Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Freed Hostages Arrive In Israel; Three Palestinian College Students Shot In Vermont; Source: Israel's War Cabinet Discusses Extending Gaza Truce. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 26, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:01:23]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield alongside my colleague, Wolf Blitzer in Tel Aviv. We'll get to you in a moment, Wolf.

Now to our breaking news, 13 Israeli hostages are now back in Israel. They were released by Hamas after being abducted and held prisoner in Gaza for 50 days, and among those released today, dual Israeli- American citizen, Abigail Edan who is only four years old. She is the first American released since the four-day truce began between Israel and Hamas and that got started on Friday.

We're told 12 of the hostages were taken through the border fence directly from Gaza to Israel, while one was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital. An additional four foreign national separate from today's deal arrived in Egypt earlier today. That group includes three Thai nationals and a Russian-Israeli dual citizen.

There are also celebrations in the West Bank where 39 Palestinian teenagers have now been released from Israeli prisons as part of today's agreement.

As the truce nears the end of its third day, we are seeing more humanitarian aid arrive in Gaza. Egyptian officials say at least 120 aid trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah border today.

Let's hand it over to Wolf in Tel Aviv -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Thank you very much, Fred.

Important developments unfolding, and we have our correspondents monitoring all of these developments across the region.

I want to go to CNN's Matthew Chance. He's over at the Schneider Children's Medical Center, just outside of Tel Aviv.

Matthew, we understand that Abigail Edan will be transferred there. She's the American-Israeli little girl who is finally released. What do we know?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. I mean, within the next few minutes, we're expecting a helicopter to arrive carrying Abigail Edan and the other children or at least some of the other children that will be coming here to the Schneider Medical facility in the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

The family of Abigail have issued a statement saying this: "No words express our relief and gratitude. We thank President Biden and the United States, and the Qatari government for their diplomatic interventions to make this happen." Then saying, they continue to stand with the families of all the hostages who are still held captive.

And so that's a statement from the family of Abigail. She turned four on Friday, just a few days ago, as a hostage inside of Gaza, and the family have said that they don't know whether she understands because she's so young because you may not have seen it, that she is now an orphan because Abigail's mum and dad were both killed in Kfar Aza October the 7th, just before she was sort of torn away and taken by Hamas militants into the Gaza Strip. She has been there more than 50 days, so her world is going to be dramatically different when she comes back here. She still has the rest of her family there waiting for her.

But there are other children coming back as well who also will be confronting very different family circumstances. Chen Goldstein-Almog is the mother of three children, and all four of them have been released today and they are on their way here now, we understand by helicopter as well. They have lost their father, and they've lost a sister as well.

[15:05:04]

There's also the wife and three children of Avichai Brodutch, somebody that I spoke to three or four weeks ago when this whole nightmare began. He'd lost his wife and his three children. They've become hostages inside Gaza. They've been released today as well, and so I spoke to him earlier today, and he spoke of how relieved is going to be when he finally sees them after more than 50 days -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Matthew Chance reporting from the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel just outside of Tel Aviv.

Matthew, thank you.

I want to go to CNN's Jeremy Diamond right now. He is joining us from Urim in Israel.

Jeremy, that's a significant location. You saw the hostage convoy pass through where you are. We didn't have the long delays that we saw yesterday with this exchange. What can you tell us about how all of this unfolded today?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, Wolf.

We saw the convoy of 12 Israeli civilian hostages newly freed, coming from right down this road after they entered Israel directly from the Gaza Strip, making their way this way towards the Hatzerim Airbase where they are being helicoptered off to hospitals across Israel prepared to receive them. This was a different procedure than we have seen over the last two

days when Israeli hostages went from Gaza into Red Cross custody and then into Egypt via the Rafah Crossing before coming into Israel at that Kerem Shalom crossing at the intersection of the Egypt-Israel- Gaza border.

Why did things change, Wolf? We are told that it is because of the condition of Elma Avraham, an 84-year-old Israeli woman who was taken hostage on October 7, she was actually directly medically evacuated by helicopter from the Gaza Strip and towards a hospital in Israel. Tonight that hospital, Soroka Hospital, in Beersheba says that she is in serious condition saying "her life is in danger."

