u get a second line free. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible, it's happening. and we have breaking news out of israel. matthew chance is in tel aviv. matthew, what do you know? >> reporter: yeah, well, not much, unfortunately, except that that cabinet meeting which has been held for nearly seven hours has officially broken up. it's over. what we don't know yet, and we're hoping to bring you this soon, is what the outcome of the vote is on that hostage deal that has been so vigorously

debated over the last several hours, whether or not a deal to free the israeli hostages has been approved or not. we don't have that information for you quite yet. >> as we await the developments here, obviously very significant. thank you, matthew chance. thank you, all of you for joining us. ac 360 starts now. the waiting must be almost unbearable, but for at least some of the families whose loved ones have been held captive by terrorists for the last 46 days, the waiting could be closer to being over and their loved ones could be that much closer to coming home. john berman here in for anderson. just moments ago the israeli's full cabinet meeting ended with hamas. the cabinet meeting just ended. we do not know what they decided on. according to multiple sources, these are the proposed points of a possible agreement. hamas would free 50 women and children, mostly children, taken

on october 7th. in exchange, israel would release 150 palestinians and take a four to five day pause, israel would, in operations in gaza. reporting for us tonight, alex march quart, becky anderson in doha and qatar and/or oren liebermann. what are you hearing, oren? >> reporter: john, the meeting ended moments ago after many hours of debate. it is the expectation this deal is going to be approved, but we don't have that word yet officially from the prime minister's office. i'm checking my notifications and waiting for it to come through but it has not yet. this was a debate prime minister benjamin netanyahu was leading as it went through the cabinet. it had gone through the legal and political process, through the war cabinet and it needs the approval of the full cabinet. it involves a release of palestinian prisoners in exchange for a release of

israeli hostages. netanyahu said although it was a difficult decision to take a pause, it was the right thing to do. but there were some elements of his coalition, some of the far right members who said they would vote against it. still, they don't have the votes to try to scuttle this deal. that's why the expectation is it was going to be approved. we're waiting for a final statement here. it will be welcome news to many of the families who have waited for this moment. some sort of breakthrough that would allow some of the 240 or so israeli hostages held in gaza to be released. women and children first. but in speaking to many of these families, they believe this is a possibility to get to a larger breakthrough and begin the process of releasing more hostages. crucially, john, as i just said, it is women and children. it does not include men and it does not include hostages who were israeli soldiers. >> oren, i keep looking at my notifications also to see if we are getting final word that it was approved.

this meeting went on for several hours. is there any sense that there might have been more opposition or might have been a tougher slog for netanyahu to get it through? >> reporter: well, first, it's the israeli government and there will be debates about just about everything. it's not too much of a surprise that it lasted several hours. there was some opposition. again, some of the far right party members wanted to see israeli keep pounding hamas believing that would be -- that would be the way to release all of the hostages from a complete surrender but they didn't have the votes and netanyahu knew they didn't have the votes -- >> oren. >> -- he was able to push this through. >> oren, let me interrupt, oren. it just crossed. israel's cabinet has approved a deal that would see the release of some hostages from gaza. again, cnn is reports that israel's cabinet has approved a deal that would see the release of some hostages from gaza. oren, there you have it. the result of that hours long

meet being there, but perhaps an outcome that was expected. >> reporter: absolutely. netanyahu knew he had to support this and it's not just within his government. there were some elements trying to push against it. they didn't have the votes to scuttle the deal or take down his government. netanyahu probably not too worried here. he also knew based on public opinion polls that this was what the israeli public was demanding. even if it wasn't a deal for all of the hostages, it was a demand for bringing home at least some of the hostages. not a surprise, women and children are first. they have gotten, fair and accurately, much of the attention and many of the international calls were to release women and children. so after hours of debate and a legal and political process, again, the smaller war cabinet, the security cabinet and the full cabinet itself has been approved as we have reported. i will point out one more thing quickly, john. there is a 24-hour period where anybody who opposes can file at

