 Welcome to the special broadcast here on I-24 News, day 52 of the war, day 4 of the ceasefire and cautious optimism that today's release of the hostages will indeed materialize. Egyptian officials say this hour, 11 Israeli hostages will indeed be released today despite a major disagreement on their identity, nine children and two elderly women. This is according to the list provided by Hamas, but now Israeli officials are saying there might be changes in those lists because there are no mothers, as in Hamas once again seeking to violate the principle under which families will not be torn apart. Egypt also saying this hour that the efforts to bring about the extension of the ceasefire set to expire tonight, midnight, are on the brink of success as well. Currently on the table, a two-day extension, 20 more hostages to be released, but is it going to be like that every single day, day in, day out? Hamas playing those vicious games with human lives? Well, we want to head straight to the field before we unpack it all here in studio. I-24 News correspondent Zach Anders on the Israel Gaza border there. Zach, we are talking about a potential extension, but leaving no room for doubt. The Israeli forces are on the ground, ready, not for it, but rather when the ceasefire will be expired, let it be in a few hours from now, in a day, in two, in three and four, to get back back to action. And Israeli sources with knowledge of the situation share their concern that if the ceasefire is to end without an extension in place, that it will be much harder to reach any future ceasefire agreement. They want to keep the momentum going with this current agreement and this current pause and ending of the stopping of the hostilities of the fighting, because they do believe that this has moved the hostage, the ability to move the hostages out of their places inside Gaza and towards the border that that mechanism has been working and in some regards becoming more efficient and that they want to keep that continuing. There's obviously still over 150 hostages inside Gaza. It's unclear how many of those are in Hamas's hands, potentially in the hands of the Palestinian Islamic jihad. That part has been unclear, but these sources indicate that there is movement with this agreement of an extension, that that is possible and could end up being very similar to what we've already seen. With more releases of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for just a handful every day of Israeli hostages. We're talking about tens of hostages each day rather than a large quantity to be released, much similar to what it has appeared to or has looked like in the last several days. Yes, and terrifyingly enough, Qatari sources are indicating that Hamas is not holding all those hostages, at least 40 of them are in the hands of some gangs or Islamic jihad forces, God knows where, which will obviously only add complications to the already complex situation. I-24 News correspondent Zach Anders on the Israel-Gaza border, thank you very much for this much more from Zach later on in the evening, of course, and we want now to share this big smile with you. First images of four-year-old Abigail Avigail, who Avigaili Dan, who became a symbol of this brutal, brutal situation in which over 240 Israelis were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. Four-year-old Avigaili lost both of her parents, were murdered on the October 7th massacre right in front of her eyes. She was kidnapped on her own to the Gaza Strip and last night she came back home. This is the little girl who celebrated her fourth birthday in captivity only this past Friday and now reunited with her aunt, with her grandmother and with her two siblings, parentless, but surrounded with love. Yes, and we want to turn now to the Schneider's Children's Hospital, Arial Acero, on I-24 News Middle East correspondent. Standing by there, Arial can all stay indifferent to those images of Avigail and many such moving images in the last few days. Hopefully we will see much more of them. But for the time being, Arial, what can we say on the physical, the mental status of those who have been released and are now being treated at the Schneider's Children's Hospital? Right, Ellie. So yesterday when the nine children and two women arrived here, the hospital said that they're all in fairly good physical and mental condition. Obviously they continue to undergo medical and psychological evaluations. Obviously the goal initially was to make sure that they're OK. They can reunite with their families. But this process is longer for some as opposed to others. People did come in different conditions. But the majority are in fairly good condition. This is important to remember now. As you mentioned, you talked about the different videos and images that we're seeing over the past three days of real emotional reunification of families. Because you have to remember on that fateful October 7th day, many children were kidnapped without their parents, families torn apart, others parents taken from their children. And the latest video coming out is of eight-year-old Ella and 15-year-old Daphna Eliakim, who reunited last night with their mother Maianzine. Now, Ella and Daphna were kidnapped on October 7th from their father's home in Nakhal Oz. Her father, Noam, as well as his partner Dikla, were killed along with Dikla's son, Tomer. And their murder was shared on Facebook Live as it was taking place. It stood out as one of the horrific stories of that fateful day. Since then, Ella and Daphna have not seen their mother yesterday after 50 days in Hamas captivity. They finally reunited. Let's take a look of the heart-filling images. We're watching those images incomprehensible, really, and, of course, very carefully. But there are some initial questioning, biosecurity forces of those who were released in a bit to get a better understanding of what captivity looked like. Right, Ella. The moment they were released, the hostages all underwent some form of debrief by Shin-Bit officers. Obviously, children, those who questioned children were trained to do so in a sensitive and delicate way. Obviously, it's still the initial days, and for some of these released hostages, it's very difficult to kind of relive a lot of these experiences. But we're already hearing from medical staff and hospitals, for instance, of their diet that it was very limited. Many of the adults came back malnourished in that condition. So while we're saying that they're in fairly good physical condition, many of them, they're far from perfect condition. However, the latest update in the last few minutes coming from Shiba Hospital that has treated 13 of the released hostages, saying that many of them are in good physical health, and indeed, some of them could even potentially be released today. This is obviously at the discretion of the families themselves. Let's listen to Itai Pesach, the director of Shiba's Children's Medical Center, with more information. At the Admonished Hospital, children's hospitals were treated 13 captives that were released in the last 48 hours. They are all treated by the top experts in their fields and are cared for in a very sensitive manner, taking care of all their needs, physical and mostly mental, because of the very complex situation they were in. During the time that they spent here, they underwent extensive both physical and mental evaluation. Some of them required the medical treatment, and all of them are supported by our psychologists and social teams. I'm happy to say that in many of them we have completed that process, and they are now ready to be physically or medically discharged from the hospital. Some of them chose really to complete the treatment here and go back to their communities, but a lot of them chose to stay here in the hospital for further time, just to adjust a little bit more. Yes, and to an extent, now the real battle begins. This is the mental journey, and it will take a while. Aria Losaron at the Schneider's Children's Hospital, hopefully awaiting more hostages to be released as early as tonight. Thank you very much for this. And joining us now here in the studio, Mr. Morton, Hemmel, political and international security analysts in our very own I-24 News Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, Owen Ultriman, gentlemen reports that some of the families are finally receiving this call that their loved ones might be released today, because from what we understand there is progress in this crisis that has been underway in the past few hours, including, and this is perhaps the most important and the most interesting element here, a change in the list, the composition of the list of who is going to be released. Right, a change in the list, reportedly, Ellie, at Israel's request, right? Or Israel's demand does not request Israel's demand. And you're right, it is interesting to see Hamas, in a sense, if this is the full picture of what transpired to see Hamas essentially cave, and not Israel, because of course the concern on our end in this country is that the Israeli government, given the emotional momentum of everything we've just seen over the course of the last 15 minutes, that it was the Israeli side that was going to tolerate Hamas violations, and a kind of creeping level of violation, right, that would start with small violations and then escalate or expand, if you will, into more meaningful violations. But it seems not to have happened, to be fair to the Israeli government, it seems not to have happened two days ago, when the Egyptian and Qatari mediators reporting pressure not on Israel, but on Hamas, to live up to its side of what they saw as the bargain. So again, we have an incomplete picture of what happened, both an incomplete picture of what the disagreement was about and what the points of dispute were, and an incomplete understanding of how they are being resolved, because they have not yet been resolved, but how they are being resolved. And maybe interesting, maybe just as interesting, how they tie into that next step, right? The statement from the Egyptian government that the parties are close to getting to an agreement on a two-day extension of the ceasefire, again, provided for in the additional agreement, right? Where in each of the two days, if this is in accord with the original agreement, Hamas would release an additional 10 Israeli, or at least an additional 10 Israeli hostages, in exchange for that three-to-one ratio of release of Palestinian prisoners. And by meeting that quota of 10, earn for itself another day of humanitarian pauses or ceasefire. Yeah. Oh, when you mentioned that today, similarly to two days ago, it was Hamas who caved in. Today, 13-year-old Hila is celebrating her birthday out of captivity without her mother Raya, who, according to her, spent most of the time in captivity together. And two days before her release, they were separated, seemingly in a deliberate move by Hamas to violate exactly this clause. And a very apparent violation. You're right that the Israeli government has tolerated. Yeah. And this time will not tolerate, again, according to what we understand that is currently happening behind the scenes. Mr. Himmel, the fact that the list is changing indicates that Hamas still has a deability and a deodacity to play games. Well, it's playing a very big game because Hamas really wants from all this is not the war to resume, to keep the war, keep to a truce. Its bigger end game is to survive. And all we can survive is if this truce continues. And every day the truce continues is another day where there's more political movement around the world to try to make the truce more permanent, which is not in Israeli interest right now. The Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister came out today that hopefully the truce will become more permanent. President Biden, while he's very sympathetic and loves the fact that some of these hostages are coming out, including Abigail the American, he also wants the truce to be more embellished to great degree. So it's a thin line