. —— hamas's court. —— hamas's court.nister tulip siddiq resigns, after growing pressure over an anti—corruption investigation in bangladesh. an official us report states donald trump would've been convicted of trying to overthrow the 2020 election had he not been elected president. the princess of wales announces she is "in remission" from cancer — as she visits staff and patients at the hospital that treated her. also coming up on the world today: and — a blow for british ex—pats? spain say it's planning �*a100% tax' on properties bought by non—eu residents — in a bid to solve its housing crisis. welcome to the world today — an hour of international news from the bbc. what's been described as the final round of negotiations on a deal for a ceasefire — and the release of hostages in gaza — has been continuing for a number of hours in qatar, but with no outcome yet. both israeli and hamas officials have expressed hope that a deal can be achieved. we have some detail on what that deal on reaching a ceasefire is thought to

the ball is now in hamas' court. if hamas accepts, the deal is ready to be concluded and implemented. i believe we'll get a cease-fire. and whether we get there in the remaining days of our administration or after january 20th, i believe the deal will follow closely the terms of the agreement that president biden put forward last may and our administration rallied the world behind. now, from the outset, we also recognize we couldn't afford to wait until a cease-fire to plan for what would follow it. for many months, we've been working intensely with our partners to develop a detailed post conflict plan that would allow israel to fully withdraw from gaza, prevent hamas from pulling back in and provide for gaza's governance and security and reconstruction, drawing on the principles i originally set out in tokyo. we'll hand that off to the trump administration to carry it forward. let me share a few core elements this morning. we believe that the palestinian authority should invite international partners to help establi

not just to hamas leaders. you have to remember that the pressure goes both ways, and bibi netanyahu, the prime minister would want to see something in good light with the incoming administration and the incoming president. and also to trey's point, quickly, that once it happens, if it happens as expected, it does lay the groundwork for the continuing of the abraham accords which started, of course, under president trump, the first administration, and the normalization between israel and saudi arabia. which is still very, very real and was very close to happening prior to the hamas attack october 7th. >> it's a great point. you know, i was there for the signing of four of those peace accords. it was a huge historic accomplishment, and jared kushner believes that saudi normalization would have happened had trump been given a second term right after the first. i wind you are what you think of antony blinken's comments that new recruits have effectively replaced what israel has done. if that's the case, you have t

hamas' long time leader sin war, was killed. hamas' strongest supporter, iran, launched attacks in israel. and those attacks failed after my administration organized the coalition of nations to stop them. and after i ordered the u.s. ships and planes to come to israel's defense, we also shaped 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 the coalition of 20 countries to stand up to attacks by the houthis, including the missile attacks in israel. then hezbollah, and other hamas' strongest backers was significantly weakened on the battlefield. its leadership was destroyed with our support israel negotiate add cease-fire with them. after that lebanon finally elect add new president who is not beholden to hezbollah and they can begin a new chapter of the lebanese people. all told, these developments in the region which the united states helped to shape changed the equation. so now the terror network that once protected an

so israel has not achieved its aim of destroying hamas. that said, the incoming fire from gaza into israel is largely subsided. and, yes, the senior leadership of the group has been wiped out. going forward, the question is, whether hamas would play any part at all in the reconstruction of gaza. israel wouldn't accept that but, given how entrenched they are and how much support they have in gaza, thatis much support they have in gaza, that is a big question as to how they would be represented. if they are excluded completely from any post—war negotiations, who would represent them in a non—violent way? the american side others are pushing for a greater role from the palestinian authority, which runs the occupied west bank. israel doesn't want that. so huge questions going forward over the future of gaza. we will be back in a moment or two, but i want to bring in our gaza correspondent, who is in istanbul monitoring events. he is talking to all his contacts. bring me up—to—date with what you are hearing about what hamas have said in the las