the supreme court and try to stop it. that is part of this process. it is largely, however, a formality. the expectation is this is going through and we could see some hostages released into thursday morning, perhaps friday depending on the time line. that, too, will play out in a process about 10 a day. what i'm seeing now is when the palestinian prisoners will be released from israeli prisons, 150 women and children. >> we're reporting this in real time. we'll let you get back to working your sources. israel's prime minister thanked president biden for his role in the hostage talks, we can calml it the hostage deal. alex marquardt is here. what are you hearing? >> reporter: the hostage deal and the prisoner swap, john, as oren was just noting there, that

we expect palestinian prisoners to be released from israeli prisons. i'm looking at my phone here because another part of what we expect to happen in the coming hours is a statement by qatar, which has been the main mediator in all of this. the they have a very important role as the ones who speak directly with hamas. they also engage at the same time with egypt and the united states. the u.s., of course, doesn't deal directly with hamas because they are a terrorist organization so we are expecting a statement to come from qatar. it is a possibility that it comes tomorrow because it is so late in the region. but, john, the u.s. has been central to this process, not the least because you have american hostages who are involved. some ten american citizens who are missing, believed to be hostages, a mix of men, women and children. one of the most famous cases, someone who was mentioned by president biden a few days ago after a phone call with the amir

of qatar, abigail idan, who is a 3-year-old in hamas custody. she is turning 4 years old on friday. this has been so important for the biden administration because of those citizens but also because they have unique leverage with each of these players. the senior most members of the biden administration have been intimately involved with every step of this process since october 7th. we've just seen the top white house president for the middle east return from the middle east where he was continuing with talks. the cia director bill burns has been in the region speaking with israeli and qatar ri counterparts. the president himself has also played a significant role on the phone repeatedly with his counterparts from israel, from egypt, from qatar. we heard from the white house earlier today saying that he usually gets updates multiple times a day jumping in where he feels appropriate on a personal level. so this is going to be something that we expect the u.s. to

continue to participate in. we do believe that some american citizens will be among this first release of these 50 hostages. hopefully it will be more in the days after that and that this framework and these meetings will continue. prime minister netanyahu thanked president biden for getting a better deal for the israeli people but also saying that the fighting will continue after this pause in the fighting. so we do expect those negotiations to continue as oren was just touching on even if, say, 50 to 70 hostages are released in the coming days. the vast majority of those 236 hostages held by hamas will still be in gaza, john. >> alex marquardt, stand by. getting more information. we are hearing the deal was approved by the israeli cabinet with a significant majority, that is according to a government source talking to cnn. let's go now to cnn's becky

anderson in doha, in qatar where the framework was hammered out. becky, at this late hour where you are, what are you now hearing? >> reporter: yeah. well, we haven't got the official announcement from here yet. the understanding from here was that the qataris would be putting that announcement out first given that they mediated these talks. we haven't got that as of yet. that is not to suggest that this deal hasn't now been agreed upon. it was a proposal that was delivered to israel in the early hours of yesterday morning. the time here now is just after 4:00 in the morning on wednesday. so the israelis have had this for 24 hours. the parameters, as we've been discussing, is 50 plus women and children over a four to five-day period. aid trucks coming in over the border and this pause during

which hostilities would season the ground and for periods in the air. as i say, nothing further from the qataris who have been mediating these talks for weeks. they have been complicated. they've been very, very difficult. i've spent time with the mediators and they say they have been looking over the weeks for a period of calm to get this done, but at this stage that period of calm will only come now that this pause will start. that's the news from here. excuse me. >> becky anderson, thank you very much for that. the 4 a.m. in qatar. the qataris a central figure in working this out which the breaking news is now has been approved by the israeli cabinet. as many as 50 israeli hostages expected to be released in exchange for 150 palestinians and a 4-5 day pause in the fighting. with us now is a woman whose

grandmother was kidnapped from kibbutz by hamas gunman who murdered her grandfather and took the grandmother on the back of a moped through gaza. it's hard to know what it's like to hold on to a murderer and kidnapper. and so let me get right to you. describe your feelings now that you have heard that a deal has been approved by israel's cabinet. >> so this is very tension days for us, for all of us. there's air lot of uncertainty about everything. the expectations are high, obviously, but we learn to balance the emotions and we're waiting for any kind of information about her.

we don't know anything for sure. i just saw the cabinet approved the deal. this gives me actually so much hope. i believe every soul we can save from there is essential for us. even if my grandmother won't be among those people, obviously i hope she will be, but even if she's not, i just can't wait to see the picture of the children, of the innocent people going out from there after so many days, so many long days that we're waiting for them. this is the first step i want to believe. >> have you been told anything about whether your grandmother will be part of this group?

