now at 11. a cease fire deal now

reached in the middle east. we're breaking down what the agreement includes, what it does not. and reaction from american families whose loved ones are being held hostage. good morning. thanks for joining us for our midday newscast. i'm marcus washington, and i'm laura garcia. senior officials from both sides say the deal ends 15 months of fighting in gaza, which started back in october of 2023. the war started after an attack where 1200 people were killed, 250 takenen hostage. moe than 100 were released in late november 2023 during a pause in the fighting in exchange for 240 palestinian prisoners. the agreement will also eventually free dozens of hostages, as well as palestinian prisoners in israeli jails. israel and hamas have not officially announced a deal, although a senior hamas official confirms the agreement.

if all is approved, the first group of hostages couldld come t on sunday, with more being released over time. cal state east bay professor lonnie evy brooks says while this deal provides hope, many things must still play out a few weeks or the weeks after the cessation of hostilities is going to be tricky because we will want to see, you know, how well israel feels secure and how how much hamas will try to attempt to reassert, reassert control over the of the gaza territory. and in that sense, that can cause more, you know, animosity. so. so the idea is, you know, can we have can can palestinians be able to have a government that serves them better than ham and can has israel not pursue a

strategy of further destruction as well? we are awaiting a special report from the white house. in fact, let's listen. here's lester holt. good day from new york. we're coming on the air with breaking news. president biden is about to speak on a major development in the middle east, a multi-phased ceasefire deal to end the 15 months of fighting between israel and hamas. this is a snapshot of the reaction in the region tonight. relief and jubilation in the streets of gaza. and these are the scenes from tel aviv calling for the release of the hostages. the first phase of the deal, as it's been outlined, would halt the war in gaza and include the flow of aid into that area and a swap of some palestinian prisoners for the release of israeli hostages. here now, is the president speaking? very good afternoon. because at long last i can announce a cease fire and

a hostage deal has been reached between israel and hamas. for more than 15 months of conflict that began with hezbollah's brutal massacre on october the 7th. more than 15 months of terror for the hostages, their families, the israeli people. more than 15 months of suffering by the innocent people of gaza fighting in gaza will stop. and soon the hostages will return home to their families. the elements of this deal are what i laid out in detail this past may, which was embraced by countries around the world and endorsed overwhelmingly by the u.n. security council. the deal is structured in three phases. phase one will last six weeks. it includes a full and complete cease fire, a withdrawal of israeli forces from all the populated areas of gaza, and the

release of a number of hostages held by hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded. and i'm proud to say americans will be part of that hostage release on phase one as well. and the vice president and i cannot wait to welcome them home. in exchange, israel released hundreds of palestinian prisoners. and during phase one, the palestinians can also return to their neighborhoods in all the areas of gaza. and the surge humanitarian assistance into gaza will begin, and the innocent people can have a greater access to these vital supplies. you know, during the next six weeks, israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get phase two, which is a permanent end of the war. let me say it again. a permanent end of the war. there are a number of details to negotiate, to move from phase one to phase two. but the plan

says if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the cease fire will continue as long as the negotiations continue. i've spoken to the mayor of kuwait and the president of egypt, and we have pledged to make sure the negotiations will keep moving forward for as long as it takes. then, when phase two begins, there will be an exchange of for release of the remaining living hostages, including male soldiers. and all remaining israeli forces will be withdrawn from gaza, and the temporary cease fire will become three, any final remains ofse hostages who have been killed will be returned to their families. and a major reconstruction plan for gaza will begin. this. this is the cease fire agreement i introduced last spring. today, hamas and israel have agreed to

that cease fire agreement. and the whole ending the war. you know, those of you who have followed the negotiations can attest the road to this deal has not been easy. i've worked in foreign policy for decades. this is one of the toughest negotiations i've ever experienced. and we reached this point because because of the pressure that israel built on hamas, backed by the united states, hamas's longtime leader, sinwar, was killed. hamas's strongest supporter, iran, launched attacks on israel, and those attacks failed. after my administration organized a coalition of nations to stop them. and after i ordered the u.s. ships and planes to come to israel's defense, we also shape israel's strong and calibrated response, destroying iran's air defenses but avoiding an escalatory cycle of an all out war. the united states also organized a coalition of 20

countries to stand up to attacks by the houthis, including their missile attacks in israel. then hezbollah, another hamas's strongest backers, was significantly weakened on the battlefield and its leadership was destroyed with our support. israel israel negotiated a cease fire with them, and after that, lebanon finally elected a new president who's not who's not beholden to hezbollah. and he began a new chapter for the lebanese people. all told, these developments in the region which the united states helped to shape, change the equation. and so now the terror network that once protected and sustained hamas is far weaker. iran is weaker, iran is weaker than it's been in decades. hezbollah is badly degraded. and after more than 15 months of war, hamas's senior leaders are dead. thousands of hamas fighters are