But those other 12 Israeli hostages then just enter directly from near kibbutz Be'eri into Israel.

Beyond that, though, Wolf, today, the process went fairly smoothly, which was a big change from yesterday when we saw hours' long delays as there were disputes over the entry of aid into Gaza. There were also disputes I'm told behind the scenes over one of those child hostages not being released with her mother.

But beyond that, Wolf, there are now questions about how this moves forward. We are now on Day 3, tomorrow will be Day 4 of this fragile truce between Israel and Hamas, which is set to facilitate the release of 50 Israeli hostages over those four days. And now, there is the question of whether this truce will be extended.

Ten additional hostages per day will result in additional day of truce hundreds more aid trucks entering Gaza and also the release of three Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons for every one civilian hostage.

Israeli officials have already told me that they intend to seek an extension of that truce. They want to see more hostages released. And Hamas tonight, Wolf, is saying in a statement that it is also seeking an extension of that truce. Of course, what is hanging in the balance, Wolf, is the lives of more than 180 hostages still captive inside Gaza, as well as the potential entry of hundreds more aid trucks desperately needed in the Gaza Strip.

BLITZER: Yes, lots at stake right now.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much.

I want to head over to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. She is standing by for us over at the White House.

Priscilla, I understand, we've just learned that President Biden spoke with the family of that little four-year-old American girl who was released today, as well as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

What can you tell us about those conversations?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Wolf, a busy afternoon of phone calls for President Biden as he makes his way back to the White House. The White House saying very briefly here in a statement that President Biden spoke by phone with members of Abigail's family in the United States and Israel. It goes on to say that he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the release of hostages, including the release of Abigail Edan, that four-year-old little girl.

This was news, Wolf that the president celebrated earlier this afternoon in his remarks. She is the first American hostage to be released as part of this negotiation between Israel and Hamas and this has happened after seven weeks in captivity, the president speaking to what Abigail endured during that time saying, "She has been through a terrible trauma" and calling the experience over the last several weeks "unthinkable."

Now at the time, the president did not speak to her condition saying he did not have details about her condition. The statement released from the White House moments ago also doesn't include that, but this is news and is welcome news for the president and this White House which has been working furiously behind the scenes to secure the release of hostages, especially those who are American. And the president signaling that he is hopeful that more Americans may be released as this is ongoing.

[15:10:00]

Now, US officials have been saying that Israel is prepared to continue a pause in fighting if Hamas in exchange gives -- it releases 10 hostages over each day. Now that remains unclear whether it's going to happen, but the president was hopeful. Take a listen to what he said this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Critically needed aid is going in and hostages are coming out. This deal is structured so that it can be extended to keep building on these results. That's my goal. That's our goal -- to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow, so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now all of that a topic of discussion for president and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. We'll get more details on that call shortly -- Wolf.

BLITZER: When we heard the president speak earlier today, Priscilla, I'm sure you heard him as well, he clearly got very emotional and moved when he was talking about this sweet little four-year-old American-Israeli girl, Abigail Edan, and he mentioned how she was there, in that little community when these Hamas terrorists came in, murdered her mother, and then saw that, and then murdered her father, and she was saved and eventually she became this hostage, though.

God only knows what she's been going through over these past 50 days. She is now thankfully, safe and in Israel. But you could see how touched the president was in this personal story of this sweet little girl. He was very moved, wasn't he?

ALVAREZ: He was, and he also went on to say that he wished he was there for the reunion between her and her family. I mean, clearly, the White House and the president in particular relieved to know that she's been released.

And if you recall, Wolf, she had come up in a call with the president and the leader of Qatar a few days ago, and that was the first we had learned that this young girl was held hostage by Hamas. And so, she has come up repeatedly. It has been a top concern for this White House and for this president.

So clearly relief for this president, knowing that she is now released and as you mentioned, he was emotional about this, and again, went on to say that he wished he could be there for that reunion. He did, though, get on the phone with her family this afternoon. So, perhaps we'll learn more from the White House about that call later today.

