i was on a work trip when the pulmonary embolism happened. but because i have 23andme, i was aware of that gene. that saved my life. only sleep number smart beds let you each choose your individual firmness and comfort. your sleep number setting. and actively cools and warms up to 13 degrees on either side. and now, the new queen sleep number c2 smart bed is only $990 plus free home delivery when you add an adjustable base. ends cyber monday. only at sleep number. jon: hamas has just released another group of hostages, 13 israelis and 4 other foreign

nationals now in egypt after crossing true the rafah crossing earlier tonight. their release delayed this afternoon after hamas claimed israel was not letting enough aid into gaza. qatari and egyptian mediators god involve -- got involved and cleared that up. good evening. i'm jon scott, and this is a special 2-hour edition of "the fox report." ♪ ♪ jon: today's hostage release follows yesterday's first round which saw hamas free 13 israelis, 10 thai nationals and a filipino under two separate deals. lucas tomlinson is in nantucket, massachusetts, with the president, but let's begin with jeff paul. he is in southern israel right now. jeff. >> reporter: yeah, jon, a very tense day here in israel, but the second day of the hamas-israel temporary ceasefire appears to be holding.

it did get off to a rocky start. severe delays in this second batch of hostages released, and that's in part because hamas accused israel of not holding up to their side of the agreement. they said that not enough aid trucks were making their way from the border into northern gaza. they also took issue with exactly who was being released from israeli prisons. on the other hand, you had the israeli government saying they were actually holding up their end and it was hamas who was holding back these hostages. but at the end of the day, qatari, egyptians and even some u.s. negotiators all got together, figured it out. here we are on, entering our third day of this tense ceasefire, and they did, in fact, release the group of hostages. now, we understand from some of the images we're seeing this group of hostages, they were handed over to the red cross. they made it to the rafah crossing. from the rafah crossing, they entered egypt, and they are now on their way back to israel just like we saw yesterday. we're learning a little bit more

about exactly who was released. we have 13 israelis and 4 foreign nationals. we're getting a few of the names of the israelis who were believed to be released today. we've got noem and alma orr. their father still remains in hamas hands. emily happened. you might remember her as the 9-year-old girl whose father went viral expressing his grief when he found out at the time that he had thought his daughter was actually killed, and he expressed relief knowing that she would not have to go through being held captive by hamas. she is among those released today. then you have audi and a family that has been released. and then one of the ones that is more unique is you have health care ilal, a 12-year-old released, but her mother remains in captivity. all of these hostages being released so far, they all have their own unique stories, they all have their own injuries,

mental injuries, that they will be going through. they are on their way likely to the hospital where they will be assessed and also likely meet up with their families, jon. jan jan -- jon: i got to wondering about the process. i'm sure that when hamas wants its prisoners returned, that it sends a list of names to the israelis. whether the israelis comply with that list is, i suppose, up to them. is there any way the israelis put out some of -- kind of a list that they would like to see released? >> reporter: well, i know every day the israeli government right around this time, in fact, yesterday is when they got the list. but they get a list at least for the last two days, they'll be getting a list, and then they have to make the tough calls. they have to call the families of those who are getting out and the people who are not getting out. and that is what sort of makes this whole process so bittersweet. you talk to the families who have had their loved ones come back from being held by hamas,

and they express it's very bit tweet because they know there are still -- bitter bittersweet. as far as who's coming out, at this point israel just wants all of them home, and that's what they've long said, they want to get everyone home. it appears right now it's mostly women and children. hopefully, is some of those fathers and grandfathers start appealer on that list -- appealer on that list as well as some americans. jon: and they've also made it clear they're going to keep up the military action until they get all of their hostages home, although there is this ceasefire on for another 24 hours or so. jeff paul in southern israel, thank you. the white house says president biden helped resolve the delay in releasing the second group of hostages by speaking today with qatari mediators. lucas tomlinson is live in nantucket where the president is spending the holiday weekend. lucas. >> reporter: well, jon, president biden is on vacation here in nantucket. his aides say he's been working the phones all day.