here. And Hamas's goal is to survive right now because they know when the war comes back, the saber is going to be on its neck. And that's the thing that they're trying to avoid more than anything else. Yeah. But the reality is for the most part. This is the diplomatic dog that hasn't barked, right? We were told or warned, okay, or we're warning ourselves that over the course of the ceasefire, this would be its huge escalation international pressure on Israel by and large hasn't happened. There was one press conference, the Rafa crossing with the Spanish and Belgian prime ministers, the phone call with President Biden statements from Arab foreign ministries, but not much else, right? If anything, this is actually going to give Israel maybe more legitimacy to resume the war because of the aid that's come into the Gaza Strip. Again, we don't know what the next two days are going to bring, and maybe the big escalation happens only in the closing hours of the truce, of the ceasefire. But to date, this is the diplomatic dog that is largely not barked, or at least has barked at a much lower volume than expected. Well, that's the Israeli gamble. The Israeli gamble is that they can put on the, they can crank up the war again and no one's going to stop them, but the Hamas is obviously doing its best to try to prevent that. And there is a summit today in Barcelona, European powers, Middle Eastern air powers. Israel, of course, not in attendance, discussing the future of Israel without it being there, and we'll get back to that in a second. But we do want to cross now live to the hostage square in Tel Aviv, no matter how many times I will say it. My mind cannot grasp it. Pia Sekolbach, a 24-news correspondent standing by there, Pia, from what we understand, finally, after much delay, first phone calls to the families of those hostages that are set, hopefully, to be released tonight. Right, Eli, we are hearing that those families whose loved ones are expected to be released tonight, we're notified now. But of course, what we know from those families is that they are still very careful. Many people and also the cause of the last days have been telling us that they are cautious, that they will not rejoice until they will actually be able to hug their loved ones. And this is the moment where they are able to realize that this is real, that they loved ones returned and are here to the hostage squares. People are still coming in to just show their solidarity, to not be alone, to speak to those family members here, and also to speak to the representatives of the communities that have been heavily affected by the October 7th massacre. I'm standing here in front of the tent of the Kibbutz of Beiri, Beiri, one of the really most heavily affected Kibbutzim from the massacre, as you can see here, that chart here showing you the 12 people, the 12 hostages from Beiri that have already been released over the course of the past three days, women, mothers and children here, small children as well, also Emily Hunt, for example, a hostage that was initially believed to have died, but she returned to her father yesterday. But still, Beiri has at least 18 people still in captivity. Those are the photos that you can see behind all those 18 people, both mothers, women, and also, of course, men that still have not been released, and these people who are saying that they're going to remain here, that they're going to continue to show their presence really until the last hostage is released. And also, as you can see here, they are letters, letters of support that have been sent from abroad, specifically to the community of Beiri, letters that show solidarity and support. And also, there is something that the children of Beiri created here. They painted stones, stones that they brought from home, from their home, Kibbutz of Beiri. They brought these stones and painted, for example, Israeli flags and also houses, houses that many of them lost. Some houses also have flames coming out of them. Their memories from the terrible Saturday of October 7th, the massacre, as you can see here, they're all painted colorfully, but these houses really resemble their experience and also their, of course, their hope to one day be able to return well when that will be is very much not clear, but also houses that they connect, of course, to their loved ones that many of them specifically from Beiri have lost and also, as I mentioned, still there are 18 hostages that are still being held captive in Gaza, specifically from only one community, from the community of Beiri. And not only representatives of Beiri are regularly represented here at the hostage group, but also from the other communities there that still are missing their loved ones in Gaza. And people can just come here, talk to them, and show their support. And this is what we're also seeing tonight, the atmosphere is very gloomy. Tel Aviv is experiencing the beginning of winter now and that really much resembles this atmosphere of tension and of sorrow, Ali. Yes, the weather outside, fitting the weather inside, holding our breaths once again tonight for the release of more hostages. And when he found his correspondent, P.S. Tekelbacher, the hostage square in Tel Aviv, thank you very much for this, much more from P.L. Of course, throughout our broadcast this evening. Back here in studio with Mr. Morton Hemel, with Owen Alterman. Well, we've mentioned it earlier in the broadcast, gentlemen, this conference of European and Middle Eastern countries today in Barcelona. Let's take a quick listen to what the EU top diplomat, Gelsof Borel, had to say on the day after here in the Middle East. The pose should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution. A political solution that should allow us to break the cycle of violence once and for all. The longer we allow the extremists to set the agenda, the more extremism will spread, not only in the region, but also affecting us in Europe as well. Well, Mr. Morton Hemel, political solution, and to extremism, extending the ceasefire, what is this solution they're talking about? Not naming Hamas, not naming who will be in charge in Gaza, if and when? Well, just speculating wildly, and I admit it's speculation, it could be something. Let's look back at 82, the war in Lebanon. I remember, yes, there are a lot leaving by boat and taking some Palestinian fighters with him. Maybe in some way there will be some sort of effort when Hamas feels it's in a corner that the leadership will be granted exit with some fighters with him to places like Iran or Lebanon. It is speculation, but there are ideas that could happen. But it is important what the European Union says. It does have some power, but the key obviously is the last or rest in Washington, Qatar, Egypt, et cetera. Israel's got some key allies here when it comes to Hamas. The Emirates don't like Hamas, Saudi Arabia doesn't like Hamas, Egypt can't stand Hamas. If they had it their way without all the laws of Palestinians, they would want Hamas to disappear. So there's a lot of pressure to make sure that Hamas will not stay in any inconceivable or conceivable political solution. Hamas' leadership can't stay there. Yeah, more to the point, at least that part of the speech could have been written on October 6th, right? There is simply nothing new there. There are no new ideas, there are no new nuances, there's no new language, there are no new terms, there's simply nothing new. There's simply nothing new. And part of the reason, of course, is that Joseph Burrell is in an impossible position. He's speaking for a 27 member state European Union where the 27 member states have very different opinions about this war, right? And about this conflict and about the day after. So he's in the very, very difficult position of having to generate something that won't generate pushback from the member states and that stays within his mandate. And maybe the easiest way in the path of least resistance is to go back to the old formulas on which there was, and let's be honest, still is, broad consensus in Europe, right? So he can get up to the podium and say that. But certainly what Martin is saying is right. The Europeans are, have been, and will continue to be very important here as funders, as supporters. And at the end of the day in the big picture, of course with some exceptions as friends of Israel, don't forget the European Commission building being lit up in the blue and white, right? In those first seemingly long ago days of the war. At the end of the day, the European Union, for all of the tension with Israel and for all of the problems and for all the ups and downs, I'm sure there will be fights and arguments still to come. At the end of the day is an important force and potentially a force for good. In the region of Israel, we certainly want them to hold the Palestinian, whoever emerges as a Palestinian governance authority after this war to hold their feet to the fire and education. But as Martin said very quick, just to round this out, of course what the Saudis say and the Emiratis and the Egyptians and the Americans are also gonna be very, very important actually concretely laying out the day after and being maybe a bit more free and having a bit more leverage to lay out exactly the real bullet points of what that day after looks like. And also if we're going back to the essence of this battle between fundamentalism and extremism and the Western way of living, if you will, did the European Union is fighting or did the members of the European Union fighting the very same battle? They are in the same way and they are fighting a similar battle in the sense of Islamic extremism, et cetera, in their own country and they're afraid that whatever happens in Gaza and Israel can spill over to their capital. So they want quite as fast as possible. But the solution is not really in London or in Paris or it's more Washington Riyadh and the Emirates and Egypt. Yes, absolutely. And reports now on Israel's news 12 that Israeli diplomats or sources in Israel are saying that 11 hostages will indeed be released today among them two mothers. That was the sticking point, it seems now to been resolved. Yes, and that's obviously good news if Hamas is sticking to the agreement. Although, look, we had a woman freed who was freed. It was in critical condition, fighting for her life. We of course wish her a full speedy recovery. One hopes that the freeing of the mothers to be freed with their children as welcome as it is will not in the cruel math of this deal have left off the list somebody who could truly benefit from the carrot of the Israeli hospital. Yes, Martin Hamel, before we wrap up this broadcast what should we expect in the coming days in the coming hours perhaps? Intense negotiations to see the ceasefire is extended. There is a mutual grounds here for a new ceasefire. Israel wants more hostages. Hamas wants more time to figure out how to survive and with that common interest we'll probably see more hostages released. Yes, conflicting sides couldn't be more conflicting and yet a common interest that hopefully will be maintained for the time being Mr. Martin Hamel, Owen Altman. Thank you very much gentlemen for joining us. This is it from us for now but at the top of the hour, Laura Sellier will continue our special broadcast here today. Day 52 of the war awaiting the fourth group of Israeli hostages to be released tonight. Thank you very much for watching. A state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. The workshops I think they just give you some hope. They give you some place to just be who you are as you are at that moment. And as it says on the beautiful wall it's allowed to cry and it's necessary. Come to the special broadcast here on I-24 News. Day 52 of the war, day four of the ceasefire and cautious optimism that today's release of the hostages will indeed materialize. Egyptian officials say this hour 11 Israeli hostages will indeed be released today despite a major disagreement on their identity. Nine children and two elderly women. This is according