we will be back in a moment or two, but i want to bring in our gaza correspondent, who is in istanbulitoring 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 last little while. there was some confusion about the announcement and there still is, because we don't know exactly when the announcement will be made, but the head of the hamas delegation hasjust told the bbc they have handed over the final approval for the deal, which will include hamas releasing 33 israeli hostages, including women, children and female soldiers at the first stage, and israel will release about 1500 palestinian detainees in israeli prisons. most of them were detained after the 7th of october from gaza and there are about 500 were detained before, including about 250 people who are serving 15 or more years in prison. most important in this dealfor the 2.3 million people, especially deal for the 2.3 million people, especially those who participate from their homes in the north, as part of the deal, they would be allowed back to their homes

earlier our gaza correspondent, rushdi abualouf, who's in istanbul right now, told me about the reactionalestinians. with all videos of people celebrating in the streets, but i think people were upset with the fact that. watching the last hours of the cease—fire before he goes into effect in lebanon. it might be the same in gaza, so until the cease—fire goes into effect, all people are still worried will in general. those who are supporting hamas, they say it's a victory in their voices were up a victory in their voices were up for the last year gets home so they were equally blaming hamas. we have seen this, we have seen people exposing this on social media. you know the scale of destruction in gaza is something guys i never saw before. everything is destroyed and people are happy because the cease—fire is going to be in effect and they might be allowed to go back north. they will not find, most of them will not find, most of them will not find a place to stay, a school to send their kids, a hospital to be treated. so, very grim future, very mixed feeling. and one of the terms of the ag

. >> jonah fisher is in jerusalem and our correspondent is in istanbul. from both of you the latest that you are hearing from the respective sides in the negotiation. jonah, i will begin with you. >> today has been a day in which we have heard strong voices against this deal in israel including prominent members of benjamin netanyahu's cabinet. one of them came out this morning with a tweet saying he thought it would be a catastrophe for israeli national security if the deal went ahead. clearly, mr. netanyahu has quite a job to do. there was also a letter written to him as prime minister by 10 members of his own coalition urging him not to make the deal. there is certainly opposition here. it remains to be seen if we do get to the point of it possibly being agreed as to whether those people within his cabinet who are against it, whether they kick up a fuss and threaten to leave government or when push comes to shove if they make the objections heard but allow the deal to go through. >> you have been speaking to the palestinian official with close knowledg

gorilla rescued from a turkish airlines plane cargo hold and is seen there now recovering at an istanbul. the five month old was discovered in a box on a flight from nigeria to thailand last month. but those photos were just shared. oh and video. what a sweetie. on sunday, wildlife officers are certainly considering returning him to his natural habitat. the public, though, has weighed in and named the gorilla z10, which means olive in turkish. it's unclear how he ended up in that box, but customs officials warn they have increasingly intercepted illegally traded animals around istanbul as it emerges as a major air hub between continents. john. all right. >> this morning the doink heard round the world. >> the kick is up. it sails on the way, hits the upright and goes through. he knocks it through and wins the game. 2320. the commanders win in the postseason for the first time in 19 years. >> yeah, haven't been able to say that in a generation. the washington commanders beat the tampa bay bucs in a walk off field goal. you saw it bounce off the uprights a doink, but it fell through which

speak to the bbc�*s jonah fisher, injerusalem, and our gaza correspondent, rushdi abualouf, who's in istanbulo get from both of you the latest you are hearing from the latest you are hearing from the respective sides in this negotiation.— the respective sides in this negotiation. the respective sides in this neuotiation. ., , . negotiation. today has been a da in negotiation. today has been a day in which — negotiation. today has been a day in which we _ negotiation. today has been a day in which we have - negotiation. today has been a day in which we have heard i negotiation. today has been a i day in which we have heard some pretty strong voices against this deal, here in israel, including prominent members of benjamin netanyahu's cabinet. one of them came out this morning with a tweet, saying he thought it would be a catastrophe for israeli national security if this deal would ahead. clearly, mr netanyahu has a job to do. there was also a letter written to him by ten members of his own coalition urging him not to make that deal. yes, there are certainly opposition here. it remains to be se

