president trump cuts aid to south africa over its land policy — a move the country says fails to recognise the history of apartheid. hello, i'm carl nasman. israel and hamas followed through with their fifth hostage exchange on saturday since the ceasefire agreement went into effect three weeks ago. israel's prime minister expressed shock at the condition of the three hostages that were released by hamas. eli sharabi, ohad ben ami and or levy all appeared to be gaunt, frail and weak. they were freed in exchange for the release by israel of 183 palestinian prisoners, seven of whom had to be taken to hospital, according to the palestinian red crescent. israel says it is sending a delegation to doha for the next phase of ceasefire talks. our correspondent

wyre davies reports. for the families of the three hostages held for 490 days in gaza, this day was the one they'd been waiting for. amid a show of force from hamas fighters as the minibus carrying ellie sharabi, ohad ben ami and or levy arrived at the handover point, watching from their tel aviv home, ellie sharabi's family couldn't contain their excitement. but as the three emerged looking gaunt and weak, shadows of their former selves, celebration turned to shock. translation: it's mixed feelings. i i'm happy to see him standing on two feet, but he looks sad. he looks thin. he looks bad. at tel aviv�*s hostages square,

the site of what the men had been reduced to hit home. after seeing the conditions of the hostages released today, there is a renewed sense there is a renewed sense of urgency here to secure of urgency here to secure the release of all the captives the release of all the captives from gaza as quickly from gaza as quickly as possible. as possible. and that means an extension and that means an extension of the ceasefire — of the ceasefire — something that is by something that is by no means guaranteed. no means guaranteed. more than 180 palestinians more than 180 palestinians were simultaneously released were simultaneously released today under the today under the ceasefire agreement. ceasefire agreement. 70 had been convicted of 70 had been convicted of serious crimes and were serving being transferred from jail. serious crimes and were serving long sentences, but the long sentences, but the majority were gazans detained majority were gazans detained during the war and during the war and held without charge. held without charge. the palestinian red crescent the palestinian red crescent said seven of those released said seven of those released were admitted to hospitals were admitted to hospitals in the west bank and gaza in the west bank and gaza after accusations they had after accusations they had been brutally treated been brutally treated in israeli jails. in israeli jails. this prisoner said he was beaten on his hands and his legs even as he was

eli sharabi has gained his freedom but lost so much. this before 7 october this before 7 october and today — emaciated, and today — emaciated, frail, a father without his frail, a father without his children, a husband children, a husband without his wife. without his wife. forced to speak, forced to speak, surrounded by gunmen. surrounded by gunmen. heartbreaking words. heartbreaking words. i am very happy, he said, i am very happy, he said, to return to my wife son—in—law was freed. to return to my wife and daughters. and daughters. wrapped in the flag, wrapped in the flag, enveloped by his brothers enveloped by his brothers and sisters, who blessed him and sisters, who blessed him on his return, but the embrace on his return, but the embrace he wanted destroyed. his british wife, lianne, he wanted destroyed. his british wife, lianne, and teenage daughters, and teenage daughters, noiya and yahel, murdered noiya and yahel, murdered the day he was taken. the day he was taken. in wales, lianne's parents in wales, lianne's parents watched with contrasting watched with contrasting emotions as their emotions as their

son—in—law was freed. he's alive, he's out. to see the emaciated state that they've put him in — an absolute disgrace. and that was an absolute shock and we both sat and cried. it looked as though he'd come out of a concentration camp. we're relieved that he's home and he's alive, but itjust keeps reminding us of what we've lost and what he's lost. but, yes, i want to see him — a big hug. the only thing that keeps us going is the fact that we know eli is back. yeah. so at least there's one member of our very close family that is still alive. the family will soon travel to israel to mark what would have been lianne's 50th birthday and to reunite with eli. it's a combination of things, really. i it's always been the one chinkl of light in the whole nightmare that maybe we could get him back alive. i what is important for you if you do get to see

eli next week? it's reallyjust as simple i as wanting to put my arms around him, tell him that i i love him and tell him that he's still my brother. hamas destroyed his family, and they still hold his brother yossi's body. eli sharabi has returned home, but to a loss that will be hard to bear. lucy manning, bbc news. for more on this i spoke to david hale, former us special envoy for middle east peace and ambassador to lebanon and jordan. he is now a globalfellow with the wilson center. ijust want i just want your thoughts on what we saw today, specifically the conditions of the people involved in this swap on the israeli side and the palestinian side, really. what did you see there?— did you see there? well, obviously _ did you see there? well, obviously it's _ did you see there? well, obviously it's a _ did you see there? well, obviously it's a relief- did you see there? well, | obviously it's a relief that the exchanges are continuing and that innocent victims of the horrible events of seventh of october are being released. and obviously this is a

