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Sources: Israel-Hamas Hostage Deal Imminent; Egypt: 12 Babies From Gaza In Critical Condition; Hezbollah Launches Attacks On Northern Israel After It Says Journalists, Civilians Killed In Lebanon. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 21, 2023 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Now -- now some have hope that they might see their loved one again. What are the families saying to you about the outlines of this potential deal?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This has really just been an emotional roller coaster for so many of these families. I mean, for weeks now, they have been reading news reports about these this potential deal. They have seen the different parameters that have been discussed, and they have waited and watched to see whether their loved ones would be part of this exchange. And even still tonight, as I spoke just a few hours ago, with the families of people who have -- with people who have family in Gaza, notably children in Gaza and therefore could likely benefit from this deal. They still don't know whether their family members, their -- these children will be part of that deal.

I spoke in particular with the family of Sherry Bebas (ph), her cousin, Sherry Bebas (ph) was taken hostage with her two young children who are 10 months old and four years old. And her cousin you Ifat Zeiler (ph) told me tonight, we want to hold them in our arms and then I'll be able to save their home. But until that happens, she doesn't want to get her hopes up too high that her family will be part of this latest deal.

SCIUTTO: Well, we can only hope that all of them get that good news at some point and we hope that some of them get it in the next several hours. Jeremy Diamond in southern Israel. Thanks so much.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Still to come on "News Central." The Egyptian government says that 12 of those premature babies evacuated from Gaza were in very critical condition. Up next, we're going to speak with a spokesperson for one of the agencies that evacuated those newborns.

Stay with us.

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[15:36:18]

SANCHEZ: As we await word from the Israeli cabinet about a hostage deal with Hamas, we're getting some details about a pot -- about what that possible deal could look like. CNN has been told that it calls for 50 women and children released from Gaza, a four to five day pause in fighting three Palestinian prisoners for every hostage in Gaza, roughly 150 or so Palestinian prisoners to be released. The newest detail, the Red Cross will have access to the hostages that remain in Gaza. That coming from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu short time ago.

SCIUTTO: Yes, so key for the family members of those remaining hostages, they want to know if they're alive, if they're safe --

SANCHEZ: Right.

SCIUTTO: -- what their status is. CNN spoke to an Israeli family member whose cousins are being held hostage in Gaza and whose aunt was killed by Hamas during those October 7th attacks. He pleaded with far- right members of Israel's governing coalition not to introduce legislation that could potentially in their view, endanger the hostages.

Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): The first and most important question is, is the government giving you information? Do you know where the process stands right now?

GIL DICKMAN, COUSINS BEING HELD BY HAMAS IN GAZA: Actually, we don't really know. We know what you know, the government isn't talking to us specifically about this. There has been meetings with members of the, of the, of the cabinet, but not in the last 24 hours.

LIEBERMANN (on-camera): There have been as rumors of a deal and reports of a deal become more solid. And we expect votes tonight on a deal. There are two parties in the coalition that have already come out and said we're going to vote against it, some of the far-right elements of the governing coalition. Does that worry you? Or do you believe that if a deal is in place, it will get there.

DICKMAN: I actually -- I was actually in the Knesset yesterday with two of these party -- of these party members. I know that they're against it, I believe that we have the word of people from the Cabinet, of Ministers from the Cabinet, who say, we're going to make it happen, we're going to make the deal happen, when -- we're going to bring people home, it's not going to be all the hostages, not going to be all the people who have been kidnapped, but we're going to bring them home. So, we're very hopeful, and we think it's going to go through.

LIEBERMANN (on-camera): And perhaps just as importantly, according to polling, you have the vast majority of the support of the country. That you were in -- while you were in the Knesset a short time later, there was a meeting at the Defense Ministry not too far from where we are right now.

DICKMAN: Yes. LIEBERMANN: Your family members, you told me were in that meeting. What did they hear from the war cabinet?

DICKMAN: So, they didn't give them any specific updates about how this is going. But they were very optimistic. And this sits really well with what we're seeing now. It seems like there is -- there is a deal. And that's good for us, even if my relatives aren't actually released right now. The fact that there is a deal and that the trust can be built is very, very important to us, because it's important. Every deal opens the door for the next deal, and the next deal, and the next deal and what we want, we're going to keep on fighting until we see everyone back home, all the hostages, all the abductees.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: That, of course, is the hope and soon. Let's go now to Doha, CNN's Becky Anderson there.

