. welcome to cnn news central. wolf blitzer is in tel aviv. the agreement has been reached to extend the israel-hamas truce by two days. since friday, 58 hostages have been released by hamas in exchange for 117 palestinian prisoners and detainees in israeli custody. today was supposed to be the fourth and final day of releases. but qatar says the agreement has been extended. the white house just confirming that hamas will release 20 additional hostages over the next two days. >> and brianna, there's a major caveat. this extension will only take effect, only take effect once today's releases are complete. earlier there were significant delays over today's list of

hostages. we're now told, by the way, by israeli officials, that they have the final list of women and children set for release and have notified their families. we're tracking this across the region right now. cnn's oren lieberman is with me in tel aviv. the border crossing, jeremy, there were talks on two fronts. today's hostage releases and the extension. get us up to speed on all the moving parts that are going on right now. >> that's right. a critical agreement reached today between israel and hamas mediated by the qatari government with the assistance of the united states to extend that truce. we have seen four days so far of a pause in fighting between israel and hamas and now that pause will be extended for an additional two days. earlier today, it appeared as if even this fourth day of hostage release might be going off the rails. that's because there were a number of ongoing issues earlier in the day between israel and

hamas. one of the issues in particular, i'm told, centered on the facts that it appears hamas was once again perhaps going to be in violation of this part of the agreement that the israelis say exist to have women, to have mothers and their children who are held in captivity by hamas released at the same time. we know that hila rotem was released without her mother. you spoke with hila's uncle about that very issue. it appears that was an issue with the initial list that was provided. since then an updated list has been provided to the israelis. that includes additional mothers who were not included in that first list. it appears that that issue has been resolved. and now it appears the hostage release today is moving forward. >> jeremy, how much of a role did the united states play in getting this pause, as it is called, extended?

>> well, wolf, we know that the united states has been playing a critical role throughout these negotiations between israel and hamas mediated by the qatari governments in part because, of course, there are several americans who still remain hostage in gaza. we know that this announcement today came after the secretary of state tony blinken spoke with the prime minister of qatar earlier today. and so clearly, some diplomatic efforts behind the scenes. i am told that the united states was involved in trying to resolve those issues earlier today involving that initial list that hamas provided of the final 11 hostages that they intended to release today as part of the initial agreement of 50 people. now, wolf, of course, we have watched this week as there have been days where this process has gone very smoothly. other days where issues have arisen and we have seen hours-long delays in the release of the hostages. for now, it appears that those issues today were resolved and now we will get an additional two days of pause.

if hamas moves forward with the release today, and then it will have to come up with another ten hostages to release tomorrow and another ten hostages the day after. wolf, ongoing questions about whether that pause can be extended even further than that. a major issue arising. we know that there are many hostages who appear to be held by groups other than hamas. and so we will see whether or not hamas is able to wrangle those other hostages and get them released as well to extend the pause in fighting. >> it's a really important issue indeed. stand by. i want to bring oren lieberman into this situation. 58 hostages have been released by hamas, at least so far. tell us what you're learning about them and what they went through. >> first about the breakdown in the numbers. 58 so far. 40 have been israeli. 18 have been foreign nationals. of those, 17 thai, one filipino. the biggest issue we've heard from doctors who have treated

the hostages that came out has been severe in some cases, malnutrition. that has been the biggest physical issue. there is the mental health question. that is a much more difficult question that will take much longer to deal with and much longer to recover from. many have been in pretty good condition. stable condition is a word we've heard quite a bit. i want to focus on two hostages specifically. first, 84-year-old alma. she was brought up in critical condition because of the malnutrition, having lost weight. her son tried to get the red cross to bring her medication into gaza but was unable to do so because of the lack of contact between the red cross and the hostages over the course of the past 50 days. a doctor with the forum for the families and the hostages said the neglect she faced is something no human should have gone through. she remains in critical condition at the hospital. we'll talk about one another person. he is the israeli russian citizen. hamas released him outside of the framework of this deal. he is in fact the only young man