we heard from the white house earlier that he spoke to the leaders from qatar, from egypt and from israel as well trying to break this impasse, the hours-long delay on this second hostage release. and president biden just spoke to reporters just moments ago, just before we went on air, jon, a reporter asked him about the hostages. we're assuming the president thought the question was about the american hostages. the president said hopefully we hear good news soon. he also spoke yesterday and was very candid about when he thinks american hostages will be released. >> we don't know when that will occur, but we're going to -- we expect it to occur. but we know the numbers who are going to be released. it's my hope and expectation that it'll be soon. >> reporter: do you know all of -- [inaudible] are they all alive? >> we don't know all their conditions. >> reporter: so dramatic scene here, you know, in nantucket at least contrasting with what we're getting from jeff paul, you know, from gaza. you know, while this tension

about the hostages being released outside gaza, here in nantucket a different story. the president shopping with the first lady this afternoon. he arrived in town at about a 3:00. for the last few hours, he's just been window shopping, going into various places, hundreds of onlookers cheering him, some booing but mostly cheering, a lot of children happy to sea th. the president just walked in to mass at 5:00 where he'll be there. hopefully, we'll be able to ask him more questions when the president comes out about this latest hostage release, and certainly find out more about when american hostages are coming out. it's also notable what the president said yesterday. let's just play one more sound bite from the president's press conference yesterday, jon. >> my expectation and and hope is that as we move forward, the rest of the arab world and the region is also a putting pressure on all sides to slow this down, to bring this to an end as a quickly as we can.

>> reporter: so it's pretty clear here in nantucket that president biden, he wants to see this war come to an end. you did not hear about hamas being destroyed. certainly, the president wants to see israel win this war, but right now white house officials say the president is putting pressure on israel. they want to see this ceasefire, this truce extended to get more hostages outs. as we heard from jeff, over 200 remain in captivity. we know that up to 10 americans remain in captivity inside gaza including a 4-year-old who turned 4 yesterday, and hamas refused to release her on her birthday, jon. jon: lucas, it's my understanding you said the president has a lot of supporters there on nantucket. a few boos, but it's my understanding that some of the pro-palestinian protesters have actually found him there and have been, you know, shouting at him as he pops his head in and out of various businesses. >> reporter: they were out in full force yesterday, jon. we certainly saw them just after

the president made those remarks when he walked to lunch. he was met with pro-palestinian protesters. and also last night at the annual christmas tree lighting. in fact, the emcee of the event had to take the mic and say this is not a political event, you know, this is a christmas tree lighting. but there was certainly a lot of protesters. but today a different story. we did not see them. when the president arrived about 3:00 this afternoon walking the streets, we did not hear them, we did not see them. we saw from the local nantucket current that some did appear if earlier this afternoon, actually, i was out on the street, jon, because i was going to ask the president about a 2024 and if he thought he was too old to run for re-election, the president said, that's stupid. but anyway, i was out there, and i did not see too many of the protesters. jon: the protesters probably couldn't find overnight lodging on nantucket this time of year -- [laughter] so they had to beat it back to the mainland. lucas tomlinson with the in nantucket, thank you.

let's bring in the israel defense force's spokesperson, major, the oran spielman, who also serves in the idf reserves. tell us about this prisoner release. 17 released, e once -- we understand. is that the extent of it for today? >> thank you for having me, jon with. we are certainly on the verge of celebration as those hostages, the 17 -- you are correct, 13 israelis, many of them young, young children who were snatched from their bed, and 4 thai civilians as we speak. they're crossing over the border. they're going to have medical checks and then brought to hospitals where they are going to be reunited with their families. and this is really a mixed emotion because on one happened they're going to be -- hand, they're going to be the embraced by their families, by the state

of israel. and on the other hand, a number of these children, their family members have been killed, and they actually don't have that information. so there is a tragedy that is really locked in with this joy, and it's just the symbol of the tragedy that hamas inflicted upon israel. but we're happy to begin getting our people home. jon: it is my understanding that the convoy of the former hostages is now on israeli territory, so that is very, very good news. but we are still talking about relatively small numbers compared to the roughly 230 to # hostages that were original ally taken, only about -- originally taken, only about a little over 10% have been released now. >> absolutely. the vast majority of our people are still inside those tunnels deep inside the belly of of the everett. we don't know -- of the earth. we don't know if they're alive or dead. hamas has refused to row the red cross to check them. again, this is a heinous --