BLITZER: Yes, I assume all of his back channel work with the Qataris, the Egyptians, the Israelis, everybody else was very significant in helping get this sweet little girl released from being a hostage in Gaza, but we will learn more about this in the days ahead.

Priscilla Alvarez at the White House, thank you very much.

We're also seeing new images right now from Ramallah, on the West Bank showing celebrations in the streets of the West Bank as buses carrying 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees arrived there in exchange for the 17 Israeli and foreign hostages released earlier today.

This marks the third such exchange of hostages for prisoners between Israel and Hamas during their current four-day truce.

Let's go to CNN's Nada Bashir. She is joining us now from Jerusalem. She is watching all of this unfold.

Nada, what can you tell us about these prisoner releases out of the West Bank?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, Wolf, we certainly have seen those crowds showing up once again for the third night in a row to welcome and celebrate the release of these Palestinian detainees and prisoners, again, for the third night in a row, 39 Palestinians released from Israeli custody.

Tonight, all of them were teenagers, some as young as 14 and 15 years old, the vast majority of them, 23 of them had been held under administrative detention. This is a deeply controversial policy enforced by the Israeli authorities whereby those detainees, particularly children, young people, under the age of 18 are held without charges laid against them, without a clear ongoing legal process.

And what we have seen today is yet more celebration from Palestinians both in Jerusalem, but also in the occupied West Bank. Huge crowds turning out in the downtown area of Ramallah.

We met with many of those families yesterday from the second day of those releases. We spoke with some of those detainees, teenagers once again who had been released who spoke of the situations they faced while in detention, and family members who said they hadn't been able to make contact with their children for months on end with no clarity as to what was going on with that legal process when no legal representation provided for their children or at least accessible to their children.

Now, of course, these releases are part of that wider truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, which is expected to see 150 Palestinian women and children released from Israeli custody over the course of those four days. This is indeed the third day of that agreement.

[15:15:03]

And we saw a lot of uncertainty yesterday, the process today seemingly moving slightly more smoothly. Today, we saw those names released earlier.

But for many families here, for many Palestinian families across the occupied West Bank, this is a deeply anxious time because they do not know whether or not their loved ones will be selected as part of that release.

Earlier in the week, we saw 300 names of women and children who would be eligible for possible release and as each day that we learn whether or not those names will be on the list for release. That release is of course, hugely dependent on the safe rescue evacuation of those Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza. It is not until confirmation is received that those hostages have been returned to Israeli authorities that that process can begin.

We've seen for three days now, those detainees and prisoners being held at the Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank where they are held there until that confirmation is received and then transported by a Red Cross convoy to be reunited with their loved ones and families.

Now while there has been a huge amount of celebration that we have seen, particularly in the occupied West Side, many have told us that they cannot be totally happy because of the situation in Gaza because of the mounting civilian death toll we've seen in the Gaza Strip -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nada Bashir reporting from Jerusalem for us. Nada, thank you very much.

We're going to take a quick break. Our special live coverage will continue right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:48]

BLITZER: Thirteen now back in Israel. They were released as part of a four day truce agreement with Hamas. That agreement also includes the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners. As of now the agreement is set to expire tomorrow, and Hamas also released three Thai nationals and one Russian-Israeli dual citizen.

Let's bring in retired US Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of the US Army - Europe. General, thank you so much for joining us.

Let me get your assessment. Has this truce, this temporary truce, this pause that as we're calling it benefited either Israel or Hamas militarily?

LT. GEN. BEN HODGES (RET), FORMER COMMANDING GENERAL OF THE US ARMY - EUROPE: Well, look, of course, when this pause does end, it will be very difficult for Israel to resume operations as they were doing before the pause. The Hamas strategy from the beginning has been about these hostages. The Israeli strategy has been about destroying Hamas.

And so it looks like the US, the United Nations, and other countries are for now going along with the Hamas strategy focused on the hostages. And we even heard the president say as much earlier today.

Hamas, of course will string this out as long as they can, but with more promises of hostages being released. That's probably why we've seen so few or only one American released so far, because if they continue to hold American hostages, that will keep the US focused on this and keep the US putting pressure on the Israelis.

