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Trump Declares War Over Between Israel And Hamas, Hostage Release Expected To Start Within Hours. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired October 12, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:04]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.
Tonight, President Trump declaring the war is over between Israel and Hamas, that he believes that that ceasefire is going to hold as he heads to Israel this evening.
In just a few hours, the 20 remaining living hostages are expected to be freed after over two years in Hamas captivity. Trump -- President Trump saying he believes that the ceasefire again will hold.
I believe we have the tape. Let's see.
All right. Let's go now to Julia Benbrook, who's standing by.
Julia, the president speaking for some 20 minutes on Air Force One as he's enroute to Israel. What more was he saying?
We are still waiting on Julia and that tape. But what we know right now is that this is a monumental moment in this over two-year war between Israel and Hamas. That, of course, began on October 7th of 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing more Jewish people there in Israel than since the Holocaust happened.
And now here we are and then Israel attacking Hamas in Gaza for two years with incredible damage and famine there. It has been going on for a very, very long time. President Trump now himself going over to Israel to be there when these hostages come home, speaking at the Knesset, speaking with hostage families.
I want to go now to Julia Benbrook at the White House with more on this.
Julia, the president speaking for some 20 minutes, a little over 20 minutes. What more was he saying?
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know, Jessica, that for a long time now, President Donald Trump has wanted to play a role in bringing this conflict to an end, and he is now on his way to the region after helping broker a ceasefire agreement that many hope will lead to a lasting peace deal. He spoke, like you said, for about 20 minutes on Air Force One, but he
also gave some comments right before he boarded, and during that he made it clear that he does expect that he will receive a warm welcome when he arrives. We know that several different leaders around the world have congratulated him on his diplomatic efforts going into this.
And then I also wanted to bring up last night in Tel Aviv, we saw Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, we saw his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who have both been involved in talks, as well as his daughter Ivanka Trump. They spoke and during those remarks, every time they mentioned Trump specifically, most of the times, I should say, but repeatedly we heard these "thank you, Trump" chants from the crowd. So do expect there to be a warm reception when he gets there.
DEAN: All right, Julia, thank you so much.
And I believe we do now have President Trump speaking. It is audio only. So listen to what the president had to say as he was on his way to Israel tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And this is the first time they've ever seen where everybody is unified because, as you know, we're going to Egypt after Israel and we're going to meet all of the leaders of the very powerful and big countries and very rich countries and others, and they're all into this deal. Everybody is into it. It's never happened before. So I would say this is a lot tougher, but we'll see how it all works out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, has not gone so far as to say the war is over. In your view, is the war between Israel and Hamas over?
TRUMP: The war is over. The war is over. The war is over, OK? Do you understand that?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, is the ceasefire going to hold? Are you confident the ceasefire will hold?
TRUMP: Say again?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you confident that the ceasefire is going to hold?
TRUMP: I think so. I think it's going to hold. I think people are -- a lot of reasons why it's going to hold, but I think people are tired of it. It's been -- it's been centuries. OK? Not just recent. It's been centuries. I think people are tired of it. Yes. The ceasefire is going to hold and we'll (INAUDIBLE) it holds.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, what will Gaza look like a year from now?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The international stabilization force, that's part of the --
TRUMP: It's going to be a good strong force.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When will that go --
TRUMP: I don't think it's going to have a big impact because I don't think -- I think barely we're going to have to use it. I think people are going to behave. Everybody knows their place. It's going to be great for everybody. It's going to be great for the surrounding countries. Arab, Muslim, all of them. It's going to be great for Israel. Everybody is happy and I think it's going to stay that way. Peter.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And if this peace -- if the ceasefire does hold, how long until we get to the part of the 20-point peace plan where developers can go in and make Gaza the Riviera of the Middle East?
[18:05:00]
TRUMP: Well, I don't know about the riviera for a while because you take a look at what you have. You have to get people taken care of first. But it's going to start really, essentially, immediately. I mean, they're going to have to start by removing a lot of the structures that you see that are down to the ground. I mean, it's a very -- it's blasted. This is like a demolition site.
