least the closure with the recovery of their of their loved ones who sadly may not be coming back alive. but nonetheless, we have reached a critical point, paula, and we are so lucky to have you along this last hour, providing this valuable insight again reminding our viewers we are watching closely these live pictures out of gaza city, where four israeli hostages are set to be released on the other side of your screen, you see israelis gathering with anticipation, preparing to celebrate what could be the first view of these four israeli soldiers to be released by hamas and the world watching, as we have been reminded for the last several hours with cautious optimism that this cease fire will continue to hold, and we will see more of these scenes of reunion repeat themselves. i'm polo sandoval in new york. thank you for joining us. our breaking news coverage continues after the break with kim brunhuber.

>> this is cnn breaking news. >> hello, i'm kim brunhuber and we have breaking news as we're looking at this split screen as we await the four israeli hostages who are set to be released any minute now, we're looking at a split screen of where we're expecting those israeli hostages to be released, as well as hostage square in tel aviv. now, the red cross has those vehicles. you can see them. they're lined up standing by to take those hostages to freedom. and those hostages are karina ariev. daniella gilboa and naama levy. they are 20 years old. liri albag is 19 now. all four are members of the israeli military. you can see their pictures up there. and they served as lookouts at a military post overlooking gaza. when hamas attacked on october 7th. in exchange, israel is expected to release 200

palestinian prisoners. as we are watching this unfold live here, i want to go to paula hancocks, who's watching from abu dhabi. paula, just emotional scenes, as you can imagine, on both sides, as we expect those israeli hostages to be released any minute now. and as well, the families of those palestinian prisoners who will also be released, what more can you tell us? >> well, kim, this is absolutely an emotionally charged day, as you say on all sides. what we're seeing at this point in palestine square in gaza city does appear to be the final preparations before the handover of four female israeli hostages who were taken into gaza on october 7th, 2023. now you can see fairly sizable crowds in this area. certainly, there is a very strong militant

presence. we've been seeing flags of hamas, of palestinian islamic jihad, who have also, as we understand it, been holding some of the hostages since that day. now, the hostages themselves will be handed over to the international red cross. they will then be taken to the israeli military. they will be taken into israeli custody and into israeli territory, where they will be reunited with, we believe, their mothers, or at least a small part of their families and undergo an immediate medical test and check to make sure that they are okay to travel. they will then be taken on to a hospital where they will start their longer process of recovery, and where they will have emotional reunions with the rest of their families. we are expecting it to

follow a fairly similar pattern to what we saw on sunday of this week, when three israeli female civilians were released in return for some 90 palestinian prisoners. we also know that there will be some 200 palestinian prisoners that will be released as part of this deal. we are not necessarily expecting to see them all released into the occupied west bank or into gaza. some of them will be deported to egypt or a third country, as they would be serving life sentences. now you can see here it is a far more organized setup than we saw last sunday. there is a stage that has been set up. we can see there a table with chairs. it's not clear if there is going to be some kind of an address, but we are seeing somebody approach that

table and at this point. so we will have to wait to see what that is. but what we can see really is sizable crowds, far calmer crowds and of course, a chance for hamas to be able to to use this as a propaganda purpose and show israel and show the international community that at least on this day and in this circumstance, they are still very much in control. kim. >> yeah, that's right. and we seem to be approaching a critical point in this here as we see that person, as you said at the table, what we presume red cross workers there perhaps going over some final paperwork, you mentioned how organized and how stage managed this is. in a bit of a contrast to last time. we can also note, as we're seeing these live pictures here, the large hamas presence, not only large but armed, clearly

sending a very a strong message of exactly that of strength. and we heard as well that they had messages written in english criticizing israeli leaders as well. talk to us about the message that hamas is sending as as they're trying to, to show the world. i guess in these final moments before the the release of these hostages, what message are they sending? >> it's a message that they're in charge, that they are in control, that they are the ones that are choreographing this hostage release, and they are the ones that are in charge of the crowds in this part of gaza city as well. now, we did hear from a source familiar with the matter that after sunday's release, there were complaints from the israeli side that there had been sizable crowds that had been pushing, that had potentially been endangering the hostages, and they had passed that message on indirectly to hamas, and they

did not find that acceptable, did not want to see that again. so potentially, this is what we're seeing here, a response to complaints that that last time was a lot more chaotic. i mean, it's worth bearing in mind that that these fighters have now had a week of, of a ceasefire in which they have been able to to regroup, to organize, to choreograph. they're not under fire anymore. they're not under ground. they are able to, as you can see, to walk around in, in plain daylight and, and masked, armed and carrying the the hamas and palestinian islamic jihad flags. there is no need for them to be undercover anymore. so that could also be part of why this is a far more organized event here. now we can see those individuals in red jackets. they do appear to be the international red cross