imagine what these people are going through. they haven't seen the light of day. we don't know their health. and just being kept there, it's inhumane, a violation of human rights. it's a war crime, and we have said and we're very, very clear, we're committed to this framework to bring with home as many hostages as we can as a it allows. we will do whatever we need to do to bring home all of our hostages. for us, this is a pause. our military objectives are not only on the teenage, we're committed to this because all of our people have to come home. we have to make sure, jon, this can never happen again. not to us and not to anyone else. jon: we haven't really spoken about this, but palestinian prisoners were released from israeli custody as part of this deal, correct? can you tell us about who they are? >> absolutely. there's a vast difference here. we are talking about israeli hostages that were snatched from their beds in the middle of the night. if the prisoners that are we are releasing are all, have all have

associations with either terrorism or very security-based criminal activity. we are releasing people who you wouldn't want your children playing with. these are people who have thrown molotov cocktails, have stabbed people, have attempted murder and associates -- associations with hamas and other terror-related groups. it's a painful thing for us to be able to allow them to go back into society because we're afraid that a they'll carry this out again, but it's a price that we're willing to pay. we hope that they are going to try to live a life of hope, but it's what we're willing to pay in order to bring our people home. jon: do you know anything about the status of future hostage negotiations, future releases? >> we do. we are committed to the agreement, the framework that is being ushered by egypt, by qatar, of course, with the involvement of the united states says that over the next two days there's going to be a continual round of release of israelis, of

israeli hostages being held. we're expecting 13 more tomorrow, hopefully 13 more the following day, and and we're just with waiting for our people to come home. and each of these waves, jon, is a journey unto itself. these people, their journey has just begun. just the mental, the therapy, the psychological process that they're going to need to go through not only dealing with family members who have been killed, they actually don't know about october 7th. they don't understand what has happened. they don't understand the gravity and the scale of this attack. this is going to take months if not years for these people to reintegrate into society and, hopefully, live positive lives. jon: obviously, the number of israeli hostages is huge, far outweighs any of those of any other country, but obviously i'm reporting for an american-based news channel. so far american hostages continue to be held, no releases

yet. do you have any idea why that is? >> you knowing we have, of course, wondered the same thing on the israeli side. we want the release of all of these hostages completely. why we have not seen these american hostages come home is not known to us. what we do know is everything hamas does, we have to understand, if this is a opportunity for hamas to inflict emotional pain, they will do so. one example is we're 8 hours behind schedule right now. the families that were notified that their family, their loved ones are coming home have been waiting for # 8 hours. all of a sudden we heard the agreement was off and then it's back on. these delaying tactics are part of the psychological warfare hamas is waging. they are exploiting us, they're exploiting you and the meshes. -- americans. the taking of these hostages is just participant of what they do. therefore -- part of what they do. therefore, we can assume whatever's going on here is in order to inflict emotional pain. we are going to do everything, we're committed to bringing all

the hostages home, israeli, american and foreign nationals. jon: hamas also blamed your side, the israeli side, for some kind of a hold-up in the release earlier today. they said they were putting it on pause because the israelis were not living up to their agreements. can you explain? >> that is simply not true. we have committed to this agreement. it's being moderated by egypt and qatar. we have adhered to it, we have kept our word. we've honored all elements of that agreement. in fact, we have stopped firing on hamas meaning we have, we have the noose around hamas' neck, and we're closing in on them, and they were feeling that. and in order to allow our hostages to come, we've held back our fire. we've adhered to it. qatar and egypt are working tirelessly to try to insure that hamas will adhere to this as well. they've broken many agreements in the past. we're hoping this one time they will be able to keep to their word so we can see these

innocent people who have been living this life of terror come home. we as a nation, their families and the israeli people and i know people around the world, are all waiting for them just to come back to safety. and it's in hamas' hands to keep their word. jon: speaking of people around the world, there have been huge pro-palestinian and even pro-hamas demonstrations in places like new york and london and and germany. what do you say to the people who are out there protesting on behalf of the palestinians and, frankly, against israel? >> what we've seen is really just, i think, something that is almost grotesque in how either misinformed or misdirected they are. we're talking about people when some understand, some may not, they are supporting an organization that if those people had been on the israeli border cities inside israel at that time, they would have been killed, cut down, massacred and