rushdi abualouf is the bbc correspondent formerly based in gaza, and is now in istanbul.e gave me this assessment. i think the final round of talks started this morning and it's already going. what i understand from a senior palestinian official who is familiar with the talks is they are putting in place the wording for the final announcement, which is supposed to be from the qataris, the main mediators in this negotiation in doha. we might hear an announcement soon, maybe an hour or two hours, talking about the progress they have made in the talks. we understand that all the issues have been solved and now it's just the final touches, the technical details are involved. two teams, a team of negotiators from hamas and from israel, they are in the same building, conducting indirect talks. and they are very close to an announcement and they believe that the deal is imminent. talk us through what you know about how the deal would work. i think it's three stages. the first stage, 42 days where hamas would release 3a israeli hostages, including women, children, sick people, an

some of the people are taking costs in a pro palestine demonstration in istanbul, marching through the whole potter test, he has largest city starting early on new year's day, 300 civil organizations. the leading, the much quoted on citizens to denounce is really a dresser in kansas. is there any forces have conducted raids in several towns and villages in the occupied westbank and the as of wednesday, the army rated the village of town. that's west of numbers and 5 check ups on the homes of palestinians. they also enter ballasa camp with a full those 2 in confrontations with palestinian fighters and fighting erupted again over night between palestinian security forces and fighters in the janine capital. the finance has been ongoing for 25 days, getting 11 palestinians, including 5 security personnel and jones. the us says it's conducted multiple ass strikes against who the targets and the game and a capital sign a and along the coast it says it's navy ships and aircraft come on, sent on a weapon. storage facility is when a heavy exchange of fire between the who these and israel in the

let's speak to rushdi abualouf — the bbc correspondent formerly based in gaza, who is now based in istanbulll us a little more about what we are hearing on those what we are hearing on those what are described as final negotiations. i what are described as final negotiations.— what are described as final negotiations. i think the final round of talks _ negotiations. i think the final round of talks started - negotiations. i think the final round of talks started this . round of talks started this morning and it's already going. what i understand from a senior palestinian official who is familiar with the talks as they are putting in place the wording for the final announcement, which is supposed to be from the qataris, the main mediators in this negotiation in doha. we might hear an announcement soon, maybe an hour or two hours, talking about the progress they have made in the talks. we understand that all the issues have been solved and now it's just the final touches the technical details are involved two teams, a team of negotiators from hamas and from israel, they are in the same buildi

and that continues despite the difficulties, you know, a few days ago there was an election in istanbul and erdogan's party lost the second round. and i think this is an indication that the human rights movements, democracy movements, are still there. they're not going to be deterred. they're going we're going to win this over time. but the issue we have to ask ourselves is what can we do now in the united states? i would say i would look to the next administration if this administration isn't willing to do it, to fund human rights activists directly, fund democratic movements and peace builders who are out there trying to make peace in the trenches. and this is a philosophy of the carter center, is that we believe that people can solve their own problems if we go into partnership with them. and we recognize that it' >> we are going to go live expecting president-elect trump to meet with senate republicans. take a look outside of the capitol. live look outside the u.s. capitol. president-elect trump is scheduled to meet with senate republicans here on capitol hill and expected to go to

you're joining us from istanbul. good to talk to you against a non, how's been you it ministration doing in your eyes and your assessment one month on? well, the new administration is still trying to figure out how to run the state. and it was pretty much successful running it live, which was a small government in comparison to the rest of the country. they have the have spend a lot of time trying to understand the ins and outs of the government. they have a pointed me, plenty of new people at high, hey, the key of different the crowds. i know they are opening up also to the rest of the season, the city and communities. and i believe that within the time constraints and with the, with the, with how things turned out. david doing a very decent job. and they are sending the right messages. they are trying to include all syrians and decision making. and now the biggest challenge is how to make sure that they keep doing what they doing uh on the cost of space or base. and. busy the most pressing issues in terms of servic

cargo, a baby gorilla was rescued from a plane's cargo hold last money month and is recovering at an istanbul box on a turkish airlines flight. showing signs of recovery, wildlife officers are considering returning that young gorilla to its natural habitat. >>> a failure to launch for blue origin, the company's debut rocket called new glenn was supposed to take off in the middle of the night last night. but the launch was called off with just minutes to spare. blue origin claims a technical problem with the rocket but the company is not being any more specific. a new launch date is yet to be announced. >>> a study finds the risk of dementia could be much huer than thought. 14% of men and 23% of women would develop dementia in their women but the journal nature medicine predicts the risk is twice as high, around 42% of men and women will develop dementia in their lifetime. according to the study, the increase in risk and the increase in people living with dementia is largely associated with people living longer lives. >>> at this hour, we continue to track the impact of those deadly wildfires