dead, and the military formations have been destroyed. with nowhere to turn, maher finally agreed to releasing hostages. you know, there was no other way for this war to end than with the hostage deal. and i'm deeply satisfied this day has come. finally come. for the sake of the people of israel and the families waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent people in gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war. the palestinian people have gone through hell. too ma innocent people have died. too many communities have been destroyed. and this deal? the people of gaza can finally recover and rebuild. they can look to a future without hamas in power. you know, the bible says blessed are the peacemakers. many peacemakers helped make this deal happen,

including an extraordinary team of american diplomats who he worked nonstop for months to get this done. secretary blinken led the effort. secretary jake sullivan, is it not? national security adviser jake sullivan, bill burns, jon finer, brett mcgurk, amos hochstein and the vice president worked relentlessly as we worked to deliver this deal. i'd also note that this deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration. in these past few days, we've been speaking as one team. this has been a time of real turmoil in the middle east. but as i prepare to leave office, our friends are strong, our enemies are weak, and there's a genuine opportunity for a new future in lebanon. there's an opportunity for a future free from the grip of hezbollah in syria. a future

free from the tyranny of assad and for the palestinian people, a credible, a credible pathway to a state of their own. and for the region, a future of normalization and integration of israel and all its arab neighbors, including saudi arabia. at the g20 in delhi in september 23rd, i rallied key countries behind a vision of an economic corridor from india across the middle east to europe. that vision can now become a reality. there are risks as well, including isis and iran. even in a badly weakened state. but but we're handing off to the next team a real opportunity for a better future for the middle east. i hope they will take it. let m close with this. my friend, for years in the united states senate, former senator george mitchell, who did so much to forge peace in northern ireland, once said about diplomacy. he

said it is a 700 days of failure and one day of success. 700 days of failure and one day of success. well, we've had many difficult days since hamas began its terrible war. we've encountered roadblocks and setbacks. we have not given up. and now, after more than 14, 400 days of struggle, a day of success has arrived. god bless all the hostages and their families. may god protect the troops of all those who work for peace. because of bryce deadmon kirshe intuit dome gaza now is watching. the implementation of this deal will be in the hands of the next administration, and basically they will shape the future of gaza. so how do you see this future? and also how much credit do you give to the trump team for this deal? trump is already taking credit for it. well, you know, this is the exact framework of the deal i proposed back in may. exact. and

we got the world to endorse it. secondly, it's america's support for israel that helped them badly weaken hamas and its backers and create the conditions for this deal. and thirdly, i knew this deal would have to be implemented by the next team. so i told my team to coordinate closely with the incoming team to make sure we're all speaking with the same voice, because that's what american presidents do. mr. president, thank you. a hole in the. how many americans will be released when the hostages are being released? all the exact detail of how many people are being held. how many bodies will be returned, nonetheless will all be forthcocoming. alof it. all of it. thank you. the cia will hold. i'm confident. thank you. folks, credit for this. mr.

president, you or trump? is that a joke? oh, thank you. president biden making brief remarks and celebrating the terms of a deal. a hostage release deal in gaza that will take effect. essentially, the first phase take effect quite soon. it would involve the release of women and elderly, wounded hostages in gaza, the return of hundreds of palestinians and see israeli forces pull back in gaza. it's a it's a rather lengthy, multi-phase plan. but the president you heard there expressing confidence and also giving credit to members of the donald trump team, saying they all wanted to speak on one voice, with one voice about about this apparent deal. let's go to chief white house correspondent peter alexander. peter, describe what it's been like today. well, lester, to be

clear, this is 457 days that the white house has been working on this since that awful massacre took place, hamas invading southern israel. the president has said throughout that time that he stands with israel and has focused so much of his energy. this really has been alongside the war in ukraine with what has happened in israel and in gaza. the two biggest foreign policy priororities of s presidency. so, as he said, the day of success has arrived. notably, this day comes just days before his departure from the white house and only a matter of hours before his farewell address from the oval office will take place later this later this evening, we did hear from the president saying he is deeply satisfied by this, but i was struck by some of his last comments. he was asked by a reporter before leaving the cross hall there, right here in the white house residence. he was asked whether he or donald trump deserved credit for the release of these hostages. he looked back and said, is that a joke we heard from donald trump only moments after getting first