>> we know nothing more than you do. the you maybe even know more than i am. everything we know is mostly from the media or from rumors. there's a lot of rumors. there's a lot of psychology war that hamas is trying to do and obviously you can't ignore it. the this is also how we found out that my grandmother is even kidnapped, through the videos or those messages that they are sending. but i think along the way, you know, we're fighting this fight for a very long time. it's going to be the 47th day tomorrow. so we learn to be patient and be calm about it as much as we can.

we can't stand to fill our hopes up and to disappoint, but i really do hope to see someone looking at it. i think it will fill us with hope for the others. and for a chance, we want a chance to see our loved one back. this is all we want, and i really hope this is just the first step. >> have you heard anything in the last week or two or three? anderson spoke to you in the days after the terror attack. have you heard anything about your grandmother and her well-being? >> nothing new. i just want to hope that she's holding on there. we cannot be sure about an

anything. we don't have any kind of confirmed information about her condition. again, we just hold our breath and fight as hard as we can. >> you have been fighting. you have been fighting and you've been pushing the israeli government for information and for efforts to bring the hostages home. what's that been like for you? >> i think there's a lot of weight from the public pressure here in israel and global meaning of that because once you realize that this is the first priority of your public, of the people here in israel and even internationally i think it means a lot because we can't afford these people to be collateral damage for this conflict. and we won't let it happen because we stand for them.

they're innocent. they're kidnapped from their house. i can't remember, i screamed at him, it's been four days. it's been four days. i was so emotional. i couldn't see a reality when i see over 40 days after and still on the very same condition. but, you know, this is the reality and i started to realize it, unless i'm going to fight and fight hard. not only me, everyone beside me. so nothing will happen. this is why we're also putting a lot of push, pressure on the government and the cabinet that we actually first met only two days ago. this was the first time that we met them in person and that we really had a chance to talk and

to speak our mind in front of them personally and officially. so i just want to hope that it did what it had to do because i think that the family's voices are so important, and they need to be heard. they need to be heard. we're a democratic state, and i think there is a lot of weight for our voice. so i think the pressure -- there is something. >> thank you for being with us. i think we understand your hope but also your frustration and your trepidation upon learning this news that a deal has been reached. and i hope so much that you get to see your grandmother in the coming days and hold her in your arms. thank you. >> i really hope so too. thank you so much. let's get right back to oren liebermann in tel aviv who has

new information from the israeli government. oren, i understand you have a statement? >> reporter: john, we just got the first official statement from the government confirming the deal has been be approved and confirming many of the details we reported about the deal throughout the course of the day. let me read this to you. this is not the official translation but i'll translate it from the hebrew. it says the government of israel is committed to the release and return of all of the hostages home. tonight the government approved the first stage of the deal for that -- to that effect according to which 50 hostages will be freed, women and children, over a four-day period. and that will lead to a pause in the fighting. the pause will continue every day in which ten more hostages are released, and then it goes on to say that the government of israel, the israeli military is committed to continuing the war, to continuing to free the hostages and to continue in its mission to destroy hamas and

ensure the safety of israel. we'll get an official translation from the government but an important first statement acknowledging that the deal itself has been approved. a government source says it was approved by a significant majority following what was a very lengthy cabinet meeting. this was the expectation all along here, although there were a few dissenting voices. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has thread. >> you're not just doing real time reporting, you're doing real time translation for us and i do appreciate that. did the statement say anything specific about the hostages being released as being women and children? >> it does. it does specifically say women and children. it says the first -- the first 50 hostages, women and children, over a four-day period. and for every ten more hostages released there will be a continuation essentially of the

pause in the fighting. no mention here of what -- >> so -- >> oh, go ahead. >> i'm sorry. on that other point, that we had heard the parameters of the four to five-day pause, 50 hostages released, and the possibility of it going on longer if other hostages came out. there it is explicitly in writing, albeit in hebrew, that if ten hostages a day were released, the pause in fighting would continue? >> reporter: that's what it says here. there might be a total of 70 to 80 hostages. our understanding is that includes only women and children. it's important to note this doesn't include likely any men or any soldiers. 80 are the first major step. the first 50 coming over the course of four days and the

possibility to continue a pause in the fighting if there are more released. >> oren liebermann, terrific work. keep us posted. you're getting more information and we'll come back at a moment's notice. we'll get more reporting on this agreement. the israeli cabinet approved 50 hostages in the next four or five days. we're going to get a perspective from a form general senior masaad officer.