On the other hand, the Israelis, I think could change the entire narrative. I doubt this would happen. But if they were to change the narrative and say, we've decided, we do accept the idea of a two-state solution. We'll begin negotiations for that as soon as Hamas releases all of our hostages, and then we will focus on also cracking down on their right wingers, the illegal settlements in the West Bank.

This is how Israel can change the entire narrative. But right now, Hamas has the advantage.

BLITZER: Let me follow up that, General. What do you expect will happen once this temporary truce is actually over whether that is tomorrow or later in the week?

HODGES: Well, of course, I imagine that both sides have been carrying out preparations for a resumption of the conflict -- logistics, targeting, building up a better intelligence picture of what each side has. I would imagine that Hamas has continued to build out what we call order of battle for your identifying units and capabilities that are out there. They would get this from observation as well as from talking to refugees who had moved south from the northern part of Gaza.

On the other side, the Israelis, of course, would be using all of their various intelligence collections platforms, even with the limitations to which they've already agreed. And I would also imagine that they have debriefed or spoken with some of the hostages who have been released that might be able to provide some insight about where, what other hostages are still out there.

BLITZER: Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, thanks so much for joining us.

HODGES: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, all right, let's get to CNN's Matthew Chance right now. He is over at the Schneider Children's Medical Center outside of Tel Aviv.

Matthew, we understand Abigail Edan will be transferred there. What else do we know?

CHANCE: Yes, that's right. Abigail Edan, four years old is going to be transferred, but I just cut that away of the camera, Wolf, because I want to show you the scenes unfolding here at the Schneider Medical facility right now.

You're looking at a picture, there are lights in the sky. That's the helicopter that we believe is carrying Abigail or some of the other nine children that were released from Gaza a few hours ago. You can see in front of them, we just pull out a little bit, in front of them, you can see, there is a whole load of people that have gathered here from the local area.

[15:25:10]

Supporters, there is a Scout troop here waving Israeli flags, coming here to the fence, the perimeter fence at this hospital waiting for this helicopter to come in carrying Abigail, carrying the other three hostages of nine children released today, and you can see these scenes as this helicopter slowly approaches the helipad which is just along to the left of the screen, as you look at it. And again, an absolutely extraordinary scene.

There's been a statement released by the family of Abigail over the course of the past hour expressing their relief and gratitude. It is getting very noisy as you can see. That helicopter essentially carrying Abigail, coming in to land.

Yes, I've got you. Can you hear me?

BLITZER: Matthew, If you could hear me, give us a sense. The helicopter has landed. We're about to see some folks including the kids who are walking out into the hospital. Is that right?

CHANCE: Yes. That's right. It's very noisy, but the engines have now turned off. So I'm going to be able to speak a bit more clearly.

But yes, these helicopters, they have landed. There have been across from the crowd that's gathered here at the perimeter fence of the helipad, and for the past hour or so, there have been ambulances and medical staff and very tight security on this helipad outside the Schneider Medical facility on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, waiting for this moment, waiting for these released Israeli hostages, mainly children, we think. This is a children's hospital remember, and to be delivered safely as

they now appear to have been onto the helipad where there will be some of them getting the first chance to listen to that applause. That's the applause of a very grateful crowd of Israeli citizens who have come here waving their flags, welcoming these children home.

We can go zoom in, I think as much as possible on what's happening there, the back of the helicopter is open, and I think we're probably going to be able to catch a glimpse of the children as they come off perhaps.

You know, we're a bit distant from it right now. We're probably about 50 or 60 yards away, and so we can't say exactly in all closeness, but look, Abigail Edan, she's one of the people we believe may be on board that helicopter. Obviously, we haven't had confirmation of that yet, but that's what the expectation is.

But other children as well, including the children of Chen Goldstein- Almog. She is the mother. Her and her three children have been held for the past 50 days in Gaza as well and they have been released.

Also, the family of Avichai Brodutch. His wife Hagar, their three children, they were held captive. They were abducted on October the 7th, like all the others in Kfar Aza by Hamas when it overran that small Israeli community and they've been held in who knows what conditions inside Gaza since then.

[15:30:02]

I spoke to Avichai, the husband of Hagar earlier who said he lost his wife and three kids and he told me earlier tonight how relieved he was going to be to see them again for the first time in more than 50 days.

