelter here by the roadside,” she told her colleagues, before sharing that she and her team were “about five minutes” from the border.

The sounds of rockets and air strikes continued, and Ward said they could also hear Israel’s iron dome air defense system “intercepting a number of those rockets as they were whizzing overhead and making impact.”

Related: Israeli Defense Minister Calls for ‘Complete Siege’ of Gaza Strip Two Days After Hamas' Surprise Attack

The seasoned international journalist then shared why she and her team were so close to the border at the time, saying the road was “ground zero for this entire operation of carnage,” which began with a series of surprise air and land attacks by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, on Saturday.

“Hamas militants came on a pickup truck. This was the first place where they breached that border wall, and they basically drove down this strip just spraying lead wherever they went," she said.

Ward later showed a truck that militants had driven — from which they launched their attack on Saturday — as it was being towed by Israeli officials. Other nearby vehicles were abandoned, and one was burned from the attack.

Related: Israeli Father Recalls Panicked Phone Call Before His Wife and 2 Young Girls Were Kidnapped and Taken to Gaza

Since the conflict began, more than 700 Israelis have been confirmed dead and 2,150 are injured, per the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Israel launched retaliatory attacks on what it called Hamas targets in Gaza following Saturday’s losses, and the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that as of Monday, 493 people in the Gaza Strip had been confirmed dead and more than 2,700 had been injured.

Related: CBS Mornings' Tony Dokoupil Says His Children in Israel Are Safe amid Hamas Attacks: 'Roller Coaster Weekend'

There are reportedly over 150 Israelis being held hostage in Gaza, with some U.S. citizens among them that are currently "unaccounted for," The New York Times reported.

As of Monday, nine Americans have been confirmed dead in Israel, according to a statement from the US National Security Council, the outlet said.

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The conflict escalated even further Monday as Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the country is “putting a complete siege on Gaza,” meaning “no electricity, no food, no water, no gas” for the Palestinian-controlled area along the Mediterranean Sea.

Of Gaza’s resources, Gallant said, “It’s all closed,” according to Al Jazeera.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the battle with Hamas "has only just began" as he told leaders that "what Hamas will go through will be tough and terrible," per the Times.

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