to the list provided by Hamas but now Israeli officials are saying there might be changes in those lists because there are no mothers. As in Hamas once again seeking to violate the principle under which families will not be torn apart. Egypt also saying this hour that the efforts to bring about the extension of the ceasefire set to expire tonight, midnight are on the brink of success as well. Currently on the table, a two day extension, 20 more hostages to be released but is it going to be like that every single day, day in, day out, Hamas playing those vicious games with human lives? Well, we want to head straight to the field before we unpack it all here in studio right when the foreign news correspondent Zach Anders on the Israel Gaza border there. Zach, we are talking about a potential extension but leaving no room for doubt, the Israeli forces are on the ground ready, not for it but rather when the ceasefire will be expired, let it be in a few hours from now in a day and two and three and four to get back to action. And Israeli sources with knowledge of the situation share their concern that if the ceasefire is to end without an extension in place that it will be much harder to reach any future ceasefire agreement. They want to keep the momentum going with this current agreement and this current pause and ending of the stopping of the hostilities of the fighting because they do believe that this has moved the hostage, the ability to move the hostages out of their places inside Gaza and towards the border that that mechanism has been working and in some regards becoming more efficient and that they want to keep that continuing. There's obviously still over 150 hostages inside Gaza. It's unclear how many of those are in Hamas's hands potentially in the hands of the Palestinian Islamic jihad. That part has been unclear but these sources indicate that there is movement with this agreement of an extension that that is possible and could end up being very similar to what we've already seen with more releases of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for just a handful every day of Israeli hostages. We're talking about tens of hostages each day rather than a large quantity to be released. Much similar to what it has appeared or has looked like in the last several days. Yes, and terrifyingly enough, Qatari sources are indicating that Hamas is not holding all those hostages, at least 40 of them are in the hands of some gangs or Islamic jihad forces, God knows where, which will obviously only add complications to the already complex situation. 924 news correspondent Zach Anders on the Israel-Gaza border. Thank you very much for this, much more from Zach later on in the evening, of course. And we want now to share this big smile with you. First images of four-year-old Abigail Avigail, who Avigaili Dan, who became a symbol of this brutal, brutal situation in which over 240 Israelis were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. Four-year-old Avigail lost both of her parents, were murdered on the October 7th massacre, right in front of her eyes. She was kidnapped on her own to the Gaza Strip and last night she came back home. This is the little girl who celebrated her fourth birthday in captivity only this past Friday and now reunited with her aunt, with her grandmother and with her two siblings, parent list, but surrounded with love. Yes, and we want to turn now to the Schneider's Children's Hospital, Ariel Osir on 924 News Middle East correspondent. Standing by there, Ariel cannot stay indifferent to those images of Avigail and many such moving images in the last few days. Hopefully we will see much more of them. But for the time being, Ariel, what can we say on the physical, the mental status of those who have been released and are now being treated at the Schneider's Children's Hospital? Right, Ellie. So yesterday when the nine children and two women arrived here, the hospital said that they're all in fairly good physical and mental condition. Obviously they continue to undergo medical and psychological evaluations. Obviously the goal initially was to make sure that they're okay, they can reunite with their families, but this process is longer for some as opposed to others. People did come in different conditions, but the majority are in fairly good condition. This is important to remember now. As you mentioned, you talked about the different videos and images that we're seeing over the past three days of real emotional reunification of families because you have to remember on that fateful October 7th day, many children were kidnapped without their parents, families torn apart, others parents taken from their children. And this latest video coming out is of eight-year-old Ella and 15-year-old Daphna Eliakim who reunited last night with their mother Maianzine. Now Ella and Daphna were kidnapped on October 7th from their father's home in Nakhon Oz. Her father Noam, as well as his partner Dikla, were killed along with Dikla's son, Tomer, and their murder was shared on Facebook Live as it was taking place. It stood out as one of the horrific stories of that fateful day. Since then, Ella and Daphna have not seen their mother yesterday after 50 days in Hamas captivity. They finally reunited. Let's take a look of the heart-filling images. Thank you. We're watching those images, incomprehensible, really. And of course, very carefully, but there are some initial questioning, biosecurity forces of those who were released in a bit to get a better understanding of what captivity looked like. Right, Ella, the moment they were released, the hostages all underwent some form of debrief by Shinbe officers. Obviously, children, those who questioned children, were trained to do so in a sensitive and delicate way. Obviously, it's still the initial days. And for some of these released hostages, it's very difficult to kind of relive a lot of these experiences. But we're already hearing from medical staff in hospitals, for instance, of their diet, that it was very limited. Many of the adults came back malnourished in that condition. So while we're saying that they're in fairly good physical condition, many of them, they're far from perfect condition. However, the latest update in the last few minutes coming from Shiba Hospital that has treated 13 of the released hostages, saying that many of them are in good physical health. And indeed, some of them could even potentially be released today. This is obviously at the discretion of the families themselves. Let's listen to Itai Pesach, the director of Shiba's Children's Medical Center, with more information. At the Admiralty Hospital, a children's hospital was treated 13 captives that were released in the last 48 hours. They are all treated by the top experts in their fields and are careful in a very sensitive manner, taking care of all their needs, physical and mostly mental because of the very complex situation they were in. During the time that they spent here, they underwent extensive both physical and mental evaluation. Some of them required the medical treatment. And all of them are supported by our psychologists and social teams. I'm happy to say that in many of them we have completed that process and they are now ready to be physically or medically discharged from the hospital. Some of them chose really to complete the treatment here and go back to their communities. But a lot of them chose to stay here in the hospital for further time just to adjust a little bit more. Yes, and to an extent now the real battle begins. This is the mental journey and it will take a while. Aria Losteran at the Schneider's Children's Hospital, hopefully awaiting more hostages to be released as early as tonight. Thank you very much for this. And joining us now here in the studio, Mr. Morten Hemmel, a political and international security analyst in our very own I-24 News Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Owen Ultriman. Gentleman reports that some of the families are finally receiving this call that their loved ones might be released today because from what we understand, there is progress in this crisis that's been underway in the past few hours, including, and this is perhaps the most important and the most interesting element here, a change in the list, the composition of the list of who is going to be released. Right, a change in the list reported by Israeli-Eli at Israel's request, right? Or Israel's demand does not request Israel's demand. And you're right, it is interesting to see Hamas, in a sense, if this is the full picture of what transpired, to see Hamas essentially cave and not Israel. Because of course, the concern on our end in this country is that the Israeli government, given the emotional momentum of everything we've just seen over the course of the last 15 minutes, that it was the Israeli side that was going to tolerate Hamas violations and a kind of creeping level of violation, right? That would start with small violations and then escalate or expand, if you will, into more meaningful violations. But it seems not to have happened, to be fair to the Israeli government. It seems not to have happened two days ago, when the Egyptian and Qatari mediators were pointing pressure not on Israel, but on Hamas, to live out to its side of what they saw as the bargain. So again, we have an incomplete picture of what happened, both an incomplete picture of what the disagreement was about and what the points of dispute were, and an incomplete understanding of how they are being resolved, because they have not yet been resolved, but how they are being resolved. And maybe interesting, maybe just as interesting, how they tie into that next step, right? The statement from the Egyptian government that the parties are close to getting to an agreement on a two-day extension of the ceasefire, again, provided for in the additional agreement, right? Where in each of the two days, if this is in accord with the original agreement, Hamas would release an additional 10 Israeli, or at least an additional 10 Israeli hostages in exchange for that three-to-one ratio of release of Palestinian prisoners. And by meeting that quota of 10, earn for itself another day of humanitarian pauses. I'll be it, oh, when you mentioned that today, similarly to two days ago, it was Hamas who gave it in. Today, 13-year-old Hila is celebrating her birthday out of captivity without her mother Raya, who, according to her, spent most of the time in captivity together. And two days before her release, they were separated, seemingly in a deliberate move by Hamas to violate exactly this clause. And a very apparent violation, you're right, that the Israeli government has tolerated. Yeah, and this time will not tolerate, again, according to what we understand that is currently happening behind the scene. Mr. Himmel, the fact that the list is changing indicates that Hamas still has a deability and be deodacity to play games. Well, it's playing a very big game, because what Hamas really wants from all this is not the war to resume, to keep the war, keep to a truce. Its bigger end game is to survive. And the only way it can survive is if this truce continues. And every day the truce continues is another day where there's more political movement around the world to try to make the truce more permanent, which is not in Israeli interest right now. The Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister came out today that hopefully the truce will become more permanent. Even President Biden, while he's very sympathetic and loves the fact that some of these hostages are coming out, including Abigail the American, he also wants the truce to be more embellished to a great degree. So it's a thin line here. And Hamas's goal is to survive right now because they know when the war comes back, the saber is gonna be on its neck. And that's the thing that they're trying to avoid more than anything else. Yeah, but the reality is for the most part, this is the diplomatic dog that hasn't barked, right? We were told or warned, okay, or we're warning ourselves