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 mult

i think hamas knows that.n you see the farmer about to be new president say all hell to pay, i look at iran and hezbollah has driving forces because hamas cannot sustain on their own. there is no way appeared to those type entities saying, we are out and president trump is not bluffing, that might be as much a part of the willingness to come to the table is anything. >> sandra: joey, apparently marco rubio was asked about this in real time. he responded as he learned the news the senate foreign relations committee confirmation hearing a few minutes ago. i am a please make place to see the return of hostages but i prayed this is implemented and marco rubio said that is good news and not just about the cease-fire, although that is important, potentially we've had dynamic shift in the region that has given historic opportunity appropriately structured and pursued that changes the dynamic, he says, what might be possible. i want to make sure i get that in there as he is responding as he learns the news. >> yeah, i

israel basically said its goal was to eliminate hamas. hamas has not been eliminated. they've accepted a cease fire. hamas has compromised, too. israel is not 100% out of gaza. this is not a permanent end quote unquote, to the occupation. so again, i think it shows that both sides have moved, and you put your finger on what i think is going to be very interesting. the internal debate in israel, as you know better than anybody, several members of the current governing coalition oppose this deal. the far right finance minister, the security minister. so the question is, what do israeli politics look like in 2 or 3 days? people not in the governing coalition said they'll support the government on this issue. but what then? what is bibi netanyahu have? and 2 or 3 days? is this simply something that he works through, or is this actually something of a challenge to his his government? and i think that will be a really interesting space to watch, because that will obviously have implications for domestic and international policy, foreign policy for israel going forward. >> an

thought entered now it is an hamas court and hamas accepts, the deal is ready included and implementedand i believe we will gete' a cease-fire and we get there remaining days of our administration, or after januare deal follow closely to the terms of the agreement president bidens in our administration will now the world behind. and l from the elsa, we also recognize that we cannot afford to wait until a cease-fire, the plan for what would follow it. for many months we been working intensively with the partners to develop these oppose conflict plan that wouldfl allow is relatively withdrawal from gaza. hamas formally beckons and provide for causes government security and reconstruction plan principlesti that i originally t out in tokyo and we will hand off the plan to the trump ministration to carry forward let me share a few things this morning. we believe the palestinian authority should invite international partners to help establisher and run interim administration responsibility to like thinking water energy health and civil coordination with israel international community provide

the timing of hamas attack was no accident.re was growing integration of the region the prospect of normalization with saudi arabia posed x essential threat to hamas power the projection of two states in the destruction of israel. has notes recovered from the meetings later revealed hamas sought to spark a regional war that would derail the disagreement knowing that doing so would inflict immense suffering on civilians of all sizes including the palestinian people whose interests they claim to represent. in the wake of the attack president biden made clear the united states unwavering commitment to prevent another october 7. hello he took immediate steps to deter further aggression in prevent it from spreading. [inaudible] he pledged unrelenting efforts to secure the release of the hostages. he became the first u.s. president to travel to israel and more time telling israeli people directly you are not alone. while the country had a right and obligation to defend itself how it did so matter. these are the goals i worked to adva

that's what you had on hamas side. on the israeli side over time we've seen them meet their overall strategic objectives. so once they had killed sinwar, that really realized the last strategic objective they had. because they had already decimated hamas' military leadership. so the conversation we have been having with them is, without a ceasefire agreement you're going to be in a version of groundhog day, you go back never day to fight hamas militants, kill a certain number of militants, some low level. those militants are replaced by others. you heard the secretary say in a speech yesterday, we assessed that hamas has recruited nearly as many militants as israel has killed since october 7. so this becomes a bit of a -- a never ending problem for israel and so i think that ultimately made the judgment that the only way, we have been telling them, for them to get their hostages home and actually achieve lasting security that suit theirs purposes, was to sign up for this agreement as well. >> the secretary's office has

ceasefire between hamas and _ ceasefire. ceasefire between hamas and israel— ceasefire.ael have - ceasefire. ceasefire between hamas and israel have failed ceasefire. ceasefire between i hamas and israel have failed in the past. are you confident this one will be able to hold? i think the israeli leadership is under enormous domestic and international pressure to make sure to get the hostages back. some of them of course may be dead and quite a number of them still alive. dead and quite a number of them stillalive. i dead and quite a number of them still alive. i think that is a positive outcome for prime minister netanyahu. but on the other hand, here is has the opportunity at the second stage of the ceasefire, when he is negotiating at that stage, to be basically create more obstacles and to possibly go back to make sure that hamas does not have a say in the future of gaza strip. and i think at the same time, i think, asjeremy bowen pointed out, hamas has become a shadow but nonetheless it has the capability to be able to put up resistance to the israeli is only a few

