this is cnn breaking news. >> lrthis is the exact moment w are expecting word that 13 hostages held by hamas, all women and children, have been released by the terror group after 48 days of captivity. the time of release was expected to be 4:00 p.m. local time. that's 9:00 a.m. ooereastern ti. hamas agreed to free them in exchange for a pause in fighting, humanitarian aid, and

palestinian prisoners, according to qatari officials. hamas will hand over these hostages to red cross workers somewhere inside gaza. they will then enter israel through one of two places, either directly from gaza, right here, or further south from egypt down here. once in israel, they will be taken directly to hospitals by helicopter. now, the larger agreement calls for a pause in fighting for four days, a total of 50 hostages of the estimated 236 being held will be freed. americans are not expected to be released today, but some are part of the four-day agreement that includes abigail adan, whose fourth birthday is today. she turns 4 today. she was kidnapped on october 7th by hamas terrorists, who murdered her parents.

this morning, we have seen some aid trucks crossing through from egypt, through the rafah crossing. here are some images of that. this is part of the agreement. we have teams of reporters standing by at all the crossings and across the region. let's get right to katelyn collins in tel aviv. >> reporter: we are obviously watching this closely as we now hit the time when we heard from officials, that they expect the first release of those 13 hostages to happen. we are told by israeli officials, including a senior adviser to prime minister netanyahu that as soon as those hostages are safely back here in israel, that's when they will announce the list of the names of the 13 that are first in this group to be released, and also that they have made it back here safely to israel, where we just laid out, john, they have a very long process to go through, to reintegrate them after being he would hostage for 48 days by

hamas in gaza. a lot queof questions what thei condition looks like. they are alive but not well, it is believed, given what has happened to them. i should note it is 13 israeli hostages being released. we have just laerned from the egyptian side they expect 12 thai nationals to be released as part of this today. those were several of the nationals that we know that were kidnapped. so that is something we'll be watching closely, as well. cnn's jeremy diamond is live at the israel-hamas border, where we could see some of these hostages come across. obviously, we're waiting for confirmation from the officials to tell us when exactly this exchange has happened, both for the israeli hostages and the palestinian prisoners. what have you been hearing from officials and what have you been seeing from your vantage point? >> reporter: i just spoke with a spokesman for the israeli military who told me that this

hostage release could now take place between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. local time. so that is a window of the next two hours. obviously, behind me right here is the crossing, one of the crossings where we could see that -- the israeli hostages finally come into israel. those first 13 women and children who we expect to be released today by hamas. they will be released into the articles of the red cross before being taken to israeli forces at one of these crossings. this crossing here is significant, because it is where the israeli soldier, who was held captive in gaza for more than five years, he was released at this crossing right behind me. this is also a place where we have seen aid go in. this is a significant crossing between israel and gaza. and so we are waiting to see whether or not this could be one of those locations. i'm told that after they cross,

they're expected to be loaded up into buses and taken to an air force base where we could have that first phone call or meeting with family members after nearly 50 days of captivity. a medical assessment will be conducted. from there, we expect they will be flown to one of six hospitals across israel, depending on their medical condition and medical needs. from there, though, a whole of government effort is really coming into place here, everything from financial to medical, psychological support, all of this expected to be provide to these hostages. we know that the israeli government has been preparing for this from the military up to the prime minister. we also expect that there will be an operations room where top israeli officials will be able to monitor this situation, which, again, this country is just -- has been waiting for this moment for so long now. at this moment, they have a lot of hope, but there is also still some lingering anxiety. anxiety about whether or not

this moment will come true, and what that means for the other hostages. no nearly 240 of whom have been held in gaza for 50 days now, whether or not they will be released. >> a lot of these families said they're not getting their hopes up until they have seen them back here on the ground in israel. jeremy diamond, we'll continue to check back in with you. i want to go to clarissa ward in israel at a children's hospital, where, of course, we believe they are preparing how to care for these people who have been held hostage for so in weeks. one thing that stands out, so many of these people, we believe they've been held underground in these tunnels. they don't know the full scope of what happened on october 7th. that's just part of this process of reintegrating them after they are released by hamas. >> reporter: that's right. that's why you have seen the israeli ministry of welfare has