all right. we are expecting more details in the coming moments about the deal approved tonight just minutes ago by israel's cabinet to secure the release over a four-day period of 50 women and children now being held hostage by hamas. a short time ago president biden who helped broker the agreement, he arrived on nantucket in massachusetts. cnn's arlitt sains. what is the biden administration saying about this deal that has now been reached tonight? >> reporter: well, john, this deal is certainly welcome news to the biden administration which has been working around the clock in trying to secure the release of these hostages. president biden as you mentioned landed here in than tublgt moments ago. we are still waiting to get a

statement from the white house specifically on the contours of this deal. it comes as president biden had earlier today projected optimism that a deal soon would be released and hostages would soon be returned to their families. the contours are around 50 people in exchange for a multi-day pause in fighting, four to five days potentially, but one big question going forward is how many americans might be part of that deal? the administration has said that there are about ten unaccounted for americans since hamas's attack against israel on october 7th. one of those americans who is believed to be held hostage is that 3-year-old american girl, abigail adan whose parents were killed in the october 7th attack. administration officials are hopeful she might be part of this release and we'll see whether any other americans might be reported as well. this deal comes after weeks of painstaking negotiations, involvement with officials

including conversations president biden has had himself trying to prod the negotiations along as the u.s. has said they remain committed to not just getting the americans out, but also more hostages with that number, 240 believed to be held by hamas. >> earlier today, benjamin netanyahu named president biden. president biden improved the deal from the israeli perspective. how much have the two leaders been communicating over the past few weeks? >> reporter: well, president biden has been in continual contact with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the last phone call was a week ago. in a succinct readout, the white house said the two men discussed efforts to try to get the hostages out. we know president biden has found other areas to get involved in as well. he spoke twice in the past few

weeks with the amir of qatar. qatar has become a key mediator as they're working to find a way to get the hostages out. the white house has said the president has remained personally and continuously engaged as they are trying to help the conversations along with the hopes that not just those americans wouldn't get out but also other hostages as well. >> on nantucket covering president biden who just arrived there. let us know if you hear more from the white house. with us now, one of the best informed, best sourced correspondents on this story. axios reporter barack ravid who has new information. barack, what have you learned of the specifics of the new deal? and walk us through how it came together at the end. >> hi. good evening. i think one of the most important things are check the

cabinet. two of them skam into the meeting announcing in advance that they're going to vote against and then during the meeting one of those parties, the head of the minister of finance, a hard-right politician basically flipped and decided to support the deal, which was a very interesting development. >> when do you think hostages could be released? late tomorrow? >> no, it's not going to be tomorrow. the israeli government needs to publish a list of palestine hostages who will be released. so this gives 24 hours for that process. so i think that -- and that's what i hear from many israel

officials, we are looking at thursday, sometime thursday that this release of the hostages and of the prisoners and the pause will start. what i hear from israeli officials is that the pause will start, the pause in fighting will start when the first child crosses the border back to israel. >> the pause will start when the first child crosses the border back nice rail. you mentioned that israel needs to publish a list of the some 150 palestinian prisoners that will be released? >> reporter: what type of prisoners are they? >> honestly, most of the israeli officials i spoke to don't look at those people as, you know, arch terrorists. it's most wimt who tried to stab a policeman.