the weakening of hezbollah and hamas.— hezbollah and hamas. probably man to hezbollah and hamas.ly many top iranian politicians i many top iranian politicians feel unsafe after he was assassinated in iran. the hamas leader. that is one day after the iranian president was inaugurated. he was targeted and killed in tehran. after that, another target by the israelis. and now these supreme judges have been assassinated. a former intelligence minister wants —— so high up the level of iranian intelligence, that all official should be scared for their lives.— all official should be scared for their lives. thank you. to ukraine now. _ the authorities in kyiv say at least three people have been killed in overnight russian strikes. the first blast happened in central kyiv before the air raid siren had sounded, and further explosions then shook the ukrainian capital. russia says it hit a military—industrial site which designs and manufacturers long—range rockets. president zelensky says residential buildings, a metro station, shops and cafes have been damaged. there are also reports of wate

but it even went over to hamas that hamas felt emboldened and dug in. so the entire premise of israel's strategy was flawed from the beginning. can you talk about that? >> well, i wouldn't call it flawed. i would call it really no choice. israel had no choice but to go to war against hamas. hamas had waged a war of of genocide against israel, had killed, uh, 1200 israelis, massacred, raped, mutilated them, the equivalent of about 44,000 americans in a single morning. uh, again, it bears repeating. it's the single greatest massacre of jews since the holocaust. israel had to respond militarily against hamas. the question is whether that that operation, at the end of the day, would guarantee the release of the hostages, because what we found out ultimately was that by increasing pressure on hamas, military pressure on hamas, they didn't necessarily release the hostages. they shot the hostages, they executed the hostages. and we were dealing with a terrorist organization, uh, which and terrorists for whom death was a real option. it's difficult for us in th

he denied hamas is trying to make anything in the end.i was talking to another hamas source and they were hoping to include one or two names, significant names from the people who served time in the prison, especially two of the former hamas military commanders in the west bank but in the israeli prison hamas was hoping to release them because they want to fix their popularity. they have lost a great deal of its popularity, hamas, because many people into gaza and palestinians are equally accusing hamas of what is happening for the last 15 months, not all palestinians are in favour of the 7th of october attack, but what we are getting from doha this morning is that hamas confirmed they are committed to the ceasefire terms and what is announced by the mediators, that is what they told the bbc this morning. this is the very heart of tel aviv and since the 7th of october families aviv and since the 7th of octoberfamilies and aviv and since the 7th of october families and relatives of hostages have been camped out here to put pressure on the

i am hamas. iam in hamas. i am in hostage square in tel aviv, where families are counting down to the moment when they hope their loved ones will heading home. dozens of people have been injured in a accident at the astun ski resort in spain. thousands of people are expected to join a let us bring you some news that has been developing here in tel aviv in the last 1.5 hours, or so. there has been a stabbing in tel aviv on a coastal road, with reports saying that a man stabbed another, he was taken to hospital and is in a serious condition. the attacker was shot by a passer—by. these are live pictures from the scene. you can see the security presence there, and the presence there, and the presence of a lot of police vehicles, following that incident. we are getting some reports that the attacker was a 19—year—old resident of the west bank, that is the part of the palestinian territory that is not gaza and does not run by hamas, and he was here without an identity card, without legal basis to be here. he was sho

hamas already— the big names from hamas.d not release any of the big names in the first— release any of the big names in the first stage. they are talking _ the first stage. they are talking about more than 1500, at least — talking about more than 1500, at least 1000 palestinians who were _ at least 1000 palestinians who were arrested after the 7th of october. _ were arrested after the 7th of october, they will be released in this— october, they will be released in this deal and about 250 people _ in this deal and about 250 people who are serving 15 years or more — people who are serving 15 years or more in— people who are serving 15 years or more in the prison. it is quite _ or more in the prison. it is quite significant. for palestinians the issue of the detainees is a key issue for then _ detainees is a key issue for then it— detainees is a key issue for them. it is very important for them. it is very important for the palestinians. hamas is pushing _ the palestinians. hamas is pushing hard for this because it is not— pus

