have known for a | long time that itamar ben-gvir long time that itamar ben—gvir andindeed long timeforeign or nationalist members of mr netanyahu's government were not happy with the deal that has been reached in the negotiations in qatar also what has been not clear is what they were going to do about it. that became a little bit clearer about half an hour ago, when we heard from mr ben—gvir. he effectively lambasted the contents of the deal calling it a terrible deal, and said that his party would resign from the government if the deal was passed by the israeli government and security cabinet. what he then went on to say, and this is really the crucial part, is that even if they did leave government, his party would not seek to try and bring down mr netanyahu's administration because that is really the nuclear option that could be played here. if mr ben—gvir was able to persuade the other far right nationalist party in the ministration to also leave, it would turn mr netanyahu's government into a minority administration and it would then be vulnerable, and if everyone really wante

ben: that is itamar ben-gvir.nalysis from our correspondent in a jerusalem, jonah fisher. not a huge surprise, voicing his opposition to the deal, but what does it mean for the israeli government, the but -- government of benjamin netanyahu? >> we have known for a long time that itamar ben-gvir and other far-right ultranationalist members of mr. netanyahu's government were not happy with the deal that has been reached in the negotiations in qatar. what has been not clear is what they were going to do about it. that became a little bit clearer about half an hour ago when we heard from mr. ben-gvir, effectively lambasting the contents of the deal, calling it a terrible deal and saying that his party would resign from the government if the deal was passed by the israeli government and security cabinet. what he then went on to say, and this is really the crucial part, is that even if they did leave government, his party would not seek to try and bring down mr. netanyahu's administration, because that is the nuclear op

tonight, israel's security minister itamar ben—gvir, who is part of the hard—line right—wing factionrnment, threatened to quit the governing coalition if a deal were to go ahead. overnight, afterjubilant scenes in gaza at news of a ceasefire, israeli air strikes killed over 80 people, according to the hamas—run health ministry — a figure which includes women and children. this report is byjeremy bowen. just a few hours after the ceasefire agreement was announced, men in northern gaza were back digging through the rubble for the dead and wounded after an israeli strike. the ceasefire is not due to start until sunday. then they heard a small voice. boy screams. he was alive. strong enough to wave for help. his name is assad fadel khalifa. his parents, sister, aunt and uncle, we're told, were killed in the strike. he's three years old. his mouth was full of gravel and dust. he was trying to pull it out himself. we went to nablus on the west bank, the other side of the occupied palestinian territories, to try to assess the mood. israel won't let us into gaza. nablus is a palestinian city

israel's security minister, itamar ben—gvir, who is part of the hardline right—wing faction of the governmentatened to resign if the deal is approved, describing it as a reward for hamas. overnight, afterjubilant scenes in gaza at news of a ceasefire — which will not come into effect until sunday — israeli air strikes killed over 80 people including women and children, according to the hamas—run health ministry. our international editor, jeremy bowen, has this report from jerusalem. just a few hours after the ceasefire agreement was announced, men in northern gaza were back digging through the rubble for the dead and wounded after an israeli strike. the ceasefire is not due to start until sunday. then they heard a small voice. boy screams. he was alive. strong enough to wave for help. his name is assad fadel khalifa. his parents, sister, aunt and uncle, we're told, were killed in the strike. he's three years old. his mouth was full of gravel and dust. he was trying to pull it out himself. we went to nablus on the west bank, the other side of the occupied palestinian territories, to try to ass

israel's security minister, itamar ben—gvir, who is part of the hardline right—wing faction of the governmentreatened to resign if the deal is approved, describing it as a reward for hamas. on wednesday night, there were jubilant scenes in gaza at the news of a ceasefire — which will not come into effect until sunday at the earliest. but the violence in the territory continued. israeli air strikes killed more than 80 people including women and children, according to the hamas—run health ministry. our international editor jeremy bowen has this report from jerusalem. just a few hours after the ceasefire agreement was announced, men in northern gaza were back digging through the rubble for the dead and wounded after an israeli strike. the ceasefire is not due to start until sunday. then they heard a small voice. boy screams. he was alive. strong enough to wave for help. his name is assad fadel khalifa. his parents, sister, aunt and uncle, we're told, were killed in the strike. he's three years old. his mouth was full of gravel and dust. he was trying to pull it out himself. we went to nablus on