that over the course of the ceasefire, this would be its huge escalation international pressure on Israel. By and large hasn't happened. There was one press conference at the Rafa crossing with the Spanish and Belgian prime ministers, the phone call with President Biden's statements from Arab foreign ministries, but not much else, right? If anything, this is actually going to give Israel maybe more legitimacy to resume the war because of the aid that's come into the Gaza Strip. Again, we don't know what the next two days are going to bring, and maybe the big escalation happens only in the closing hours of the truce, of the ceasefire. But to date, this is the diplomatic dog that has largely not barked, or at least has barked at a much lower volume than expected. Well, that's the Israeli gamble. The Israeli gamble is that they can put on the, they can crank up the war again and no one's gonna stop them, but Hamas is obviously doing its best to try to prevent that. And there is a summit today in Barcelona, European powers, Middle Eastern air powers. Israel, of course, not in attendance, discussing the future of Israel without it being there. And we'll get back to that in a second, but we do want to cross now, live to the hostage square in Tel Aviv, no matter how many times I will say it. My mind cannot grasp it. Pia Sekolbach, 24 news correspondent, standing by there. Pia, from what we understand, finally, after much delay, first phone calls to the families of those hostages that are set, hopefully to be released tonight. Right, Eli, we are hearing that those families whose loved ones are expected to be released tonight, we're notified now. But of course, what we know from those families is that they are still very careful. Many people and also the cause of the last days have been telling us that they are cautious, that they will not rejoice until they will actually be able to hug their loved ones. And this is the moment where they are able to realize that this is real, that they loved ones returned. Now, here to the hostage square, people are still coming in to just show their solidarity, to not be alone, to speak to those family members here, and also to speak to the representatives of the communities that have been heavily affected by the October 7th massacre. I'm standing here in front of the tent of the Kibbutz of Beiri, Beiri, one of the really most heavily affected Kibbutz scene from the massacre. As you can see here, that chart here showing you the 12 people, the 12 hostages from Beiri that have already been released over the course of the past three days, women, mothers and children here, small children as well, also Emily Hunt, for example, a hostage that was initially believed to have died, but she returned to her father yesterday. But still, Beiri has at least 18 people still in captivity. Those are the photos that you can see behind all those 18 people, both mothers, women, and also, of course, men that still have not been released, and these people who are saying that they're gonna remain here, that they're gonna continue to show their presence really until the last hostage is released. And also, as you can see here, there are letters, letters of support that have been sent from abroad specifically to the community of Beiri, letters that show solidarity and support. And also, there is something that the children of Beiri created here. They painted stones, stones that they brought from home, from their home Kibbutz of Beiri. They brought these stones and painted, for example, Israeli flags and also houses, houses that many of them lost, some houses also have flames coming out of them. Their memories from the terrible Saturday of October 7th, the massacre, as you can see here, they're all painted colorfully, but these houses really resemble their experience and also, of course, their hope to one day be able to return. Well, when that will be, it's very much not clear, but also houses that they connect, of course, to their loved ones that many of them specifically from Beiri have lost. And also, as I mentioned, still there are 18 hostages that are still being held captive in Gaza, specifically from only one community, from the community of Beiri. And not only representatives of Beiri are regularly represented here at the hostage group, but also from the other communities there that still are missing their loved ones in Gaza. And people can just come here, talk to them and show their support. And this is what we're also seeing tonight. The atmosphere is very gloomy. Tel Aviv is experiencing the beginning of winter now that really much resembles this atmosphere of tension and of sorrow, Ali. Yes, the weather outside, fitting the weather inside, holding our breath once again tonight for the release of more hostages. At 24 News Correspondent, P.S. Tekelbacher, the hostage square in Tel Aviv, thank you very much for this, much more from P.A., of course, throughout our broadcast this evening. Back here in studio with Mr. Morton Hemmel with Owen Alterman. Well, we've mentioned it earlier in the broadcast, gentlemen, this conference of European and Middle Eastern countries today in Barcelona. Let's take a quick listen to what the EU, the EU top diplomat, Gels of Burrell, had to say on the day after here in the Middle East. The pose should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution. A political solution that should allow us to break the cycle of violence once and for all. The longer we allow the extremists to set the agenda, the more extremism will spread not only in the region, but also affecting us in Europe as well. Well, Mr. Morton Hemmel, political solution and to extremism extending the ceasefire What is this solution they're talking about? Not naming Hamas, not naming who will be in charge in Gaza if and when? Well, just speculating wildly, and I admit it's speculation, it could be something, let's look back at 82, the war in Lebanon. I remember Yasser Arafat leaving by boat and taking some Palestinian fighters with him. Maybe in some way there'll be some sort of effort when Hamas feels it's in a corner that the leadership will be granted exit with some fighters with them to places like Iran or Lebanon. It is speculation, but there are ideas that could happen. But it is important what the European Union says. It does have some power, but the key obviously lasts or rests in Washington, Qatar, Egypt, et cetera. Israel's got some key allies here when it comes to Hamas. The Emirates don't like Hamas. Saudi Arabia doesn't like Hamas. Egypt can't stand Hamas. If they had it their way, without all the laws of Palestinians, they would want Hamas to disappear. So there's a lot of pressure to make sure that Hamas will not stay in any inconceivable or conceivable political solution, Hamas leadership can't stay there. Yeah, more to the point, at least that part of the speech could have been written on October 6th, right? There is simply nothing new there. There are no new ideas, there are no new nuances, there's no new language, there are no new terms. There's simply nothing new. There's simply nothing new. And part of the reason, of course, is that Joseph Burrell is in an impossible position. He's speaking for a 27 member state European Union, where the 27 member states have very different opinions about this war, right? And about this conflict, and about the day after. So he's in the very, very difficult position of having to generate something that won't generate pushback from the member states, and that stays within his mandate, and maybe the easiest way in the path of least resistance is to go back to the old formulas on which there was, and let's be honest, still is, broad consensus in Europe, right? So he can get up to the podium and say that. But certainly what Martin is saying is right, the Europeans are, have been, and will continue to be very important here, as funders, as supporters. And at the end of the day in the big picture, of course, with some exceptions, as friends of Israel, don't forget the European Commission building being lit up in the blue and white, right? In those first seemingly long ago days of the war. At the end of the day, the European Union, for all of the tension with Israel, and for all of the problems, and for all the ups and downs, I'm sure there will be fights and arguments still to come. At the end of the day is an important force, and potentially a force for good. In the region of Israel, we certainly want them to hold the Palestinian, whoever emerges as a Palestinian governance authority after this war, to hold their feet to the fire and education. But as Martin said very quick, just to round this out, of course, what the Saudis say, and the Emiratis and the Egyptians and the Americans are also gonna be very, very important, actually concretely laying out the day after, and being maybe a bit more free and having a bit more leverage to lay out exactly the real bullet points of what that day after looks like. And also if we're going back to the essence of this battle between fundamentalism and extremism and the Western way of living, if you will, the European Union is fighting, or did the members of the European Union fighting the very same battle? They are in the same way, and they are fighting a similar battle in the sense of Islamic extremism, et cetera, in their own country, and they're afraid that whatever happens in Gaza and Israel can spill over to their capital, so they want quite as fast as possible. But the solution is not really in London or in Paris, or it's more Washington Riyadh and the Emirates and Egypt. Yes, absolutely. And reports now on Israel's News 12 that Israeli diplomats or sources in Israel are saying that 11 hostages will indeed be released today, among them two mothers. That was the sticking point, it seems now, to been resolved. Yes, and that's obviously good news if Hamas is sticking to the agreement. Although, look, we had a woman freed who was freed, it was in critical condition, fighting for her life. We, of course, wish her a full, speedy recovery. One hopes that the freeing of the mothers and for the mothers to be freed with their children as welcome as it is will not in the cruel math of this deal have left off the list, somebody who could truly benefit from the carrot of the Israeli hospital. Yes, Martin Hemmel, before we wrap up this broadcast, what should we expect in the coming days, in the coming hours, perhaps? Intense negotiations to see the ceasefire is extended. There is a mutual grounds here for a new ceasefire. Israel wants more hostages, Hamas wants more time to figure out how to survive. And with that common interest, we'll probably see more hostages released. Yes, conflicting sides couldn't be more conflicting and yet a common interest that hopefully will be maintained for the time being. Mr. Martin Hemmel, Owen Altman. Thank you very much, gentlemen, for joining us. This is it from us for now, but at the top of the hour, Laura Seller will continue our special broadcast here today, day 52 of the war, awaiting the fourth group of Israeli hostages to be released tonight. Thank you very much for watching. A 24 News channel broadcasting from Israel with dozens of correspondents throughout the world brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries. They're going to be completely sundown in their beds. De la frontière de sépar Israel, the state of emergency and war in Israel. Bringing Israel's story to the world, I-24 News channels, now on Hot. You're watching I-24 News. We're coming to you live from Tel Aviv. And Israeli officials say a group of 11 hostages will be freed from Gaza tonight. That includes nine children and two mothers. The families of the hostages are being briefed as we speak. This is the fourth and final day of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which also includes the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners. 39 women and children have been freed over the past three days. Hamas is still holding 18 children and five mothers hostage in Gaza. They've been there now for nearly two months. Well, Egypt