this is the hamas way of being a spoiler. and so this really does put the pressure on qatar and on egypt in particular, to reinforce to hamas that it has no room to do anything to restart hostilities after this first period. >> joel rubin, thank you. it's always good to see you. and now i want to bring in david rhodes, senior executive editor for national security for nbc news. you have a unique perspective, as many of our viewers know, because you were held hostage and we were talking a little bit earlier about that moment that we hope will indeed happen when we see the first round of hostages released. it's as fresh in my mind as i'm sure it is in yours. the last time it happened, and the joy that you feel, the relief you feel. but we're going to learn a lot about what these 467 days have been like, what it was like for them when they were taken hostage, what it's been like for them to even survive under the conditions that we have some inkling that they have been held under. so what do you think we will learn and what coul

instead, he's made a deal with hamas.on: our message l is very clear, that a ceasefire deal is a surrender to hamas. we will only support a deal if all hostages are released. that would send the message to the enemy that we are the rulers. benjamin netanyahu's coalition crisis is going to be of little importance to donald trump, who is always going to put the interests of his own presidency first, and he wants to re—enter the white house being able to claim, with some justification, that he was able to deliver a ceasefire that joe biden could not. now, longer term, the structure of the ceasefire could be a problem because it's over a period of weeks and months and it's in phases, and that gives plenty of time for events to happen that could be exploited by those who want the ceasefire to fail. outside the prime minister's official residence, supporters of the hostages suspect netanyahu could be one of them. they say he prolonged the agony of hostages and all israelis by delaying a ceasefire for months. we lost too many pe

so israel and hamas have reached a ceasefire deal. but are we handcuffing israel in their fight to destroy terrorism? senator john b barrasso on that and trump energy revolution, trump cabinet nominees seem to be sailing through, and are markets ready for "shock and awe" tariff, congressman jim jordan and steve forbes waiting in the wings but first grady trimble. live in washington. on today's hearings, so grady, what happened today? looked pretty good. reporter: most con de contentious of hearings was pam bondi, president trump nominee are in attorney general, democratic questions question how she could serve in the role as she is close friends with president trump. democrats asked her who won 2020 election and grilled her on whether she would use deputy of justice to go after political opponents to which bondi responded she would not be doing that, it has been happening in last 4 years in this administration. she will stop it. senator marco rubio and sean duffy received bipartisan praise at their hearings to be confirmed as secretar

it began with the hamas hamas massacre of more than 1200 israelis. and that surprise attack, it is seen fights between members of the left and the right, and accusations that prime minister netanyahu has used this conflict for his own personal benefit to try and score political points. so we're not seeing a joyful outpouring on the streets of israel. it is. it is more of a time of reflection here. people are happy to be putting this behind them, but and happy that, of course, the hostages are going to be coming back, or at least those who are still alive. but they also know that a lot of hostages will not be coming home and they'll be receiving coffins and bodies. >> one of the questions that that everyone is asking is why now? president biden said that this was much like the deal, or as basically the deal that he laid out in may that he said had all of the support. hamas even released a statement saying this deal was like the one in may. if we were able to come to an agreement, then we would have saved thousands of lives. so why now? why on this wed

it also keeps hamas in power, which we promised to eradicate hamas.t an israeli interest. it's something that serves the best interests of all the countries in the region. it serves the interests of the egyptians, the saudis, the emiratis, the jordanians. it serves the interests of america. of the world, of everybody who doesn't want to see this radical terror organisation keep destabilising the entire region and the entire world. so, yes, we have to make sure that any deal will be such that it will allow us to to complete both missions, both goals of the war and this deal, this current deal is not doing that. and this is why we will of course be against the deal. does that make any sense? not only are they not not going to get their loved ones. we are giving away every leverage that we have over hamas that will allow us to bring these 65 hostages. a member of a far right religious party in israel, and the destruction and death in gaza also continues with reports on the guards at civil defence authority that more than 70 people have been killed in the