workers who will be coordinating with hamas to to secure the handover of these these four hostages. but but really, the overwhelming message that that hamas would want to show is that they have not been defeated. it was the stated war goal of the palestinian prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, that he had to destroy hamas, that they had to be destroyed. and this is showing that that is simply not the case, that that does not appear to have happened at this point. now, of course, this is one small part of gaza city. this is not necessarily representative of the whole of gaza, but it certainly is a very strong message that hamas wants to show. now we are seeing

some movement around those cars at this point i'm just trying to see exactly what it is. but you can definitely see more hamas militants crowding around those cars. and it does appear as though the hostages are now being released. >> yeah, i can see four of them. >> yes, we can see at least one hostage has come out of the car. >> and now they're all approaching together, being surrounded, as you can see, by those hamas fighters, a bit different from last time, as you said, less crowding, a bit more organized as we see those four released hostages approaching. now that red cross convoy and now they're being led to that desk, now, we just want to let you know if they do make any

comments. we are not going to bring you their comments live here because as you can see, this is being very carefully managed by hamas. we don't know what instructions they've given to those prisoners that are being perhaps forced to speak, but right now you can see their jubilation as they give high fives, as they give thumbs up, smiling clearly ecstatic to finally be moments away from release. but again, this is a we want to emphasize the the positivity of their release without necessarily, uh, you know, giving too much credence, i guess, to the the propaganda message that is, is clearly being sent here by hamas as they're paraded in front of the world. but we saw there a very happy moment, at least while they were being, uh, you know, giving high fives and being

photographed as they were released. now we see them being escorted to those red cross vehicles. paula, uh, take me through what you are seeing here and the significance of this as we see them getting finally into those vehicles and what happens to them right now? >> well, one point to mention, kim, is the fact that they were all in army uniforms. this was clearly not accidental. hamas, wanting to highlight the fact that these four were soldiers, that when they were taken hostage on october 7th, 2023, they were based at a military base just along the border with gaza. they were military lookouts, and so they have all been put into to military uniforms. now, you could see as they were coming up onto the stage, obviously a hugely emotional moment for them. the first two were

holding hands. one appeared to be holding that, that brown paper bag, which hamas had given to the previous hostages as well a release form and photographs of their time in captivity. uh, but you could see the relief on their faces, obviously still a hugely stressful times for these four individual women. they are standing on stage and put yourself in their shoes. they are looking out to a sea of palestinian fighters. they are looking at hamas flags of palestinian islamic jihad flags. and you just cannot imagine what is going through their minds at that exact moment. but they would also have seen the international red cross cars, which they are now inside, and they would have known that their release was imminent, that they were about

to be released and taken back to their loved ones. and you can see there the cars starting to roll out of palestine square in gaza city through what are now quite sizable crowds of palestinian militants, but also, it appears, many bystanders, the hamas flags, the pj flags, also the palestinian flags being waved. there. it is a much more organized process than we saw on sunday, but those cars are still moving out of palestine square quite slowly, potentially, given the the number of people that would have come to this area to see that, you can see some of the bystanders there standing on cars to get a better view of these four israeli hostages being released. and then, of course, on the right hand side of the screen, the emotions of

those standing in what has become known as hostage square in tel aviv, we saw as those hostages were finally visible, the people in hostage square, seeing what we were seeing, many of them broke down in tears when they saw the faces of those four israeli women being taken up onto that stage. kim. >> yeah, absolutely. their emotion, uh, reflecting the emotion being expressed across israel right now as we're seeing live pictures of those four prisoners, those four hostages being released, uh, we can still see some of those red cross cars being, uh, slowly rolling away. and you were right to mention the crowds that are surrounding them. people are taking photographs. people are waving flags, and some of them even touching the cars. as we can see this, these are scenes that that israel didn't

want repeated after the last time. they felt that that endangered the safety of those hostages that were being released. so we can expect to hear again from israel about these scenes that we're seeing now as there's, uh, a lot of movement there in that square as, uh, perhaps the fighters are now disbanding. um, and as you say on the other side, so much relief, so much emotion as those hostages being released. but, paula, i want to now turn to the palestinian prisoners who were expecting to be released as well. some 200 of them. talk me through exactly who are they? what will happen, and the differences between this prisoner release and the last time. >> we're unlikely to see as many of the emotional family

reunions as we saw on sunday, when the palestinian prisoners are released. and the reason for that is that many of them will not be released into the occupied west bank or even into gaza. some will be sent and deported. they will be taken to to egypt, uh, where they will have to stay or to another country, but they will not be allowed to to live in gaza or the occupied west bank. the reason for this is because some of them are serving, in fact, i think 121 was the number i saw are serving life sentences for their crimes. many of them serving sizable sentences. and the reason that this is a differdierent makeup of prisones because the hostages that have been released were soldiers. hamas had made it very clear that they that israel had to pay a higher price to get soldiers

