richard engel joins us tonight. richard, it seems like all sides seem to be optimistic. >> tom, a senior arab negotiator tells me this is the most progress they've seen in months, and it comes after intense efforts from the prime minister of qatar and president-elect trump's personal envoy. according to two u.s. officials, 48 hours after this deal is signed potentially this week, hamas would begin to release a large number of hostages, and that ultimately all of the hostages would be set free. in exchange, israel would end major combat operations in gaza after nearly 47,000 palestinians have been killed, according to local officials, and israeli troops would pull out of major palestinian population centers. according to the officials, some of the hostages, tom, are quote, in bad shape. >> richard engel for us tonight, richard, we thank you. >>> back home now to the confirmation hearings beginning this week for president-elect trump's cabinet nominees. the first up, pete hegseth, his embattled pick for defense secreta

let's go to chief foreign correspondent richard engel in jerusalem. richard, what's the view from there? so let me start with the view in gaza, because we are seeing very strong reactions there. there are now public celebrations in many population centers all across the gaza strip. people are coming out of their homes, they are cheering, they are dancing, they are kissing each other. some hamas fighters from from the ezzeddin qassam, the military wing, were out on the streets as well, firing guns in the air, trying to show strength that they have not been defeated for the people of gaza. the 2.2 million people. this is a transformative day. they hope that this is the start of a lasting cease fire, potentially a permanent ceasefire. the people of gaza did not want this war. most of them. it was hamas that launched the attack of october 7th. it was hamas that took the hostages. and generally it was the people of gaza who paid the price. so in gaza, there is a tremendous sense of anticipation. they need aid, they need water, they need food. and they belie

nbc chief correspondent richard engel joins us once again from the region this morning. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, craig. well, we have been down this road before. but i'm told by a senior arab negotiator, someone i have known for a long time, he's directly involved in these talks, that the sides are closer now than they have been in many months. that this came after the qatari prime minister, and these talks are taking place in qatar, has been working on this 24/7 in the last two weeks. and particularly when he was joined by president-elect trump's envoy joined this process, they've been making significant progress. this deal could see up to 100 hostages released. and end of major combat operations in gaza, that has so far killed more than 45,000 palestinians according to local officials. craig? >> our chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, thank you. >>> in the meantime, it is the start of a busy week in washington. confirmation hearings for president-elect trump's cabinet. including some of the most controversial picks are set to begin. and

joining us now from jerusalem, nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel, host of ayman right here on msnbc, ayman mohyeldin and independent journalist based in israel, noga tarnopolsky. all right, richard, i'm going to begin with you. this is a huge moment, to say the least. but it is not one that is a sure thing quite yet. it still has one major hurdle to go through in israel. tell me about that. >> so there are many obstacles that still need to be overcome. there are many things that could go wrong in this deal, but the first hurdle you're talking about is the israeli government, the security cabinet needs to approve the deal. it has been announced and it has been announced by qatar. it was announced by president biden. but israeli prime minister netanyahu has not come out and made any public statements. he still has to go through a formal ratification process and his government is somewhat divided. he has members of the far right who want wanted more, wanted the war to continue. some of them wanted to resettle gaza with jewish settlers. this war has been profoundly divisiv

i want to bring in nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel, who is in jerusalem for us and profoundly deep understanding of this region. we haven't mentioned this yet, but we should mention the extraordinary cost of this war just in terms of lives so far. according to the palestinian ministry of health, richard, more than 46,000 people have been killed on the israeli side since october 7th. over 1200 people have died, of course. 790 israeli civilians were killed during the october 7th attack. talk about the broader implications of this for the entire region, richard. >> so we are not out of this yet, but if we want to start having a little bit of perspective of what has happened over the past 15 months, and the reason i say we're not quite out of it yet is this deal has to be ratified. there's a 42 day phase when the first 33 hostages have to come out, according to the deal. then the second phase, when the remaining hostages, dead or alive, come out, and then the final phase when the remains of, of hostages come out and the reconstruction begins, israel has to withdraw thei

let's get to nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel who is in jerusalem for us. richard, good morning. what can you tell us? >> reporter: so, good morning, savannah. two israeli officials tell us that they've never been closer to a cease-fire deal with hamas. that for the first time they're really getting into the specifics. now, first of all, this is how the deal was described to me b these officials. this is not a one and done deal. hamas would not just release the hostages and the war is over. it takes place over time in stages. first stage, there would be fir8 hour pause in the fighting. if that holds, hamas would release three hostages. these are so-called humanitarian cases. the sick, the injured, the elderly, children. that could take up to 42 days because they would be released in batches. if that goes well, it goes to phase two, when all of the rest of the hostages are released by hamas. israeli troops would stay inside gaza until all of the hostages are released. and then at that stage, they would pull out of the main population centers but keep a buffer