and these are key hamas sticking points.israelis leave the gaza strip and allow all that aid to get in. i think one of the main driving factors for the trump administration is this desire to see israeli normalization with saudi arabia, a growing of the abraham accords, and saudi arabia. for all the criticism of crown prince mbs, and perhaps that he may not be the biggest supporter of palestinians, he is not going to normalize with israel unless there thy to to palestinian statehood. and we're certainly not hearing that from the israelis today. i think that's a that's a major question going forward. >> yeah. i mean, he might not be a big supporter of palestinians, but the people, young people, especially on the streets of his country, certainly are. what about you? >> absolutely. i mean, i think that this the level of difficulty of any of this. yes, the level of difficulty of getting to this from the first place. hugely high. right. but now the level of difficulty of seeing this through is just incredible. and i think that, y

well, hama

larry: israel-hamas ceasefire. edward, what can you tell isn't it trues >> larry, 33 hostages will be released, 23 of them are alive. they will go back to their families after more than about 500 days in captivity. ten of them the remains sent back to their loved ones for a proper burial and a final fair r well and hundreds of palestinians released and criminals that will be released and some of them in jail for terrorism charges and ceasefire lasting 42 day withs hostage releases in three phases. president joe biden's teamworking on hostage deal for months. >> the release of number of hostages held by hamas including women, elderly and wounded. proud to say americans are part of the hostage release. reporter: now, in recent weeks president elect donald trump sent his envoy to sees fire talks on truth social and president elect says this "pressuring hamas saying that we'll continue promoting peace through strength throughout the region as we build upor expand historic abraham accords". confirmation hearing for sena

there is no real pressure on hamas.ael wanted to stop some but administration wouldn't let us do that. israel had no major leverage on them. one thing israel defeated hezbollah and hezbollah cannot support any more. hamas syria fell, israel is weaker but the big change is president trumps threat. once he is threatening them there will be that from the beginning says the situation and i think if they don't get the deal now the chances of getting a good deal for them would be very low. therefore they remain on assessment and are inclined to do the deal thinking they will maximize what they can get now and not wait to see what needs. >> we really appreciate you joining us thank you very much assert. >> my pleasure. >> sandra: my next assess on the foreign relations committee joining us now montana republican steve daines. senator thank you for being here. first to want to get your thoughts on what you just heard there on why this is happening now. >> yeah, this is no coincidence. rimmer or president trump said in early dec

what's the future of hamas? the west bank is very volatile. so this does not end the conflict or the underlying conditions that brought about the conflict in gaza or the west bank. that will continue to be a challenge for the trump administration. and then in terms of kind of bipartisanship, look, this this issue is, you know, uniquely been a bipartisan one, not just the last couple of months, but, you know, there's broad support for the israeli government in the us congress and that we've not seen that lead to bipartisan cooperation on other issues. chris. so i think we have to you know, this is the reality. this is an issue in which joe biden and donald trump don't have a lot, don't have a lot of daylight between them. and if anything, i think, you know, trump giving this a bit of a push because there was this convergence of interest in the timing of the trump inauguration as a time to get this done. yes, that that was an interesting and successful hopefully, coordination between them. but i don't think it augurs bipartisan cooperation on is

and more than likely it's going to be, hamas coming out, or at least hamas officials coming out and tryingresume some of the roles that they've performed before the war took place. so talking about permanence, talking about this being a long term, a longer term thing is very problematic for mr. netanyahu in relation to gaza discussions. it's also problematic for him when we're thinking about his own political strength. here in israel, he relies on, two far right, basically extremist parties to keep his coalition, in a majority. and those, those parties have made it clear that they are not happy that the war is ending. and indeed, they are arguing explicitly that they would like a commitment from mr netanyahu to go back to war in six weeks�* time when this first phase of the ceasefire agreement expires. so some idea there of the political tightrope that's been walked here and why, in mr netanyahu's address, the emphasis was so much on going back to war, the possibility of fighting again rather than anything really about the possibilities of peace. let's take a moment to take a look at how t

what is dependent on hamas?it's the palestinian people who have suffered, but what of hamas in order to make it successful?— of hamas in order to make it successful? ~ ., w ., successful? well, in our interaction with all political— successful? well, in our interaction with all political parties _ successful? well, in our interaction with all political parties including i with all political parties including hamas they are absolutely ready to respect the ceasefire, they don't want this war to continue. 0ne want this war to continue. one important issue here is the internal palestinian issue. and here what we need is really cooperation of all palestinian parties to form some sort of coalition, national consensus government, to guarantee two things. first of all that palestinians will be running the life of people in gaza by themselves, not by any external force, and second, and we will maintain the authority of the west bank and gaza against israeli efforts which is trying to separate west bank from gaza as a way