We'll also, Wolf, just a reminder about the world that these children are coming back into. We've spoken a lot about Abigail Edan. Of course, she's got family members there. She's got siblings, who are here. She's got relatives who are here. But her relatives have said that they don't know yet whether she is aware of the fact that she is now an orphan.

She's lost her father, he was killed. She's lost her mother, she was killed also. They were both killed in Kfar Aza, actually she was apparently held in her father's arms when he was gunned down by Hamas gunmen in Kfar Aza.

The Almog children as well, they've lost their dad. He was also killed in Kfar Aza. They've lost one of their sisters, as well.

And so again, the world that they were violently torn from, is going to look very different to them now coming back, and it is going to be a long process.

The medical treatment, yes, they're going to get that here. But the long road is going to be the psychological recuperation that you can imagine all of these kids and their families are going to have to endure in the months and probably the years ahead -- Wolf. BLITZER: Yes. We were told that when those terrorists came in to that

kibbutz where they were all in a room, they shot and killed the mother in front of the sweet little girl, Abigail. And then the father went to protect the little girl and he was shot as he was holding her in his arms.

It is just, you know, a gut wrenching, personal story that the sweet little girl is going to have to be living with now for the rest of her life, and I'm sure she's going to be getting some counseling at this hospital where you are, Matthew, and there are some experts there that are going to be talking to her and they're going to be giving her some sort of effort, words of comfort, if you will, she's probably going to be saying: Where's Mommy? Where's Daddy? Or in Hebrew? Where's Aba and Ima?

You know, and so it's going to be a very gut wrenching situation, to be sure. And our heart goes out to this little sweet little girl and the remaining members of her family and her friends, all of whom were left to endure this horrendous, horrendous situation that she went through. And on top of that, losing her mom and her dad, then going into 50 days as a hostage in some sort of tunnel in Gaza, and now, finally being brought to Israel.

It's just hard to comprehend the enormity of what this sweet little girl has gone through and our heart goes out to her as well.

You know, I want you to stand by Matthew, because Larry Madowo is in Cairo. He is getting new information now, as well, on the future, and what's going on, a possible extension of this temporary truce agreement.

Larry, tell us what you're learning.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we know that there's now a race against time to try and extend this truce when it expires tomorrow and this involves heavy diplomatic work by the Qataris, by the Egyptians, and the United States trying to get Hamas and Israel to agree to extend this.

One precondition for that, which was always baked into this deal was that Hamas would have to release 10 more hostages every day to get an extra day in the pause of fighting.

Now, does Hamas have these hostages or are they held by other groups within the Gaza Strip? That appears to be one bone of contention. The other big one is about aid coming into Gaza. This deal has a ceiling baked in, 200 trucks maximum can come into Gaza everyday through the Rafah Border Crossing in Egypt.

Many of the Arab Street and many within Palestine, within the Palestinian community would like to see a lot more trucks coming into Gaza being cleared by the Israelis and then allowed to be distributed within the Gaza Strip.

Because before October 7th, about 455 trucks came in every day into Gaza. Today, the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA has said that they would need at least 200 trucks coming in daily for two months to meet the needs that they're seeing across the Gaza Strip.

And they just told you the last hour that the idea that some places are in more need than others is inaccurate. The needs are overwhelming, and it's everywhere, not just in northern Gaza and the southern Gaza. Everywhere people need water, people need food, people need fuel, people need cooking gas.

And so if this were to be extended, there would have to be a lot more aid coming into Gaza and Hamas has got to release a lot more hostages to make this happen -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And Larry, while I have you, you're reporting from Cairo right now. Give us a sense if you can on the specific role that Egypt -- we know a lot about what Qatar has done what the US has done. But what about Egypt and President El Sisi? What have they been doing to try to facilitate this temporary truce and the release of these hostages?

[15:35:15]

MADOWO: Egypt has been a key part of the diplomatic engagement in getting this truce agreed upon and in the release of these hostages that we have seen. They have been coming through the Rafah Border Crossing before they handed over back into Israeli territory.