the far—right security minister itamar ben—gvir has said he will resign if it is approved, calling it

the far—right security minister itamar ben—gvir has said he will resign if it is approved, calling itard for hamas. the civil defence agency in gaza says more than 80 palestinians have been killed by israeli strikes since the deal was first announced on wednesday. doctor mustafa barghouti is a palestinian politician in the west bank and leader of the palestinian national initiative. i spoke to him a little earlier. well, it's a relief that finally we have an agreement. it's a big relief for especially the population of gaza. we are talking about 2.2 million people who are taking hostage practically by israel. they have suffered from starvation, they have suffered from starvation, they have suffered from starvation, they have suffered huge losses, we are talking about may be at least 70,000 people killed according to the lancet. and more than 109,000 people injured. it's almost 10% of the population of gaza, that's a huge number. if it happened in the united states, you would be talking about 32 million people killed in 15 months. so the people of gaza are feeling relief, hoping that t

some ministers, including the far—right security minister itamar ben—gvir, have threatened to resigns approved, calling it a reward for hamas. the civil defence agency in gaza says more than 80 palestinians have been killed by israeli strikes since the deal was first announced on wednesday. the ceasefire is meant to begin on sunday, with the release of the first three israeli hostages. simonjones reports. "we want an end to the war, we're broken." that was a message from some of the families of the israeli hostages still being held in gaza, as they took to the streets in tel aviv. the first phase of the ceasefire would see 33 hostages, including women, children and elderly people, exchanged for palestinian prisoners in israeli jails. we really hope and pray that these efforts will be fruitful and we can get all our hostages back as soon as possible. this has been a tremendous amount of pressure on the families, and we just hope this period will be over. but opponents of the deal have also been making their feelings clear. injerusalem, israeli protesters blocked the road. the ceasefir

failed to achieve in gaza, and one of the three main components of the israeli coalition, netanyahu, itamar beny namely you submit or you are expelled or we crush you. and none of those things happened in gaza. the west bank for the israeli coalition which is pushing the government, the component pushing the government, the west bank doesn't exist, it is due to area —— judaea and samaria, and hence it is fair game for the israeli settlement project. so that was going on intensively over the last year, but now as of last week, settlers who had been convicted of crimes against palestinians were released, sanctions against them by the united states were lifted, and they went on the rampage last sunday, burning, torturing, luckily not killing anybody. this is what we are facing. just to put one line from israel, the italy defence minister has talked about a shift in strategy, the lesson from gaza is notjust to eliminate terrorists but to stop them coming back. what are the immediate consequences? obviously we have seen the impact on life in some cases, but what is the immediate impact on people's j

minister in right now well, if he's in an incredibly tenuous and precarious political position, itamar ben gvir, the national security minister, has already vowed that once this deal is approved, he will resign. >> we have yet to actually see that resignation, but i suspect if he makes good on his word, it could come, you know, within the next day or so, most likely after the end of the jewish sabbath tomorrow night. as it relates to bezalel smotrich, we know that he has sought assurances from the israeli prime minister that israel will return to the fight in gaza after the first phase of this deal is over. we've seen the prime minister and cabinet meetings today from what our reporting, trying to insist that he's gotten assurances from the u.s. that if hamas violates the terms of the deal, israel will go back to the fight. that's not exactly the same thing. but for now at least, it seems that smotrich will stay in the coalition. but that doesn't mean that the prime minister won't have problems ahead. >> wolf. >> important points indeed. everyone, thank you very much for joining us. we're

we have already heard from itamar ben gvir, the most extreme member of the israeli government, the national security minister, saying he is explicitly against this deal. there are questions about whether other far right members will also vote against that. it does appear that netanyahu has the votes inside of his cabinet to push this deal through. we are not expecting internal israeli politics to scupper this agreement, but until this is voted through the security cabinet, it is not final and it seems unlikely that we will hear from prime minister netanyahu until that vote has gone through. and just a reminder, chris, that while polls show pretty consistently a majority of israelis are in favor of ending the war as the price of bringing the hostages home, there is a minority in israel who believes that this agreement is effectively handing hamas some kind of victory, that it paves the way for them to regain control inside of gaza. and many of the people who think that are among prime minister netanyahu's right wing voter base. so the prime minister has a political task ahead to try to sell