put out some comprehensive guidelines for the idf soldiers who will be the first israelis to greet these hostages as they cross back into israel. they have been told not to answer any questions about their loved ones. you can imagine the first question a lot of these children are going to be asking is, where is mommy? where is daddy? where's my sister? in many cases, their parents have been killed, injured. basically the idf has been told not to answer those questions, to say simply, i can't answer that sweet hearth, but i'm taking you to some place safe. it's interesting, though, the ministry of welfare also said it will be very important to tell these children very quickly what has happened, and what did happen more broadly speaking on october 7th, because of course, the minute they come back into israel, the minute they have contact with other people, they

have the ability to looken their cell phones, depending on what age they are, they will start to put that puzzle together. so it is important to deliver the news swiftly but in a sensitive and humane manner. soldiers have been told not to pick children up without asking per missmission first. so there is a very real sense that the children kidnapped on october 7th are going to be different children today as a result of the trauma that they will have endured, even whether they were receiving relatively good treatment, they have still been held, many underground separated from loved ones for seven weeks. that has a tremendous toll, and that is something that when we talk to the hospital staff here at the schneider children's medical center, that they are keenly aware of and trying to prepare for in the most

sensitive way possible. there's obviously a growing number of journalists, but we are being held in a different area from where the hostages would be expected to arrive. i should add something else, which is that the hostages who are brought here, and it's expected that those hostages held, there would be no separation of any families. so they will be brought here. they are expected to be the least injured, if you will. if there are hostages who have serious injuries or serious medical attention, they will be brought to a number of other facilities that have been agreed upon. so a lot of anticipation right now. members of the hospital staff telling us that they haven't slept. they want to do everything in their power to make this as seamless as possible. >> yeah, it feels like everyone is collectively holding their breath, waiting on this to happen. we'll continue to check in to

see if and when those local children are coming to the hospital. also on the ground, cnn international anchor becky anderson who doha, qatar, where we first got the confirmation of what this was going to look like. we know there's an operations room in doha, with members of the mediation team, including the international committee of the red cross, who have been tracking every second of this process. what have they been seeing? what more can you tell us that they are essentially watching and waiting, i guess kind of like the rest of us? >> reporter: yeah, they are monitoring every second of what is happening on the ground. they tell me that is by phone, because they are not actively on the ground themselves, but they are clearly in touch with the stakeholders here, the parties that are in integral to making this work. as part of this deal, there are very strict obligations baked in

for both sides, and on the side of hamas, the deal is that these hostages would be released around about this time today, 13 women and children, to be released into the hands of the icrc, and then moved to the israeli border. one of those borodyder crossing we have had two groups released earlier on in this conflict, so there is a proof of concept, all being monitored from here. i am told that things are going according to plan. remember that we had a cease-fire brokered to start at 7:00 a.m. local gaza time, 12:00 p.m. midnight eastern time. we did see some activity 18

minutes past that hour. things look quiet on the ground. secession of hostilities is going as planned. a bit of a delay coming across the border. this is very much part of the humanitarian pause in the gaza strip. 200 trucks are expected. 90 have gotten through. so this next stage is critical. this is the point at which we expect these hostages to be on the move. on the move out of hamas' hands after 49 days, and into the hands of the icrc and subsequently into the hands of the idf and to safety. this is extremely fragile. the members of this operations team working here around the clock.