President El Sisi has talked about his engagements with the United States and with the Emir of Qatar, and trying to make sure that they are collectively, as the Arab community supporting people in the Gaza Strip. We've been through 50 days of just for themselves, but this coming from the October 7th attack that caught Israel by surprise.

And so, the Egyptian involvement in this cannot be understated. It's very important and President Biden has said that he has been in contact with the Egyptians, with the Qataris always making sure that every time there's any diplomatic engagement, the Egyptian are involved, Wolf, so best -- it is going to be very important if there's going to be truce expansion here.

BLITZER: Egypt clearly a key player in all of this. Larry Madowo, thank you very much. We'll stay in close touch with you as well.

And still to come, as our special coverage continues, police are now investing -- and get this -- they're investigating after three Palestinian college students were shot in Burlington, Vermont. We'll have details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:44]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

Here in the United States, an investigation is underway in Vermont after three Palestinian college students were shot in Burlington last night. Police say the students were walking down a street when they were confronted and shot by a White male suspect. Joining me right now is CNN correspondent, Polo Sandoval.

Polo, what's the latest?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Fred, Burlington Police, they are the authority in this. They say at this point, it is still too early to establish a motive, but we have already heard from Muslim and Arab- American communities who says they believe that this is likely a hate crime though again, police are still piecing this case together.

Here is what we know directly from Burlington authorities. It was yesterday evening that these three young men, before dinner they were walking near the University of Vermont, though they did not attend there, when who police describe as a White male approached them with a handgun, opened fire, shooting them, injuring them, the three of them currently in the hospital.

We do know that the Institute for Middle Eastern Understanding who has been in close contact with the families of these young men, they've confirmed the identities of them now identified as Tahseen Ali Ahmad, who you saw there, in that photo on the left; Kinnan Abdalhamid, who was in the center of that photo, we can put it back up for viewers. And also Hisham Awartani, who is seen on the right.

I have a little bit more to share with you what we know about that young man who's seen on the right. We do know that CNN has actually reached out to the Ramallah Friends School in Ramallah, which is where these three young men actually attended school before coming to the US, and we understand that the family of Awartani, specifically, his mother, who is still in the West Bank, is trying to make her way here to the United States to be with her son, though he's in stable condition.

We do know based on what we've heard from official sources that he apparently has a bullet lodged in his spine, and so you can just imagine what's happening right now for the mother of that young man, and really the families of all three.

But again, we have to underscore what we know from authorities, which is, though they're looking into the possibility that this is likely a hate crime, Burlington Police who is handling this investigation say they're not ready to say that quite yet, but certainly know why that would be one of the priority concerns.

WHITFIELD: And Polo, all three of them go to different colleges here in the US, but is it the case that one of them has a relative there in Burlington, and they were all there for the Thanksgiving holiday visiting that one family member?

SANDOVAL: So here's what we just learned a few moments ago about why they were in Vermont. We understand based on information that we received from the former Palestinian Minister of Education, who tells CNN that the three of them actually traveled to Vermont to spend a Thanksgiving holiday with the grandmother of one of those three young men who lives in Vermont. And that photo that you just saw, is apparently a photo that they

snapped yesterday before they went on their walk and Burlington Police saying at least two of them at the time of the attack were wearing those traditional Palestinian scarves.

Now the question whether or not that made them a target, we will have to find out based on what the investigation reveals.

WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval, let us know when you learn more. Thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Let's go now to CNN's Matthew Chance at the Schneider Children's Medical Center there.

Matthew, we understand a second helicopter right now is landing.

CHANCE: That's right. These are very loud, very large Israeli military (INAUDIBLE). They have been used (INAUDIBLE) the course of the past several hours here to the Schneider Medical facility just a short distance, just on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

We've already seen one of those helicopters come in and unload, this is the second one, and we don't know exactly the identities of each of the persons on board both of those helicopters, but we know on one of them, Abigail Edan, the four-year-old joint US-Israeli citizen. She had a birthday on Friday as a hostage in Gaza.

She's either on this helicopter or she was on the one previous. We just don't have that information.