we saw the resignation of national security minister itamar ben-gvir earlier, and he threatened to do all along this week as talks of a cease fire hostage deal were building up and leading to yesterday's ultimate decision from the cabinet to agree to this deal. he is facing domestic pressure here and that was the crux, i believe, of a lot of the language that he used in that speech that he said one time thanking the cooperation of both president biden and incoming president trump. but what was notable is that he also went on to say this was a, quote, temporary ceasefire. it is how he how he described the conversation and the agreement that he had with president trump. he said, as we approach the next stages of the agreement, we are keeping significant assets in our hands in order to bring back all of our captives and meet all of the goals of the war. president trump and president biden gave their full backing to israel's right of return to fighting. if israel concludes that the negotiation for phase two are futile. so, fred, what we're still waiting for tonight, right now, as you ment

itamar ben—gvir, minister of national security, shares her views, threatening to resign if the ceasefirefied. it is a reckless deal, he said, that releases hundreds of murderous terrorists, allows thousands of terrorists back to northern gaza and erases what he called the war�*s achievements. back to northern gaza, and erases what he called the war�*s achievements. ben—gvir stalked off with supporters from his party, jewish power. ultra—nationalist opposition to the ceasefire is a major political problem for benjamin netanyahu. outside his office, israelis who want to bury the ceasefire deal held a fake funeral. they want the prime minister to keep his promise to destroy hamas and rescue all the hostages. for them, negotiating a phased prisoner exchange with hamas and pulling out of gaza smells like defeat. police made some arrests. many israelis support the ceasefire. for now the anger of those who don't is cancelled out by donald trump's determination to take a diplomatic victory into the white house. but the coffins, intended to warn about the ceasefire's dangers, are also a sign to t

some ministers, including the far—right security minister itamar ben—gvir, have threatened to resignestinians have

there are so people in his cabinet, notably the hardline right—wing security minister itamar ben—gvirit the government if this deal goes through. the other thing _ this deal goes through. the other thing that _ this deal goes through. tie: other thing that has changed is how much mike has been so weakened, hezbollah in lebanon has been weakened by israel attacks, one that side of the conflict they are negotiating from a position of weakness, that they were not in in jane. real weakness. that they were not in in jane. realweakness. in that they were not in in jane. real weakness. in these as you said, _ real weakness. in these as you said. more _ real weakness. in these as you said, more than 46,000 people killed _ said, more than 46,000 people killed according to the un. that— killed according to the un. that leads to its own internal pressure _ that leads to its own internal pressure on hamas from the population of gaza, many of whom — population of gaza, many of whom will probably think hamas had this— whom will probably think hamas had this coming with launching the attack back in

israel's security minister, itamar ben—gvir, who is part of the hardline right—wing faction of the government

israel's security minister, itamar ben—gvir, who is part of the hardline right—wing faction of the governmentnews of a ceasefire which will not come into effect until sunday at the earliest. israeli airstrikes killed over 80 people including women and children, according to the hamas—run health ministry. our international editor, jeremy bowen, has this report from jerusalem. just a few hours after the ceasefire agreement was announced, men in northern gaza were back

national security minister itamar ben gvir vowed to resign from the coalition government. >> the existingses hamas' appetite and motivation, this deal is letting them attack, explode and kidnap and get what they want. correspondent: but the families of israeli hostages held in gaza, are demanding the government sign the deal. they are anxious. officially, at least 1/3rd of the hostages are dead. many don't know whether to plan a celebration, or funeral. tal haimi has been a hostage since october 7. udi goren is his cousin. >> the vast difference between the daily anxiousness about might this be their last day on earth to the fact that some of these people by next week might have their loved ones sleeping in the bedroom next to them. correspondent: until then, they pray for peace. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. ♪ amna: today, more of president-elect donald trump's picks for key cabinet positions faced questions from senators on capitol hill, in another mammoth day of confirmation hearings. our lisa desjardins has been covering these and joins me now with the latest. another busy