and they are anxious, i think it's fair to say. you wouldn't know that, if you spoke to them. they are absolutely focused on what is going on. i know this has been an incredibly intense time of negotiations. incredibly complicated, made all the more difficult they tell me here in qatar by the escalation in violence. so the obligations now are understood by both sides. a pause in fighting, the exchange of these hostages for palestinian prisoners in israeli jails, and the opening of that border for the efficient and effective movement of aid into gaza. so we now have to wait and see whether this works, one hopes it does for the families who will now know which hostages are being released today. whether this works and whether

those families and hostages get some relief from this trauma. >> they other making one of the most critical journeys of their lifetimes, becky anderson, thank you, in doha. oren lieber han is in the ground here in tel aviv. we were talking about in doha how the officials who helped mediate this deal are watching very closely. we have learned that prime minister netanyahu, the defense minister, they're also watching from a military intelligence room, watching. it essentially feels like everyone is so closely to see how the first transfer of these hostages goes, which we have not gotten word that the hostages have made it here to israel. what are you learning about how israeli officials are monitoring this to see just how closely this is handled and how it goes according to the agreement that was truck between hamas and israel? >> reporter: you're absolutely right to point out that the first day, and to some extend

the second as well are viewed as the testing period for this. we're not even through the first day here yet. there is a specific timeline how this is supposed to play out. at least so far, it has played out, the 7:00 truce this morning, went into effect. the humanitarian aid going into gaza. this now is the critical parlt, what it's all about, the release of israeli hostages from hamas captivity. and this is the part that needs to work and it's delicate. it's from hamas to the red cross, then to the idf. only then does israel release the palestinian prisoners. so this is incredibly sensitive and dell caicate. if it works out today, we can talk about tomorrow with another set of prisoners to be released, and we can watch this play out again. it has to play out the first time. i did speak to an israeli official. it looks like everything is

playing out as it's supposed to, but nobody is saying this is the exact time the israeli hostages will be in our hands. that's because it's unclear exactly what routing they other taking, how long this will take. so everyone still holding their breath in this pain staking deliberate process to get to the release of the israeli hostages. and that's the key moment to know, okay, another stage of this is zdone. in terms of how the truce is playing out on the ground, it is holding. some palestinians have tried to move from southern gaza to northern gaza. the idf says they have established, according to the agreement, positions to prevent that from happening. they say that northern gaza remains an active war zone and nobody should return there according to the agreement. we have reporting on social media of gunfire opening up as palestinians have tried to move north. so we'll keep an eye on that. that too is part of this and one of the many things that can make

a delicate agreement fall apart very quickly if it spirals out of control from a simple little incident on the ground or elsewhere for that matter. >> you've lived here for a long time. you know that there is no shortage of history to look at in breaches in cease-fires that have been brokered between israel and hamas before. i think that's why everyone is looking to this deal with skepticism, cautious skepticism on whether or not it will hold. what are the expectations if it goes -- if things go according to plan today for whether or not this could be extended beyond those 96 hours and beyond those 50 hostages. >> reporter: the countries were asked about this at the press conference yesterday. they were asked if they were confident this could be extended. the spokesperson for the morn ministry said hopeful. couldn't say confident. so that gives you an idea of how much essentially belief there is that this can be extended,

especially before we have seen the first 24 hours go into effect. there is hope that more israeli hostages can be released, but we have to get there first. and the country's foreign ministry says on day three and four we can have those conversations about extending this. the agreement covers the release of 150 palestinian prisoners. so they are preparing for the possibility of releasing more if this is extended on that day-by-day basis with ten israeli hostages released daily. >> oren lieberman, thank you. to all of our reporters covering this in the region, as we are watching this very closely. john, this is such a critical moment here in israel where it's been filled with such grief for several weeks. the idea that some of these hostages may be coming home, you can even hear from families of

other hostages who got a call from the israeli government yesterday saying your loved one is not going to be in this first group of 13. they are still happy for the other families, because these families have been spending so much time together. you hear them say, i have 240 other family members now, other families that they have been spending so much time with. they're the only people who know what it is like, what they've been going through, the hell they've been living through, as we are watching so closely to see if this deal goes through the next hour. >> every time that phone rings for them, it must be filled with so much hope, but also trepidation. we are now about 19 minutes into the window, when we expect the first group of 13 hostages to be released from inside gaza. we're standing by at the two crossings back into israel where we expect some of these hostages to come back through. this is cnn's special live coverage. stay with us.

any moment now, hamas is due to release the first group of israeli hostages from its october 7th terror attack. u.s. officials not expecting any americans, however, to be among the first group. though they are hopeful that some americans will be freed as a part of this deal that has been struck between hamas and israel over the next 96 hours. we do know the youngest american hostage that is being held is abigail adan. she turns 4 years old today. yesterday, joe biden was asked about whether or not she would be included in the first group of hostages being released, and he said he was hopeful. [ inaudible question ] >> my fingers are crossed.