And Becky as you been covering these negotiations from the beginning, Qatar has of course been a key mediator given his contacts with the Hamas leadership. There have been fits and starts, there have been moments of hope. And then those moments those -- those hopes were dashed. This one does seem to be based on your reporting and others likely to happen. I wonder what made the difference? Why this breakthrough or this likely breakthrough?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The last time I was here on the ground was October the 27th. And while I was here, and we were discussing with the Qatari officials on air here how the negotiations we're going -- we're going. The Israelis announced the second phase of their offensive. And at the time and mediators here said, it's going to be very difficult without a period of -- a period of calm to get these talks across the line. And indeed, they became more complex and more complicated, as I understand it, over the subsequent weeks.

[15:40:29]

So, if you look at it from the Israeli perspective, the parameters of this deal, as we understand them, are very similar to that which we were discussing, at four weeks or three and a half weeks ago, the Israelis, from their perspective, have had time to carry out some of their objectives or at least in principle, work towards their objectives, which was to dismantle Hamas and its infrastructure, get rid of its, you know, its military assets, and also free the hostages, they haven't got all the hostages freed, nor they get them all freed tonight. But what they have done is effectively locked down northern Gaza. And they had, you know, very much sort of denigrated the Hamas command and control.

So, from the Israeli perspective, they're in a -- they're in a different position, they wanted to squeeze Hamas. And from the Israeli perspective, that is what is now happening. Israeli said the only thing that Hamas will understand is pressure. So that's from the Israeli perspective.

From the Hamas perspective, you know, we are looking at a deal that we understand, according to multiple sources, has a sort of three to one ratio in it. You know, for every Israeli or dual citizen, released in this first phase, and we're looking at 50, in this first phase, there will be three times as many Palestinian women and teenagers released from Israeli prison. So that number could be as many as 150 in the next few days. The Israeli, the demand from Hamas, that Israel open the border to more aid, and specifically fuel is something that the Israelis have considered to at least on the aid side, as I understand it, this is -- this is not the opening up of the border, for more fuel, but more aid. That significant 300 trucks a day of aid is a significant amount of aid coming in through that border that we haven't seen for the last 45 days.

So, I think, I think the period of time it's taken, the mediators have said they needed a period of calm, they haven't had it, it's made it a lot more difficult for everybody. But ultimately, perhaps that is why we've got to where we've got tonight. And I'm told by the Qataris now that they have delivered this proposal 24 hours ago to the Israelis, they are just waiting for it to be approved now by the Israeli government that coming from the Qatar mediating team in the last hour, two hours here at CNN. This proposal was delivered 24 hours ago, and they are waiting for it to be signed off on it is in the Israelis court. Now Hamas has already approved the deal as it stands with the Israelis as we speak.

Jim?

SANCHEZ: That, that deal apparently imminent as we await word from the full cabinet on their vote. Becky Anderson from Doha in Qatar, thank you so much.

Jim, I just quickly wanted to share with our viewers, we got a full statement from Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, this is before the Cabinet meeting that we are watching unfold. We should point out a very significant part of this statement because Netanyahu specifically mentioned speaking to President Joe Biden, and he thanks him --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- for his intervention in order to improve the outline. It was indeed improved that would include more hostages and less prices. He's saying the talks bore fruit largely thanks to Joe Biden.

SCIUTTO: It's notable because the relationship between Netanyahu-Biden has not been -- they've known each other for decades, it hasn't been perfect. There certainly have been differences on a number of things, including treatment, Israeli settler activity in the West Bank, but, but that's quite amount of credit for him to deliver to Joe Biden for he says, improving the deal the exchange in the end.

We'll continue to monitor the comments from Netanyahu and continue of course, to monitor the latest developments on this potential hostage deal.

We are learning new details about some of those still suffering inside Gaza every day from this war. Officials in Egypt say that 12 of the 28 babies that were evacuated from Gaza earlier this week. And look at the pictures there of them that they're in critical condition, the infants were born premature at the Al-Shifa Hospital. You remember a lot of military Israeli military activity around that hospital in recent days. All have low blood oxygen levels, but there's still thousands more children in Gaza in desperate need of health.

I'm joined now by Ricardo Pires. He is from the UN International Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF.

[15:45:09]

Ricardo thanks so much for joining.

RICARDO PIRES, UNICEF SPOKESMAN: Thanks for having me, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So first, I wonder if you could give us the latest information you have about these babies, these premature babies in particular, what's their status now? What's their health status now?

PIRES: Well, it hasn't changed much, Jim, since they left Gaza, where they were fighting for their lives, and now in much better condition, in the health -- in a health facility where they can have the services that they so desperately need. But they were so fragile, so hanging on to, you know, their last breaths that it's hard to predict how long they're going to be able to do hang on.