back. and the fact that these four israeli women were playing a role of military lookout at a military base at the time of of the october 7th attacks, means that that israel had to exact a higher price when it came to the type of prisoners that they were going to be releasing. now, we know that that has been one of the sticking points, or had been during the whole process of negotiations as to exactly which prisoners would be released, as some of them would be considered to have israeli blood on their hands. and there is, uh, turmoil even within israel as to whether some of these individuals should be released at all. but this is the price that israel has had to pay for the release of these four hostages. so it's an we may see some emotional scenes of prisoners being released from israeli prisons, but it's

unlikely to be exactly what we saw on sunday, although there will be more prisoners released, there were 90 released on sunday. we're expecting some 200 later today. >> and just to bring our viewers up to speed, just minutes ago we saw the four young israeli hostages being released. we saw them smiling and giving a thumbs up, waving as they were being paraded in front of those, uh, hamas fighters that were assembled in gaza city. and we saw emotional scenes in hostage square in tel aviv as those moments were being lived by so many people who have been waiting for those hostages to be released. paula hancocks just an emotional day, as you say, on both sides. now, the question has to be asked about the next phase. so we're seeing so far

these conditions being met on both sides were progressing towards that second phase question. now will we get there and will we progress past that second phase? what is the dynamic right now? >> well, there are no guarantees. is that is the simple answer. kim. there are no guarantees that this three phase deal will progress to to the second phase. there will be 33 hostages in return for hundreds of palestinian prisoners released in this first stage. there were another five weeks of this. it was going to be six weeks in all. and from day 16 or around that time, hamas and israel are expected to come back to the indirect negotiating table with mediators to secure the next phase of the deal. this is

expected to be the harder part of this entire negotiation process, and nobody would suggest that it has been easy up until this point. it has taken well over a year to be able to see what we are seeing today. but for the next phase, in order for the remainder of the hostages to be released, in order for the temporary ceasefire that we see right now to become permanent and in order for the israeli military to pull out of gaza completely, there does have to be this agreement that the process will move forward. there is significant resistance within the israeli government, within benjamin netanyahu's coalition himself, the far right elements do not want this process to to head to the next stage, because they do not believe that the war goal of israel has been secured. one of the stated war goals was to destroy hamas completely and

i potentially, based on what we are seeing today, they could make the argument that hamas has not been completely destroyed, that hamas was in control of the situation today. they were in control of the crowds, and they were the ones talking to the international red cross. kim. >> all right. appreciate all of your insights as we live through these historic moments. seeing these four hostages, karina ariev, daniella gilboa, naama levy and liri albag being released into red cross vehicles. i want to go now to bianna golodryga. cnn's senior global affairs analyst. uh, take us through exactly where you are. i know you've been very involved, speaking with families of of hostages. so. so tell me about where you are right now. >> yeah. >> i am in the home of the aunt and uncle of daniella gilboa. and i have to say, it was just a

sheer emotion. so much enthusiasm here. cheers of joy. champagne popping as her family and friends gathered here we are the only foreign news media who were allowed to witness this moment as family and friends saw their loved one, their niece daniella gilboa, 20 years old, alongside three other female hostages for the first time in 15.5 months. and there are no words. they were on the phone just moments ago with daniela's parents. i'm standing here with esther, who is good friends with daniela's mother, and described to me, you know daniela very well. describe what this moment was like for you when you saw her. >> it was. i was very excited. i want to scream. you can scream. no, no, no. daniela. she's so. she's good, so good. and she walked on the on the ground. your feet. yes. why? i'm very excited. i don't have what to say. i just want to hug her.

>> why was it important for you to be here in this moment and see her on the television? >> because we are all waiting for all the all the hostages and the. and daniela. i want to be with her family to to happy with them. >> we are so happy to be here with you on such a joyous moment, and to witness your family gather here. there were just sheer screams of joy, something this country, something these families haven't done in 15.5 months. so seeing their loved ones return, seeing the fact that on the television screens they were seeing in real time the fate, the status of their niece with their friends and family here, people are just arriving behind us as well. but you can't put to words the the enthusiasm, the happiness that was felt here by

daniela and uncle and friends, and also seeing alongside daniela. we saw we saw leary and we saw karina. and here behind me is is daniela. and one second. can you tell me how you're feeling? >> i'm so excited. i can't talk now. maybe it's my husband will talk because while we. we waited for that so long, time to this situation that everybody will be happy because we were we were for so for one year, we didn't know what to think. you know, we just wanted to think good things. but we didn't know how how we how, how, how we're feeling. so we are very excited now. and it's a big time for us. and we just want to hug her. we want to see her and to hug her and to say to her that she is in a