taken hostage. it's just simply naivete to support an organization that their main objective calls for the destruction of israel and the death of a jewish person anywhere around the world. they need to be ashamed, they need to mend their ways, and they need to come and apologize because it's like standing with hitler as he walks into berlin. they may not understand what they're doing, but this is what we're talking about, true evil. are true evil. jon: how much of those protests do you think are being fomented by the iranians? >> i'm sure that they are behind a lot of what's going on, jon. the iranian access is everywhere around the world. the largest sponsor of state terrorism. i wouldn't be with surprised if we didn't find direct links to this in the future. and i think this is really a question, i say that as an american as well as an israeli, when i see this in my own family that lives in america in various places, i'm worried for their safety because iran -- their terror doesn't stop at israel's

doorstep. we just happened to be first. their goals are world terrorism. just the same reason why our war with hamas is not just a war with israel are. hamas has its sights around the world, and i think many people in the world understand this. we have to be dedicated to wiping out this evil because it's against freedom. it's against good. it is evil against good. and that's what we're facing. we just happen to be on the front line. jon: again, there is a bit of good news this evening. the banner is on our screen right now, 7 children and 6 women released from hamas captivity in gaza. four of those we believe to be tha a i nationals, the others are israelis, and they are all now, we understand, on israeli soil. your final thoughts as we wrap this up, major. >> you know, it's a ray of light in a a are dark period, jon. -- in a very dark period. it's prayers that have been answered, and it gives all of us

hope to keep praying, to keep working hard, to keep up with our military activity. and we are thankful to the american people for standing behind us, ultimately speaking, good will defend evil, and we're going to see that in getting home the rest of our people. jon: all right. major doron spielman of the israeli defense forces, again, it's good news tonight, and that's been in very short supply in your corner of the world. thanks very much for coming on with us tonight. >> thank you, sir. jon: our coverage of this latest release of hostages, most of them the israelis, four from thailand, that coverage continues when "the fox report," a special edition, returns. ♪ ♪

jon: our coverage of israel's war on hamas continues. here is a look at some headlines. the idf says hamas has are released 17 hostages from gaza; 13 israelis and 4 thai nationals who left gaza in red cross vehicles in the past hour. they are now on israeli soil. their release was delayed for hours. earlier today after hamas claimed israel was not letting enough aid into gaza. mediators from qatar and egypt helped resolve that issue. in exchange for today's hostages being released, israel said it would free 39 palestinian prisoners. hamas released the first round of hostages yesterday, 13 israelis, 10 # thai nationals and 1 filipino. for more on these and other stories, download the fox news app, scan the qr code on your scream e or go to foxnews.com/apps. we are hearing more stories from the survivors of the october 7th hamas attack

including one from a former idf soldier who might have saved hundreds of lives. dana if marie mcnichol has more. >> reporter: jon, recounting that pain and chaos of that morning was really difficult for 24-year-old who spoke to a group of people in miami. after experiencing one of the best days of his life, he remembers hundreds of terrorists from every direction shooting at him and his friends. as a former member of the israel defense forces, he switched into survival mode. >> somebody got shot right next to me, so i fulled him close -- pulled him close, and i did what i thought i knew best, i took out my belt and tried to treat him as best as i could. i tried to stop his bleeding from his leg. >> reporter: he describes thousands of people in an open field screaming, running and hiding. he gathered as many people as he could to escape the horror, at one point he looked back and hundreds of people were following him.

they walked 30 miles to safety. >> the first person i saw when i entered my house was my mom, and i hugged her and told her -- i lied to her that i was okay, but i was really frightened. and i didn't really have the mentality to tell her that i was getting shot at and people were dying around me, and i didn't want her to get scared. >> reporter: once levin got home, he took a 3-hour nap and quickly returned to the fighting. he's now traveling the country sharing his story, jon 'em. jon: what a story it is. dana marie mcnichol, thank you. more of our special edition of "the fox report" just ahead. ♪ ♪ this is a hot flash. this is a hot flash. but this is a not flash. ♪ i got a good feeling ♪ there's big news for women going through menopause.