minors were also involved in stabbings, throwing molotov cocktails. it's not the planners, it's not those who sent people for attacks and overall security wise they don't see this as a big issue. >> barack, over the past 48 hours you've reported extensively after four or five days. what happens after the first four or five-day period. there does seem to be more. exactly what? >> you know, this was also for the first time the israeli government said publicly that for any ten hostages on top of the 50 that will be released, anymore hostages, any 10 hostages will get another day of pause. look, the israelis hope that they will get at least another 20, 25, maybe 30 hostages like

that, more women, more children, but there are also many question marks and the question marks are whether the 50 will be implemented. this is a process that will take a few days. any small thing in gaza can unravel this deal. so i think every day is going to be super sensitive. if we get to day five and hamas comes out and says, you know what, we have another ten people we want to release, they will get another day of pause. if not, we will just see how this war will resume very, very quickly. >> does hamas know where all these hostages are at this point, even the ones being held by islamic jihad? >> well, you know, hamas's talking point is they don't know. they only have the 50 people and they don't know where the others are, meaning where the other women and children are. the israeli intelligence

services think that this is partially true, meaning there are some hostages that hamas really doesn't know where they are, but there are many hostages, several dozen, that they will be looking after it. if some gangster family in the city of rafah in southern gaza strip is holding hostages, believe me, hamas knows and they can get to them. they have a four-day pause and whether they go to them and say, you need to give the hostages. >> barack, i know you've been working the phones and emails constantly over the last several weeks and i'm sure you will be at it. let us know if you break anything. >> thank you. a report on what israeli forces are doing and now not doing in the wake of tonight's

vote. it's a vantage point we've been working on now during this very new stage. military analysts and what the possiblele terms may meaean in fufuture of isisrael's warar on.

tonight's hostage deal which israel's cabinet just approved a few minutes ago calls for a four-day pause in israeli military operations in gaza. before the break barack told us that his sources say military

engagement will not stop until the first child hostage crosses the border from gaza nice rail. cnn's jeremy diamond is in southern israel, can see into gaza, and has been watching much of the fighting over the last several days and weeks. jeremy, what are you hearing tonight? >> reporter: well, just as you were coming to me, john, we heard the sound of outgoing artillery. moments after this deal was approved by the israeli government we heard several barrages of artillery into the gaza strip. an indication this will, indeed, continue until this pause goes into effect, until those hostages are released from gaza. and also one clear point that the israeli prime minister made this evening, even as he was urging his cabinet to approve

the deal, he was making clear the war will continue after this pause ends. we also need to be clear that if you look at the past of this, tirp pickically before there is a cease-fire there is an uptick in military activity. we're very much waiting and watching for that possibility. john, i want to tell you about a conversation i had with the israeli prime minister's special coordinator for hostages. he just told me moments ago about this deal, about the discussions in the cab knelt m -- cabinet meeting where only two ministers voted against it. the finance minister who appeared to be indicating his objections to this deal actually ended up voting in favor of it. he told me he delivered a message just about a half hour ago to the families of some of these hostages telling them that the state of israel will do everything to bring all of the hostages back home. and he really did want to

emphasize that this deal for 50 hostages in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting as well as three palestinian prisoners for every civilian hostage released from gaza, that this deal is only the first phase of these negotiations. he really wanted to emphasize that the israeli government's position is that they want to get all of the hostages back and that this military campaign, that these negotiations will not end until that happens. >> jeremy, i am curious, you said the official with prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he had spoken to the families of the hostages. we had the granddaughter of one hostage on 20 minutes ago. she said she's had no communication whatsoever from the prime minister's office. how is the prime minister, insofar as we know, reaching out? >> reporter: yeah. this is the special coordinator for hostages for the prime minister. he didn't say exactly how, but he said he delivered a message to the families of these hostages. what's also clear is that, you

know, they don't know yet exactly which families of hostages are going to see their loved ones released. he would not get into that, but i also think it was interesting when he was talking about the 50 individuals who will get out, he said children and their mothers. we've been reporting it was children and women but i think it was interesting he was specifying children and their mothers. we know, of course, of multiple cases of children being held hostage in gaza and who were taken hostage with their mothers as well so that may give us some indication of the families most likely to get out in this first round of hostage releases over these four days for those 50 different individuals. that is perhaps an indication there. >> jeremy diamond right on the border between israel and gaza where artillery fire has continued even after the deal has been reached. jeremy, thank you very much for your reporting. with me is the former chief of the hostages and mia unit of the massad and james spider