[15:45:07]

There's at least eight other children as well, who have been released along with a number of adults -- five adults -- sorry, four adults as well. In many cases there, their mothers who have also been released and are also being carried here on these helicopters to the Schneider Medical facility. Among them, Chen Goldstein-Almog who has been held captive for the past 50 days inside Gaza, along with her three children.

And so, they were on the list. They've been released as well. And the understanding is that they're coming here to the Schneider Hospital, either on this helicopter, or on the one that came earlier.

Also, the family of Avichai Brodutch, he is husband, he is in Tel Aviv. And I spoke to him earlier today, but his wife and his three children, aged 10, eight, and four, have all been held captive for the past 50 or so days inside Gaza.

You can imagine the absolute agony that he has been going through and I spoke to him earlier today. Actually, he text messaged me earlier today and he spoke to me about how relieved he would be when he finally gets to see his family, alive and well, once again.

And so hopefully, that has already happened or is about to happen once the people on board the second helicopter have been offloaded.

But it is an incredibly dramatic scene. You can see there are people all along the perimeter fence here, many of them waving Israeli flags. They are local bystanders, they are supporters of the families' hostages, they are neighbors. There is a Scout troop here as well.

All of them have come in to give these children and their parents and their loved ones and these released hostages the welcome they feel they deserve after their deal inside Gaza.

And so, this is an incredibly positive, happy time for many people inside Israel. But of course, it's also tinged with the ongoing tragedy that the country is having to deal with.

WHITFIELD: Right Matthew, happy as well as agonizing because the journey you know, is not complete. The helicopters were landing as you started to talk, if you could, again, just remind us how many children now -- how many children now have been transported today in what is now the second helicopter landing of released hostages there at the hospital?

CHANCE: So there were 13 Israelis that were released today. Actually there were 14, because one of the foreigners who was released was also a joint Israeli-Russian citizen, but he was released as part of -- separately to the Israeli-Hamas hostage deal.

So you know, 13 Israeli hostages released under that deal. Nine of them were children. And of course, this is the Children's Hospital, so they will be brought here along with their loved ones, their parents if they are with them.

I mean, Abigail is believed to be amongst them. Certainly the hostage forum, which has been set up to give assistance to the families of the hostages say that they're expecting Abigail to be brought here. We haven't got confirmation she is here. We're not getting that kind of information yet.

But all of these people are going to be confronted with the really hard reality of the kind of world they come back to. Abigail, for instance, her family say they don't think she is aware that she is actually an orphan, because both her mother and her father were killed in Kfar Aza, and so that's an ongoing tragedy that she and others are going to have to deal with.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very difficult.

Matthew Chance, thank you so much. This happening on the third day of what has been a planned four day truce.

I want to go now to CNN's Oren Liebermann north of Tel Aviv, because Oren, our understanding is Israel's War Cabinet is meeting. We heard from President Biden even earlier today talking about this hope for an extension of this truce. Is that what the meeting is about today?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Frederica, it absolutely is. We've learned from Israeli source that the War Cabinet is meeting

tonight. That is a very small group of people, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that has effectively the authority to run this war and make decisions related to this war.

Crucially, it is the first time since the truce took effect that we have heard that there had been discussions around the meeting of the war cabinet and the possible extension of the truce.

That wasn't so sure up until now that that would even be an option. And we saw how fragile the truce is, specifically with yesterday's delays and all the road bumps along the way to get to the point where it was implemented yesterday and late into the night early into the morning even, we saw the release of Israeli prisoners in exchange for the Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.

[15:50:14]

That was a key moment. The deal at that point was very much on very thin ice, but due to an intense diplomatic effort, it came through. The deal was fulfilled yesterday, the agreement and the truce held in place and it continued throughout the day to what we saw a much more, shall we say successful and smooth implementation of the agreement itself.

That has now led us to the point where Israel is considering what it said right at the beginning that after a four-day pause in the fighting, it will consider one additional day for each 10 Israeli hostages released from Gaza.

The terms as we understand them remain the same, if Hamas will release 10 more Israeli hostages and there are dozens if not more than a hundred more who remain held captive in Gaza, then it can continue for one day at a time contingent upon all the other elements of the agreement -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Okay, so perhaps preemptively while those additional hostages were released, they are now in consideration for what could be now an extended a truce deal in the making.