his cabinet members and former cabinet members, including the former national security minister itamar ben-gvir, who resigned from the government over this hostage deal. but as we look forward, phase one of this agreement will likely end with 33 hostages, the majority of them alive, being released from gaza in exchange for nearly 2000 palestinian prisoners against. some of them have life sentences. and then if phase two goes into effect and we'll learn more about phase two, likely this week, because we know negotiators are already discussing the details of that agreement. if that goes into effect, more israeli forces will leave gaza, and then phase three will start to go into basically a planning phase that will see not only the israelis, hamas and the qataris, along with the egyptians, discussing what this is ultimately going to pan out to be, but also international ngos and organizations that will be a part of rebuilding gaza as part of phase three. and so the trump administration has a lot on their plate in terms of the navigation of all of this. but we know, again, this deal would not

we've had that from all the politicians, even the far right politicians, itamar ben gvir and the financehat it's far more important for hamas to be eradicated, as mr netanyahu has vowed, have issued again, as they did last week, their sense of pleasure and joy at what has happened. but in each case mingled with a sense that they feel that hamas, as i was saying a moment ago, has been making as much as they can of this and that that is something that they find unacceptable and a humiliation, one of them described it, as for israel. police in the netherlands are on hunt for thieves who broke into a museum overnight, allegedly using explosives, and stole priceless ancient artefacts. local police say there were multiple perpetrators and the heist was well—prepared. translation: we are deeply shocked by the events of last| night in our drents museum. in its 170—year existence, such a major incident has never occurred. a number of objects have been stolen, including the masterpiece the helmet of cotofenesti from the fifth century bc. 0ur europe regional editor danny aeberhard has been followin

know you often usg blames hamas for its role in delaying, but i don't know whether you saw what itamar ben gvir said to the times of israel just over the last couple of days. he basically said that me and smotrich have successfully prevented any ceasefire deals for the last year, and we still want to prevent this one. how do you react to that? and are you willing to agree that also israel has held up what could have been the biden ceasefire, which could have saved many lives many, many months ago? >> so should this have happened months ago? yes. could it have happened months ago? yes were there occasions when each side did things that made it more difficult to get this over the finish line? yes, including israel, but predominantly it's been hamas, and certainly in the last few months, hamas had refused to engage. look, i think what the basic dynamic has been this first, what was so important was that there had to be an agreement that this would proceed in two phases, that we'd have these six weeks where everyone stops firing, israel pulls back, hostages come out, prisoners are released, hu

and you heard today from the far right national security minister, itamar ben-gvir. to quit if this deal went through. >> the deal that is being formed is terrible. it brings back the threat of encirclement to the residents of southern israel, effectively erasing the war achievements that have been gained with much blood by our fighters. nick: now, ben-gvir cannot bring the government down himself. and, geoff, most of israel seems to support this deal, which is really being given to them more as a hostage release than a possible end of the war. geoff: to your point about phase three being a long way away, the biden administration has crafted a plan for what would happen after the war. is that right? walk us through it. nick: yes, this was unveiled for the first time by secretary of state antony blinken today. it is incredibly ambitious, to say the least, geoff. this the idea would be to begin by creating an interim palestinian government, then a quote "fully reformed palestinian authority." international troops would provide security in gaza, but blinken said the cou

far right israeli minister itamar ben-gvir calling the deal reckless and announcing his party will resignahu's governing coalition. relatives of some of the hostages expressing concern the king is not yet dry. >> now our goal is to ensure this government implements the entire agreements fully. >> in a document released saturday, israel confirming it will, during phase one of the deal, release more than 700 palestinians held in israeli prisons, including some convicted of serious crimes. as part of the agreement, israel will also free an additional 1100 gazans who did not participate in the october 7th terror attack, but were being held by israel without charge. in exchange, hamas will release 33 israeli hostages, including two americans, keith segal and saggy dickerson. the first three living female israeli hostages are set to be freed on sunday in exchange for an initial group of palestinians, 95 mainly female detainees. a further 65 hostages in gaza, a number of which are thought to be dead, will not be released in phase one of the deal and will only be returned to israel if the six wee