claims that Israel and Hamas are close to extending that ceasefire deal by two additional days. 20 Israeli hostages and 60 Palestinian prisoners would be released. Well, over the last three nights, as soon as they are back in Israel, the former hostages are taken straight to hospital. And one of those hospitals is the Schneider Children's Centre. And our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Osaran, is there for us now. Ariel, they're expecting over the next couple of hours the arrival of more children, children who have been held by terrorists in Gaza for almost two months now. Right, Laura. And as the hospital continues to prepare for to receive the children and their mothers, the Prime Minister's office just released a statement a short while ago saying that they have finished notifying the families of the hostages who are expected to be released today. This is part of this daily kind of chain of events that we've seen unraveling. And it's a key link in that chain because without that, the process can't move forward. And so the next stage that we're expected to hear is the fact that they will actually be the hostages delivered to the hands of the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip. That is the next announcement that we're waiting for. But here in the hospital, not only are they awaiting the arrival of the additional hostages who are expected to be released, but they're already treating over 10 hostages who were released yesterday. We're talking about 11 hostages, nine children and two mothers. Now earlier, a short while ago, the aunt of eight-year-old Ella and 15-year-old Daphna Eliakim, who were kidnapped from their father's home in Nakhal Oz. They are here in hospital after being reunited with their mother. The aunt, Tagit, came down to deliver a statement to the press because she said it was important for her to give thanks to all the support, all the Israelis who have been with them in their thoughts and sent so many warm wishes throughout these days. She said that Ella and Daphna, they're the same. They look the same. They're the same to hug. They might be a little paler, a little thinner, but it's them and they're very, very happy to be back. Let's take a listen to what she said a short while ago. I'm happy to talk to the media and say that I saw the girls. I hugged the girls. Both are perfectly fine. I told them and gave them all the love and all the vast nation of Israel gave them while they were in captivity. They were very excited. I was happy to see that Daphna, like a typical 15-year-old, is very excited by the fact that boys are writing her letters and that they will be very happy for her to come back already and that they care about her. I'm glad to hear that. There was a huge hug for both of them. They feel exactly the same in the hug. They look the same. Maybe they are a little thinner, but it is not something that is extreme. They are a little pale, but not too pale. Nice. Nice to see and nice to hear, Ariel. Thank you very much indeed, Ariel Oss around there. That was the aunt of Daphna and Ella, two girls, sisters who were held in Gaza for nearly two months. They are back with their mother, Mayanzin, who campaigned tirelessly for their release. Well, with me in the studio, Dan Perry. He is an international affairs analyst and former journalist at Associated Press, Europe of Middle East editor. We're joined by Bendoor Yemini, senior journalist at Yediyot Ahonoz. Daily good to see you both and here we are. For the fourth night in a row, the whole country very much on tentative hooks. We're waiting to find out who those children are, who those mothers are that will be freed from Gaza tonight. Yeah, it's a heartwarming spectacle to see families reunited and what looks like some good news for once. And obviously we're still waiting to see if the babies are going to arrive when some of the mothers are left behind and so forth. For the families, it's great. The bigger picture, I think, for Israel is very challenging. And, you know, amid, while we celebrate the good, I think we need to take account, take into account that there is almost 200 hostages or about 200 that are still left behind in a very complex strategic picture for Israel. Bendoor? Well, actually it was a show of power and they did it Saturday afternoon and they did it today. And eventually what we saw, yes, they do have power. I mean, it's very interesting because they do have power because actually they control, they control even the Gaza Strip, which means that even people that were captured by the jihad are going to be released. So they can even control the jihad. Well, because Hamas are trying to claim that they don't hold all the hostages. Yes, that's what they're trying to hold on. But now, after they said that they don't have any control, they are willing to extend, actually, the ceasefire, the pose. And the meaning is that at least 20 more hostages are going to be released and half of them or some of them are going to be released from the jihad, from the Islamic jihad. So the meaning is also that Israel has a lot of work. If Israel is really willing to output the Hamas, it's not going to be easy because they are still with total control on the Gaza Strip. I mean, Hamas can choose to release the hostages at whatever rate they want. And they know that even if they offered one a day for 100 released prisoners, Israel would be hard-pressed to not accept him. OK, Dan, let's just take a pause for a second because I want to go to our correspondent, Zach Anders. He's down in, off I came in the south. And we've learned, Zach, this hour, that one of the hostages who has become very well known here in Israel is not on the list tonight. Well, we've had the family saying that they don't expect to see their family members home tonight. So we have nine children and two adults, the two parents that are going to be released tonight. This is what we're hearing from Israeli sources, but absent on this release is 10-month-old Kafar Bevis. This 10-month-old baby is still going to remain in captivity. The initial thought, at least, was that this would be one of the very first to be released and that the hope throughout each hostage release day was that the youngest amongst the hostages would be one of the first release. But now we are on day four of the ceasefire and the final day of this hostage release deal. And he is not on the list. And the family, releasing a very short statement, they are heartbroken by this news. They had hope that he would be included and that they would get that phone call today that they could make their way towards the hospital and anticipate his return. But it does not appear that that is likely and that they'll have to hold their hopes for an extension of this hostage deal. Yeah, really, really hard news for the family and for everyone in Israel as well, I think. And just talk us through what we're expecting, Zach, because last night the hostages did not come through the Rafa crossing into Egypt. They came through a different crossing straight into Israel last night. One of the reasons was because of the elderly hostage, Abraham, who is still recovering in hospital, but we don't know as yet the details of how it's gonna turn out tonight, do we? We don't and it does appear that some of the Israeli sources in the know aren't entirely sure either because this is somewhat out of their hands. It's dependent on how the whoever it is, Hamas, PIJ, some different structure or organization that has captives, how they hand over these captives to the Red Cross and then it's up to the Red Cross to drive these vehicles to one of the crossing where they can finally be turned over to Israeli hands. And right now we are behind schedule. We were supposed to see some movement. There was delays throughout the day with apparently agreements based on who would be included on the list. Qatar once again had to step in and mediate to make sure that the list was agreed to on both sides. And I should say that at the beginning of the hostage deal, we were told that these names were agreed to for every single day. So the fact that there's still some disagreement on who's going to be released on the day of is concerning. All right, Zach, thanks very much. Zach Anders there down in the south of Israel. Dan Perry, this is the kind of part of the agonizing way this dispute, these last minute told ups and as Zach said, it's very much out of Israel's hand, isn't it? We've got Qatar involved. We've got Egypt involved, but Israel doesn't have much say over what happens. Well, as Bender was saying, Hamas has a lot of power here, assuming that they don't mind paying the price for the games that they play. It does appear as if Hamas is determined to carry this out as a sort of psychological warfare against Israel and make sure that the nerves are as jangled as they can conceivably be. For a lot of reasons, A, that may just be their mode, B, when the opposing side in any negotiation is rattled, that may enable you to get more out of them. And I have no doubt that certain parameters are going to change. For example, the level of criminality, level of terrorism, background of the prisoners that they're going to demand be released in upcoming rounds. Qatar has just confirmed a spokesman for the foreign ministry saying that that truce will be extended for two days. So we will see an additional 20 Israeli hostages and 60 hostages. But they may change the equation. It could be three day, it could be 12 day, it could be six a day. It's really up to Hamas. Yeah, OK. Yeah, just Israel published a list of 300s, meaning that Israel is prepared for the release of 100 hostages, which probably will not happen. But we don't know. We don't know. I mean, if the Hamas needs this extension of two days, the meaning is that maybe they need more. So nothing is finished. Nothing is finished, not yet. Let's go down to Central Tel Aviv. Our peer, Stechelbach, is in Hostage Square as it's been renamed with the families of some of the hostages here. Right, Laura. Well, this square is a place that has been a symbol for just how the Israeli society sticks together these days. This is a place where people can come to just speak to family members and to just also experience some of the solidarity here. People, some of them are just coming here to be able to speak. And they can do that also with professionals and psychology. I'm here with one of them, Eli Bazaz. You're a volunteer. You're a second-year psychology student from Reichmann University in Herzliya. Can you tell me, what do people come and want to talk to you about when they come here? I guess most of the time, they're trying to figure out a way to continue with their life now. In the beginning, it used to be more complicated because the situation was more stressful. We didn't know anything about the war itself. We didn't actually begin until two weeks after the kidnapping and everything began. So people were afraid of, am I going to go to the army? And what's going to happen with my kid? He's in the army now, such things. But now, it's more like, how are we going to continue our lives? How are we going to, in the end, after everything ends, what will be with Israel? How will it change its face? Are we going to change our ways in the area, like in our neighborhood, you could say? Are we going to prevail even? We don't know because the ceasefire and everything is not reassuring. And yeah. And where do you come in to help them? What do you tell them? Most of the time, we're listening, less talking or speaking. Because here in primary psychological help, we're trying to really listen and understand and to be more compassionate about the feelings of others more than trying to give them advice or anything of this manner. So we're trying to be here and to be present and reassure that everything is going to be OK eventually, I guess. And you're basically doing this in your free time, right? Why did you decide to come here and volunteer? Actually, one of my colleagues from school, from Aichemann University, spoke to me when the war