perhaps the same with hamas. their own politics and pop -- hardliners, etc., and get some benefits out of it, some goodies out of this agreement, so all of it will ultimately go back to local politics. mediators can change the calculus by incurring a cost, by adding a cost, whether it is on the israeli side in terms of trump saying if you do not move forward, i will speak out against you, and trump is very popular in israel. no israeli prime minister want to be against him. in terms of hamas, i think most of the pressure can come from qatar and turkey and say if you don't play ball, we are going to expel you and you will have nowhere to go. >> very quickly before we let you go, it seems steven witkoff, donald trump's envoy to the middle east, he has been instrumental in this process. the fact that president trump has basically said, if you don't get the deal done, then there is a price to pay and the price to pay is both for hamas and israel. for israel, it is a political price. >> great to speak with you. thank

hamas killed around 1,200, mostly israeli civilians, in their own homes.s to recover the bodies. israel responded by hammering gaza and its people, from then until today. it insists it respects the laws of war. it says hamas caused so many civilian casualties, wounded and dead, by using them as human shields. but israel's prime minister and former defence minister face arrest warrants for war crimes, and the international court ofjustice is investigating a case accusing israel of genocide. in washington, president biden took credit for a diplomatic victory, celebrated america's support for israel, and said the war had transformed the middle east for the better. 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 is a genuine opportunity for a new future. in lebanon, there is 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 pathway to a state of their own. tha

hamas started a war. hamas wants to destroy israel and kill all the jews that they can get their hands on. as they proved on october the 7th. and hamas is the organization that is using palestinians, civilians, women and children as their human shields as they, hamas, are hiding inside the tunnels. so i failed to see how, you know, this is israel's israel is to blame. i think hamas is to blame. and i think that anybody who sincerely and i emphasize sincerely cares about palestinians and their well-being should be focusing and helping israel to get rid of hamas. once hamas is gone, then the future will be much better for palestinians in gaza. maybe then they can move forward towards self-governance and agency, and to have a future and independence, and to be prosperous and free. that is not in the cards for palestinians. as long as hamas controls the gaza strip. and as jeremy said before, i think that is correct. this war, sadly, and i live here and it affects me and my family. so i do not say this with jo

it would appear there is approvalfrom hamas.re is approval from the homicide, which was the outstanding approval, because it seemed that the israeli government negotiating team had approved it from their point of view. if that indeed is confirmed, we are lucky to get a confirmation from the qatari is eminently that a ceasefire deal has been struck and, if that is struck, we expect the israeli government to vote through that deal, probably as early as tomorrow, thursday. there is obviously a clear choreography that is going to be laid out over the coming hours, as we wait for the official confirmation. we will learn a lot when the qataris hold that news conference. in terms of what we know about what has been negotiated, take viewers through that. what we know is what has been leaked, basically, to the israeli media and from sources close to the negotiations, that this would be a three phased deal. the first phase would last six weeks, and that would involve a release of about a third of the israeli hostages still being held in g

it goes beyond hamas. clearly go to a broader message that there will be hell to pay in that region. josephine went the hostage families have weighed in with their concerns and the concerns of the hostages get lost and who is taking credit for all of this. they released this statement, the hostages and missing families headquarters. with the families welcome with overwhelming joy they bringing of our loved ones home. we want to express profound gratitude to president trump and president biden in both administration and international mediators for making this possible. don't forget, these are families waiting in english 466 days for their loved ones to come home. while many may not come home alive, they will at least get some sense of closure that their loved ones are back on israeli soil if this deal does, in fact, go through. >> ... have had an opportunity to interview and meet these families and feel absolutely heartbreaking, gut-wrenching sorrow they have had as you said not knowing at times with their