marks. let me start with you. you've been skeptical of the possibility of this deal as it was being negotiated. now that they have reached a deal, what are your opinions on it? >> this deal is -- has been negotiated on the basis that the -- hamas wants a cease-fire. hamas wants to be saved from the israeli military. on the other hand, the israeli military is determined to eradicate the hamas. it is not something that we want to do, it's something that we have to do. there is no way that israel can continue living in any form with hamas over the border. now this deal was reached because of israeli public opinion and the belief that the moral duty is such that it overrides the main objective of

this war, and the main objective of the war is to eradicate hamas. it is a very, very bad deal for israel in many, many ways. first of all, militarily it's not an easy deal. how are they going to restart the war in four or five days? secondly, we know that the hamas is going to play all kinds of tricks on the way trying to -- trying to release less kidnapped personnel than it has and on the secondhand, it is not an easy deal for israel. remember, there are families that their loved ones are not going to be released and there are families that have sold ier in the gaza strip and they know fighting in four days time, five days time is going to be a lot more difficult than now. >> general marks, we talked

about this. what is the military impact of a multi-day pause? >> the primary impact is that the idf loses targetable intelligence. it starts to atrophy. the intelligence they've gathered over days in gaza begins to crumble around them because over this pause hamas will resupply, reposition, do everything in their power to increase their security. and let there be no doubt, this is not being done by hamas for any humanitarian reasons, this is a transaction to them. and i think we're at the point where the military has a very, very tough decision to make. you're in gaza -- excuse me, you're in gaza. you're exposed. you've got hamas all around you still active in the tunnel network system. it's not been completely taken over by the israelis by any means. so the israeli soldiers are targets. that's the challenge. and then at the end of a certain

amount of time, as has been described, that four days could turn into five or six days if they continue to move hostages back across nice rail, that becomes a very, very tough military task. the israelis at that point are going to have to transition into a defensive posture. pause is not a military term. you attack or you defend. they're going to have to start to defend. that changes the mission set entirely. this becomes a very, very difficult task for military experts to execute. >> is there anything the israeli government can do to make sure hamas lives up to its side of the deal? >> hamas is not trustworthy, as you can understand. it's a terror group run by a psycho path, and they are going to do anything in their power to kill israeli soldiers and to continue regrouping and

restrengthening themselves as they can. but the israeli army has already said any breach of the agreement, even the smallest breach, they will go back into fighting full force. saying that, i don't see the israeli military doing that if there's any more hostages to be had. and this is where we are. we're at a very difficult situation where this deal is a bad deal but we have to go through it in order to release our people, and this is our moral obligation. i mean, don't from thet, i thin difficult as it might be at the end of the day, the israeli army will go back into fighting and israel must achieve its goal for eradicating hamas. >> thank you both for being with us very, very much. just ahead, a look at this deal from another perspective, from the families and loved ones

of hostages, some of whom have been publicly angry with the israeli government for not, as they see it, doing e enough fof weeks toto win the hostatages relelease.

more on the families who have been waiting for today's vote. with me now, from tel aviv our chief global affairs respondent

matthew chance he's been speaking with families all day. matthew, you've been talking to these families, now that they have a deal, you have a sense about how they feel? >> you're right, we've been speaking to families who have got left one's as hostages inside gaza. as the israeli cabinet was debating this hostage deal whether to approve it or not, i can tell you there were mixed feelings amongst the people we spoke to. i mean, everybody we spoke to had a terrible tragic story. we spoke to one woman who lost her 16-year-old son who was killed on october 7th. to make matters worse 13-year- old daughter was grabbed by hamas militants and taken into gaza and held as a hostage, she was remarkably optimistic but now is the time because of this deal, this deal has been

approved the course that her daughter would be coming home, so she is extremely optimistic and happy at that prospect. and very grateful to the israeli government, she said, for making that happen. on the other hand, there were other people there, who were less enthused. i spoke to one woman from puts, she said was excited about the fact that 50 or more israelis would be released in the hostage deal. but she was very upset that her own nephew, who is a 38-year- old man, was not going to be in that group of abductees who would be released. you know, men are not people who hamas have agreed to release as part of this deal. and so, glad for the people who are going to get relatives released but you have to remember that it was 236 people that the israelis believe are being held hostage inside gaza, talking about between maybe 80

at best, that could be released as a result of this. at least that's the estimates coming from the israeli government. but that still means a lot of people, unfortunately, are going to be left behind and being held by hamas, and that is very painful. it's a constant trauma for people in israel. >> we've got about 20 seconds left. any sense how much the public pressure has put this through? >> i think it's been growing, it hasn't been the priority of the israeli government, the first priority to get these hostages back, that's been destroying hamas, that has led to a lot of criticism in israel that the government has not done enough. this is the first sign that the messages being listened to. >> thank you for being there with us. shortly before tonight's official vote, i spoke with, whose cousin and cousin in law were abducted on october 7th.