she's safe now and everybody is waiting for her. all, all, all, all the city is waiting for her. i think all the all the, all the country, all the people in israel are waiting to see her. >> you just spoke with her parents. how are they doing in this moment? >> they are. they are very excited now. they are waiting for her to see her. now that she's just came. and and. she. we are. i'm sorry, i can't, i can't talk. i will bring my husband. okay? >> okay. >> okay. >> so you can sense just the emotion here in the room. you are daniela's uncle. yes. you are her mom's brother? yes. you just spoke with your sister moments ago. what was this moment like for you? we heard you screaming. how was your sister doing? >> my. my sister didn't stop to to cry. but it's it's a cry of

like having a birth. she's like giving a birth right now. and she. she just got her daughter back. daniela. a we are. in mixed emotions right now because it's a moment of great joy. and not only for us as as a family, but for the entire people and for the entire israeli and jewish nation who supported us during all this time. my heart and our heart is, of course, with the ones that still in captivity. all the 90 hostages that are still waiting to get released, and also agam berger. she is an observer that still in captivity, and we are waiting for her, and we are sending our love to her parents, and we are wishing him, wishing

them that next saturday they will celebrate as well with us. and that's it. >> you've been waiting for this moment for 15.5 months. tell our viewers about daniela, about your niece, what makes her so special? >> daniela. she is a daughter of a lioness and as a daughter of a lioness. she. she acts very bravely. i would say. and she to see daniela here, going proud, walking proud on hamas a theater, i would say just demonstrating from what staff she's waiting for and all the other girls over there. they are fighters and they are proud jewish girls who never lost hope. and i'm sure that danielle never daniela never

lost hope. and we are just waiting for the moment that we will hug her and kiss her. and. >> have you thought about what you're going to say to her the first time you see her? >> what pizza? she want me to make her, uh. >> you're ready to cook. >> i'm ready to cook. yes. my oven is ready. but seriously, we will give her. we will give her time. we will give her her moments to get together, to feel again. a little bit control. to give back a little bit control. because everything was taken from her. her freedom, her thoughts, her, her life. everything was taken from her. and we will just need to give her some time to get together breathe a little bit. >> we'll let you celebrate with your family.

>> now, i want to thank you so much for inviting us into your home to witness this moment. >> thank you. >> you've been waiting. >> for. >> it for so long. congratulations. >> thank you. and again, we are waiting for all the others. 19 hostages because they were kidnaped. they are not prisoners of war. they are kidnaped. they were kidnaped from their home, from their places, from the party, from the celebration, from the nova. it's amazing how hamas is trying to demonstrate them as a prisoners of war. it's ridiculous. they are hostages and we are waiting for all the hostages to come back home. i am israel. hi, i'm israel. hi. thank you, thank you. >> and as you heard there, their nation, while they're celebrating the release of another four hostages. as this family is the message is a united one that they will not stop until the remainder of the hostages all come home. and as

we noted as daniela's uncle mentioned, it is not lost on everyone here that one of their colleagues, agam berger, was not included in this hostage release. there is hope that she will be included in the next one. but i'm going to go now and spend some more time with the family members here as they are gathering their thoughts after seeing for the first time their niece daniella gilboa alive, walking on her own two feet. alongside norma, karina and lira. >> yeah, bianna, as you say, a bittersweet moment perhaps, but still so much joy that we heard not just in the words, but also in the hugs. we could hear it in the celebratory screams from the the family that you spoke with there. really appreciate you bringing this emotional moment to us. bianna golodryga in kartalkaya israel. thank you so much. we heard the relatives there saying that all the

country is waiting to see her of daniella gilboa, and that's where we're going to go now. cnn. cnn's jeremy diamond live in hostage square in tel aviv. the whole country was just celebrating tears of joy in that square as they saw the release of the four hostages. >> without a doubt, a very emotional moment here in hostage square. as many of the people who are here have been coming out every single weekend to protest, to call for a hostage release deal. very much like the one that we are seeing now. and indeed, there is a big screen up on stage here today where people have been watching live the images of these four israeli captives being released from hamas captivity after 15 months. these four israeli soldiers, and as that moment happened, many in this crowd started to

cheer. others started to cry. it is just the emotional build up of 15 months that has finally been unleashed here. at every moment when you see these four women on the screen, we have seen cheers and people starting to applaud. what we have also heard are chants, very much like the slogans that we hear at those protests, calling for every single one of the hostages to be released. and that is indeed the message that we have heard from so many of these families as they have received their loved ones, like the three that we saw last week. of course, they are overjoyed to get their loved ones home. and you see here again another moment reacting to images of of those four newly released israeli captives. we know that they are also calling for all of the other hostages to be released, and that is indeed a call for the government here, where there is considerable uncertainty about whether or not they will actually follow through with