to have been released, not included in the 50 under the agreement. his aunt spoke with israeli radio and said the business he was being held was actually hit by an israeli air strike. that allowed him to escape and he was on his own inside of gaza. because he didn't know where he was and how to escape from dwas itself, he was then recaptured by gazans and turned back over to hamas. he was released effectively as a favor from hamas to russian president vladimir putin. so there remain about 198 hostages inside of gaza, according to the israeli government. 20 are foreign nationals. as of this agreement, only women and children will be released. it was clear to us from officials familiar with the negotiations, the next group that could come under discussion would be elderly men and then the negotiations to try to get to other men and those who are soldiers, men and women in the israeli military. the expectation was always that hamas would demand a far higher price for those and it is unclear even if those

discussions have begun. as you heard from our senior policy adviser to prime minister benjamin netanyahu, first you have to get through today's release of hostages and only then can you talk about the next two days. discussions beyond that haven't substantively begun. >> thank you very much. thank you, jareremy, as well. among the 40 israelis released so far, four surviving members of one family. ken goldstein, they spent 50 days in captivity. thank god they are now safe. they said they knew throughout the ordeal that two of the family members were murdered on saturday, october 7th. listen. >> they knew the whole time, in

gaza as hostages. they kidnapped them and very happy to have them. they are healthy and in good spirits back in israel. >> joining us now, the cousin of chen goldstein, the founder of the hostages and missing families forum in new york. thank you so much for joining us. let me ask you how chen and her children are doing physically and mentally. >> so once we heard, they are in decent shape. it was long and stressful days. and there was poor conditions, we understand that they are making progress, trying to understand what happened.

seeing the professionals. so we understand that they are okay as much as possible. >> omer, have they talked at all about how they were treated while they were hostages in gaza? >> i haven't heard much about it yet. we understand they treat them fine. i think that hamas understood the importance of the hostages. but during all the time, and we heard from another family, there was not enough food. there was barely sunshine. the conditions was not easy at all. and i think that they had to hold in mind for 51 days what happened to them. they lost their father. they lost their sister. they lost their house. they have nowhere to go back to. and after all of the tragedy that happened to them on october

7, now they need to think and start and understand how they will rebuild their life and rebuild the kibbutz and rebuild this community and it is very hard. >> very hard indeed. so hardbreaking to hear all the stories that are sadly so true. chen told family in israel that she knew her husband and daughter were both killed by hamas. how are they coping with the trauma of this entire ordeal? at least so far. >> we don't know yet. i think time will tell. and i think that we need to understand that the kibbutz, it's one big extended family. all of this area. they have so many friends here that help to bring them home. they have a lot of friends here in new york that put their faces all over and they have grandma and grandpa from both sides that

will help them. so we want to give them time and privacy. but we also remember the other friends from the kibbutz that are still there. the other israelis that are still there. and i think that the mission is far from being complete. and i think that as a community, they will find a way to heal together and rebuild their life together. and i hope it will be back. it was a beautiful and quiet kibbutz. and now it is a war zone. >> yeah, so sad when you think about it. you mentioned rebuilding. what's next for chen and her three children? >> i think that we need to focus on one step at a time to see how they get out of the hospital. trying to get the professional help they need, the help from the family. i think this is it.

we can't think about too far and what will happen. but i do want to say, and mention again, there are still a lot of hostages there and we are all highly devoted to bringing everyone back home. >> so important to bring all the hostages back home indeed. today officials in qatar announce that had there is an agreement to extend the truce by another two days. as someone who has seen family released because of this truce, what is your reaction to today's announcement? >> i think it is super important. i think any effort to bring innocent people that were kidnapped from their homes is good, is crucial. i think this is the agreement that, you know, between government and their people. and especially in israel where the solidarity is so strong.