>> cnn's senior white house correspondent mj lee joins me from washington. this is obviously a disappointment to a degree from the white house. they were hopeful that americans could be in this group, but they also were realistic and they didn't know exactly that they would. what are they expecting now? what are you hearing from officials? >> reporter: as you said, no americans are expected to be released today as a part of the first 13 women and children that are released, but the hope and expectation still is that they will be among the first 50 there released in the next four days or so. i think we're seeing how this is very much expected to be a day today, or a deal where each day we find out, and u.s. officials find out exactly who was going to be released, and whether americans will be among the group released each day. as you said, we are talking about three american citizens for now, two women and 4-year-old abigail adan, whose parents were killed by hamas.

she has two siblings who saw those murders happen. as you said, it's her birthday. so for so many reasons, abigail has been on the minds of so many people watching this hostage release, potentially take place within the next hour or so. but as you said, no guarantees as to when these folks are going to get out, and whether the schedule is going to hold in the coming days. >> yeah. those are major questions. obviously, we are checking closely. john? with me now, chris o'leery, senior vice president of global operations, heading hostage rescue and recovery for the u.s. government for years. and barack rabin is with us from ax axios. barack, we're 26 minutes roughly into this window where we expected the hostages to be released. what are you hearing at this moment?

>> hi, john, good morning. at this moment, from what i hear, the hostages were still not transferred to egypt. i just checked like a minute ago. the plan is that once they're transferred to egypt, israeli officials are supposed to be there to identify them, verify their identity, and then move them with a convoy to the israeli border crossing with egypt, and from there, in helicopters to several hospitals around the country, where their families will be waiting for them. they're going to be -- get medical checkups and meet their families. that's the plan at the moment. >> chris, so according to barack's sourcing, they haven't crossed over yet. the expectation is that they will or it could happen any minute. each if it happens today, what are your biggest concerns over the next few days as this deal rolls out? >> i think it's been widely

reported the from fragile till of this deal. you're dealing with terrorism organizations, including palestinian jihad, so they're much further up the spectrum. so they have broken truces before, violated cease-fires that were not theirs, and they're islamists, committed to destroy israel. they could ruin this for everybody, and the communication to the local gazan population, where they have to hold fast. they cannot try to move north, because just the strike on the head of a match head could put this all up in flames. >> barack, there's been some confusion about the red cross. not in their role in turning over the hostages, but the prime minister benjamin netanyahu said as part of this agreement, red cross officials would be able to visit hostages who remain inside

gaza. but now it seems less clear whether or not that will happen. what are you hearing on that front? >> just an update i got 20 seconds ago from israeli officials who tell me that the hostages are being handed over right now as we speak in the southern gaza strip to the representatives of the red cross. this is happening as we are talking right now. this means that in a few minutes, the red cross convoy will start making its way to the rafah crossing, just minutes drive away. so this thing is happening as we speak right now. hamas is handing over the hostages to the red cross representatives. >> if you guys could put a map up of gaza so we can show people what barack is talking about. >> yes, john, this -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> it's in southern gaza.