Oren Liebermann, thank you so much, and Matthew Chance we will check back with you as we continue to follow these developments out of Gaza as well. A third group of hostages released today and so many other extensions as a result now under consideration.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:46]

WHITFIELD: All right, back to our other top story here in the United States. An investigation is underway in Vermont after three Palestinian college students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont last night are now recovering in hospitals. Police say the students were walking down a street when they were confronted and shot by a White male suspect.

Joining me right now is Abed Ayoub, he is the attorney representing the families of all three victims. Good to see you. So I wonder, Abed, first can you tell us how are these three students doing?

ABED AYOUB, ATTORNEY FOR VICTIMS IN BURLINGTON, VERMONT SHOOTING: Thank you. They're not doing good. It's a difficult situation for the victims and for their families.

And just a point of clarification, we are, you know, coordinating with the families and we do have attorneys we are coordinating with on the ground in Vermont. This is a very complex situation, given that, you know, some of the families overseas some of the families here in the US. So, trying to coordinate all of these efforts is a challenge within itself, but it is a very difficult situation for everybody involved.

WHITFIELD: Right. In fact, is it the case that -- okay, these are three students who go to Brown University, Haverford College, Trinity College, yet at least for one, perhaps it's the Brown University student, Hisham Awartani, whose mother is in Ramallah, correct? And she is actually trying to make her way now to the United States because he has been shot and he has a spinal injury.

AYOUB: Correct. Yes. One of the victims does have a spinal injury, Hisham and his family is trying to get here to support him. You know, these are high school friends that gathered together here in the US for Thanksgiving as, you know, millions of Americans do and it's unfortunate that their holiday weekend ended up this way.

WHITFIELD: Right, so all three of them used to go to high school together in Ramallah. Here they are visiting now one of the kid's grandparents who lives in Vermont. They went out Saturday evening, is it true? Or at least my understanding is, this picture right here was taken not long before they all went out?

What's your understanding as to if they were indeed targeted because they are Palestinian? What's your understanding about the alleged shooter? What that person either knew about them? How that person knew that they were Palestinian? And is it your belief that they were targeted because they were Palestinian? What do you know about that?

AYOUB: Look, we know that two of the victims were wearing the kufiya or the traditional Palestine scarf that you see in the picture, and that within itself gives us reason to believe given the circumstances how this played out, that their identity, their race, and the fact they are Palestinian, played a role.

The suspect walked up to them and shot them. They weren't robbed, they weren't mugged. It was a targeted -- a targeted shooting and a targeted crime, and they were wearing the kufiya. They are known in the area for being Palestinian, you know that that's a very well-known symbol. It's a very well-known cloth. It's very symbolic of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian culture and history.

So the fact that they were wearing this and then fell victim to a shooter leads us to believe that that played a role -- their identity played a role in them being targeted.

WHITFIELD: What's your understanding about the shooter? Has that person been identified? Arrested? Anything?

AYOUB: Right now, there is no suspect that's been arrested, but we do have confidence that the local police department as well as the FBI, DOJ, and federal law enforcement are investigating this, looking at this, and looking at every possible avenue, including this being a hate crime, so we can't take that off the table. It is there.

That is something being looked at and we do appreciate that, but we are confident when the suspect is arrested that the cause of this and the reasoning behind this once that's determined it will show that this was a hate crime and this should have been avoided and we hope it doesn't happen again.

WHITFIELD: And we do know that it had been stated across the country as a result, particularly of October 7th, there has been an increase of Islamophobic, as well as antisemitic related crimes in the US.

I understand, you are also representing a civil rights organization, the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the ADC. We are so grateful that Abed Ayoub, you are able to join us today. Of course, we're hoping for the best for these three college students and their families.

AYOUB: Thank you. I appreciate that and we will keep you posted. And let's just, you know, hope we don't see this again, and there is no room for hate, as everybody has been saying throughout this process, and as the victims have been saying, and their families, you know, let's hope the suspect is apprehended and our students, our Arab students, Palestinian students in this country are not subject to such attacks in the future.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Abed Ayoub.