Almost the entire site is -- so you have to you have to get rid of what you have there. You have structures that are very dangerous. They're falling down. If they haven't fallen, they're going to fall down of their own volition. So that process, Peter, is going to start pretty much immediately, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What would it look like a year from now in your view?
TRUMP: A year, that's very quick. But over the years it will look very good. It'll be -- it's got the first chance it's had in centuries of being peaceful. It's always been a very, very strange area. It's always been loaded up with problems, religious problems, problems like no other place probably in the world. And I think it's going to now -- it's going to normalize. All you can say if it normalizes, that would be fantastic.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The structure, sir, that you have set up in that peace plan, how soon will that new governing body be in place?
TRUMP: Very quickly. And everybody wants to be a part of it. You're talking about the Board of Peace?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That's right. Tony Blair, yourself.
TRUMP: Everybody wants -- everybody wants to be a part of it. I've had calls from all of the leaders, the leaders of countries. They all want to be a part. I mean, the leaders themselves are not going to send somebody. They want to be a part of it. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you know who's going to be a part of it yet?
TRUMP: I do, I do.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you share?
TRUMP: No, not yet. It's a little --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tony Blair, have you spoken to Tony Blair about it since the --
TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) your ear things out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you spoken to Tony Blair about it?
TRUMP: I have. You know, I first I want to find out that Tony would be popular with all because I just don't know that. And I like Tony. I've always liked tony, but I want to find out that he's an acceptable choice to everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about -- what guarantees have you been able to give to both the Israelis and the Arab countries?
TRUMP: Guarantees.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The Israelis are very concerned.
TRUMP: We have a lot of verbal guarantees, too, and I don't think they're going to want to disappoint me. I have a lot of verbal guarantees, guarantees that aren't down in writing, but they were given to me, and I believe they're going to be held very strongly. That's why I think it's going to be successful.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. president, you have to --
TRUMP: Look who we have. (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Good to see you, Mr. President. I'm sure you've seen reports of Hamas rearming, instituting themselves as a Palestinian police force taking, you know, shooting rivals. What is your message to Hamas?
TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) our standing because they do want to stop the problems, and they've been open about it. And we gave them approval for a period of time. We have to understand they've lost probably 60,000 people. That's a lot of retribution. They've lost 60,000 people. And the ones that are living right now were, in many cases, very young when this all started. And we are having them watch that there's not going to be big crime or some of the problems that you have when you have areas like this that have been literally demolished.
You know, you have two million people and probably it will be less than that, but you have close to two million people going back to buildings that have been demolished, and a lot of bad things can happen. So we want it to be -- we want it to be safe. I think it's going to be fine.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, you had --
TRUMP: Who knows for sure, OK? But I think it's going to be fine.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hi. What is the latest that you've heard about hostages when they will be released? Do you expect to meet with any of them?
TRUMP: Well, I know the hostages might be even a little early, but I don't want to say that. So they have the hostages. I understand all 20. And we may get them out a little bit early. Getting them was amazing, actually, because we were involved, and they were in places that you don't want to know about. Deep, deep, deep.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Some of the top Biden administration folks who were there, like Antony Blinken, seemed to want some credit for the peace deal. Blinken says, "It's good that President Trump adopted and built on the plan that the Biden administration developed." What do you think about that?
TRUMP: Everybody knows that's a joke. Look, they didn't do -- they did such a bad job. This should have never happened. This wouldn't have even happened. That was weak leadership. Terrible. And the same thing with Russia. Russia, Ukraine. It's just a decent president, not a great president like me. Not a great president. If a decent president was in, you wouldn't have had the Russia-Ukraine. And this is, I would say, even more so.
This was bad policy by Biden and by Obama. Remember when Bibi came and he begged that you not do what they were doing with Iran? You remember that, right? Begged them, and they wouldn't even listen to him.