more than just a six week cease fire, a call for the government to carry that forward and to ensure that all of the remaining hostages are released. >> yeah, jeremy, as we're hearing the music there, the celebratory music behind you, as there were so many emotional moments, were showing a split screen as well of the family of daniella gilboa, who just reacted to her release. talk to me as well about not just the joy in the crowd there, but i imagine there would be a measure of of anger as well. you talked about the government, and there must have been a reaction there. seeing the gathered hamas fighters in that show of force, and that square, when netanyahu vowed to destroy hamas. and yet all these months later, when perhaps a deal could have been made months earlier, we're still seeing hamas in force.

>> yeah, it has been a focal point of conversation here in israel over the course of the last week since we saw that. >> first. >> hostage release last sunday. everyone in israel has been talking about those stunning images of these masked fighters from hamas's al-qassam brigades, armed to the teeth in what appeared to be, you know, uniforms and very good condition vehicles in very good condition. and many people in israel asking how after 15 months of war, can hamas still be in that position? now, we should also note, of course, that hamas is trying to appear more powerful than they currently are. they have been devastated in many ways by 15 months of war in gaza. hamas today is not the hamas that it was before october 7th, but nonetheless, to see that kind of show of force has been quite stunning for the israeli public, which has been sold. this notion of absolute victory by the israeli prime minister over the

course of this war, and certainly even if hamas is diminished, they certainly have shown that they are not gone and that they still retain quite a considerable force. but we also know, of course, is and this is these are the words of the secretary of state, antony blinken, the previous secretary of state, i should say, just a couple of weeks ago, saying that hamas has replenished many of their ranks over the course of this war, because, of course, we know that the deaths of people in gaza has driven people to take up arms. people who previously had not taken up arms, now joining hamas as well. and that, of course, all raises major strategic questions about the israeli prime minister's directives and his goals here in the war in gaza. >> all right, listen, jeremy diamond, we really appreciate the reporting there live in tel aviv. we'll come back to you a little bit later. thank you so much. i want to bring in gideon levy, columnist with the israeli

newspaper haaretz. joining us also from tel aviv. um, first, let's just start with with the emotions. actually seeing those four hostages being released. take me through your reaction to to seeing those scenes as they are playing out here on, on television. >> you see, one of the hostages was reported as seriously injured. and here we see them on their legs. all the four, and they look good. i must say. and they look happy, obviously, but it is a very strong emotional moment for every israeli. and. and with, with the happiness. there are so many concerns as we talked before. the concerns are there and the happiness is there. israel is united today in the happiness, but the concern and the big cloud is still overhead. >> yeah. and specify exactly

what that cloud is. obviously that's going on to the next phase of this agreement. and trying to get a permanent ceasefire and possibly a permanent peace deal so first of all, they are still around 90 hostages that should be released. >> hopefully most of them are alive. then you have to get to the second phase. and the third phase, in which israel has to withdraw from the gaza strip, which is very doubtful right now. i don't see this government doing it. and then comes the question again and again, what will be in gaza? i mean, we are talking about 2.3 million people who are now in hell. who is going to save them from hell? who is going to rehabilitate gaza? who is going to run gaza? who is going to take care of all those hundreds of thousands of uprooted people? traumatized. injured, starving, sick? i mean, i'm not sure that

none of us can imagine. what does it mean to live in gaza? in the last one and a half years? they are calling also for some attention for some care. >> yeah, absolutely. and as we are seeing the, the the joy expressed in the israelis as we show the moment that those four hostages were released, certainly plenty of questions about what happens next. do you get a sense that it is possible to progress to the next phase? >> so first of all, we see a very well organized hamas. it must be said they are still governing. and how? look at this ceremony. they're armed. hamas members. the whole operation until now, until now, is is going well and and things that were agreed are now implemented. it shouldn't be taken for granted. secondly,

it's very clear that hamas is running gaza right now, even though israel is claiming for this total victory, which is hardly a victory. and for sure not totally, but the question is, is it possible to get to the second and third phase? yes, but there is one condition. the israeli government has to to agree to withdraw from the gaza strip and to put a final end to this war. and unfortunately, i don't see this happening unless the american administration will really put pressure on israel as i would expect them to do in order to put an end, first of all, to the war and to the suffering of gaza. >> yeah. what kind of pressure do you think president trump first can exert? and second, will exert on netanyahu? >> he knows very well how to do it exactly like joe biden didn't know how to do it. and you saw the the evidence when he