demonstration as to why the sooner the better. obviously people are not going to be in good health under the conditions that they were held in, and that should be investigated, by the way. but as your correspondent said, the real question now is what phase two going to look like? and how are these negotiations to move into that phase going to work? and do you think... you said sooner the better. will what we saw today in terms of the condition of the israeli hostages— and we should say there are questions as well about the condition of those palestinian detainees — but will that add to the urgency, do you think, in terms of moving towards phase two and getting the rest of the hostages freed? well, it should. _ hostages freed? well, it should, and _ hostages freed? well, it should, and obviously i hostages freed? well, it. should, and obviously there hostages freed? well, it - should, and obviously there is an enormous amount of momentum behind continuing this and completing the exchanges. the problem, of course, is that all the hard issues between israelis and palestinians that were pushed off into phase two and phase three. and the key question, the hardest question

really, is will the idf withdraw its forces fully from gaza, as the headlines, anyway, of phase two indicates. and there is frankly no consensus in israel behind that. focusing directly on _ in israel behind that. focusing directly on these _ in israel behind that. focusing directly on these talks, - in israel behind that. focusing directly on these talks, we - directly on these talks, we know that israel is sending a delegation to and they will be working on elements of phase one, but as phase two it's going, to what extent do you think president trump's comments this week will cast a shadow, may be, overthose talks? shadow, may be, over those talks? ., , ., , ., �* talks? to be honest, i don't think they _ talks? to be honest, i don't think they do. _ talks? to be honest, i don't think they do. the - talks? to be honest, i don't. think they do. the president's proposal has obviously created a lot of tension. they may not have been thoroughly thought through. to me, i hold onto two positive things, and i hope others will think the same way. one is the president cares about the welfare of the people living in gaza, and he sees it as a desperate situation and wants to help. .2 is that he is committed to an american role in seeing this process through, for the benefit of israelis,

palestinians and a wider range of arabs. so those are two positive things we didn't know before. and obviously the palestinians and arabs have rejected the specifics of what he offered. i don't think that has to be an end, obviously, to trump's commitment to the things i said, nor does it have to influence phase two, which is really focused on continuing the release and finally the exchange of prisoners and hostages. but then the key question: how and who is going to secure gaza? let's ta ke let's take you to thailand, where five thai hostages have also been released in those exchanges in that ceasefire deal. we believe the plane has landed. you are looking live images of the airport in bangkok. these were five thai hostages, farm labourers who were held hostage in gaza for nearly 16 months. they were then treated in hospitalfor

several days, now making their way back home. obviously that will be an emotional moment. we will be an emotional moment. we will be an emotional moment. we will be keeping an eye on these pictures here, as we are seeing some people beginning to come off that flight here, but again expecting five thai nationals. these were hostages kept in captivity for some 16 months, recently freed

a us federaljudge blocked elon musk�*s department of government efficiency, also known as doge, from accessing the personal financial data of millions of americans in treasury department records. the districtjudge issued a preliminary injuction on saturday ordering musk and his team to immediately destroy any copies of records. that is after 19 state attorneys—general sued the trump administration when doge was given access to these records last week. there was no immediate comment from the white house. thousands of employees from the us agency for international development received an email early saturday morning saying that they will now be reinstated to their posts after a judge blocked us president donald trump from placing the workers on paid leave. the reversal happened just hours before president trump's order was to go into effect. thejudge issued a limited temporary restraining order in response to a last—minute lawsuit filed by two unions trying to save the agency. the order will remain in place until ia february at midnight. president trump's efforts to reshape america's role in foreign aid assistance has faced intense criticism at home and abroad, but he has arguing that usaid is not a valuable use of taxpayer dollars and has taken action to put nearly all of the federal agency's 10,000 employees on leave, reducing that number

to just a few hundred. joining me in studio now is enrique roig, a former usaid co—ordinator for central america and a former state department official under the biden administration. great to 775 00:12:25,488 --> 0