[18:10:02]
Everything they did was the opposite of what you should have done. And it's nice that they try and take a little credit. That was years ago and the mistakes were made years ago, and it was both by Biden and Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And so what did you do so differently? Because a lot -- I know a lot of it was behind the scenes. So what did you do so much differently than Joe Biden and that -- to end the war?
TRUMP: I resonated with the Arab leaders, the Muslim leaders and the Jewish leaders. For whatever reason. You tell me why. You know? He said that in my first news conference, I answered more questions of him than Mike did for years. And I think that's pretty close to being true.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Now, there were there were no Pinocchios in the fact check.
TRUMP: None. That's right. That's right.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, your relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu has been through some ups and downs. You had to get a little tough on him. Where is that relationship now? And can you tell us about it?
TRUMP: It's good. It's very good. He just put me up for the Nobel Prize. So, you know, I don't know what it means with the Nobel Prize, but he put me up yesterday for the Nobel Prize that I should get it. But, I mean, I think it's very good.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Has he made commitments to you personally about moving forward to the next phase of peace?
TRUMP: Look, let me tell you. He's a wartime president. He did a very good job. I had some disputes with him, and they were quickly settled. I can tell you that. But as far as I'm concerned, I think he's done a great job. I think he was the right person at this time. You know, look, it's been -- it's been this way for centuries. You know, we're not talking about for 10 years, for five. It's been this way for centuries.
And he did a great job. And working with me he was fantastic. Now working with Biden, no good. They didn't get along and they had the opposite because Biden and Obama backed Iran. And just so when you talk about a thing like that, if you think they were backing Iran. When you back Iran, this wouldn't have worked. And had we not taken out the Iran nuclear facility and we made the same deal, it would have a really dark cloud over it, and you wouldn't have people dancing in the streets, Katie.
You would have people saying, oh, my, you know, you're making a deal, but we have a guy over there with nuclear weapons all over the place. He's going to knock the hell out of us. If we didn't take out the Iran nuclear when we did, because in two months they would have had a nuclear weapon. This deal, even if it were done the exact same way, would have had a dark cloud over it. And now there's no dark clouds. There's nobody they have to worry about, Katie.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you talked to the Qataris about their changing behavior? In your first term you talked about how they were funding terrorism.
TRUMP: The Qataris -- yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Differently in your eyes to make sure they're not funding --
TRUMP: The Qataris really helped us with this deal. And the emir is an amazing man who really helped us. You have to understand, his country is right in the middle of everything, more so than any other country, more so than UAE, where you have to fly an hour and a half to get there. More so than Saudi Arabia, where you have to fly an hour and a half to get there. His country, you walk across a line and you're there.
So he's in the middle of this unbelievable hostile territory with people on all different sides of the, you know, of the opinion and the question. They were a tremendous help. Qatar was a tremendous help to getting this done. I hope people can realize that. And it's very -- it was very tough and very dangerous for Qatar. They were very brave. And their leader, the emir, was very, very brave.
And Qatar should start getting some credit. And you have to understand, they lived in the middle of everything, so they can't just be like -- you couldn't do it. I could nobody, nobody could do it and say what?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have they changed their behavior from 2017 when you accused them of funding terrorism?
TRUMP: I don't know. In 2017 I didn't really know them very well. You know, 2017 that was at the very beginning of my term. As I got to know them, I got to understand them. And I got to realize that they're in the middle of -- they are right in the middle of everything. Other countries are there, but they're an hour and an hour and a half away. A big difference. They're literally, you walk over from Iran to Qatar, you can walk it in one second. You go boom, boom, and now you're in Qatar. That's tough territory. I think Qatar was amazing the way they helped us.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, another world leader --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There was a ceasefire that collapsed in March this year. There was a ceasefire earlier this year that collapsed in March. Do you think this could have been done then? This took a lot of pressure on both sides. But do you have any regrets?
TRUMP: You know, sometimes I see it and I see it with Russia, Russia, Russia, too. Sometimes you have to go through some pain before it all happens.