sent his envoy two weeks ago to. netanyahu on saturday. and within hours, netanyahu gave up all his conditions and signed the deal. what happened there in this room? when the envoy came to jerusalem, the outcome was very clear. netanyahu followed the american. dictates almost, i would say very good ones, by the way, but without this, we would continue and continue like it was under biden, with all kind of trips, round trips of the secretary of state and other envoys, which led to nowhere. >> certainly there is reason for pessimism, but we still have to emphasize how much joy and relief there is right now. as we saw about half an hour ago, the four israeli hostages being released, gideon levy in tel aviv. thank you so much for being with us. really appreciate

it. all right. >> thank you for having me. >> i want to bring in ambassador alon pinkas, former israeli consul general in new york, joining us live via skype from tel aviv. good to see you again. we just spoke yesterday, you know, hoping for moments like these, seeing those four hostages released. take me through the emotions as you were watching along. >> well, kim, you know, it's just like you have a split screen on television. you have a split screen, and, you know, inside people's minds. on the one hand, there is elation. i mean, real jubilation. and, you know, looking at the the anticipation and then looking at the footage of the four soldiers, but then the other stream screen is devoted to those who are not returning today, those who are not on the list, those who will hopefully be on the list next week. and that's a gut wrenching. and so you have this,

this, you know, um swing wild swing of of emotions between the happiness on the one hand and the anxiety and apprehension that something will go wrong, on the other hand. >> yeah, absolutely. still, we have to emphasize that there was so much joy visible, not just, uh, amongst the families, but amongst the wider israeli public, as we're showing images from from hostage square, people clapping and and people crying with, with joy, uh, you know, just so much emotion right now pouring through the country. >> yes, absolutely. i was there an hour ago for just ten minutes to, to to, you know, to get the sense of, to get to feel what it was. and it's exactly the way you described it and indeed your correspondents reporting from there. have described it. you have to understand something,

you know, for the benefit of our viewers in israel, the which is what which explains some of the um, um, ferocious anger against netanyahu in israel. um, someone who someone's son or daughter or brother or father or cousin who goes into the army is everyone's son and and when when someone is killed in action, there is a national mourning. and when someone is taking being taken hostage or prisoner of war. everyone, everyone delves into the tiniest of details. and so what you see now is a very natural reaction to a situation that that, you know, in the israeli mindset was unfathomable, that they will be hostages, be be held hostages by hamas in gaza for over 15 months. that that was, uh, you know,

unpalatable to the israeli mindset and to the israeli guts. so what you see now is a not not not fully, but you see, in an eruption of emotion and happiness and that i don't know if if you wanted to go there, kim. that would also that will also increase the political pressure on netanyahu to keep on going with this agreement. um, rather than listen to his right wing lunatics who want to, um, opt out of phase two. >> well, you went there. so let's talk about that political pressure, because certainly there was a lot of anger as well in hostage square, as we've seen, protest after protest demanding netanyahu bring these hostages home. um, and not just pressure from within israel. i want to take advantage of your experience as consul general in new york, as well, to give the american perspective here, because certainly, as i was speaking with gideon levy, there will be some pressure from president trump to

end this war. the question is, does he exert that pressure? will he exert that pressure? and what form might it take? >> well, he did exert that pressure. and arguably, um, his election and then his, uh, repeated, uh, demands that this be wrapped up before the 20th of january, before inauguration day. that was the game changer. i mean, what made this happen was the commitment and the dedication of the qatari intermediaries. but what actually put it over the line was trump um, now now we have to go into the, uh, less optimistic side. i don't think that trump did this or is doing this, exerting this pressure because he has some grand designs for the israeli-palestinian issue and because he thinks this should be settled once and for all. and i don't think he's convening any brain trusts to come up with innovative new novel ideas on how to solve

this. i just think he wants this to go away. and unlike president biden, who allowed netanyahu to manipulate and take him for a ride, um, trump is going to be very impatient and very angry if this doesn't go smoothly, which is why. and i heard mr. levy tell you this, which is why he sent his envoy here and basically, um, forced netanyahu into doing this despite his better job, despite netanyahu's better judgment. >> yeah. listen, uh, it's always a pleasure speaking with you. i think that's a very apt image that you, um, gave us about the split screen that we're not only just seeing on tv, but also in, in israelis hearts on this on this bittersweet day. ambassador alon pinkas, thank you so much. really appreciate it. >> thank you kim. always. >> all right. i want to go to our nada bashir who is live in the west bank town of beitunia