But for the time being, we don't, we don't have any updates on their situation. It's, it's quite fragile. We're doing what we can as UNICEF in, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. And, you know, we are providing medical supplies when needed, but we need to just wait and hope that they will, they will push through.

SCIUTTO: Yes. So, these are 28 babies, by, by the accounts, as we mentioned, to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 5,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the start of these operations. And while we can't independently confirm those figures, U.S. government officials have said they found though -- they find those estimates of civilian casualties to be credible.

I spoke to the Executive Director of UNICEF last week, Catherine Russell, who visited Gaza, and I asked her, is there any safe place in Gaza for children? Is there any place they can go? And she said, I can't -- I can't think of one. I just wonder, as you look at the situation now, what can be done to protect the lives of the children left behind?

PIRES: (INAUDIBLE), there is no safe place for children in Gaza right now. And there haven't, there hasn't been a safe place for them for 45 days now, since October 7th when, when the conflict started. What we can do and we must do and will continue to do as UNICEF is to ask for a humanitarian ceasefire, so that the weapons are put down, the bomb stop, the bullets stop and children have a break and can receive the supplies they so desperately need. Most of them are suffering for over a month now. They've been traumatized by seeing their homes being destroyed their loved ones dying in front of their eyes, nearly 2,000 of them are under, under the rubble. So, we don't know how many of these children will actually survive. And they're lacking water, they're lacking food, they're lacking medical supplies and services. They are, you know, staying in the dark. Oftentimes when telecommunications go down, and things happen on the ground. It's a nightmare for them. It's a relentless nightmare for them. And we just need a ceasefire. That's, that's what we're asking for now.

SCIUTTO: So, you're not going to get a ceasefire, that this is a pause and a temporary one at that time. If the deal comes together as it's currently envisioned for perhaps four, five days, it does appear that some more aid will go in estimates of perhaps 300 trucks of aid, so not as much as is needed, but, but some. I just wonder how significant would you find this deal if it comes together?

PIRES: While any help not all that will, will allow children to have a break to have peace for a few days, five days, 10 days a week as much as they can is very welcome, Jim. They, they need that, that pause so they can receive the supplies they so desperately need. So, they can maybe go to sleep without hearing the sounds of bombs or wondering whether they would be alive the day after.

So, we welcome very much any, any humanitarian pause, any, any ceasefire, even if temporary. So, more supplies can come in. Three hundred trucks is a lot. But let's remember, it used to be 500 before October 7th, and even then it was not really meeting all the needs. So, 300 is good but just not enough and we need more to come in and for that we need the (INAUDIBLE).

SCIUTTO: Yes. Two million people left behind there. Ricardo Pires of UNICEF, thanks so much for joining.

PIRES: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: And still to come this hour, fresh clashes today between Israel's military and Hezbollah. This along Israel's northern border with Lebanon. We're going to have a live update from, from Beirut. That's next.

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[15:54:05]

SCIUTTO: Tensions continue to escalate on the Israel-Lebanon border today. The militant group Hezbollah says it launched several attacks on Northern Israel in response to the killing of journalists and civilians on the Lebanese side of the border.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the Israeli military says that it is aware of the claim that Lebanese journalists were killed as a result of its fire. And the incident is now under review.

I want to take you there now with CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. He's live from Beirut.

Ben, what are you learning about what's happening there? BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, it's been a pretty intense day on the border between Israel and Lebanon, Jim and Boris. What we've seen is several dozen exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah and we've seen so far today, eight people being killed on the Lebanese side. One of them was an 80-year-old woman who was in her home, she was crushed to death when it was hit in an Israeli strike and two journalists, a female reporter and a male cameraman working for the Mayadeen television network that's based here in Beirut.

[15:55:14]

The Mayadeen, they put out a statement afterwards saying that the killing of their journalists was a direct and deliberate targeting by the Israelis. And of course, you mentioned the Israeli reaction to those claims. But obviously, this underscores just how dangerous that border area is. There have been three separate incidents where journalists have been hit in Israeli strikes, and total three journalists have been killed as a result.

But as I said, dozens of strikes and counter strikes probably the most intense day of these strikes since the 8th of October when the fighting began on the border here.

Jim, Boris?

SCIUTTO: Listen, (INAUDIBLE) we were up in northern Israel, and there were some shells that came pretty close as well. It's a dangerous part of the world right now.

Ben Wedeman, live in Beirut, Lebanon. Thanks so much.

SANCHEZ: "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER," starts after a short break.

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