[18:15:03]
I saw it with Turkey and by the way, Turkey was fantastic. Amazing the way they helped us.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, another world leader --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There was a ceasefire that collapsed in March this year. There was a ceasefire earlier this year that collapsed in March. Do you think this could have been done then? This took a lot of pressure on both sides. But do you have any regrets?
TRUMP: I see it and I see it with Russia, Russia, Russia, too. Sometimes you have to go through some pain before it all happens. I saw it with Turkey and by the way, Turkey was fantastic, too. President Erdogan was fantastic. He really helped a lot because he's very respected. He's got a very powerful nation. He's got a very, very powerful military. And he helped a lot. President Erdogan. UAE was great. You know, we mentioned Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the king,
they were great. Indonesia was great. We had -- we had tremendous help. Jordan, the king, they were great. This is an amazing thing. Countries that are very diverse countries, some got along, some didn't. But for the most part, nobody got along with anybody. And they all came together and they're all dancing in the streets, just like Israel.
It's a unique point in time. You were talking about the ceasefire. That wouldn't have had that held. That wouldn't have happened back then.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Both of your elections, the biggest issues were the economy and immigration. Now you're getting credit from Democrats and Republicans for this Middle East peace deal. Where does it fit -- where do you think it fits into your legacy?
TRUMP: Well, look, I solved this will be my eighth war that I've solved. And I hear there's a war now going between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I said, it'll have to wait until I get back. You know, I'm doing another one because I'm good at solving wars. I'm good at making peace. And it's an honor to do it. I saved millions of lives. Millions of lives.
Now, in all fairness to the Nobel Committee, I was -- it was for 19 -- it was for 2024. And this was picked for 2024. But there are those that say you can make an exception because a lot of things happened during '25 that are -- that are done and complete and great. But I did this not for Nobel, I did this for -- I did this for saving lives. I mean, we've saved millions of lives. Think about India, Pakistan. Think about some of the wars that were going on for years. We had one going for 31, one going for 32, one going for 37 years, with millions of people being killed in every country. And I got every one of those done for the most part within a day. It's pretty good.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One of the world leaders, sir, that you've been --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What do you think you can take from these negotiations and this peace process into Moscow and try to end the Russia-Ukraine war?
TRUMP: Well, I think what you can take is that never give up, just never give up. You know, last week they killed over 7,000 soldiers, mostly soldiers, and a little bit more, frankly, Russian soldiers than Ukraine soldiers last week. But think of it, every week they're losing from 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers. It's ridiculous. And I thought that would be one of my easier ones. I mean, when you settle something that's been going on for 31 and 32 years, that's in theory a lot harder than setting, you know, something that's been going on for three years.
But this is a war going on for three years. Should have never started. Frankly. I give Ukraine credit for doing so well. I mean, they're good fighters. They're very good fighters. I think that -- I really think that President Putin would look great if he got this settled. And I think he's going to settle it, but we're going to see. And if he doesn't, it's not going to be good for him. It's not going to be good for him.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: President Xi in China, you've been truthing about another world leader. You said not to worry about China, but he's been putting out some tough statements in regards to your tariffs, sir. Are you planning to speak with him? When's the last time you spoke?
TRUMP: Well, putting out tough statements because we are taking in hundreds of millions of dollars. Not only from China, from other countries. We've become a wealthy country again and the tariffs have given us a diplomatic strength. They've given us negotiating strength. I settled a few of the wars just based on tariffs. I said with, as an example, with India and with Pakistan, I said, if you guys want to fight a war and you have nuclear weapons, I'm going to put big tariffs on you both like 100 percent, 150 percent and 200 percent.
No, no, no, don't do that. I said I'm putting tariffs. I had that thing settled in 24 hours. If I didn't have tariffs you could have never settled that war. You knew that better than anybody, McGee.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, more tariffs on China. Are you considering walking that back?
TRUMP: Well, you asked a lot of questions. Who are you with?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Politico. Dasha Burns, sir.
TRUMP: Dasha. Politico. Politico has gone bad.
[18:20:00]
They've been so wrong about everything. Politico.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I have a lot of questions, sir.