began. And she asked me if I wanted to join. And it sounded like such a vital thing for Israeli society right now. Because I think most people aren't aware of the impact of therapy right now, of raising awareness about psychological help and such. You could say even crazy times. So for me, it was a very important thing first to come here and let everybody know in Israel that it's OK to come and have therapy and talk, even though we don't do here therapy. And to raise awareness, I think. Thank you very much, Eli Bazaz, who's volunteering here just by listening to people who have the feeling that they need to speak somebody. And this is also what this hostage square is about, to have the feeling that one is not alone in these very, very tense times, Laura. Pia, thank you very much. Pia Stechelbach, there. Well, over the past two days, 39 women and children have been released as part of that ceasefire deal with Hamas. Some of them came from Kibbutz Baeri, where terrorists killed more than 120 residents, including children, and kidnapped many others. Nine of Shira Haveron's family were among them, and Shira joins us now. Thank you so much for being with us, Shira. And thankfully, eight of your family members are now safe and back in Israel. Is that right? First of all, can I ask, how are they doing? That's right. Actually, two were the first two hostages that were released, Judith and Nathalie. And now we have six more home. And it's really such a relief. And they seem physically OK, and they're talking to us and laughing with us. And obviously, it's complicated. But for now, we're grateful. And they seem a little children as well. How are they? They seem good. They arrived and then started playing with everyone and talking to everyone. And stayed up late with everyone until they fell asleep. And obviously, we have a long journey ahead of us. And obviously, their father is not here at the moment, because he's still in Gaza. And our fight is not over until he's back alongside everyone, all the hostages. We're still in this situation. We're still fighting. But yeah, for now, we have some air in our lungs to continue this fight. And yeah. And have they told you anything about the conditions they were held in? Did they get enough to eat? Did they? Unfortunately, they'll be pulling. They'll talk to all the authorities. And then we can maybe know more. But for now, we're just happy that they're here and in good condition, relatively. And unfortunately, four of your family members will never be coming back. They were murdered on the 7th of October. Yeah. Yeah. My two uncles and my aunt and my uncle's caregiver. My uncle, Evietta, was a handicapped man. And he had a Filipino caregiver. His name was Paul. They're all murdered at the same house, the three of them. And then of Shalom, the husband of Shoshan and the grandfather of the two kids you mentioned that came back as, unfortunately, not with us. And it makes the situation very complicated for our family. The feelings are just a rage of feelings at this moment. But now we're just grateful to have them. And then we can deal with everything together once Tal is back and everyone else. But for us, it's important now to keep this fight. And even though we see lots of women and children coming back, it doesn't mean that there aren't innocent men, young men, women that are still there while we're speaking at the moment for 52 days. And it's too long and they have to be back too. And this deal, it has to lead to more deals and it has to happen soon. And just to remind people who don't, Tal is the father of Nave and Yahel. Yahel is the little girl with the blonde curls who we saw sitting on a bus. And Nave, her brother, he loves Lionel Messi, I understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Paul Bergsheva, the Israeli local. Yeah. And so they're back with their mom. But Dad, Tal, 38 years old, he's still being held by terrorists. There he is. There's Tal. He's still being held by terrorists in Gaza. That's absolutely heartbreaking. And we're going to see a lot of fathers separated from their children. I mean, are you hopeful that the whole family will be reunited one day? You have to keep that hope alive in your heart? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We hold this belief very strongly. We work for it. And obviously seeing our family coming back, most of them is very reassuring that it can be a deal that this issue of the hostages is top priority and should remain top priority for the Israeli government, for the world, for everyone in the public. Keep coming to the demonstrations. Keep spreading the stories. Keep them in the public eye and on the agenda. Because it's not over until they're home and there is no victory, no security. We still have kids over there. The baby is a 10-month-old baby that is still not with us alongside all the others, so it's definitely not over. It's just the first part. Horrendous. Your grandfather built Kibbutz Berry. I mean, he lived to a ripe old age, didn't he? I mean, is there a part of you that is thankful he wasn't around to see this, to see what happened to the beautiful community that he built? Unfortunately, of course, we all said that we're very happy that it's good that they're not here to see this. Their family being hurt this way and the place they build their whole lives. But we say our family is strong and we will deal with it. And we have to. And we're alive, so we have to keep going and we'll save whoever we can save. And then we'll mourn the others and respect their memory and remind everyone who these people are. Yeah, they need their dad, don't they? They need their abba back. So we all... They need their dad. It's very, very simple. Yeah, we all hope and pray that the town will be back and your family will be completed. Shira, thank you so much for talking to us. Thank you so much. Thank you. Well, just to update, both Qatar and Nakhomas have confirmed that the truce with Israel will be extended for two additional days. So tomorrow and the day after, 20 hostages are supposed to be released as part of that. The two days after. Yes, two days tomorrow and the... Because today is the fourth final day. No, tomorrow is anyway because tomorrow is included in the release of the day. So beginning yesterday evening. Okay, so we're going to have two additional days. Thank you. Wednesday, Thursday. Wednesday, Thursday, 20 additional hostages to be released in Israel. We'll have to release 60 Palestinian prisoners as well. No, it is going to be tomorrow and the day after being told. All right. Because today is day four. It's the final day. No, but today... So it's being extended by two days. The end of the release of today will be tomorrow, evening tomorrow, I think, at midnight. So actually it's going to be, I think... I mean, it should be... I'm hearing tomorrow and night after. But I think it's Wednesday, it's Wednesday and Thursday. I'm hearing Tuesday night and Wednesday. But we'll confirm that. But let's talk a bit about Qatar now, because both Qatar and Hamas have confirmed that. And Qatar's Prime Minister has also been quoted as saying at least 40 of the hostages, all women and children, are being held in Gaza, but not by Hamas. Mohammad bin Abdul Rahman Afdani says that if Hamas manages to locate them, the truth would be extended. So I take it to understand that Hamas is saying they have now miraculously managed to find those 40 missing hostages. Well, to talk more about Qatar, we're joined by Hussain Abdul Hussain. He's a research fellow. At the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, the FDD. Thanks for joining us, Hussain. So how much direct influence does Qatar have over Hamas and the other terrorist groups in Gaza? Well, I think it has a lot of influence, especially over Hamas. And this assumes that the other groups or 40 hostages are with the other groups does not really hold water. We know that Hamas is the government, is the ultimate power in Gaza. And Hamas enabled all of this to be happened. So even if Hamas doesn't control these 40 people, it is under Hamas' responsibility. And since this is under Hamas, so this is directly connected to Qatar. Qatar is the main sponsor, almost the only sponsor, not only financially, but also diplomatically of Hamas. And I think Qatar has to be held responsible for all what's going on. For the past three nights, the same we've seen young children, elderly people released from Hamas' captivity. What is this doing to the image of Hamas around the Arab world? Well, unfortunately, on the Arab side, I don't see a lot of images coming from the Israeli side. So most of the images that you see are of released Palestinian prisoners. And there's some sort of collective delusion that we're trying not to see the humane aspect of these civilians who work in that by Hamas, which is a war crime by any standard. But I think for the time being, or most people are trying to look away, I don't think this is the way to handle it. I think there should be more pressure on Hamas, especially from the Arab side, to make Hamas understand that these people should not be up for barter or negotiation. These are innocent civilians. Like we're saying, nine month old, two years old, three years old, these people should be released with or without negotiations. How would you say this has affected Doha's relations with Washington? We know that they are close allies at the moment. Do you think this is damage ties at all moving forward? Well, I think over the past few weeks, Doha has been on shaky grounds, especially here in Washington. There have been a lot of voices, especially from the Hill, just criticizing Doha for the role it's been playing. I mean, it doesn't make sense that we're talking to Qatar as if we're talking to Hamas. And then every now and then Qatar says, well, you know, there's nothing we can do. Hamas said they wouldn't release this or that person. And keep in mind that from a US perspective, most of the dual nations who hold the US passport have not been released yet. We understand that Hamas is doing this as a tactic. Doha thinks that it's mediating, but what I think is happening is that Hamas is using Qatar as a tool and Doha is happy to play the parts of being the tool of Hamas. Hossein Abdul Hossein, great to talk to you as always. Thank you very much. And so just before we go to break, just to update you, Hamas Qatar have confirmed that the ceasefire agreement has been extended by two days. So under that deal, 10 Israeli hostages should be released tomorrow Tuesday. Another 10 hostages should be released on Wednesday. Israel must also free 60 Palestinian prisoners over the two days. So that is what has been agreed this hour. We're going to take a short break. Stay with us. A state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Successfully negotiated an extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas. It will go on for another two days. 10 Israeli hostages due to be released under that deal on Tuesday. Another 10 hostages due to be released on Wednesday. Israel has to release 30 Palestinian prisoners each day as well. So a total of 60. Tonight, we are expected to see 11 hostages freed from Gaza. That includes nine children and two mothers. The families have been briefed. 