>> a bit northern -- a bit north of the rafah crossing. this is by car on a normal day would take you six, seven minutes on the highway south. it will take you six minutes to reach the rafah crossing. we are close to this deal being implemented right now. just to your previous question. so the agreement that was signed by israel and hamas, includes a clause, a very short clause, that says that the red cross will be able to visit the hostages that will remain in hamas custody, meaning not the 50 to be released, but all the others, and the red cross will be able to deliver medicine. this was in the draft agreement. hamas, according to israeli officials, saw this clause, did not object or oppose to it, did not ask to change it in any way, and this clause is still in the agreement that was agreed upon. and the israeli officials told

me that, unlike several reports that we heard, they did not get any message through either the egyptians or the qataris that hamas has any issue with this clause. it still does not mean that it will be implemented. this clause is only for, you know, down the road after this phase of releasing the hostages will end. only then they'll go to the next phase of trying to coordinate those visiting. but israeli officials tell me they did not hear any objection with hamas. >> there you can see it on the map there, the city highlighted in southern gaza. remember, southern gaza is where israel has told people inside gaza to move from the north there in red, down over the marshlands into southern gaza. so khan yunis is the biggest city where most of them live, so

that is perhaps where they are being handed over to red cross officials and moved south. the entire length of gaza is 25 miles, so it's just a few nmile away from the southern border, so this could be taking place at this moment. chris, i want to talk about this. this is happening there as barack says, and everyone knows it's happening there, how badly do the israelis want to be getting information about where these hostages are coming from, and how limited are they since they're not able to fly drones over gaza at this moment? >> it's a challenge, and that's a real deficit for them. the collection from the drones, intelligence and reconnaissance is critical in finding the other hostages. you track the guards, the members of hamas. you track their movements of where they're going and coming from. you illuminate the network and piece them together. but what you are going to get

instead now, we're going to get tactical debriefs of the hostages as they come out. by trained professionals who will do this and will piece together information that will help build a picture, and when the drones start flying, that stuff will be layered on into the collection effort. so you're losing something near term, but you may be getting greater details and new lines of effort. >> the issue of the red cross, which we were just talking about, which israel has as part of the deal they say, unclear if they'll actually get those viz its. what are the risk/rewards for that? >> the red cross doesn't usually get to visit hostages held by terrorist organizations. what they do is have access to prisoners of war. the concern is letting them go in to give legitimacy to hamas

as a uniformed fighting force, and they're not. they're a terrorist organization. we have to remember that. but they can provide medical care, identify the hostages that are alive, and there's some information that is missing for some of these families. they don't know if their family members are alive. so we'll get that. that will be positive and all reported back. so it is a positive turn in some ways. >> we are getting some breaking news just in. i just heard in my ear that all 13 of the hostages are now in egypt. so over just the last few minutes, they moved from a few miles away from the border with egypt. they are now all in egypt. israeli hostages are now with the red cross in egypt. that is according to the prime minister's office. let's get back to katelyn collins.

>> this is just half an hour past when we heard the hostages would be released, and now sources are confirming to matthew chance, that yes, these 13 israeli hostages, who have been in hamas captivity for 48 days, have now been handed over. they are in the custody of the international committee of the red cross. that is who is accepting them from hamas officials, from gaza. they are now in egypt. of course, we know that is just one step as a part of this process before they will be headed here to israel. that is where that lengthy process is going to begin of meeting with therapists and meeting, of course, and most crucially with their families and loved ones. cnn's becky anderson is in doha for us, tracking all of this. obviously, we'll check back with her. she's not there yet. she is in doha monitoring this. that is where the qatari officials have been at the center of making sure this deal hand. this is the most notable moment

since okctober 7th. hearing that 13 of these hostages are now in egypt, moving on to this process that we know, as we heard from our reporters on the ground, officials on the ground, that a lot of hospitals in israel have been bracing and basically waiting for this moment to happen. one big unknown has been the condition that these hostages are going to be in. we heard from u.s. officials who say yes, all 13 of the israeli hostages being released today are alive. but joe biden's top middle east official, who has been deeply involved in the negotiations here, said yes, they are alive but they are certainly not well. so there are a lot of questions here about the condition that they are in, what that is going to look like, and how they are doing as we are monitoring this to see what is the next step here, what is the condition of these 13 hostages. because we do expect children to

be among them. so that is something that officials are watching closely, because they were saying, we're going to ask questions of the adults. they're not going to ask questions of the children in the same way. that has been the guidance going out to the israeli soldiers, who have an enormous responsibility on their hands as we are receiving these hostages who have been through a traumatic several weeks. we don't know what conditions they have been in. there's this extensive tunnel system underneath gaza that two of the hostages previously released said daylight shocked them when they saw it, john, because they had not seen the sun in so many weeks. so that is going to be a question for these 13 hostages who have just been released to the international red cross committee. >> we just got becky anderson up from doha in qatar. the qataris were so crucial in brokering this deal. so what are you hearing from your end that we have from the source from the prime minister's office that these 13 hostages are with the red cross in egypt?

