let me just give you an update from yoav galant, the israeli minister of defence.ere, where he observed the idea preparations to take in the hostages who will return to israel today and he said he discussed preparations with the teams will meet the hostages, expressed his appreciation for their professionalism and said they are still waiting for the —— we are still waiting for the official confirmation. we had at that stage where we know this moment is close, we are hearing from various sources, we are hearing from various sources, we are hearing from various sources, we are hearing from the israeli media, but what we do not have just yet is the confirmation from the israeli government, from the israeli defence ministry, from the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, who is watching all of this from a control centre in the ministry of defence, in the kirya just behind me in tel aviv, and that is a moment that people here are waiting for. i can tell you here justjudging that people here are waiting for. i can tell you herejustjudging by the atmosphere here in

we have heard yoav galant repeat today, that they say the military campaign will return in full forcee that message particularly to the right of benjamin netanyahu, in the coalition, and their supporters, this isn't in a sense a form of stopping the conflict, that it will continue. yet at the same time you have numerous rab country, humanitarian aid group, parts of the un saying this want to turn into a much longer and dewarable ceasefire. —— arab countries. —— dewarable. tom bateman live in jerusalem. one extra line to bring you, a senior hamas official has just told the bbc that in their words, the first part of the exchange is complete, of the 13 hostage, the 12 thai nationals who we found out in the last hour or so have also been released as parts of the deal, the military wing said the thai workers were not part of the deal but they were release a a good will gesture, so a senior hamas official telling the bbc the first part of the exchange is complete. so we continue to white here, to sort of, you know, really gauge the atmosphere, the anticipation, the nerves many cases as peop

. >> while visiting military commanders in the gaza strip, defense minister yoav galant warning hamas militants that any future truce talks would take place under fire. >> chuck sivertsen, abc news, new york. >> here in the bay area, there is a real connection to what's going on in the middle east. we know of at least one man who has relatives who were taken hostage and there are others who have family trapped in gaza that they are trying to get in contact with. abc7 news reporter tara campbell has this update. at a red cross convoy carried 17 freed hostages inside israel saturday and two of them are oren reubens lines relatives up there is her mom, shiri weiss. >> we first met the pacifica resident a couple of weeks ago, putting up posters of the more than 200 hostages still being held by hamas. >> three of my first cousins have been have been kidnaped. my cousin alon, his wife shiri, and their 18 year old daughter, and she's one of the people that is listed as the children. >> can you tell me a little bit about them? >> sure. i mean, noga is 18. she was living at home with her paren

and israeli defense minister yoav galant adding they remain focused on rooting out hamas from northern gaza in a precise manner. the more we deepen this operation, increase the pressure on hamas and erode more headquarters, damage more tunnels and eliminate more operatives and bring down more heads of organization, the greater the chance of returning our hostages. because this enemy only understands the power. and we explain to him very well what power is now inside gaza, the humanitarian crisis. according to aid workers, there is only deepening telephone and internet service has been reportedly cut off. food is lacking very, very little clean water, very little fuel. and the un says that is only making the situation even more devastating for the people who call that area home. trey. indeed, jeff, stay safe. thank you. let's bring in former pentagon official and retired navy captain brant sadler, former state department senior adviser, christian white. and gentlemen, thank you both very much. appreciate this. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said this on cbs tonight. watch i s

, defence minister, yoav galant, has said no, that we fight on.l, what more are you going to do? the destruction they have described graphically and the ambassador of belgium and spain went down to the rafah cross crossing yesterday and have said all this has got to stop. it's got to be a humanitarian thing. and they've been called in by the israeli foreign ministry because they don't like it. so both sides seem to be saying that the war goes on. netanyahu galant on one hand, and mr sinwar, his office, the leader of hamas on the other side. and meanwhile, in the middle, the groups that really wanted to stop are the israelis living in the south of israelis living in the south of israel adjoining this. but above all, the palestinians . and this all, the palestinians. and this is where people like president biden and macron really are making a strong point. you're going to have to talk sometime. so so it's better sooner rather than later. but this is where there is no positioning either in jerusalem, tel aviv , the big in jerusalem, tel aviv, the big

last night, defence minister yoav galant said that when the fighting resumes , there when the fightingorces will be throughout the strip. at the moment there in the north north of gaza city where they've contained and a lot of the territory. but to move further south, they will have to push past deir al—balah, an have significant an area they have significant bombarded move into bombarded and move into a location in the southern gaza strip, where there are some 2.3 million civilian jews to keep them safe. they've pushed them into the south—west, into a humanitarian camp called al—mawasi . it's just 14km2 al—mawasi. it's just 14km2 large. it will have a population density, 40% greater than that of central london. khan younis is also where many of the hostages are likely being kept. we know that hamas are still holding to on a ten month old baby and there are reports coming out at the moment that hamas is struggling to locate some of the many some 200 hostages that they have kept within the gaza strip. there are reports that that ten month old baby could be being held by a rival faction

well, last night defence minister yoav galant of the israeli side said that in the next phase of the operation, their troops will be throughout their troops will be throughout the strip . now so far in their the strip. now so far in their operation they've just been in the north of gaza, but it's reported that military commanders in israel do not want this situation to extend beyond friday. now if the israeli side are in the north, as they are now and they're turning their attention to the next phase of their operation, they will be reporting further down into the gaza strip. there are just two main supply routes in the very densely packed location. and in the very south—west of the strip is a small humanitarian location called al—mawasi, just 14km2, where 2.3 million gazans are expected to be needed to push through in order to take shelter. the next phase of this operation , if it does come from operation, if it does come from friday, as reports are suggesting, will be very intense. the terrain will be heavily restricted. the human population will be more densely populated than they