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after starting golo and taking release, i immediately saw an improvement in my waistline. a lot of people expect to fall apart as they age, but since taking release, i've never felt better. thanks to golo, i'm 66 but i feel like i'm 36. (soft music) jon: the second group of hostages released by hamas now back on israeli soil. 13 israeli women and children plus 4 thai nationals. today's release delayed after hamas spokesperson accused israel of not keeping its end of the deal claiming israel was holding up an aid a truck the enroute to gaza. jeff paul is live in southern israel with the latest on this rare bit of good news coming out of gaza. jeff. jr. well, yeah, jon, i think there's a huge sense of relief knowing that these 13 hostages are now back in israel where they belong.

they have spent 50 days in hamas captivity, and now they are home getting checked out. we're also learning the vast majority of them, 12 of them are in good condition, there is 1 person who needs to undergo an operation, but it is not anywhere near something they would describe as life threatening. now, the day starlet thed extremely, extremely intense. we were expecting the first group of hostages to come out in the late afternoon just like they did on friday. however, that process got very delayed, and that was in part hamas saying that israel wasn't living up to its side of the bargain, they were upset about the number of aid trucks that were being sent up to northern gaza. eventually, israel, you know, put out a statement saying that it wasn't them, it was hamas, in fact, that was playing games and and this was another example of their psychological warfare. now, above all we know that 7 kids and 6 women were released today, and i want to highlight a few of their stories.

emily hand, the 9-year-old girl previously thought dead you might remember her father giving a very heart felt interview about the sense of relief he he had knowing that his daughter didn't have to go through what he would consider torture by ma has. we're also learning hila, a 12-year-old girl kidnapped along with her mom, her mom, as we understand it, is not among those freed today. so usually they've been trying to keep the kids together with their parents. there's also a 67-year-old, her husband, her sister, her brother-in-law and if their caregiver were all killed on october 7th. she is now back in israel. they're going to be going to the hospital. they're going to be assess ised, and eventually they will be meeting with their family members. but, jon, you've got to understand the amount of psychological injuries they must be going through just being held by a terrorist group for that long. jon? jon: we've been running, jeff, as you've been speaking, some of the pictures of those released

today, primarily the young children. and, you know, it's great to see their photos and the know that they are free, but it's also appalling to think that they were kidnapped and held as pawns by hamas for nearly two months. you know, good that they are out and we're grateful for that, but this is going to be a scar for each of those kids for the rest of their lives, i imagine. >> reporter: i mean, just being kidnapped alone for hours would be traumatic for a child's entire life. now imagine watching maybe your friends, maybe your relatives being killed by a terrorist group and then being kidnapped and then being taken to somewhere that's dark, a tunnel, and then having to experience that day in and day out for 50 days and magnify that by how many kids were taken. it's just unbelievable to think about what they're going through right now. and you saw yesterday some of

the kids who were released, the one 9-year-old boy who turned9 while held captive by hamas. he was playing with his friends and eating ice cream. unbelievable amount of strength that these kids are showing, jon. jon: and, you know, you have to wonder if they even know about the passage of time. they've been held, as you point out, in those underground tunnels where you can't distinguish day from night. it's not known, not clear how much information they were given about a even what day it's. so it would clearly be ease easy for them to think they've been held for maybe four weeks, you know, maybe twenty weeks, who knows? >> reporter: and you've got to think about the adults who were with them, the other israelis. you would hope that they were probably trying to somewhat distract them, to maybe try to make it a game. we've seen in previous instances where kids are kidnapped with their, you know, parents that they tried to sort of distract them. and if that's the case,

unbelievably incredible job by the people who were with them for them to come out and, like i said, seeing some of those images of the kids, the amount of strength that they are showing, i don't know many young kids who could go through that and be able to bounce back like that. but we will see. time will tell. and i'm sure, you know, israeli security forces are going to want to have conversations with all these people who have been released so far. we've got 26 israelis who have come out, that's 26 different vantage points and experiences that they're going to want to understand exactly what they experienced and saw. jon: yeah. that first handful of hostages released said they were held in the tunnels, and they described them as a spider web of tunnels. those are the tunnels that are many, many, many feet under gaza. i guess the good news is that, you know, the israeli forces have been going after those tume tried to be as careful as they can in not threatening the