far right israeli minister itamar ben-gvir calling the deal reckless and announcing his party will resigncoalition. relatives of some of the hostages expressing concern the ink is not yet dry. >> now our goal is to ensure this government implements the entire agreements fully. >> in a document released saturday. israel confirming it will, during phase one of the deal, release more than 700 palestinians held in israeli prisons, including some convicted of serious crimes. as part of the agreement, israel will also free an additional 1100 gazans who did not participate in the october 7th terror attack, but were being held by israel without charge. in exchange, hamas will release 33 israeli hostages, including two americans, keith segal and saggy dixon. the first three living female israeli hostages are set to be freed on sunday in exchange for an initial group of palestinians, 95 mainly female detainees. a further 65 hostages in gaza, a number of which are thought to be dead, will not be released in phase one of the deal and will only be returned to israel if the six week pause in fighting c

we heard tonight from itamar ben gvir, the national security minister.e's how he described the deal as he threatened to resign. >> he. scott, this deal multiplies the motivation of hamas. >> this deal teaches them that they can take hostage and attack. and at the end of the day, they can get what they want. >> and brianna ben-gvir has said that he will definitively leave the israeli government if this cease fire agreement is approved. in that cabinet meeting. bezalel smotrich, another far right member of the government, he has been less definitive so far. what he has said, though, is that he will only stay if the israeli prime minister can offer him assurances that the war in gaza will resume after phase one of this agreement, meaning six weeks of ceasefire, not a day longer. which, of course would sabotage phases two and three, which was the intention of the biden administration in negotiating this deal, that ultimately the six week ceasefire might evolve into a permanent end of the war and the return of all of the remaining hostages still being held in

to the war, and he will need to make a decision on whether he chooses donald trump or he chooses itamar ben gvir. this is a very hard decision, especially that at any juncture in the past, netanyahu chose his ultra nationalist coalition partners and not the president of the united states. but then it was joe biden. i wonder what will happen when it's donald trump. >> you know, susan, as you know, the white house and secretary of state blinken today are expressing optimism that this deal, this hostage release, ceasefire deal will still go into effect on sunday, biden's last full day in office. but given the delays and what we know now, do you think that's realistic? >> you know, wolf, you know, when you see that the horror and how long it's taken even to get to this point, nobody can rule out a further delay. there's just no question about that. especially because, as barak said, the choice here is a very painful one for netanyahu. he risks the collapse at any moment of his, uh, far right coalition government. now, for now, ben-gvir has said he would not actually bring down the government ev

bella smotrich and itamar ben gvir.pond to nbc news request for comment regarding trump's remarks, the president's sentiments were welcomed by ultra nationalist israeli politicians, including the aforementioned smotrich and ben-gvir. smotrich called the idea of finding new homes for gaza residents wonderful. telling israeli broadcaster channel 12 on sunday that only out of the box thinking and new solutions will bring peace and security. ben-gvir congratulated trump on his initiative on a post on x twitter. so the two people who the icc views as potentially war criminals as well, or at least supporting it, they love this idea, right? >> and it was actually. >> reporting from early. >> not long after october. >> 7th, that benjamin netanyahu himself was trying to get egypt to open the border so that there would be. >> a mass forcing. >> of palestinians out of. gaza and they would not be allowed to return. i mean, israel has never allowed. >> palestinian refugees who were. >> expelled to return, so there's no reason to bel

in fact, just a few days ago, probably the most extremist right wing minister, itamar ben-gvir, was bragging blocking a deal time and time again. that's what he said today. he is threatening to resign and remove his party from the government if the current deal is approved. as of right now, the israeli cabinet is set to vote on the deal as soon as this weekend, and u.s. officials say they are confident the agreement will go forward as planned. ayman mohyeldin spent years reporting on the region and on the ground. he's also, of course, the host of ayman on msnbc. noga tarnopolsky is an independent journalist reporting from jerusalem. she's been a huge resource for us for the last few years, and they join me now. noga, let me just start with you on the latest. the extent you're reporting this out about what? this there are some up in the air ness about when this vote was scheduled. these moves by parts of the governing party to try to break the coalition. what's the latest developments there? >> well, we actually have some breaking news to report. >> after a day of tremendous tumult here in je