. >> thanks to me, every bus in new york now stops in istanbul. >> hahahahahahaha! >> saturday night live re-airing a joke about new york city mayor eric adams bribery indictment. just as adams gears up for a tough reelection campaign. adams has vowed to continue his bid despite the scandal engulfing his administration. he'll soon be joined by more than half a dozen other democrats in the primary election, which is set for june. the crowded field setting the country's most populous city up for fierce debates over a number of contentious local and national issues. >> what you're seeing from this crop of potential candidates is the idealism colliding with realism. >> 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers coming in 8000 a week. and then when you hear some of the things they're saying, it's clear they don't have a fullness of understanding of how do you balance a budget? how do you run a city? >> all right. our next guest also has his hat in the ring. joining us now is new york city mayoral candidate whitney tilson. sir, very grateful to have you on the show. good morning

know the residency, the seller, the middle east council, on global affairs, and joins us now from istanbul. mr. that i could help you with this on the program . i mean, the past few weeks we've had the ministration woke up in damascus is already working to bring getting the rival of factions into a unified military falls. but running parallel with that sold has the diplomacy that they're working on to bring a variety of ethnic minority groups into the fold. it's a double edged sword, isn't it one that could be blunted? in 2025. if the new administration doesn't work the right to pass. yeah, absolutely. it is very crucial that emerging order in the muscle has domestic budget . and he said that means basically including bowl some form of material safety on a crowds. uh, otherwise christian theirs is so open the front office is phase 2 and so they should still be representative in the system. it also needs the regional acceptance on every johnson sciences and both always deactivate, putting a significant level of this almost going on. but to be in the far more more upstage embrace of some new

i got a delay, speaking just from istanbul. think well, certainly confronting the legacy of more than 15 years of civil war, the l. a, sorry, neighborhood, and damascus. once a thriving sub, now lives in ruins. of people who once lived were or forced to flee their homes are so set a report from the capital of domestics. it was a bustling hub on the outskirts of serious capital, damascus. the city neighborhood has been reduced to rubble by the routine forces displaced. residents have been borrowed from returning to their homes, but after default of the south region last month, some of them began to return on to to see what they left is now under cold night. zable. well the in 1st time and they were forced to leave in 2012 just as the last 12 years. she and her family had been displaced 4 times. oh, i see a little bit better. another trunks around it all home, and one of them boomed. it, well, we was still inside. people have to leave families. the shots with my 2 brothers integrated to 11 on. now they can come back because we ha

let's speak to rushdi abualouf — the bbc correspondent formerly based in gaza — and is now in istanbuling as though they are close. they sound very optimistic that something can be happening very soon. yes. optimistic that something can be happening very soon. yes, i think the qatari _ be happening very soon. yes, i think the qatari official - be happening very soon. yes, i think the qatari officialjust - think the qatari officialjust confirmed that they are at the closest point. as we said, there is a palestinian senior official involved in the talks told me this morning that there was about six hours of meetings last night and they resume meeting today. i think most of the important, the key issue of this deal has been solved. now they are talking about very small micro details, technical details about where the israeli tanks will be moving from player to player, the buffer zone and which area the israeli army will stay. 800 metres in some areas, 600 metres. so they are talking about very small details but the key issue has been solved. we understand that hamas will release 3334 isra

let's speak to rushdi, the bbc correspondent formerly based in gaza, but is now in istanbul.ts of different voices saying we are very close including, crucially, the qataris. but what is the latest that you are hearing from your sources? well, we understand that the meeting involving technical teams with the mediators are still going on and we are waiting for the result of this meeting which is described by a senior palestinian official as might be the final meeting before the deal is being announced. they said that now they are talking about very small details related to the implementation of the ceasefire deal. you know, there are a lot of details and maps that have been drawn and areas, technical teams who will do this, who will do that? we understand that the egyptians are heavily involved now. they are talking to some of the former palestinian authorities, security officials who might have some roles at the rafah crossing forming some sort of a police unit in gaza that would take advantage of facilitating the movement of hundreds of thousands of people who were displaced