hostages' lives, not taking the hostages' lives when they blow up those tunnels which is their preferred means of just getting rid of them. >> reporter: yeah. and israeli forces, jon, from the beginning of this said that their mission, their operation is in gaza is twofold; a, to get the hostages back but also to root out hamas. and people have dissed hem in the -- them in the last couple of days how does this change the military option in gaza a and, frankly, the idf says nothing has changed. they're adhering to the ceasefire, but as we stand out here in southern israel, you're not hearing the booms of the outgoing artillery, but you are hearing the roars of the military vehicles going up and down the street here. we're about a mile and a half away from the israel-gaza border. so their operations will continue. it's the unclear when fighting could resume, it is going to resume. we've heard that, you know, the qataris are here in israel. they've been trying to negotiate an extension to this 4-day ceasefire. that would have to include more

hostages coming out, jon. jon: we'll see. philadelphia be great if that happens, but i guess -- it would be great if that happens, but i guess don't hold your breath is good advice here. jeff paul in southern israel, doing a great e job, thank you. so the white house says president biden spoke today with qatari mediators as they worked to resolve the delay that hamas suddenly announced in releasing the second group of hostages. for more on u.s. foreign policy efforts, let's bring in dr. rebecca grant, president of iris independent research, national security and military analyst, also a fox news contributor. okay, good news today, dr. grant, without question. another 17 hostages released, mostly women and children. but the big picture is hamas raided israel and killed more than 1,000 people and took 230 people hostage a, i believe is the number, and a good number of those hostages, most of them are still locked up.

>> that's right. and while it's good news to see some releases, you know, let's go back and focus on what ma ha. they specifically chose very vulnerable people. infames, children, women, older people and took those as hostages. why? because that increases hamas' leverage. and as we know, they've made some videos of these hostages. they're trickling out the release. they have this hold-up of 8 hours told. so hamas has done this very deliberately. that's about all navy got, they've got their tunnels, their terror attacks and these hostages. and they have done this on purpose. and if we've seen the response from the u.s. and israel both saying they intend to get all of the captives back and will keep military pressure on until it happens. jon: and it's been a more than 2 to 1 swap on the part of the israelis. they had 39 palestinian prisoners, it's my

understanding, you know, people who were convicted of serious crimes, and those people have now been released back into the arms of hamas in exchange for these 17 hostages. >> yes. and you can hear the reluctance of the israelis to do it. in fact, this deal had to be approved by israel's cabinet. so they know they're taking a bit of a risk. on the other hand, there have been occasions in the past where israel had to release larger numbers of palestinian prisoners. so i think they're keeping it fairly tight. but at this point, israel has needed to do this to get this hostage release going. and as a netanyahu's explained, this is a day by day deal. as long as hamas continues to provide the promised number of hostages -- up to a total of 50 over the next couple of days -- then the ceasefire continues. if hamas messes that up, then israel is ready to attack again if something goes wrong with the

elites -- releases. jon: i'm old enough to remember the seizing of the u.s. embassy in tehran back in 1979. 52 americans were taken hostage. it became a national obsession really. we've got 10 americans held in, held by that a map -- held by hamas. do you think washington doing enough regarding those 10 americans? >> i think there's no question that the white house and president biden and some of his advisers in the middle east have been very, very involved. is it enough? we don't know. i think we really have to give credit to the emir of qatar and to president sisi in egypt for sticking with this. but it's clear american pressure in two ways, one, the diplomatic engagement and and also the immediate deployment after october 7th of additional u.s. military forces, that has kept the lid on iran and on the

iran-backed militias. and note that at least at the moment lebanese hezbollah, palestinian islamic jihad, the other area militias are also conforming to this ceasefire as hostages are released. so that may be a hopeful sign, we'll see. jon: yeah. there was a hamas commander a week or so ago in qatar who said that his group, hamas, did not expect the americans to rally to the aid, to the side of israel the way that we have. does that surprise you? >> well, hamas if has made a lot of mistakes here, and i think the release of the hostage as as we see these children especially coming out, we step back and say, wow, how could hamas do this, right? you know, they really are the bad guys. and, yes, i think they underestimated the strength of u.s. military deployments. i think they underestimated israel' resolve. -- israel's resolve. and i think they wanted lebanese

hezbollah to get involved, yes, there are border skirmishes, rocket fire, they shot down an israeli drone the other day, but basically lebanese hezbollah has not opened a second front up there in the north. so i think we're talking about, you know, does hamas survive, israel is very clear that hamas' military capability must be eradicated to restore israel's security. and frankly, jon, at this point for this region to have a way forward. and i think several other governments in the ream are not -- region are not happy with the chaos hamas has created. jon: yeah. israel's defense minister it would his troops, look, we're going to stay here in gaza until we finish this, until we wipe out hamas. that was their stated goal e on october 7th, and it remains their stated goal today. so i suppose, you know, hamas can continue to release hostages in dribs and drabs, but ultimately it's not going to change the eventual outcome.