there's a lot of anger directed at the israeli government, specifically at the far right minister, itamar ben-gvir, the national security minister who admitted in the past 48 hours having blocked previous hostage deals in the past and hoped and said publicly he hopes to do so once again. so lots of questions being asked today. who exactly is behind this delay? obviously israel is saying it's hamas, hamas saying we're committed to the agreement. this has been the soundtrack to these negotiations since may. both sides accusing each other of being the main obstacle. >> so. so, danielle, do we know how that proposal, which has been on the table, as you say, since may, essentially is now coming to possible fruition? >> so there's broad agreement on stage one, which you briefly mentioned before, is going to last 42 days, during which period we'll see 33 hostages released. they include women, children, civilian civilians over the age of 50, as well as those who are wounded and injured. in exchange, we'll see palestinians released 30 palestinians for every civilian, 50 palestinians for every female s

the israeli government voting to approve the deal over the objections of far right ministers like itamar ben gvir. >> i call on my friends in likud and the religious zionist party. it is not too late. a government meeting is ahead of us. we can stop this deal. join me. we can stop it. >> this time. neither he nor finance minister bezalel smotrich, who also opposed the deal, were able to thwart it. the cease fire, now set to take effect on sunday, with scenes like this from 2023 of hostages being released from gaza expected as early as sunday afternoon. on the first day, hamas will release three female civilian hostages like other civilian hostages, each one will be freed in exchange for 30 palestinian prisoners from israeli jails. five female soldiers held by hamas are also set to be released during the six week ceasefire, in exchange for 50 palestinian prisoners each, including 30 who are serving life sentences. after 15 months of war, a ceasefire could not come soon enough for the people of gaza, who have stared down starvation and faced unending food insecurity beyond a reprieve from isra

facing quite an internal rebellion within his own coalition government from two far right ministers, itamar ben gvir, the national security minister, and bezalel smotrich, the finance minister, who have both been threatening to leave this coalition government if indeed this deal is approved. ben-gvir made very clear last night that he will leave the government if the deal is approved, which appears to be happening as we are speaking right now. so we expect him to leave the government. that will leave prime minister netanyahu with only a two seat majority in his governing coalition. as as it relates to the finance minister, bezalel smotrich, he has been a little bit more, less unequivocal, i should say, in the sense that he has threatened to leave. but he has also said that the prime minister needs to provide assurances that israel will return to the war in gaza after the first phase of this agreement is concluded, and we don't know yet exactly what kinds of assurances the prime minister has provided. whether smotrich will stick around through the first phase of the deal and then make a decision

itamar ben-gvir has said that this deal will, quote, destroy all of israel's achievements. then he resigned from the government. there is some opposition to this deal within the government, generally against from hardliners in the government that there's opposition amongst the israeli people to this is day one of phase one. talk to me about that, okay. >> the two different basically visions for israel and there are extremists that for them it's not about the release of the hostages, but it's mostly about us staying in gaza. for some it's not for security reasons, but in order to reoccupy gaza, this is something that ben-gvir and some hardliners in the israeli government represent. there are other israelis that i can respect their views. they are saying, okay, we are releasing hostages, but hamas stays in power and we are releasing all these stories to hamas. so we are risking another october 7th. and my answer to them is that, and this is also my call to, to, to the us and to president elect. i think that we can all agree that hamas shouldn't stay in power and need to be re

and ben-gvir, itamar ben-gvir, who was up until just a few hours ago, the national security minister,f course, he resigned in objecting to this deal, said that it was like supporting terrorism. so no celebrations expected. and, you know, some of them have been you know, if you ask people here, some people have been arrested in the past for social media posts that israeli officials found questionable. i have been here so many times trying to talk to people on camera, asking them their thoughts on the war. and so many people have told me, we've got friends who've been arrested for facebook posts. we're not going to say anything publicly on camera. and human rights organizations will tell you that the bar is very low for arrest in the west bank. there have been reports and investigations, certainly by nbc and by human rights organizations, on the conditions inside those prisons, allegations of abuse, of torture, not just physical abuse, but sexual abuse as well. and so those are the conditions. and those conditions have worsened since october 7th, 2023. the number of children, the number

yesterday, we heard from the national security minister, itamar ben-gvir, saying that he opposed this deal and that he had previously in past agreements when they had been presented to the israeli government, blocked these deals. but to go back to the point that, you know, dennis ross was making about the two separate worlds that we're witnessing right now in the region, it is clear that when you track and look at hamas statements and hamas comments and the way the arab world has been covering this, this is not for them. the defeat that some in israel are projecting it to be. there's no doubt that the palestinians have paid a tremendous price. i mean, as we all know, what has been described as a genocide by various organizations. but at the end of the day, the two goals that were set out by the israeli government, one was to destroy hamas and two to secure the hostages. yesterday, you had the secretary of state, antony blinken, say hamas has managed to recruit more militants as a result of this war, since have been destroyed because of this war. and that must be a very troubling sign