near the ofer prison. so listen, nada. we've been focusing here on the return of those four israeli hostages. but of course, the huge piece of this as well that we cannot ignore is the release of the palestinian prisoners as well. take us through exactly what's happening there right now well, that's right. >> we are expecting to see 200 palestinian prisoners being released today in exchange for four israeli hostages. under the terms of the agreement, what we're expecting to see is 50 palestinian prisoners being released for each israeli soldier, as opposed to the 30 palestinian prisoners for each israeli civilian hostage being released. so that's why we're seeing that higher number today among those prisoners being released, at least 121 of them, according to a list released by the palestinian prisoners society, have been serving life sentences. at least one or

multiple life sentences. many of them have affiliations with hamas and islamic jihad. and of course, 70 of them are expected to be deported. now, of course, this is the second exchange that we have seen since the ceasefire came into effect. and what's important to underscore is that we're seeing a slightly different exchange today. last weekend, what we saw was that the majority of prisoners being released were women. many of them had been held under administrative detention, meaning no charges had been laid against them. the makeup of the prisoners being released today is very different. as i mentioned, many of them serving life sentences and of course others serving more severe sentences as well. of course, they have been charged with those sentences, so that is what we are expecting to see today in terms of the process. of course, it remains unclear exactly when exactly in terms of the timing, we will see these prisoners being released. last weekend there was a huge amount of delay. in fact, we didn't see prisoners being released until around 1:00 or 2 a.m. in the morning. but we've been speaking to israeli forces on the ground just outside the

ofer prison here, who have said to us that what we may expect to see once again is israeli military vehicles leaving the prison complex and then clearing this area here around us. so we're on a hill just above the ofer prison. many have gathered here, many to watch the busses come out. others, of course, are members of the press. and what we saw last week is this area being forcibly cleared by israeli forces using tear gas. and we are expecting to see the same today. they do not essentially want to see anyone witnessing those busses coming out of the prison. but again, we are expecting to see significant gatherings once again in central parts of petunia and elsewhere in the occupied west bank to welcome the return of these prisoners. whether or not this is a more muted celebration, that remains to be seen. but that is certainly what we saw last week. and of course, this is among hundreds of palestinian prisoners that are set to be released. that's in addition, of course, to over a thousand from gaza that are also expected to be released in today's release. we're expecting to see 14 prisoners from gaza to be

freed from israeli jails. but again, the timing of when exactly we'll see that remains unclear. it's a little less busy this weekend, but we may see more people gathering to witness that release later on in the day. but we will be keeping an eye on those busses as they come in to ofer prison, in coordination, of course, with the red cross. kim. >> another um, based on on previous releases. do we know sort of what condition generally these these prisoners come back in? >> well, look, we spoke to many of the prisoners who were released last week. all of them spoke to us of the harsh conditions they faced while in israeli jails. many of the women spoke to us of significant violations of their rights and privacy. as women. we spoke to many who said that they had faced severe restrictions on food, on water, on access to essential hygiene products, that they face, strip searches regularly that they weren't able to access adequate time with legal representatives, and of course, any time with family

members. and of course, this isn't new. we've been hearing such reports and recounts of the treatment of palestinians in israeli jails for some time now, from multiple human rights organizations, including the un human rights office, which in a report back in july of 2024, detailed many of these allegations of restrictions on prisoners rights and restrictions on food and water, on medicine, on access to outside information. so it is safe to say that the conditions faced by many of these palestinian prisoners are stark. and, of course, what's also important to note is that the process in terms of releasing them today is a long process. many are being brought from other prisons onwards into the ofer prison behind me, where they will then be released. so it is a transfer process. and what many of the prisoners spoke to us about last week was that this process was extremely difficult. some of them said that they had been essentially handcuffed and blindfolded, dragged on the ground while handcuffed and on the prison grounds that they were then made to watch a 92nd video of israeli propaganda on a loop for four hours while outside in the cold

with very thin layers. and this was recounted to us by several palestinian prisoners. and we have reached out to the israeli prison service. they have said that they are not aware of any such claims, that their prison guards and officers operate under israeli law. but again, these are not new allegations, and they are allegations that we have heard from multiple prisoners who have experienced this, whether or not we hear the same from prisoners today, of course, we will be hoping to speak to them later, but it is something that has become a trend amongst palestinian prisoners detained in israeli jails. >> despite those conditions that you've described. still, we've talked about the emotional moments on the israeli side with the cheering in the hostage square at the release of these israeli hostages. and we showed some moments of the of the the families of one of the hostages being just so elated at the return. we also have to focus on the palestinian side as well.

