‘It’s okay, it’s okay’: CNN Reporter Clarissa Ward somehow dodges Hamas rockets in live broadcast from Israel

A CNN reporter and her crew had a close call with Hamas rockets as they were reporting live from near the Israel-Gaza border on Monday.

Clarissa Ward, CNN’s chief international correspondent, was in the middle of a live segment when she heard a loud barrage of rockets flying overhead. She and three others quickly ran to a ditch by the side of the road and took cover.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” the cameraman reassured them as they lay low in the ditch.

The sound of explosions and air defense systems could be heard in the background.

Ward apologized to the CNN team for her “un-elegant position” and explained what was happening.

"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 said. She added that they were only “about five minutes” away from the border, where the conflict between Israel and Hamas had escalated over the weekend.

She said that this road was “ground zero for this entire operation of carnage,” as it was where Hamas militants had breached the border wall on Saturday and launched a surprise attack on Israel.

“They basically drove down this strip just spraying lead wherever they went,” she said, pointing to a truck that was used by the militants and later towed by Israeli officials.

Other vehicles were left behind or burned in the attack.

The violence between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, has claimed hundreds of lives since Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that more than 700 Israelis have been killed and 2,150 wounded, while the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that 493 people in Gaza have been killed and more than 2,700 injured.

Nine American casualties have been confirmed in Israel, as reported by the US National Security Council.

The New York Times has reported that more than 150 Israelis, including some US citizens who are currently “unaccounted for,” are being held hostage in Gaza.

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The situation worsened on Monday as Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that Israel was “putting a complete siege on Gaza,” cutting off all supplies of electricity, food, water and gas to the Palestinian enclave.

“It’s all closed,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the fight against Hamas, saying that the battle “has only just began” and that Hamas would suffer “tough and terrible” consequences.

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