>> how optimistic are you about this supposed deal? >> i've got to tell you, i can't be sure until it's not only authorized but actually on the way, until we can actually see babies, kids, mothers, however, back home, so. >> what happened when you met with the israeli parliament. what did it feel like to be able to express your anger to government officials? >> i can tell you, my meeting in the parliament was very stressful, because some of the parliament members that we met weren't at all in touch with what we were trying to convey. and they were actually trying to promote capital punishment

in israel, while we are trying to get her hostages back home. this is what you are seeing right now. this was an unbelievable discussion led by a very right wing minister here in israel. and they treated us horribly, really horribly, they yelled at us, they screamed, you are seeing a screaming but it's because they screamed at us first. you know, in israel, the families of hostages are usually considered sacred in some way but here, they just decided to target us and treat us as political weapons. >> i know that the national security administer actually hugged you after you asked him not to. what did you say at that point, what did he say? >> well, i asked them not to

put this matter on the table of discussion, just postpone it, don't talk about capital punishment now, while there are hostages in the hands of hamas. and he looked at me and said, i'm going to do it anyway. and after we did all the discussion, i just picked him, i told him, i beg you to postpone this, then he just rose up and decided that he's going to go and hug me. and i told them, i went up myself and i said to him, please, please don't do this. please read i whispered, so that he could hear me but i didn't want to humiliate him and i said please don't do that, he did it anyway, he hugs me even harder, kissed me on the head and then he posted the picture on social media, like he is hugging the families of the hostages. i don't want to say humiliating because i think it's humiliating for him, to do such

a thing, to hostage families, and to a person that clearly, doesn't want this false sympathy, this plastic sympathy from him. what we want to see is not more death and not more empty talks about capital punishment, but clearly the other way around, the opposite, which is seeing life coming back from gaza to israel. >> i understand you had text messages from people claiming to know your cousin is okay. what have those messages said, and do you know who specifically sent them? >> yeah, well, i got it, the first one a few weeks ago, and then there was another one 4 to 5 days ago. they are built the same way. they say, hi, is this a relative of carmel and i say, yes, and then the conversation

was started by saying yeah, she's okay, she's healthy, she's in good hands, i can assure you, but i want you to know that we are in a shortage of some stuff and she might get hurt. and this is obvious psychological terror by hamas. and the psychological terror of the lowest sort >> what do you want people to know about carmel and her sister in law, who is also being held hostage? >> yeah, carmel is an occupational therapist, she's 39, she is the eldest grandchild of our shared grandfather and now we can say that he he loved her the most. and we really miss her here and the family, we lost her mother, she was also, she was murdered on october 7th. actually found the videos myself on telegram.

i really want people to know that she is a loving person. but i believe that she still believes in peace between israelis and palestinians. between arabs and jews, muslim, however, ice -- i think she still believes that because that is the kind of person she is and that is the kind of people that we are. i think the main thing i can tell you about the intent -- event, involves the story of the kidnapping because she was taken from the safe room of the house. with her husband, who is my cousin and her 3 1/2-year-old girl, geffen, they were put in a car and driven to gaza and a few meters before the fence, the car stopped, the drivers may have seen an idf tank in they took the chance and they broke out and started running,

the terrorists were shooting at them and she was carrying the 3 1/2-year-old baby in her arms, and she understood that she couldn't run fast enough, so she gave her two, and said, run, the last time she saw her was when she was hiding behind a tree. and she was actually saving her girl, saving her baby girl because she knew that alan was going to run fast and she wasn't. i think that tells everything that you need to know about her and what a loving mother and loving person she was. and geffen, the 3 1/2-year-old, misses her very, very much. we really want her to come back. >> we all hope so much that you have them back, and soon. gil dickmann, thank you for being with us. >> thank you, good