TRUMP: No, no. Politico. It's been so wrong about everything. Let's get somebody else to ask some questions. Do you mind? Is that all right?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you plan on --
TRUMP: Because Politico is fake news.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you plan on meeting Xi now when you go to Asia in a couple of weeks?
TRUMP: Well, you saw the statement I put out that he had a bad day. And I think we're going to be fine with China. Look, I have a great relationship with President Xi. He's a very tough man. He's a very smart man. He's a great leader for their country. He's a great leader. And I have a great relationship with him. I think we'll get it set. I know what happened. I really understand what happened and I'm not even saying he's wrong. But then we met him with something much tougher than what he did to us. Again, because of the tariffs, its much tougher.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would you ever visit Gaza?
TRUMP: What?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would you ever visit Gaza?
TRUMP: I would. Yes, I would. I'd be proud to. I see it. I mean I know it so well without visiting, but I do see it. Yes, I would actually. I'd like to do it. I'd like to put my feet on it at least. But I think it's going to be a great miracle over the -- over the coming decades. And, you know, if you go too fast, it's not going to be good. You have to go at the right speed. You can't go too fast.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President --
TRUMP: Who are you with?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I'm with BBC. BBC. BBC with the Radio 4.
TRUMP: That's excellent.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you. When Steve Witkoff was in Hostages Square last night, he mentioned Prime Minister Netanyahu and the crowd booed. I wondered if you saw that.
TRUMP: I did.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What you made of that?
TRUMP: I also saw the crowd cheer when he mentioned Trump, like really cheer. And it's an honor. No. As I said, I think Bibi did a great job. I had some words with him a couple of times where I didn't agree, and he was always -- he was the right guy at the right time.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you confident because many Palestinians have been concerned that after the hostages are handed over, that Israel might restart the war for some reason? Are you --
TRUMP: I'm not worried about anything. I think we have a great deal, and it's a great deal for everybody. You know, a great deal is a deal where everybody is happy, and every country, they're dancing in the streets. That's a great deal. It's a unique -- it's a unique period in time.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, November 1st, 100 percent tariffs on China is what you said. Is that still the plan?
TRUMP: Yes. Right now it is. Yes. Let's see what happens. You know for me, you know what November 1st is? An eternity. November 1st is an eternity for me. For somebody else it's right around the corner. For me, when I hear November 1st, it's an eternity. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You had talked a couple of weeks ago. You were doing an interview, and you talked about how you hoped to end the war in Ukraine, because it might help you get into heaven. How does -- how does this help? Does this help?
TRUMP: I mean, you know, I'm being a little cute. I don't think there's anything going to get me in heaven. OK, I really don't. I think -- I think I'm not maybe heaven bound. I may be in heaven right now as we fly in Air Force One. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make heaven, but I've made life a lot better for a lot of people. And, you know, as an example, had the -- had the election of 2020 not been rigged, you would have millions of people living just in Russia- Ukraine alone.
That would have never happened. And it didn't happen for four years and I knew Putin very well. I was the apple of his eye. All the things I've said would have never happened. We had an incompetent administration. We had an incompetent president. And because of a crooked election, millions of people are dead. And by the way, the Israeli thing was much harder to get settled because of the past administration. OK? Rest. Enjoy yourselves. Say hello to your boss and I'll see you guys. All right? Good.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, before you go, can you tell us about your conversations with President Zelensky? Did you talk about far-range missiles?
TRUMP: We had a very good conversation this morning and yesterday. And he basically would like to, as you know, we are not sending any weapons. We're sending them to NATO. And NATO is paying, which is a big difference between Biden and Trump, because Biden gave them $350 billion. And we didn't. We gave them -- we gave them nothing, but we gave them respect. And some other things, frankly.
So we talked about weapons, and the weapons are sent to NATO. And NATO then sends us a check. They pay for info and they would need more weapons. And we're looking into doing that. We hope we're going to be able to provide them. You know, our country needs weapons, too. We can't give so many weapons that we don't have weapons. You never know what's going to happen. Who knows what's going to happen?