>> reporter: according to diplomatic sources who are specifically involved in monitoring this -- this hostage release, and they've got an operation center set up here in doha. not all of the hostages, i just heard, not all of the hostages are as of yet with the icrc. some of them are. i have been told, but not all of them. there has been a slight delay. i haven't been told what that delay is, but not all of those hostages are currently with the icrc. but there are some who are. so obviously, we said from the beginning of this, this is going to be fragile. there are going to be delays. this is an extremely difficult operation. the process is set up. there are obligations on both sides. the first obligation today, that hamas hand over those 13 women and children to the icrc.

we are not sure, we cannot yet know exactly where those hostages are or whether they are together in one group. certainly, i have literally been told in the last couple of seconds, that not everybody as of yet is with the red cross. the hope is, that will happen soon. that is what i'm being told. but it hasn't happened as of yet. so obviously, there is a little bit of conflicking reporting going on as things stand. one has to hope this process is just slightly delayed at this point. it is early in this process. it's only 4:38 local time. the scheduled release was at 4:00 p.m. i think many people were surprised that this was happening as quickly as it was on the ground. schedules are schedules until they're broken. and this is a very, very difficult situation. neither side has any trust for

the other, which is why this operation room is being set up here by the mediation team in qatar with the icrc, and they are in constant touch with those involved in this process. so without getting ahead of ourselves, i think we just need to ensure that we are reporting what we know on the ground, obviously. and that is what we know today, certainly from those intimately involved in this operation now, and intimately involved in monitoring this operation. but it does sound as if there is some optimism that things are moving in the right direction, john. >> becky, we'll let you get back to working your sources there in doha. obviously,c conflicting information from different aspects of the people involved in this deal. it is part of how complicated this deal is. it involves several different countries and a trierrorist

organization. we have one source in the israeli prime minister office telling us that all 13 hostages are with the red cross in egypt. becky's sources saying not all of them just yet. let's go back to barack from axios. again, you had heard they had been turned over to red cross officials inside gaza. where are things now, just over the last few minutes? we're 40 minutes into this window where the hostages were to be turned over. >> yes, john. i just checked with two israeli officials that are right now in the situation room where this is being followed. according to those officials, the -- we are still in the process of hamas handing over the hostages to the red cross in khan yunis. they are not in egypt. according to israeli officials, the hostages are still not in egypt. so i think we should be very, very careful with everything we say right now.

there is a lot of uncertainty. there's a lot of fog and conflicting, contradictory reports. but at least according to two israeli officials i spoke to and are right now in the situation room following this operation, the hostages are still not in egypt, we're still in the phase of hamas handing them over to the red cross in southern gaza strip. >> understood. again, we put that up on the map so people can see what we are talking about. this is the biggest city in southern gaza. sources say that they are the 13 hostages in the process of being handed over to red cross officials there. that is still in gaza. they would then be moved to egypt to cross back into israel. this is an important part of the process. but the process is not done yet. i want to bring back chris

o'leery to talk about this. you have dealt with hostage releases and negotiations before. what is this like for the 13 hostages going through this right now, remembering some of them are children? >> yeah, so they're confused right now. they don't know what's going on, they don't know they're being turned over. they don't trust their captors obviously, because they've been held in tunnels likely for the last six weeks. so they will be dealt with very carefully. this is all coordinated, prerehearsed. there will be officials that will resintegrate them. they have to be medically and psychologically sound. it doesn't do you any good to recover them and they're medically okay, but then they're mentally unape cable of reentering society. that's one. the other thing, i can speak to

