CNN reporter takes cover in ditch during report from Israel

CNN reporter Clarissa Ward was forced to take cover in a ditch Monday as she reported from the ground in Israel amid the ongoing clash with Hamas militants.

“So forgive me. I have a slightly inelegant position, but 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,” Ward said, breathing heavily on the broadcast while lying on her side on the ground. “We’re just about five minutes away. Gaza is in that direction. We can hear now a lot of jets in the sky. We can also hear the Iron Dome intercepting a number of those rockets as they were whizzing overhead and making impact in that direction, not too far from here.”

Ward said the area she was reporting from is “Ground Zero for this entire operation of carnage” that broken out in Gaza over the weekend.

“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.

Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday, with government officials swiftly declaring war on the group in response. Hundreds are dead on both sides, and the U.S. State Department has confirmed that the fatalities include at least nine Americans.