alon pinkas, former israeli diplomat and previously advisor to israeli prime minister shimon peres, gavet. this deal is complex, even if there's goodwill on all sides, which apparently there isn't. so its complex to implement. it's brittle, it is very precarious. and the fact that it even didn't start and already you have these grandstanding statements, each side accusing the other of violating the terms of the deal or trying to undermine the deal is hardly surprising. it's depressing, but it's not really surprising. what is really happening here is that mr netanyahu is caught between... we now have antony blinken. i spoke about the work that we do to keep the american people and the work we do, and how we get you to inform the world, through you and with you. we have travelled miles together we have done this with a remarkable group of people who i have gotten to know as colleagues, and if i said france, that might create problems for you, but i will say how much i appreciate the partnership and the professionalism —— and if i said friends. each side accusing the other of violating the

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.

ambassador alon pinkas, thank you very much. this is an important moment, and we're so glad that you're here with us to to sort of walk us through what we're expecting right now, not just today, but most importantly, as you said, long term. thank you, ambassador. >> thank you, paula. >> let's go back to cnn's paula hancocks, who is joining us live from abu dhabi. paula, any new information? >> well, paula, we are waiting. we wait to see when those four israeli hostages will first be seen and when they will be handed over to the international red cross. we did hear earlier this morning a couple of hours ago, hamas saying that that there was some discrepancy on the prisoner release list, some error in names is the way they put it that that israel was going to be releasing in return for these four israeli hostages and that they were seeking clarification from mediators. now it's the potential that that that is what we are waiting on at this point. those final clarifications of exactly which prisoners will be released. we know, thou

alon pinkas is a former israeli diplomat and columnist for the newspaper haaretz. may be the imminent change of administration in washington. that is the game changer, if you will. the one dimension that has changed. because this deal was offered in march, discussed again in may, again, injuly, and there was one last—ditch effort in august. and neither side agreed to, each for its own political reasons, neither side agreed to conclude the deal. so the only thing that changed is the fact that mr trump is going into the white house on the 20th of january. that puts enormous pressure on netanyahu, who would rather continue the war indefinitely. this is what he has essentially been doing for the last eight months so there was no reason for him not to do so. and your colleague was absolutely right on the money, when he said that israel insists on resuming the fighting if necessary quote unquote, after the end of the process, ie the conclusion of the 40 days. so obviously nobody wins, in the best of times, given what we are seeing on the ground in gaza, and the fact the

alon pinkas, a former israeli diplomat and previously advisor to israeli prime minister shimon peres,l is complex, even if there's goodwill on all sides, which apparently there isn't. so its complex to implement. it's brittle, it is very precarious. and the fact that it even didn't start and already you have these grandstanding statements, each side accusing the other of violating the terms of the deal or trying to undermine the deal is hardly surprising. it's depressing, but it's not really surprising. what is really happening here is that mr netanyahu is caught between... ..uh, two of the manipulations that he tries to exert simultaneously. he's trying to manipulate and deceive his coalition partners, telling them, don't worry about it. this is not going to go beyond the first phase. the ceasefire will not hold for the duration of the ceasefire is questionable. don't don't make any unnecessary drama. but he can't say the same thing to president elect donald trump and the current administration. the biden administration provided assurances that the ceasefire will hold and that israel

let's bring in former israeli consul general in new york, ambassador alon pinkas, also carnegie endowment for international peace senior fellow and former state department arab-israeli negotiator aaron david miller. alon, first to you, your reaction to this news? >> well, you know, any deal is a good deal, even if it's precarious, even if it's tenuous, even if it hinges on the durability or sustainability of a ceasefire, that is going to be very hard to enforce given the topography, given what remains of gaza, given hamas's lack of any command structure, and so any skirmish would constitute a violation of the ceasefire. >> all that said and done, katie, it's an agreement that should have been signed in march and again in may. >> i know you've said ayman said this and you said this in the last 15 minutes. this agreement is identical to the agreement that president biden presented in may and went to the extent of saying that this was presented to him by no other than mr. netanyahu, who 48 hours or 72 hours rather later reneged on it, as he habitually does when he manipulates political inter

. >> joining us now, nbc's daniele hamamdjian from tel aviv, ambassador alon pinkas, former israeli consul general in new york. miri eisin, senior fellow at reichman university's international institute for counterterrorism and former israeli government spokesperson and a retired fbi colonel. and major john spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at west point's modern war institute and a retired army officer. so, danielle, what's the latest on this latest hurdle? >> well, the israeli government hasn't clarified or provided any clarification on what exactly this issue is. but a senior israeli government official tells me that among the new demands made by hamas, the issue of the prisoners, the palestinian prisoners, and as you've mentioned, there will be many palestinians released in exchange for the hostages. it's in the hundreds, possibly way over 1000. there will be women and children who've been arrested in the past year. i should point out, jose, that since october 7th, thousands of palestinians in the west bank have been arrested, many of them held in what's called administrative det

former israeli diplomat and columnist for haaretz newspaper, alon pinkas, also joins us from tel aviv. cnn's becky anderson is in doha, qatar. and, bianna, you spent most of the day today at hostage square in tel aviv. what's the reaction there yeah, jake, for most of these families, especially those that would be included in the first phase, the 33 hostages that would be released over the course of six weeks. >> sunday cannot come soon enough. >> i have to say the mood at hostage square was a bit subdued. >> it definitely was not celebratory. there were people reflecting upon, yes, good news that hostages would come home, but nobody called this a perfect deal. and there's a lot of concern about the remaining hostages that would only be released in phase two and then phase three. i spoke with a woman who was there in hostage square, and here's how she described the mood. >> but i think, you know, it's not a celebratory mood because everyone knows it's not a perfect deal. >> but i think every single hostage that didn't come back, it's as if we can save the whole humanity. so on the one