israel is such a small and close community. we all know each other. i know more hostages. i know more people who are victims. i know more people that were murdered. it's not only about our story. it is the story of israel now. so any effort that can bring more people home is crucial and important and i think that the pressure that we put on hamas by military means, by diplomatic means, by the help of the u.s., the backing from the international community, from the u.k. and other places, that is what has made this deal happen. that is what will help us to complete this deal and this is what will help us to make more deals. we need more deals. we need to keep and put pressure on hamas and as long as we can, trade, cease-fire, hostages, we should do it. after that, if not all the hostages will come back, then we will have to keep and fight in

the most assertive way in this horrible terror organization that the atrocities they've done on october 7th will stay with us forever. >> omer, thank you so much for joining us. good luck to you and your entire family. we will certainly want to stay in close touch. appreciate it very, very much. still to come, we're following all the breaking news. celebrations and reunions are continuing out on the west bank as well as we wait for more palestinians to be released as part of the hostage deal. we'll have much more on that just ahead. and the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu pays a visit to idf troops in gaza. our special live coverage continues right after this short break.

welcome back. i'm wolf blitzer in tell sri. we're awaiting the release of more palestinians as part of israel's deal with hamas. so far 117 palestinian women and children have been freed in exchange for 58 people held captive by hamas in gaza. all weekend long, jubilant homecomings like this have been playing out in the west bank. this exprisoner was sentenced to 13 years after a car blew up burning her face. she has repeatedly denied the charges against her. on sunday she was overjoyed seeing her son. >> translator: i'm shy to hug him, my son.

because he became a man. when he calls me my mom, i have him back as a small child in my eyes. >> cnn's ben wedeman is joining us. ben, hamas said it has received the list of who will be released now by israel. tell us who is on this list. >> reporter: at this point, hamas has only put out that there will be 33 people released. that three of them are women. two women and one from jerusalem. she lives very nearby here in occupied east jerusalem. they say in addition to the three women, there will be 30 teenage boys. they have not yet published their names as of yet. we expect more celebrations. but for those, for instance,

like this young girl who was arrested at the age of 16 after she stabbed a woman settler nearby here. she will be returning to this area where, of course, it is under israeli control and the israeli national security minister has made it clear that any sort of celebrations by relatives and friends for those detainees and prisoners have been released, are forbidden. there have been instances where families were taken away and tainled while their relative is returned to the house to avoid, to prevent any sort of celebrations. so oftentimes, in areas under israel's control, when people are released, there are scuffles, there are tensions with the israeli police. wolf? >> as you know, ben, it has been reported that while palestinian prisoners have been released,

more than 200 palestinians have been detained. what do we know about this? >> yes. this come from the palestinian prisoner society, a nongovernmental organization that looks after the affairs of prisoners who say that since this truce went into effect last friday, 260 palestinians have been detained in east jerusalem and around the west bank. certainly what we've seen is that there has been a huge uptick in violence in the west bank since the war in gaza began. over the weekend, eight people, some of them militants were killed. and a total of 240 palestinians in the west bank have been killed. so we've seen reflecting the situation in gaza, the tensions and really skyrocketed in the west bank. and of course, even u.s. officials are very worried about the situation here and

repeatedly warned their israeli counter parts that they need to rein in those settle here's are harassing palestinians, who driving them from their homes. there have been many instances where palestinians have simply abandoned their villages because of this harassment by settlers. so you have this situation here that is making the americans very concerned, feeling that perhaps the israelis don't have these extremist elements among the settlers under control. >> ben, thank you very much. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu entered the war zone amid this truce. his office releasing video of his soldiers there in gaza on the front lines. he told the soldiers in hebrew, quote, we have three goals. to eliminate hamas. to return all our abductees and

to ensure that gaza does not again become a threat to the state of israel. let's talk now with cnn military analyst, retired air force colonel cedric lleyton with the joint staff at the pentagon. at this point in time with this truce, what are the risk that's the israeli military is weighing as this has been extended two days? >> there are several risks they're looking at here. they can move forces into areas that have previously been occupied but then abandoned as it moves forward. they can use areas that are basically strid to use ambushes against israeli forces. they can put in ieds, things like that. these are the things that put israeli forces at risk. as israel is watching what hamas is doing, even without drone coverage for part of the day, they are really cognizant of

these kinds of activities and they are hoping that hamas will not engage in them. i think history proves they probably will engauge in them. >> that they're undoing some of the work. >> senator chris murphy of connecticut is another democrat calling for putting conditions when it comes to u.s. aid. and he's responding to the deaths of nearly 15,000 people in gaza since october 7th, which is details we have according to the hamas-controlled health ministry there. let's listen to what he says. >> i'm not sure what would be controversial about simply saying that aid we give any country has to know used in compliance with international law. and of course, i do think that israel needs to be more careful in the way that it is conducting the operations. i think that you can defeat hamas without this level of civilian casualty. >> he's making his case.