the u.s. military and intelligence side, we go through specialized training to prepare us for being detained. these victims do not. this is extremely arduous for them. it's going to be a shock to their system coming out, and they will not trust anybody for quite some time. >> just to reiterate this. this is a complicated process. this is not like the berlin wall in the cold war where there's one place where you know something is going to take place. there are so many different moving parts here, which explains some of the confusion here in this process. so let's get back to kaitlan in tel aviv to figure out where we are at this moment. kaitlan? >> reporter: yeah, john. just to walk people through who are watching this and confused about what this process is looking like, we had been told that when these hostages were released that they're going to be handed over from hamas to the red cross. that is when they're going to be going to egypt. none of this is a great distance

apart where the handoff is happening and going into egypt. some of them will get an immediate medical checkup and be transferred we believe via helicopter here to israel, to the point where the preparations have been so extensive, that they have noise canceling headphones for the people on the helicopters. so what we are hearing from these sources is that yes, this process is of handing over these hostages from hamas to the red cross is underway right now, as we are speaking. of course, that is happening in gaza. then they will go to the transfer point in egypt. you can see on the map, none of these distances, none of these points are a great distance from one another. it's about a ten-minute drive from one point to where they are going to be going. all of this is happening in a really fluid motion, as israeli officials, for their point, they're waiting until these hostages are back here on the

ground in israel before they make their official announcement from the prime minister's office that they are here. but what we do know, this process is underway at this moment. cnn's jeremy diamond is at the israel-gaza border, where a crossing point where some hostages may be coming through. jeremy diamond, what are you hearing from your israeli sources and what are you seeing on the ground? >> reporter: i think the news that these israeli hostages are in the custody of the red cross in egypt tells us two things, effectively. one, they could come through this crossing here, and the only other crossing that would make sense from this point would be another crossing between egypt and israel. that is where a lot of those aid strucks have been going to be checked by israeli officials to get those security checks before they make their way into gaza. but what we have seen in the past, for example, in the case in 2011, an israeli soldier was transferred into egypt first via

the rafah crossing, then came into israel at the karem shalom crossing. so this may be the location where those 13 women and children could make their first entry back into israel. that is certainly a very, very strong possibility. from here, my understanding is that they would be boarded onto buses and taken to an air force base where they would finally be able to make their first phone calls and have first meetings with family members. from there, of course, they would be taken in helicopters to one of several hospitals in israel that have been preparing for this very day. as you know, kaitlan, there has been an enormous process to build up and to prepare for these hostages to arrive for the various medical, psychological, financial needs they may have.

but sern ly, for the families o the 13 hostages that have been told their family members were going to be released today, knowing that they are in the custody of the red cross must give them a huge sigh of relief. >> yeah. it's confirmation these are the first officials they have come into contact with beyond hamas since october 7th. so this is a testament to what we know so far, this agreement between israel and hamas actually working and in process, as we have seen the fighting stop, the aid go in, and now hearing that these hostages are being handed over, that is underway right now. cnn's matthew chance is tracking all of this as we are watching it closely. things are changing by the moment as this is developing. a big part of this is not even what this group looks like, but we have learned it's bigger than this, that there are also 12 thai nationals being released

according to egyptian officials, as a part of that in addition to the 13 hostages we believe are being handed over right now. what are you learning? >> reporter: yeah. here at the air base, 25 miles or so from the egyptian border with israel. as we have been reporting, our understanding now coming to us from israeli government sources is that both the 13 israeli hostages and the thai nationals, as well, the thai hostages, 12 of them, are with the icrc, the international committee of the red cross, inside egypt at this point. and will shortly be handed over to the israelis. now, according to the israeli defense forces, that handover has not happened yet, and will be announced as soon as it takes place. but when it is, the way things are going to pan out, we understand is that they will be brought here to this air base.