there was a moment on thursday in which itamar ben-gvir, the extremist national security minister, boasteded this deal from taking place since may. and then incredibly, truly, incredibly, prime minister netanyahu's cabinet secretary, yossi fuchs. he went on twitter and he said, no, it was us. and from that moment on, when there was an explicit acknowledgment by the government that this deal had been on the table virtually unchanged, as joe biden said, yeah, something, something went very dark. and there have been a lot of public statements by ex hostages who knew this all along but hadn't dared to say it. and there's really an extraordinary article in yediot aharonot, in the most widely distributed paper in israel, with some senior military officials who sounded like they were on the verge of a breakdown because of their feeling that a breach of the public trust had been imposed on them by the political considerations of the government, whose orders they have to obey. >> on the on the palestinian side, the qataris put a great deal of pressure on hamas as well and said you're not getting a

from two far right ministers in netanyahu's governing coalition, the national security minister, itamar ben-gvir, who has said that he will leave the government coalition altogether if indeed this cease fire agreement passes the government vote and then bezalel smotrich, the finance minister who has instead sought assurances from the israeli prime minister that israel will go back to war at the end of this six week ceasefire. and so it appears that, at least for now, everything is on track for this deal to be approved and for the ceasefire to go into effect this coming sunday. if indeed that happens, we will see three female civilian israeli hostages be released from gaza sometime as early as sunday afternoon. they will be released in exchange for 30 palestinian prisoners each, who will be released by from from israeli prisons. we will then see the much needed entry of humanitarian aid into gaza. as many as 600 trucks of aid per day over the course of those six weeks. but then, of course, there is now this major question mark that has been thrust into the public by the demands of these far

choose between donald trump and his ultra nationalist coalition partners, bezalel smotrich and itamar ben gvir, and at any juncture until now, since the beginning of the war, netanyahu chose ben-gvir and smotrich over, uh, the president of the united states. i'm not sure he'll be able to do that with the incoming president. >> yeah, it's interesting, as you were saying, that it kind of in my mind, too, was circling back to your original reporting, which we started this interview with, which is walls telling these families that president trump is fully committed to all three phases of this deal. and as you lay it out there, it underscores how important that information is to know right now. >> yeah. and, you know, on phase two of this deal, there is an american citizen who is alive. we just had a proof of life from him just two and a half weeks ago. edan alexander, who sits in the tunnels in gaza right now and he's alive and he's only going to be released if phase two of the deal is implemented. there are also, uh, three. i'm sorry, four american citizens who are unfortunately already dead

lawmakers like bezalel smotrich, the finance minister, and the former national security minister, itamar bengvir, they are welcoming these comments by president trump with open arms. and that's because they've been advocating for exactly the same thing for months and months now. for them, it's with the aim of israel ultimately settling the gaza strip, something that the former the biden administration. opposed ardently, which we haven't heard the trump administration weigh in on yet. and ultimately, what trump is saying here is indeed taking a page from the right wing in israel. it raises questions about the mass displacement of palestinian people. it also raises questions, even about notions like ethnic cleansing. and while trump is saying here that, you know, it would be about incentivizing people to to leave and go to other countries, that he even suggested that it could even be long term. what is important to note here is that this is being roundly rejected by the two countries that he mentioned would potentially take in these palestinians, and that is egypt and jordan, who have both lon

following the resignation of the national security minister, itamar ben-gvir, over going into this ceasefire agreement, he nearly faced another defection from the finance minister, bezalel smotrich. and so a strong relationship with trump certainly gives him bonafides with the right wing in israeli politics. and then, of course, there are foreign policy goals that the israeli prime minister wants to achieve, such as perhaps carrying out strikes against iran and trying to get the u.s. green light to go after iran's nuclear facilities in the future. but president trump is also going to be looking to gain something out of this meeting as well. and one of those aspects, of course, is questions over the future of the cease fire agreement. we've heard president trump in the past raising questions about whether or not the cease fire agreement would actually be able to last past the six weeks of this initial first phase of this agreement. we know that president trump's envoy to the middle east, steve witkoff, is going to be in israel this week, tomorrow, in fact, meeting with the israeli prime minis