this is what the u.s. does for anyone that it gives military aid to. as i mentioned, you are on the joint staff. how does condition at military aid work? >> what it would mean is if you use american military aid, you would have to meet certain criteria. in other words, you will use the aid only for legitimate military purposes. you will not violate the rules of war, would be a possible example of a condition. that would be a logical condition. it would mean the israeli forces would have to follow what amounts to american procedures when it comes to targeting. certainly, not target civilians. >> how much different is that? american targeting compared to what you're seeing with israel? >> when we do targeting, and i was involved in operation iraqi freedom, the shock and awe phase of that. we were very careful to assess whether or not a target was a legitimate civilian target. every time we went after a certain place, whether it had, was used as a mosque, for

example, a school or a hospital, we had to make sure that it was not being used by iraqi forces or by civilians. and if there was dual use, then most of the time it ended up on the no strike list. we have to make sure the israelis understand that they can make use of no strike lists and use the types of forces they have in a much more coercive but yet thorough way. in a sense, a more focused way and that's what we need the israelis to do. >> it is clear what their approach is. the house is trying to tie it to aid in ukraine how many do you view aid in these conflicts? >> when you look at the broader global picture, if you take the autocracy versus democracy statements that the biden administration has made seriously and you follow that policy, both are very important. ukraine is more important from a

strategic standpoint than israel is at this particular time. israel will survive this. ukraine 38may not survive this they don't get western aid. when you look at this type of military aid, the times things we can do to help both countries, we have to make the conditions base that both sides, the ukrainians and the israelis follow certain american rules when it comes to targeting and using military force and make sure that it is proportional and it is done in a way that really allows us to achieve u.s. goals. the key thing about ukraine is if you don't support ukraine at this particular point, you risk losing all the games we have made since the fall of the berlin wall in 1989. >> you really drive home the impact this opposition, especially in the house, could have there. colonel, great to have your perspective. thank you. the suspect in the shooting of three palestinian college students in vermont faced a

judge today. we'll have some details only. and the doj investigation into whether this was a hate crime, next.

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second-degree attempted murder charges. according to court documents, the students were walking back from a bowling alley. they were speaking a mix of arabic and english when a man approach them and began shooting. all three of them remain in the icu. polo sandoval joins us from burlington. the justice department announced it is investigating whether the attack was a hate crime. what have you learned? >> reporter: they are following this investigation very closely at the federal level. and the people of this community, they are really coming together and rallying around these three young men who are actually from out of town. they were visiting burlington over the thanksgiving holiday. they were out for an evening walk when 48-year-old jason eaton stepped off his porch armed with pace to the and opened fire. critically wounding one of the three young men though all three sustained gunshots. and an updata few moments ago from city hall, that they continue their recovery. some with much longer roads to

recovery than others. what is extremely interesting is we heard from investigators sort of opening up about what led them to knock on the door of mr. eaton yesterday. it was just a series of door knocks at the site of the shooting. they knocked on the 48-year-old's door. and at that point according to court documents, he said, quote, i've been waiting for you. and that's when investigators come back with a search warrant after detaining him. they searched his apartment and they're able to find a .380 caliber pistol. the ballistic evidence has now, according to police, been able to link that pistol with the site of sunday's shooting. if you hear from police they will say they are confident that they know who carried out that shooting. the man that is currently behind bars and has entered a plea of not guilty to three attempted murder charges. the other question is what actually motivated this shooting in the first place?