>> and israel says that the war will still continue. i think the bigger question is what are their military objectives now in the south. they've taken out or destroyed about 600 tunnels. what more do they need to do down in that southern region to restore their security and israel's defense minister's also warned hezbollah, he says, or hey a, our air force is available, and if you launch something across the border at us, we will turn beirut into gaza. so he makes these very strong statements because their strategy is to keep the military pressure on hamas. don't forget the ceasefire is allowing hamas to regroup a little bit, israel's going to be watching their every move with help from u.s. surveillance. jon: that was another question i wanted to ask you about a because the israelis have always said these ceasefires are really just a chance for hamas to, you know, rest up a little bit, figure out a new strategy, maybe resupply, maybe send some

fighters scurrying through tunnels to other locations. what do you think is happening during this 4-day pause from the if standpoint of hamas? >> yes. and hamas could have released the 50 that they agreed to on one day, but i do think hamas is trying to regroup, trying to reassess their own strategy. but make no mistake, at the same time the israel keeping very, very close surveillance, and they'll specifically watch the areas that they've already cleared. they'll watch to see if hamas fighters are trying to move down into the south or regroup in other ways, and they'll be looking at resupply points and, again, trying to look for what they say they need, the key command and control sites and any other areas where they've got rocket launches, arsenals, other tunnels trying to identify the rest of that military target set that has to be disabled so that hamas cannot threaten israel in the same way again. jon: again, we are looking at the faces of some of those who

were released today, 17 hostages released by hamas in exchange for 39 palestinian prisoners held in israeli jails. most of them women and children along with four nationals of thailand released today. dr. rebecca grant, it's always good to have you on, thank you. >> thank you. jon: our coverage when this special edition of "the fox report" returns. right after this. ♪ my plaque psoriasis was so bad... i couldn't get my hair done. my psoriasis was all over. then my joints started hurting, found out it was psoriatic arthritis. who knew they could be connected? for me, cosentyx works on both. 5 years and counting. did you know people with psoriasis on the scalp have a 4 times higher risk of developing psoriatic arthritis, which if left untreated can lead to permanent joint damage?

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jon: once again our headline, 17 hostages released by hamas, 13 israelis, mostly women and children, as well as 4 thai nationals. we are waiting to hear from president biden after the hostage release today. lucas tomlinson is live in nantucket, massachusetts, where the president is spending his holiday speeding. weekend. lucas. >> reporter: well, jon, no american hostages were released today, and president biden was asked when they will be released, and the president just moments ago on the streets of nantucket said that, hopefully, we'll find something out soon is. and remember yesterday during that press conference, jon, the president was very candid, he just doesn't know when these american hostages, up to 10 that are being held tonight in gaza including 3 americans that were supposed to come out in this first wave of 50 hostages. now, just before we went on air, jon, the white house releasing a

statement after the president made a number of phone calls today, one of whom was to the i myrrh of qatar. i'm just going to read from it -- emir of qatar. the white house says the leaders discussed hurdles to implementation of the deal and and mechanisms for resolving those hurdles as soon as possible. it sounds like those hurdles, this problem was not involved -- solved, and the white house is still working on it so there's no more of these delays that we saw today, these hours-long delays. now, jon, something i heard rebecca grant say when, just a few minutes ago a talking about how many palestinian prisoners were having to be released in order to get these israeli hostages out, let's remind our viewers about gil add sharif, that israeli soldier captured by that miss in 2006. he was held for over five years, and it took israel to release over 1,000 the palestinian prisoners to get him back. who was prime minister at the

time? benjamin netanyahu. of so he knows all too well how high the stakes are and how many hostages it takes, how many prisoners you have to swap to get hostages released, jon. jon: good point. lucas tomlinson with the with president in nantucket, if we hear from the president later this evening, relate us know, lucas -- let us know, lucas, thanks. our coverage continues. 13 israeli women and children and 4 thai nationals set free after 50 days in captivity in exchange for 39 palestinian prisoners israel was holding. the idf says those freed hostages are now in israel. if let's bring in mike sorelli, a retired navy seal and former recon marine. he is also ceo of talent war group. as you look at this hostage negotiation, the swap, you know, palestinian prisoners for israeli and thai hostages and the others released yesterday,