But NATO pays us 100 percent for the weapons, and then they send them into Ukraine. And we talked about the weapons they need, what kind of weapons.
[18:25:00]
They need patriots very badly. They'd like to have Tomahawks. That's a step up. They'd like to have Tomahawks. We talked about that. And so --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Will you send Tomahawks?
TRUMP: So we'll see. Well, I don't know. I've made -- I might have to speak to Russia, to be honest with you, about Tomahawks. Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don't think so. I think I might speak to Russia about that. In all fairness. I told that to President Zelenskyy because Tomahawks are a new step of aggression. You understand that very well. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you saying that you will speak to Putin first about Tomahawks?
TRUMP: I might talk to him. I might say, look, if this war is not going to get settled, I'm going to send them Tomahawks. I may said that. The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that. They don't need that. Yes, I might tell them that if the war is not settled, that we may very well do. We may not, but we may do it. I think it's appropriate to bring up. Yes. I want him to -- I want to see the war settled.
Thank you very much. Tell them to be honest. They're not honest.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: OK, sir. Talk to Karoline. She'll vouch for him.
TRUMP: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you.
TRUMP: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: My first time on the plane.
TRUMP: Thank you. Oh, really?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Oh, yes.
TRUMP: What are you -- he flies private.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes.
TRUMP: He's doing pretty well, huh? So who's going to be the head anchor at CBS?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: All right, you're listening to President Trump just a few moments ago, as he was aboard Air Force One. He's en route to Israel, where we are expecting those 20 remaining hostages to be released from Hamas captivity back into Israel in the coming hours. Very early in the morning here, early in the morning there as well. They're about seven hours ahead of East Coast time.
The president there, though, interesting declaring that the war is over between Israel and Gaza, that it is his belief that this ceasefire will hold and that there will be no more war. Again he is going to Israel to speak in front of the Knesset, speak with hostage families with the deal that he did help broker to end this now over two-year war.
Interestingly, and worth noting as well, aside from Israel and Gaza, he did say there at the end, you heard him talk a little bit about Ukraine, and he said he told President Putin in Russia that if that war doesn't come to an end, that he would allow shipments of long range Tomahawk missiles, that that would allow Ukraine to go deeper into Russia. That's something that President Zelenskyy has been asking for some time now. The president, President Trump saying he did speak to Zelenskyy about
that. So certainly that is worth keeping an eye on as well. But the most pressing news tonight remains out of the Middle East, remains out of Israel and Gaza. Again Gaza, where we are seeing that aid go in, and Israel, where we are imminently expecting those hostages to be released.
We have much, much more on that. We're going to take a break. We'll come back and we'll get into it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:32:42]
DEAN: We are following the breaking news out of the Middle East, where we await the hostages to be returned from Hamas captivity in just hours. That's to be followed by the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel.
We are joined now by Jonathan Dekal-Chen. His son Sagi was taken by Hamas on October 7th from Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was trying to defend his community. Sagi was released earlier this year as part of that February ceasefire deal.
Jonathan, we're really pleased to have you here tonight. As I was saying to you in our break, this must be such a strange feeling for you this evening. You're obviously -- your son is home, thank God. But so many people are still missing their loved ones. How are you feeling tonight?
JONATHAN DEKAL-CHEN, SON TAKEN HOSTAGE AND RELEASED BY HAMAS: Well, I think like pretty much everyone in Israel and probably in Gaza, just holding our breath and praying that both sides are able to see this through, this first stage of hostage and then prisoner release. And later on for the rest of the stages so that this madness can be over. For us personally and as a family, of course, we're still sort of incredibly blessed that Sagi has been home since February.
But for us, this is incredibly personal. Of the 48 hostages who are to be released, those who are still alive and those who have been murdered, nine of them are from our kibbutz community and which is, in effect, my extended family. So every face that comes out, every thought that we have is really going to be focused on that screen tonight and I imagine in the coming days as well.