police say it is too soon to consider this a hate crime but the uncles of two of the young men saying, they've seen just about everything they need to see. >> i believe the families' fear that this was motivated by hate. that these boys, these young men were targeted because they were arabs, what they were wearing. that is our fearful we'll support the authorities as they go through their investigation but certainly seems like that's our fear. >> reporter: we just heard from rich price. his nephew faces a toughest recovery with a bullet in his spine. it is likely they will have to leave it as is because of the risks that come with actually

removing it. i had a quick conversation with another uncle of one of the other boys in saying just that the irony here. they left palestine, coming to study in the united states and then this happens on the sidewalk in burlington, vermont. >> polo, are any of them, i mean, are they conscious? what else do you know about their condition at this point and what they're able to share with authorities? >> reporter: as of the last update, one was in critical condition. two of them are stable. one of them is expected to make a full recovery. but all of them still hospitalized and without a doubt looking forward to the day their family members, many of them still in gaza, for example, will be able to make that journey here to the united states to be by their children's side. >> it's horrific. thank you for that report live for us from burlington, vermont. a critical component to the

hostage releases is the red cross. the spokesman will be joining us next to discuss the process and the humanitarian crisis as well on the ground there. stay with us for that.

i'm wolf blitzer in tel aviv, israel. we are continuing to follow the latest developments on the

israel-hamas truce. it is agreed to extend it for an additional two days. an international community in the red cross has been a key player in facilitating the release. these hostages. jason is the spokesperson for the icrc, the international committee for the red cross. thank you for joining us. we've spoken several times. is there anything you can tell us about tonight's expected release of more hostages? >> i know people are really interested. you're here for news on this fourth evening of a potential hostage release. the most i can tell you right now is that i don't have any indication that it is not going to happen. but given the conservative approach we take to assure the safety of the hostages and our team, there is no other information i have on whether it has started or ongoing right now. >> has there already been a delay, jason?

>> also a super pertinent question. i let off that chuckle because it is another piece of information i don't have. here's why. we have a very, very small team of people in direct communication with the israeli government based if tel aviv. we have a very, very small team of people in gaza in touch with hamas. coordinating between the two sides, working with them both. when is the timing? when can we move? is it safe? is everything clear? those people are concentrating on getting the operation to a successful conclusion and then once it is concluded, they will start passing information down to people at my level here in geneva, switzerland. so unfortunately, even though it could be happening right now, it's just not the information i'm able to confirm. >> so you can confirm that at

least some of the hostages have been transferred to the international committee of the red cross. >> i can't. i wish i could. in fact, i simply don't know. it's not an issue of me being eva evasive. i sitting here in switzerland do not know if it has started. only our manager, our head of delegation in tel aviv, in gaza, only they know. they're not speaking with me. >> jason. hold on. i want to make sure our viewers are hearing you. let me ask our producersful are our viewers hearing him okay? jason, can you hear me okay? [ silence ] >> i think we may have lost our connection. everybody stand by. let's take a quick break. we'll reconnect with everyone. continue this important conversation right after this.

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all right, at this point we are continuing to follow the latest developments on this israel/hamas truce that has been extended for a couple of days here. qatari officials announce both sides had agreed to this extension. i want to listen to the idf spokesperson just holding a press conference moments ago. here is part of it. >> ten month baby, i'll tell you, ruthless terrorists are holding him hostage in gaza. we call on the international organization, especially the red cross, to use every tool at their disposal to gain access to our hostages, to make sure they're receiving the medical care they need. our hostages are not lost.

we won't sit around and hope they're found. we will rescue our hostages at all costs. it is our duty. it is our moral responsibility of the israeli defense forces. it's why we fight, and why we must keep on fighting until all our hostages are home. [ speaking non-english ]

[ speaking non-english ] [ speaking non-english ] [ speaking non-english ]

[ speaking non-english ] [ speaking non-english ] >> all right, we are listening there to idf spokesperson daniel hagari giving an update on the hostage situation there. as this truce between hamas and israel has been extended for two days, he said they are calling on the red cross to monitor their hostages. this is something that israel and the u.s. have been calling for. they say this is part of the deal with hamas, but the icrc at this point saying they have not been given the go ahead to do that. obviously a lot of concerns as hostages come out of gaza, some with malone nutrition, some obviously with some pretty serious health conditions, that

the ones that remain behind are not necessarily in good shape and this is something that israel obviously wants to make sure that a third party is going in to assure. we're going to take a quick break and be right back with the latest on the hostage situation in gaza.