in operational terms, hamas has been greatly weakened., battalions and brigades have been, destroyed in part or in whole, you know, many hundreds, probably thousands of fighters have been killed. but the reality is that hamas continues to exist as, certainly as a political force, but even as a military force. and, we've now reached a point where even secretary blinken has conceded that hamas has been able to recruit at a rate... that has basically been able to recruit, new fighters at, to compensate for the ones that it has lost. and, and so i think this really speaks to the, to the, to this notion that the whole idea of total victory and complete destruction of hamas was never achievable. it's something that most analysts pointed out 15 months ago, and it remains true today. and it is, frankly, a pretext to continue what has become sort of an endless war. i mean, what do you make of the fact that in this statement, netanyahu talked about the fact that president trump and president elect trump and mr biden have backed israel's right to re

hamas knows this guy means business.onths, israel ignored the biden administration's advice and applied maximum military pressure to hamas, eliminated its top leadership, eliminated its foot soldiers and is also hezbollah up in the north up in lebanon. that kind of military pressure gave israel the space it needed to say yes to the deal. credit to netanyahu, credit to trump. that's why we got where we are today. >> harris: i thought they had changed some things in the same deal. if it is the same deal as three months ago if biden planned this interesting timing. there would have to be something that changed. what i hear you and others saying who give trump some credit is that it was trump. >> i think trump is the variable here that accounts for hamas's new-found willingness to say yes to a deal that they could have gotten months ago. there are some other changes. israel held the line on remaining in the corridor between gaza and egypt to make sure that hamas can't use tunnels to resupply its fighters. israel held firm on

but we have changed hamas. and right now the devil in the details has to do with how do you do the exchange? here we are, 467 68 days later. we still don't really know. in the people that were taken as hostages on october 7th, we don't know who's alive, who's dead. what is hamas going to play with that? there's the other side of israel having to let out people. i'll give you one example, jose. that to me is part of the devil in the details. i have a good friend and she was attacked by terrorists and those terrorists were caught, put on trial, put on jail, in jail in israel as a for terrorism. they killed a friend that had been with her. they left her for dead and they are on the list to be left out. how do you think that's going to feel? and this isn't about right and left inside israel. it's also about the terror victims in israel before october 7th. and you're going to see on the list of people that hamas want to have let out of those prisoners inside israeli prisons. you're going to see names like that. i sa

who would — are not hamas members. who would do — are not hamas members. who would do that?

hamas killed around 1,200, mostly israeli civilians, in their own homes.to recover the bodies. israel responded by hammering gaza and its people, from then until today. it insists it respects the laws of war. it says hamas caused so many civilian casualties, wounded and dead, by using them as human shields. but israel's prime minister and former defence minister face arrest warrants for war crimes, and the international court ofjustice is investigating a case accusing israel of genocide. in washington, president biden took credit for a diplomatic victory, celebrated america's support for israel, and said the war had transformed the middle east for the better. this has been time of real turmoil in the middle east, but as i prepare to leave office, ourfriends are strong, our enemies are weak, and there's genuine opportunities for a new future. in lebanon, there is 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 pathway to a state of their own. thank you

one that makes sure hamas can't go back in. and one that provides for the necessary governance, security, reconstruction of gaza. and we've been working every day in parallel on those plans. so now there's an opportunity finally to move forward. but as i said to you the other day, i think israel's perspective on this has been if they took pressure off of hamas, it would make it less likely that hamas would actually finally conclude this agreement. that's their -- that's the way they see it. and that's the way they proceeded. we've tried to reinforce every day the urgency of getting to an agreement so that all of this would stop. the firing by both sides would stop. the hostages would come out. the relief would get in. well, we're finally at that point. i thank you all very, very much. thank you. >> enjoy driving yourself on route 66. sec. blinken: stay out of my way.

sumi: what about hamas' position?ave an interest in the continuation of fighting if there is not to be a second phase? frank: they would very much like to use this as an opportunity to truly end the war. i think that is what they feel they are signing on for. the challenge will be would we get to the end of phase 1. what kind of arrangements can be made to get the rest of the hostages released and reach an agreement to end the war? there would be a lot of political decisions that need to be made inside israel. there would also need to be an agreement on postwar governance inside gaza. comfort that there would be an international force coming in. i do not think it will go back to chaos. a lot of work to be done. sumi: who would lead the international force? what does that part of the negotiation look like? frank: as of right now, they have said they would -- the egyptians have said they would provide troops. the real question is who will be in charge on the ground? hamas has agreed there could be a technocratic governm