DEAN: Certainly. And so understandable. And obviously you've been able to spend time with your son now that he's back. But you and he and your family probably know better than anybody that once you get back from something like that, that's also the beginning of a new journey of healing and trying to, you know, repair some sense of peace after such a harrowing ordeal. How is he feeling about all of this?
DEKAL-CHEN: Well, look, Sagi left behind people there. You know, the hostages that he was held with.
[18:35:02] We hope most of them still alive. Some of them we know for sure have been murdered. And he has said himself on many occasions that he can only begin his healing, he can only really be at peace once all of the hostages are home. So this is an incredibly important stage in his journey beyond his physical wounds that he did sustain.
More broadly, Israel as a whole, Israeli society can only begin to heal and once everyone is home. And until that time, the country as a whole has said clearly that it wants the hostages home and has demanded that from our government, really from the get-go. And also demands an end to the violence.
We understand that this war has been going on far too long, and we hope and pray that the mediators and the United States most especially keep the sides honest as we move forward in the coming days, weeks and months to make absolutely sure that this all gets done.
DEAN: Yes. And so how are -- I know you said, and you said earlier, too, but you've previously talked about how you don't feel like your community, going back to your kibbutz, Nir Oz, that it can really move on until all of these hostages are returned, that you really can't begin to move forward into a new future until that is done. So now that we're on what we hope is the precipice of that, how are you feeling?
Is there any hope in your heart? Are you hopeful? How does that particular piece of it, how do you think about it?
DEKAL-CHEN: You know, I think right now having been on a kind of emotional roller coaster for a little over two years now, and for me, it's sort of very short term and we need to bury our dead. Of the nine people from our community, we know for sure that five have already been murdered, either on October 7th or subsequently by their captors in the tunnels under Gaza. And that's first stage.
I have to see that parents are united with their children when -- and at that point, I think we'll be able to assess what might be next for all of us. And we do know, and I think, any observer of our region knows that the biggest single obstacle to getting to a better future for Israelis and for the people of Gaza and Palestinians and all of our neighbors, is somehow figuring out how to defuse the hatred.
The hatred pre-dated October 7th. Of course, it was the cause of the massacre on October 7th, but it's only gotten so much worse since then. And this is going to take a huge effort. It's not just the rebuilding and the feeding of Gaza. It's figuring out with the help of good willed people and goodwill nations, how we find other solutions than butchering each other as we move forward, because Israelis aren't going anywhere.
And nor are the Palestinians and perhaps, perhaps, these horrific two years will be enough of a wakeup call to create leaderships on both sides that are -- not leave the past behind, but understand that we have to try something different moving into the future.
DEAN: Yes, maybe there is something different. Jonathan Dekal-Chen, thank you so much for being with us. We're
certainly thinking about your family and we really appreciate your time.
DEKAL-CHEN: Thank you so much.
DEAN: Coming up, we're going to talk with the human rights attorney about the delicate process of getting those hostages back home and what happens when they finally step foot back in Israel.
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[18:43:31]
DEAN: We continue to follow the breaking news out of the Middle East tonight. In the coming hours, the final exchange of these Israeli hostages coming back to Israel, then followed by Palestinian prisoners being released, is expected to start. Shortly following that, we will know more about how this peace process is going to proceed.
International peace negotiator and fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy and human rights attorney, Nomi Bar-Yaacov, joins us now.
Nomi, thank you so much for being here with us as we head into what are very delicate hours ahead. We are expecting to see first these 20 remaining living hostages to be released early tomorrow. Hamas has agreed it won't display propaganda. It will not have any of these ceremonies like we have seen in some of these previous hostage releases.
What does that say to you, and how do you expect tomorrow to proceed?
NOMI BAR-YAACOV, INTERNATIONAL PEACE NEGOTIATOR, GENEVA CENTRE FOR SECURITY POLICY: Thank you, Jessica, for having me. What this says to me is that some progress has been made in terms of dignity. You know, it's a much more dignified manner to release hostages in a private fashion and not in a public humiliating propaganda manner that was carried out before. Yet it remains to be seen.