39 women and children have been freed in recent days. Here are some of them on your screen now. Hamas still holding 18 children and five mothers hostage in Gaza. So under that deal where 10 hostages will be released each day, it is unclear if that will cover all of the children being held in Gaza. Hamas had been trying to claim that it doesn't know where all of the hostages are, but it now seems to have gone back on that and has agreed to hand over 10 hostages tomorrow and 10 on Wednesday. Dan Perry's with me in the studio. He's a former Europe and Middle East editor at Associated Press and Ben Droy-Yemeny's with me as well. Senior journalist at Yed Yod, Ahonot. So Dan, we've got an extension. We're going to see more hostages released over the next two days. Yes, and I would... I mean, you never know if it's actually going to come off exactly as planned. You're dealing with Hamas. But I think there's reason to be optimistic. These particular deals more or less will come off. To me, the details are one thing, but the bigger picture is worth keeping in mind. Hamas is probably going to buy time without fighting for as long as it can through various machinations, either by pretending they can't find the hostages or by going through this plausible deniability or implausible deniability that Islamic jihad has a mind of its own and needs to be persuaded. Or by changing the various rate card of how many hostages, how many prisoners, pro-hostages and so forth. They want to buy, I think, weeks and weeks of a ceasefire, during which time Israel, they hope, will lose the international legitimacy for continuing. And if they stay in power, then that, in one form or another, despite the stated goal of the government on November 7th, being to remove them from power, that's a huge victory for them with downstream implications across the Middle East and maybe even the world, because it will be projected across the Arab world as a victory for the Iranian-backed jihadist movement. Ben, do you expect Hamas to be trying to go back on the deal over the next couple of days? We don't know, but it's going to be kind of strange because what will happen? I mean, maybe I was wrong, maybe it's going to be Wednesday midnight, okay? What will happen Wednesday midnight? No more ceasefire. What is the meaning? The meaning is that Israel will begin again, they will resume the war. What is going to happen? It is very strange. That's why I'm saying that Israel should declare a ceasefire with conditions. We don't want to kill one Palestinian from the Gaza Strip, but we have conditions. And the conditions disarming the Gaza Strip, a kind of surrender on behalf of the Hamas. I mean, Israel should not, to my opinion, should not resume immediately the fighting. Well, Israel has said that the... Because it will be... They say it won't go on any longer than 10 days. That's what Prime Minister Netanyahu said. He said the ceasefire will absolutely not go on any longer than 10 days. Do you think they'll halt it? He said it's a fixation of the Israeli cabinet. Sorry to say. It's a fixation. I mean, why? I mean, why? Because we know exactly that the demonstrations, the main slogan in most demonstrations that were carried out in the last 20 days, it was ceasefire now, ceasefire now, ceasefire now. You know what? Okay, let's go for it. Instead of to resume the fighting, instead of headlines that will announce Israel Hamas is asking for a ceasefire, and Israel is resuming the fighting, instead of that it should be the opposite. Israel is offering a ceasefire. Hamas is rejecting the conditions posed by Israel. I mean, it should be the opposite. That's all. And I'm so sorry that it's not yet happened. I hope it will happen. You'll go with that, Dan? Throughout this entire episode, but even going back years, Israel has never offered the Palestinians an actual carrot that would really seize the world's imagination. If Israel were to say to the Palestinians at large, and also to Hamas- What about in 2009? How did all that suffer? No, I mean, under the current government. Yes, that was a massive carrot. You're absolutely right. But during the Netanyahu years, they've really offered nothing. So if Israel were to say, in exchange for demilitarizing Gaza, and for rejuvenating the Palestinian Authority, we are willing- But if Hamas has been in charge, why would Hamas agree to do it? Wouldn't that be a better look for Israel if they were offering something reasonable other than the implication that they're willing to cause as much destruction as is necessary in order to eradicate Hamas? The goal of eradicating Hamas has a lot of worldwide support. The idea that Israel has carte blanche to exact any price upon a civilian population manifestly does not. And so that involves a destruction of Israel's brand internationally that I don't think is in Israel's interest, nor do I think is its strategy or desire. And by the way, I would also factor in that morally, it may not be the best policy. And so I really, really think that Israel should offer something positive to the Palestinians. He wants to destroy Hamas? Okay, it's his hope to remove them from power and to demilitarize them. And you know what? The Arab world should back such a call. I wanna see the Arab world say, no, we don't want Hamas to lay down their arms in exchange for having Gaza become a Singapore. Your choice is Singapore or Somalia. If Israel gave them that choice, Israel would look like it's seizing the initiative and it probably would have demonstrations in favor of its offer and not against it. I'm so glad that I have at least one supporter here in the studio. I do hope, I do hope that this kind of accepting my offer will be extended to the cabinet members. We can quibble about who's offered. So just to be clear, you're saying that there should be an offer of statehood now following the worst terrorist attack in Israel's history. Before Israel... Is that not rewarded? You know what? Can I please respond? Is that not rewarded in terrorism? No, what would reward terrorism is to give Hamas what it wants. And what Hamas wants is a single binational state in which they hope the Arabs will eventually be the majority. That is what they want. And that has been the goal of Hamas's actions since the early 90s. When they started bombing buses and pubs in Israel, their goal was to move the public to the right to scuttle the peace process and sad to say they succeeded. Who would be in charge of this? I mean, President Biden has talked about the Palestinian Authority, about Mahmoud Abbas taking over. Is he the right person to leave Hamas? Really, here's the deal, I believe. There's a notion that on October 7th, everything changed because there's consensus now about bringing down Hamas. And sure, that's true tactically. Strategically, nothing has changed. Israel has a choice between either saying, well, we have to control them, else barbarism will follow, which is internal occupation, or we need to partition and divorce from the Palestinians, give them some hope and give Israel a demographically viable situation. That remains the fundamental choice. There is no other. Yeah, well, let's not forget that most Israelis will not accept the Palestinian state just 500 meters from the border, which means we saw what happened in Tulkarem last Friday. We saw lynching of two Palestinians that probably have not any, they do not have any connection to Israel and they are not collaborators, as it was alleged against them. The point is, yes, but the point is, now Dan agreed with me, now I do agree with him, because I do say, yes, we need a partition, I'm not sure that we can give up the security control over the territories. We can not, not in the upcoming years, maybe later, maybe, but for the separation, yes. This is why we say a demilitarized Palestinian entity. No, no, you don't have to convince me. I'm totally convinced that we need to separate from the Palestinians. The question is, how can we do it under the new circumstances? And by the way? But yeah, but because I'm going to say something which might not be nice, but it's not only the people in Berkeley and Oxford who are shouting from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, it's exactly what the extreme right in Israel is saying. It's exactly, I mean, there is a coalition of people who want one state from the river to the sea. Extreme, I mean anti-Israelis from the left and anti-Zionist from the right. And for the Palestinians, the Palestinian rejectionists and Israeli right-wing both want one state from the river to the sea, each believing in its own delusion that its side will control it. And people who want a rational reality here ultimately have to choose some version of partition. But we have to remember that all the authors by the international community, by, for example, Bill Clinton, 20... Well, quite. I mean, how many of the state heard of the Palestinian rejectionists? No, it was authors. No, it was authors. Five. Okay, so what makes you think that anything will be different? I've always argued that it has to be imposed, by the way. In the latter, yes, yes. Again, again. Imposing democracy? No, no, no, no, imposing democracy. Israel needs to, at the end of the day, either make the Palestinians an offer that they can accept or create a partition of its own volition. The third choice is a default outcome of a non-democratic binational state that will be the end of Zionism. If that's what Israelis want, then that's where they're headed. But I do not think it is. By the way, I absolutely would condition moves towards a partition on a ceasing of accepting things that Israel has hitherto accepted, like demonic educational systems, not only in Gaza, but also in West Bank, that teach the Palestinian youth to hate Jews and have them enact the killings of soldiers. For a change, I have nothing to add because they agree with every word. Can I ask you both, who would enforce all of this? Who is going to change? What do you mean, the international community? Who is funding? The international community? Who is funding the E.U.? Who is funding? Andra? No, who is funding Andra? Who is funding the E.U.? Your keen on the American taxpayer? Who is funding the Palestinian education? It's the E.U. It's the European countries. Enough, enough. It should be a deal, international deal with the E.U., with the European countries. No more hatred, no more incitement, because this is part of the problem. Because when we check, and we do, there is a research, how come that nations change? For example, what happened in the Arab Emirates? What happened? The education changed something like seven, eight years ago. And from the moment that it changed, the whole atmosphere changed. The public opinion changed. Now they can accept Israelis. Now they are supporting peace. Even with this Gaza crisis, they are still supporting peace. So there is a way to change. Maybe it will not happen tomorrow. But it should be an international deal with the E.U., no more funding. Unfortunately, two, three, four times a year, the E.U. is saying, no, we are not funding anymore. And then it takes something like two weeks. Palestinians have had more aid per capita than Europeans did under the Marshall Plan at the end of the Second World War. But it wasn't policed. It wasn't policed. So the answer to your skepticism, Laura, is that there will have to be a transition period where the Palestinians are not fully independent in as much as they cannot just do what they want with the educational system. But the carrot would be huge, and Singapore would have weighed around the corner. That is the only deal that I think has any hope of working. OK, all right, let's zoom out a bit and look at what is happening in the wider region. Because a US Navy vessel was fired upon as it interrupted the hijacking of a civilian cargo ship off the coast of Yemen. Blame for the launching of the two ballistic missiles and attempts to cease the ship are being directed at the Houthis who have recently targeted Israeli vessels. Robert Swift has the story. Two ballistic missiles were fired at a US Navy ship in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday. The USS Mason, a destroyer, was assisting a civilian cargo ship, the Central Park, when fired upon. No damage or casualties were reported. Five gunmen who had boarded the freighter and fled upon the approach of the Mason were detained. We say to the Zionist entity that any civilian or military vessel is considered a legitimate target. Those allied with the Zionists are also considered targets. The incident follows a drone attack on a commercial hauler, the Semi, last week in the Indian Ocean, reportedly by an Iranian-made Shahid 136. And on the 19th of November, the galaxy leader, a civilian vessel, was seized by a helicopter-born Houthi assault team. All three vessels have links to Israeli businessmen. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the seizure of the galaxy leader. Iran, on the other hand, has denied involvement in the incidents. Resistance groups in the region represent themselves and their nation. They act independently based on their interests and that of their people. Claims to the contrary are meant to divert attention away from Israel's disastrous situation. Not party to the temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the Houthis have continued their operations uninterrupted while fighting in Gaza is paused. The U.S.'s increasing presence in the waters around Yemen, in particular in the Red Sea, is likely an attempt to discourage or, if need be, to counter further attacks. Well, to talk more about that, we're joined by Rich Alton, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and geopolitical consultant at Drug Omen LLC. Thank you very much for being with us. What exactly happened then? What is America doing in the Strait of Hormones right now? Well, it's good to be with you. In my view, what's going on is the continuation of low-level warfare conducted by Iran via proxy, via the Houthis, against U.S. interests and Israeli interests. So the latest attack with sending some missiles against the U.S. destroyer, a naval ship, demonstrated once again that while it's not a particularly sophisticated form of attack, that the Houthi forces acting at the behest of Iran have a number of different tools that can cause us trouble. They have drones, they have small boats, they have also small naval vessels that they can use. They've had pirates attacking essentially these. So part of this is harassment, part of its political warfare, and the U.S. is involved in deterrence. I would consider these actions so far to be mostly of an irritating nature. They are an irritant more than they are a serious threat. But remember, it was not too far from this in 2000 where the USS Cole was struck by a very low-tech explosive-laden boat resulting in the death of 17 U.S. sailors. So this is definitely a theater of continuing low-level warfare between the U.S. and the Houthis, but by extension Iran. President Biden removed the Houthis from a list of terrorist groups. Is he considering, or is his administration considering reversing that decision? I don't think they're there just yet, but the political strategy for Iran is interesting here. There have been rumors that the Saudis, who are leading a coalition that has been fighting the Houthis in Yemen, have been looking for an exit strategy from that war. They're bogged down, as you probably know, in the southern part of Yemen. There's really a politically unstable situation. There's a separatist movement, a very weak sort of UN-recognized government, and then still al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. And then in the North you have the Houthis. So the Saudi-led intervention hasn't really provided the stability it was hoped for. I think delisting the Houthis was part of this strategy by which there was going to be sort of a de-escalation of that particular conflict. However, for Tehran, it's a very good thing to have Saudi unable to pull out of Yemen. And so even as they were using Hamas, Iran was using Hamas and its attack on October 7th to scuttle Saudi-Israeli normalization. I think they're also using the Houthis to pin down the Saudis and prevent them from having some sort of a regional de-escalation. Do you think this is a result of the policy that previous President Barack Obama put into place in that he wanted the United States to pull out of the Middle East. He didn't want to be so involved in the region. He wanted to do his famous pivot towards China and Asia. Are we slowly seeing the Americans being dragged back into the Middle East? And how far will that go in your view? Yeah, absolutely. I think there were two faulty assumptions under the Obama administration. And let's keep in mind that there's a remarkable continuity of personnel between the Obama administration and the current Biden administration. The first was the idea that the U.S. no longer had critical interests in the Middle East that could not be looked after by our regional allies. And as recent events have shown, there are lots of interests that we have there, Israel's security being one, energy flows and other humanitarian disasters are various stripes a third. But really it's about keeping together our network of allies who need to know that we're committed to the region. That was the first false premise. The second false premise of that policy was the idea that Iran could be coaxed through some combination of carrots and removing sticks, frankly, not even sticks. So ending pressure on Iran of the sort that under President Trump was referred to as maximum pressure, that's economic pressure, that's military pressure. The idea that without getting any concessions in return, we can do things like delist Iranian companies, allow billions of dollars in frozen assets to be released and delisting the Houthis. I think without any commensurate steps from Tehran, what we've seen is that that was also a false premise. I don't know how long it will take the Biden administration to realize that policy has failed, but certainly the evidence is accumulating. Can I ask you briefly about Gaza because there's a lot of discussion about what Gaza will look like post-Hamas if Israel succeeds in destroying Hamas. There's talk about the territory being demilitarized. President Assisi said that over the weekend about them having a level of autonomy because Israel doesn't want to rule over them. How involved would the Americans be in that? Is there any scenario where you could imagine American boots on the ground of some kind of force to make sure that Hamas or other terrorist groups did not take over again? Well, not in large numbers. I think the model, for instance, in the West Bank where we've had a small American training team since roughly 2007, sometimes referred to as the Dayton team, that's been there to help provide funding and training for non-militarized Palestinian security forces. I could see some role like that, helping to train new non-militarized security forces. But in terms of enforcing peace or conducting operations against Hamas, I don't see it. I think the Americans will help to provide funding and some strategic sort of development, diplomatic support. I really don't think boots on the ground for the Americans in Gaza is a good idea because whatever force, international force goes, is gonna have to be acceptable both to the Palestinians and to the Israelis. And I think that we're not seen as equidistant to put a fine point on it. So I kind of think that what President Herzog of Israel said that ultimately there will be a withdrawal, but first there has to be an interim phase with heavy international and multinational involvement. I think that's the only path out of this. And there will be American role, but I don't think military boots on the ground in Gaza are the way to do that. All right, great to talk to you. Thank you very much. Colonel Richardson, we appreciate it. Excellent. And just an update on the extension of the ceasefire deal which Qatar and Hamas says will be extended for two more days. Israel says it will agree to that to a two-day extension if Hamas provides the names of the 20 Israeli hostages who will be released over the next two days by midnight. So it's up to Hamas now to come up with the names of 20 hostages and hand it over to Israel by midnight. Dan Perry, just what we were talking about earlier in the reaction to what you heard from Colonel Alton there about the appetite for American boots on the ground in the region. I don't think America has an appetite for many boots on the ground, nor do I think it would be a good idea to have it be an American occupation force. I do think Gaza will have to be pacified and demilitarized by force. For Israel to do it alone is going to be a very high cost proposition for Israel. Very difficult and would have a lot of legitimacy which is why if you look at the other boots that I would seek to have on the ground and it's not just the vulgarity of soldiers with boots on the ground. I mean, in a larger sense, involvement, enforcing a change in Gaza, I would be looking to the Arab world. I want the Arab world to unite. Saudi Arabia, we hate you. And to call a spade a spade and to say we will have nothing to do with a bunch of jihadi maniacs running a mafia state in Gaza. We think it's bad for the Palestinians. And therefore, we're going to do everything in our conceivable power, including to use whatever leverage we have on Qatar. And of course, we know the Sunni world in Qatar have been at loggerheads for much of the past decade to bring about a change, the idea that there is one microgram of benefit that will accrue to the Palestinians because of Hamas within Arab public opinion needs to be changed and even eradicated. I think Hamas needs to face maximal pressure. It has to be left with only Iran on its side. And once that happens, when they're that isolated, if the carrot is big enough in terms of the amount of investment that the world will provide the Gazans and the diplomatic landscape that they could benefit from, some version of independence, not three centuries down the line, that type of general plan might have some success more than just bombarding Gaza. Do you agree with this vision? Yeah, general speaking, yes. I want just to zoom out. And when we zoom out, we see that it's not a war between Israel and the Hamas. I mean, it's a perception which I think it's wrong because actually we have to look at the timing. And when we look at the timing, I mean, the Hamas did it mainly, mainly, not only, but mainly in order to do something against the upcoming mega deal between the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel. I mean, this is something which was unbearable mainly for the Iranians. We have to bear it in mind because it's changed the whole Middle East. Do you think it will still happen? Sure. Now in the last two, three weeks, Saudi repeatedly said that they continue with the mega deal. I mean, they have an interest. They have their own interest. I mean, it's not that now what they are going to dance according to the music of the Hamas. No, they're not. And we have to be glad because actually Hamas and Iran will not achieve what they wanted in the first place, which means not to let the United States come back, actually return to the Middle East because the meaning of the mega deal is huge. I mean, you understand a lot about money, but the corridor that was declared from India, through the Emirates, through Saudi Arabia. It wasn't great for Turkey either, was it? Turkey was complaining about that. No, not in this deal, not in this deal. There is, I mean, the oil is coming to Israel and by the way, from Kazakhstan, Sru Turkey and Iran asked already Turkey to do something against Israel and Turkey is not doing anything. I mean, fortunately, they're not doing anything. But we are speaking about something which is going to change the whole Middle East strategically, speaking about this corridor that was declared not long time ago. We forgot it. It was declared by President Biden, just a few months ago and immediately after, immediately after, I think it was in the same day. Can I take India to Europe via? No, no, in the same day. I think it's the same day. In the same day, it was declared by MBS, Mohammed al-Saman, it was declared. We are getting closer every day to the peace, to the normalization of this. So if you combine it, you understand that we are speaking about something which is much bigger and say yes, the United States will not put boats on the ground, but the United States is part of it. What do you mean? I mean, they are the big actor, actually, in the whole. To the extent that for Israel to offer the Palestinians a carrot and Gaza, they need a reward for Israel. The mega deal of Saudi Arabia can be that reward. A larger scheme that includes a mega deal of Saudi Arabia in the US and a horizon for the Palestinians.