those emotional reunions of families, some of whom have been separated for for years. >> absolutely. and that is certainly what we saw last week during those celebrations and reunions. prisoners have released detainees coming down from those busses and immediately going to find their family members and hugging them. it was it was hugely emotional. many of them were young women, of course, who have been separated from their family. we were able to sit down with one of those released detainees, rula hassanein, a palestinian journalist who has been or had been in detention since march 2024, and she was detained when her baby daughter was just nine months old. and it was deeply emotional for her. her daughter didn't even recognize her. of course, she is still only a year and seven months old, and she is still now adjusting to life with having her mother back home. and rula hasnain, a well-known journalist here in the occupied west bank. palestinian journalist. she was detained for social media posts which were suspended, but were posts in which she expressed frustration over the suffering of

palestinians in the gaza strip. so you can imagine this is for many, particularly those who are held under administrative detention, many of whom were, which means no charges were laid against them, that they had no clear timeline as to when they would face trials. it was hugely emotional to be released. many of them were only given a heads up around a few hours before that release actually began. in terms of the process of getting them out of the dumont prison, where many of the women were held. onwards to the ofer prison, we heard from one prisoner saying that it was like death inside the prison, that she felt like she was dying over and over again and didn't know when she would be released. so it is a hugely emotional moment for many palestinians here. and that is exactly why you will see hundreds gathering in the streets to welcome this as a moment of celebration for them. and of course, today will likely be the same. >> absolutely. nada bashir appreciate your reporting there. i want to go now to cnn's jeremy diamond, who is live in hostage square in tel aviv. and, jeremy, we can report now that the idf

says that those four hostages who were released are now on israeli soil. such a huge relief for families across israel. >> yeah. that's right. this crowd actually just erupted in cheers once again as that news was just broadcast on a large television screen here at hostages square. those four female israeli soldiers held captive by hamas for more than 15 months now firmly on israeli soil, and they are indeed on their way to that military base at re'im, where we expect that they will be able to embrace their mothers for the first time. they will also get somewhat of an initial medical evaluation there to see how they are doing before they are ultimately transported to a hospital here in central israel. we were at that base last week as those first three israeli hostages were brought there as

part of this six week ceasefire, and we saw as they remained at that base for about two hours, meeting with israeli military officials. but of course, spending a little bit of time with their mothers before being taken by helicopter to a hospital here on the outskirts of tel aviv. now i just want to show you the crowd around me here a little bit, because you can see there are hundreds, if not thousands of people who have gathered here in hostage square, many of them holding posters of people who are still being held hostage today by hamas. and so coupled with that joy that people are feeling here for the release of those four israeli soldiers who have been held captive by hamas, we are also, of course, seeing calls for the release of the remaining hostages. every so often we hear chants. breakout, say, calling for the release of hostages. now they chant. now, now all the

hostages. now they are talking about their release. those are the same chants that we have seen animate the weekly protests that have been held here at hostage square, as well as at bogan gate in front of the israeli military headquarters, just a few steps away. and expect those chants to continue. people are happy. people are relieved to see these hostages released now, but they also recognize that there are dozens more still being held inside of gaza, their fate unknown and their fate also uncertain, depending on whether or not the israeli government and hamas can reach an agreement to extend the six week ceasefire and to go into something more permanent that will see the release of the remaining hostages. >> shabbat chol hatufim. >> in israel is to bring all of those hostages home. but is there a sense there in the crowd amongst those that you speak to, a sense of exhaustion, a sense that they just want the war to be over? and it certainly must have been

not lost on anybody seeing so many hamas fighters gathered there in that square in gaza, heavily armed, that hamas still stands. >> without a doubt, those have been difficult images for the israeli public to digest. see hamas still standing after 15 months of war and not only still standing, but also coming out with quite a significant show of force with. >> jeremy, we're going to have to leave it there. i'll come back to you in the next hour, because we do want to bring you idf spokesperson daniel hagari. let's let's listen in. >> i would like to know about the conditions. we have to act responsibly. it's. irresponsible to listen to other sources that there are no official sources. please don't spread rumors. it's important. we continue with the agreement to

return of the hostages, and we are waiting for additional hostages that are intending to come in the next few weeks. hamas did not fulfill its agreement to return civilians first. we are going to make sure that she. that we have serious concern about their condition about shiri and the baby's family, that they will come as soon as possible. we appreciate the work of the mediators and we insist that the civilians will come as soon as possible. we have commitment to all the civilian hostages to agam and the soldiers that are still kept in the hamas captivity, with without appropriate conditions. in the last few

hours, hamas shows their cynical way of organizing this ceremony. they. showed this charade, show that they are taking care of these hostages. but effectively they are holding the hostages for 40, 77 days with no reason. we will not going to be quiet until all of them will come to the soil of israel. we are still in the in the gaza and we are protecting the envelope settlements of gaza and behind this mission, the soldiers are standing. who are fighting for 15 months and paying the price. the heavy price and of course, the 841. death soldiers that died in the battles and others that