indications that this agreement had been reached. he, in effect, said this could only have happened had he won, as he described it, a historic landslide election back in november. president biden and his remarks trying to share some of the credit with the trump team, but making very clear in his view that this is the framework that he says he first laid out in may of last year, in effect saying that it was that framework presented by this president, this white house, that the international community and ultimately the parties here have agreed to. so that's sort of the backdrop on these waning days for the president. this is something he hoped would happen far sooner. he met oholone back in november with many of the families of the hostages, american, american, israeli hostages still held in gaza right now. and one of the most moving moments, i'm told, of his presidency occurred when he had an opportunity to visit with a young girl by the name of abigail, an american israeli who was kidnaped, taken by hamas early and released the first american to be released in this

war. she made a visit with him more than a year ago, an opportunity for him to spend time with that little girl, which, as he reflected, represented hope that all the hostages would ultimately come home. lester. all right. peter alexander. thanks. let's go to chief foreign correspondent richard engel in jerusalem. richard, what's the view from there? so let me start with the view in gaza, because we are seeing very strong reactions there. there are now public celebrations in many population centers all across the gaza strip. people are coming out of their homes, they are cheering, they are dancing, they are kissing each other. some hamas fighters from from the ezzeddin qassam, the military wing, were out on the streets as well, firing guns in the air, trying to show strength that they have not been defeated for the people of gaza. the 2.2 million people. this is a transformative day. they hope that this is the start of a lasting cease fire, potentially a permanent

ceasefire. the people of gaza did not want this war. most of them. it was hamas that launched the attack of october 7th. it was hamas that took the hostages. and generally it was the people of gaza who paid the price. so in gaza, there is a tremendous sense of anticipation. they need aid, they need water, they need food. and they believe that now that this deal is has been agreed to, they're going to start receiving so much of that humanitarian relief here in in israel, i think you're seeing a much more nuanced reaction, a split reaction. we are not seeing mass protests or celebrations on the streets. there are some hostage families who are unhappy with this deal. they believe that it is too complex that that the hostages are coming out in batches. as you talked about, it's a multi-phase deal. it is not one and done. it is not that tomorrow all the hostages are going to come out and the

bombing stops. there are there are going to be six weeks starting on sunday when hostages will be coming out in batches, starting with 33 so-called humanitarian cases, the hostages that are injured in poor health, elderly, if that is successful after those six weeks, it moves on to phase two, where the remaining hostages, including military age males or israeli soldiers, are let go. and if that continues and is smooth, then it moves on to a more permanent ceasefire. so in israel, there is a sense of relief that this war is winding down. but there is also the anticipation from, from the public here that they believe there are about 98 hostages still alive. there is an expectation that they will also be bringing back quite a few coffins. yeah. all right, richard, thank you. i'll ask you to stand by. let me bring in nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell.

andrea, already intense conversation about who gets the credit here. can you walk us through what the involvement was of the current administration and the incoming administration? well, of course, it was extensive involvement by the current administration. president biden going there only days after october 7th to for an american president to go into israel when they were in the midst of being fired upon and hostilities and just responding to the massacre and already anger in in jordan next door, because there was a withholding of food and medicine, and there was already the attacks going on as gaza was beginning to suffer the consequences. the civilians in gaza. but you had 19 trips by the cia director involving multiple countries just on this subject, trips to the region and elsewhere in the world where he was meeting with the negotiators. you had 13 missions by the secretary of state going to 7 or 8 countries. on each of

those trips i was on many of them. you also had brett mcgurk, the chief negotiator in doha tonight, and he was the one who spent weeks and weeks on this. so the effort was huge. but what, by everyone's acknowledgment in the administration, starting on december 2nd when donald trump went on truth social and said to hamas, get this done and hamas released the hostages, get a cease fire deal, or quote, there will be hell to pay in the middle east. that started a lot of pressure coming principally on israel, on netanyahu to get his right wing cabinet ministers in line and to go for the deal that thousands and thousands of people were protesting in favor of in the streets of tel aviv. so that pressure and then steve witkoff got involved. and according to his secretary, blinken, when i interviewed him this week, he said that he was a terrific help by ironing out

some of the details and that steve witkoff is the middle east envoy for donald trump and he is a major player. i've talked to the israelis, i've talked to u.s. officials here and there, and everyone says that witkoff did make a difference. he wasn't in the negotiations, but he was shuttling back and forth in doha. of course, the hostage families all along, the american hostage families are so eager to see the surviving hostages. but knowing that, as ruby khan and others have said today, that they are waiting and hoping for the remains also to be released and not happy. frankly, they're happy for the hostage families, the americans who are getting their kids, you know, home or their people at home. keith siegel, 65 years old, aviva's husband. we all know him and know him through her. she herself being held hostage initially and then released. but there is tremendous sadness on both sides, israel and gaza, and