what's your big picture thinking, mike, about how all of this is going and turning out? >> well, jon, let me say this, my heart goes out to the families that have been reunited with their loved ones. there's no greater way to ease their pain. but in a larger con tech, what you have is hamas who's emboldened by this ceasefire, especially in a deal where 3 palestinian prisoners are released for every 1 military hostage. hamas has overplayed their hand here. they believe they're in a strong the position because they're winning the information war and this relentless anti-israel media campaign across the globe which includes, unfortunately, a lot of americans in the street. what i'm fearful about is what lucas just brought up, is that in that exchange of 1,000 the palestinian prisoners in 2006, amongst them was one of the leaders of hamas and the mastermind of the october 7th massacre. so we've got to be cautious about the decisions and the

prisons we release today. -- prisoners we release today. it will have impacts down the road. jon: what would be your advice to the israelis? you know war. they have said they are not going to let up in gaza until all of those prisoners, all of those hostages are released and until hamas is eradicated. the can they -- can they do that? >> they can. israel has a phrase from the holocaust, never again. that should be the end goal, is the eradication of hamas in bringing all of the hostages home whether dead or alive, preferably alive. but you've got to understand too that this deal is playing to hamas. it's a win-win for hamas. if israel, which is between a hard wok -- a rock and a hard place, if they didn't do this, they would not be viewed as a civilized democracy committed to diplomacy and solving problems. but, jon, there is no diplomacy

when dealing with terrorists. so i think this is a strategic, morally strategic dilemma for israel and, quite frankly, i think it's extremely fragile in that eventually combat operations will resume. jon: you mentioned the fact that there are so many pro-palestinian protests around the globe. alan a dershowitz wrote an interesting piece in which he, you know, was forced to remind the world that, first of all, the palestinian people in gaza elected hamas as their leadership back in 2006. and, you know, he reminded us that there was that hamas terrorist on october 7th who picked up a phone and called home and said, oh, mom and dad, i'm so so excited, you should be so proud of me, i killed 10 of these jews, and his father says, oh, congratulations, son, that's great.

i mean, it's hard to e separate the palestinian people from hamas which is the government that they elected. >> jon, it's sanity in an insane world. about two sundays ago i went to brunch with my wife here in austin. , texas, and as we step into the restaurant, there was all these young college kids for a pro-palestinian demonstration. and i found it sod, what i think a lot of americans lack is per perspective which we can say is a lack of world travel. they haven't been to third world countries or war-torn countries. jon: right. >> and they donees -- don't understand. now, if this massacre, this brutality, dismemberment, you know, mutilation, rape, decapitation took mace in america -- place in america, we would not forget. we would not soon forget. and i think i need to are remind the american people during 9/11 palestinian people were celebrating in the streets at

the loss of 3,000 american lives. we can't, we can never let our memory be a short memory. it's got to be longstanding, and hamas has said -- hamas doesn't care about a two-country state. they care about the destruction of israel and the annihilation of all jews. they've said it. that is their goal. jon: you have obviously been a warrior as a navy seal. i'm sure you have been on some is, you know, intense hostage a rescue efforts. when you see these hostages coming out, we just had a picture up of the shifa medical center which is where this latest batch of 17 is going to be taken for medical evaluation, but it must -- well, tell us what goes through your mind when you see, you know, these folks being released after 50 days in

the hands of terrorists. >> well, jon, i appreciate saying i'm a warrior, but i was surrounded by them, lucky to be around them. with a hostage rescue mission, it is the one mission where the guys will put their lives at risk for speed to get to the hostages as a quickly as possible. and there have been many cases where during an active gunfight our service members have jumped on a hostage not knowing if they're going to be shot in the back to protect them -- jon: mike, we have a commercial break.coming up, i asked you too much question to answer. i appreciate your time. mike, thank you. >> absolutely. jon: we'll be right back with more "fox report" in just a moment. (ella) fashion moves fast. setting trends is our business. we need to scale with customer demand... ...in real time. (jen) so we partner with verizon

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the second group of hostages freed by hamas i