just heard in the past 24 hours from the very controversial far right national security minister itamar bentively raised his hand and said, i was able to block some of the hostage deals and i'm going to try to do it again. this time, it sparked fury among the family members of the hostages. now he sees this as essentially surrendering to hamas. and it's not just political opposition. there are families, too, who are against this deal because they think that the second batch of hostages to be released after the first 42 days, that it's effectively a death sentence. they don't think that they will make it that far, that far that those hostages will never make it back. and so they see this as a death sentence for the military age. men who are going to be are expected to be released in the second part of this deal. they don't see that happening. and so they are opposing this deal. so there is broad support for it, but it's definitely not unanimous. >> katie. all right. daniele hamamdjian, thank you very much. ayman mohyeldin and aaron david miller are still with me. let's suppose that we get fa

bezalel smotrich, the finance minister, and itamar ben gvir, the national security minister.ow we know that netanyahu has held meetings with both of these ministers over the weekend, that he has pushed forward with mediators on the israeli side to move forward with those negotiations and talks. and, of course, in that call with the u.s. president, joe biden, it's understood, according to the white house, that biden reiterated not only the need to get hostages out as soon as possible to secure a deal that ensures this, and also to ensure a ceasefire in gaza, but also underscored the changing situation in the middle east that we have seen over recent weeks and months. of course, the ceasefire agreement between israel and hezbollah in lebanon. of course, the collapse of the assad regime in syria and what that will mean for regional dynamics and iran now being in a weakened position. so these are all factors that will come under consideration in these negotiations and discussions going forward. and of course, there has been pressure not only from the biden administration, but als

it's part of the reason that israel's national security minister, itamar ben-gvir, resigned from the government over the process. and it is part of the reason that a lot of pressure is being put on israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his cabinet, because this is not an equal deal. it is not releasing hostages for hostages. it is releasing hostages for prisoners who have been, in most cases, convicted of serious crimes. and so as we look forward here and we talk about the situation on the ground. and again, i'm just getting an update as we speak here. and so i want to just give you read you this information off of my computer here. israeli media says all heads of the security echelon, including the head of the shin bet, the mossad chief, and others are monitoring this operation, as they did last week. and israeli media says in a matter of moments, these women are going to be transferred to the idf. and again, you saw sort of the effort by hamas to make this look like an organized event in gaza city, in palestine square, a very famous place inside gaza. they set up this stage

bezalel smotrich and itamar ben gvir.they remain against any sort of ceasefire being approved at this stage. they want to see a full eradication of hamas. but clearly there is pressure building both on netanyahu and the israeli government, both from the biden administration and from the incoming trump administration. but also, of course, hamas is in a different position as well. it is weakened. the regional situation has changed. we've seen a ceasefire in lebanon with hezbollah, the collapse of the assad regime. iran is heavily weakened. so this is a different situation now. >> it does feel like there's not really much room or nowhere for hamas to go at this point. but i was going to say, how much of this is to do with the incoming president, with the incoming administration? because trump has said before he wants to see a deal on the table before he's in office. >> that's right. and he hasn't really given any sort of clear outline of how this deal would be reached. it's still, of course, very much on the table for the bi

in fact, the far right party in itamar ben gvir, his party threatened to leave the coalition, but that won't collapse the government. so it's going to go forward. unfortunately, it looks like the release of the hostages may be delayed by a day as well to monday for this to really go into effect, but it's solid now and it's going to go forward. >> well, is there was there anything behind the scenes that suggests that perhaps monday was always the the hoped for day, considering president trump will be inaugurated by mid-afternoon? yeah. >> you know, casey, this is clearly tied up in american politics. and i have to say, when president elect trump says that he did it, it's he has it in reverse. quite frankly, this has been the biden plan since may. and what president elect trump did throughout the past half year was ignore it, push back on it. and his allies mocked it. now, finally, donald trump signed up to this agreement, this deal, this structure, and supported the biden approach. and so now we see it coming together. and that's american politics driving this. and so i think prime mini