hope that this could be the beginning of something different. mr. let's tap into some of that emotion now. andrea, thank you. i want to bring in andy alexander. he's the father of american hostage aiden alexander. audie, thank you for being with us. thank you. lester, tell me what you're feeling right now. actually, i'm very happy and grateful that finally, finally, this deal is being sealed. it's a long, long time coming, and we are there. it's unbelievable. can you tell me, based on on what we were just briefed on about the timeline of this deal, when would you. the earliest you might expect to see your son? i guess between now and 42 days from now, as as you know, our son's name is not on the humanitarian list. although i think that at this point, year and almost year and a half after in the tunnels of hamas,

everyone tha being held there should be considered as a humanitariane. there are so many american families who you all created this incredible bond. we've told your stories. we've talked to you over the many months. what is your feeling for the entire group now of americans, especially the mixed feelings? i'm, on the other hand, i'm really happy about everybody. but on the other hand, we have four american hostages that were murdered on october 7th and still being held there. so but hopefully the parents will get the their loved ones for the proper burial and we will get our loved ones to live our lives happily ever after. we know that any deal in which you get to see your loved ones again is so important, but i don't know if you've been able to stand back, but do you get a sense of whether this was ultimately a good deal or not? just this deal

was negotiated since january of last year. the stage deal same 42 days, same 16 days to negotiate that was presented by president biden, that was approved by the united nations. so the teams are kept running with it. and i'm happy that they sealed this deal. what do you know about the conditions that aiden has been in, other than the last video on the thanksgiving weekend, which showed us a sign of life, we have no additional information, but we are grateful to receive this video. and we take it. i'm wondering what the last 12 or 24 hours have been like for you as this deal. we got word that it was coming together. it was hectic. we we've been in touch with the with some of the team members in qatar. the

anticipation was crazy. and we finally there. so we we're really grateful to everybody that conducted that. president biden, director burns, jake. sullivan, brett mcgurk, steve witkoff we rlly grateful. have you played over in your mind what the moment will be like when you were able to embrace your son? just hug him and hold him and just to hear what what he experienced in those. 16 months, i'm sure it will have a lot to say. and what will you want to say to him? thank you for holding you our hero, and be strong and just, just just hug him and kiss him. well, audie, thank you so much for being with us and sharing your story not only today, but over the many

months. and this obviously is still a tough road ahead here, as all of this is laid out and implemented. but we do thank you for coming on and speaking with us. thank you. lester. let's bring in nbc news international correspondent daniele hamamdjian. she's on the ground in tel aviv's hostage square. can you give us a sense of what the celebrations have been like, what the reaction has been like there tonight? yeah. good evening lester. in fact, a woman just came up to us saying she heard the news and she ran here, but she said, where is everybody? why aren't there celebrations? it is quite subdued here. and frankly speaking, the family members of some of the hostages have chosen to stay home. as one person told me at another protest nearby, she said to me, you know, it is disbelief. it is literal disbelief until they see the hostages come back home. so there will be no celebrations. this is hostage square, where obviously you can see the

pictures of the hostage, the slogan bring them home now are all over the city of tel aviv. behind me you will see as well some of the tents. the tents were set up for the family members of the hostages in the early days, and they've been there ever since. and over the past 15 months there have been structures like this tunnel behind me, a makeshift tunnel to show people what it's like to live day in and day out in the dark. behind me, over here. you'll see. you'll see a count 466 days. i believe it's actually 467 days today. so, as you can see, there aren't that many people. it is very subdued. but outsi the defense ministry, not far from where i'm standing. moments ago, there was a bigger protest, and there was definitely a lot of anger. oplepe people and an e governme will lltell is same deald have that hamanointerestedst in g, t

thweeks ey making headheli last 24 what i nanister ed ha sthoage e previous hostage deals in the past. he was hoping to do so with this deal. that has sparked so much anger and so much fury among family members here. how many people, both in gaza, hostages, and idf soldiers, how many of died so that proposal was put on the table? the hostages. ultimately, as as the multi-phase plan takes us, all would be let out and the remains of those who did not

survive captivity will be brought out. but it has been a long time coming. as the president mentioned, over 15 months of diplomatic work by several countries, including the u.s. and on the u.s. level. ultimately, the work of the outgoing biden administration, the incoming trump administration, working together down the stretch to try to make this happen. it is obviously, as you heard a moment ago, an emotional day for families of hostages who were beginning to do their own arithmetic. now, with the deal that's been struck as to when they may see their loved ones, after a very long and trying time. that concludes this nbc news special report. we'll have much more ahead on our streaming network, nbc news, now online at nbc.com and a full wrap up of nightly news. when i see you then i'm lester holt in new york. good day.