again, 35 miles or so from the border by israeli vehicles. they will be given medical checks to see if there is any medical emergencies to be addressed urgently. they will be offered food, water, and a change of clothes. some of them may have had the same clothes on for weeks upon weeks. of course, the israelis are making a big point how they will be handling this very delicately. some of the people coming out as hostages will not know, we're told, that their parents, loved ones, have been killed. so coming into a very different world so abruptly, back home. now, once the process of sort of initially processing the hostages, freed hostages at this air base is over, and that could take between half an hour and two hours we're told by the israeli military. then they will board he wanteds

and choppered to the relevant hospitals in israel, some very close to tel aviv. there are a number of other hospitals on alert, depending on the particular medical requirements of the individuals concerned. but we are waiting there. the expectation is that once the hostages that are freed and handed over to israeli custody, it will take about an hour for them to get here. then you have that half an hour to two hours here before they're eventually helicoptered away to the hospitals where they will meet their family members for the first time. so we have some hours ahead of us as this very complicated operation unfolds. >> matthew, we'll continue to check back in with you with what you are seeing on the ground. we are following a part of this exchange.

it's not just the palestinian from israel and hamas, and we have tracking that part from the west bank and nada bashir, we were hearing that they were waiting until the 13 hostages were going to be handed over for the 13 palestinian prisoner and what were you waiting to see from where you were. >> well, it is suddenly a delicate process where you are, and the palestinian authority waiting for the safety and security and final evacuation and the transfer of the prisoners from gaza as they were earlier from the day transferred from two jails in haifa to the area behind me where they were

held to be released. it is at this prison they will be undergoing to checks by the red cross. we are understanding from the authorities here that they were issued by the hamas, and women and children to be released of the 24 women and 13 children, and once they have crossed they will be returned to the homes and families, and you can imagine for the loved ones of the prisoners to be released today, this is a welcomed step, and welcomed development, and this is part of the longer process adds ws we know, and th part of the wider 150 who could be potentially released if this four-day truce, and the terms of the truce is indeed held up over the next four days, and this is

a fraction of the number of detain tees, and there are 8,000 palestinians in custody, and according to the palestinian prison society, 3,000 currently held in administrative detention, and no charges against them and international amnesty says a process to go on indefinitely, and so this sha difficult and delicate situation. we have been speaking to the family members and including one of the prisoners to be set to be released today, while they are welcoming to step, they are not celebrating the release of the prisoners today, but they are still deeply concerned about the situation in gaza of the mounting depths of what could occur after the depths of the war here, and many are concerned about the situation in gaza, and the somber mood of the crowd here, and we have been seeing

the groups throwing tear gas here and the stone, and the red crescent saying that one 16-year-old boy has been injur injured by the live fire and taken to the hospital. kate? >> thank you. and as we do know, john, as we are picking up the pieces under way right now, and they are saying once they are in israel, they will release the list of the full name, but they are weight for them to get safely back here in israel as this process is under way, john. >> thank you, kaitlan. and the latest information we are getting which is conflicting over the last 20 minutes, the 13 hostages appear to be in the process of being handed over the red cross officials still inside of gaza, whether they have transferred fully into egypt yet or not is what we are trying to

determine at this point. but the process is under way. and chris o'leary is still with me, hostage negotiator and coordinator and expert, and we have a minute before we take a break and reset here, chris. t this is the first stage and the first day of this. this could be extended past four days, israel says, if hamas turns over a minimum of ten hostages a day, and how long do you see hamas doing this for? >> i think hamas is going to try to drag it out a little bit longer, and it makes sense to recalibrate the strategic narrative in the international community, and that is part of the propaganda of releasing victims today, but both sides will get to the decision-point where it is against their interests. hamas wants a long-term protracted situation here with the they will hold most of the idf

soldiers, and israel has to defeat hamas, and the truce to cease-fire goes against the interests, and they will have pressure from the international community to extend it, and also pressure within the community of israel from the hostage families, and it is in friction of each other, and as much as it is today and each other, we will get word that they are in israeli territory, and as nice as it is with the families, it is likely that hamas will have well over 100 hostages, and so it is going to be playing out for some time. thank you, chris o'leary. we are continuing to monitor the breaking news of the hostages held inside of gaza by hamas in the process of being turned over, and we are getting new information in by the minute, and the special live coverage continues right after this.