I would be very surprised if Hamas don't have a few cameras at hand and take some photos. We would just have to wait and see. But certainly not the same huge, dictated rhetoric that they obliged the hostages to reiterate before being released last time.
[18:45:12]
So definitely it will be very different in this sense. What we're expecting is that there will be two different, points at which they will gather the hostages and that there'll be a staggered release in two stages. They will first get the hostages. They've already gotten the hostages together. They're all above ground. They were all notified a few hours ago that they're going to be released. The families of the hostages are going to wait for the hostages at the meeting point on the Israeli side of the border, at the same military base that had absorbed the previous hostages and the previous two ceasefires. It's called Reim.
So the various stages are that the ICRC is going to get them in about six to eight vehicles from Hamas, the Hamas captives, then they're going to transfer them to the Israeli army because the Israeli army is still present in Gaza. The Israeli army will bring ambulances and medical staff because -- well, all of them are expected to be in very poor condition, some of them in potentially life-threatening conditions. So they need the doctors, SOS, there with them.
They will of course, treat those that they have to in the ambulances. They'll carry them across the border. Then the immediate members of the family. So the close family members will be waiting for them from 7:30 a.m. local time in Reim. They will again be debriefed briefly and the medical side is the key issue here as well as they have been tortured both physically and psychologically. They have been starved for a very long time.
That was an order that Yahya Sinwar, the leader-mastermind of Hamas that was assassinated by Israel prior to being assassinated, ordered. So we're expecting to see some pretty harsh scenes. Of course there will be tears of joy, but also horror at the condition. In addition to that, in Hostages Square, they are celebrating all night. There's going to be what they call a white night, a night of celebration in anticipation, but with much anxiety also.
DEAN: Certainly. No, I think that's right. There is a lot of anxiety that kind of hangs over this very delicate moment.
Nomi, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.
BAR-YAACOV: My pleasure.
DEAN: Up next, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, joins us to talk about what to expect from this first phase of the ceasefire. Stay with us.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[18:52:34]
DEAN: President Trump is right now on his way to the Middle East as we await the final hostage release that's expected to begin in the coming hours. Vice President J.D. Vance said this earlier today about the ceasefire agreement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reason why we are at this moment, Kristen, is because the president of the United States, he gave unusual authorities to two people who had never been in diplomacy before. He actually broke the mold. Instead of doing diplomacy the same old way that it had failed for the past 30 or 40 years. he gave Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner a remarkable amount of authority to go and get a peace deal done. (END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: We are joined now by former U.S. ambassador to Israel Tom Nides. We should also mention he is married to a CNN executive.
Tom, it's great to have you here on a Sunday night where we're just going to -- we have a lot to come in the hours ahead. I want -- I'm curious what you think about what the vice president said there. Is he -- is he right?
TOM NIDES, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Well, first of all, Jessica, my heart is filled with joy that the idea that these families will be reunited with their loved ones. Listen, I spoke many times at Hostages Square. The pain and the suffering of these families is heartbreaking for all of us. And what Israel has endured and quite frankly, a lot of innocent Gazans have endured.
So I give as much credit as possible to anyone who is involved in getting this peace deal done. And I -- and that includes the President Trump and Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and Joe Biden and Tony Blinken. You know, these don't happen in a vacuum. This happens for place by place, negotiation by negotiation. So listen, I am just thrilled. I'm thrilled this is going to happen. And if Donald Trump gets doubled -- Donald Trump gets credit for it, I'm all in. I just want to get as much love back into these people's hearts as possible.
DEAN: Do you think, though, that kind of, I guess, as the vice president called it, this breaking the mold, doing things in a different way was able to kind of shake the last pieces loose?
NIDES: You know, listen, Jessica, as you know, because you've been covering this for a long time, I could go back to, you know, a year and a half ago when Joe Biden ordered the ships to go into the Mediterranean to make sure when Iran attacked Israel for the first time that we protected the state of Israel. I could go back to Barack Obama basically giving the OK on the Iron Dome.
Every single president, Democrat and Republican, has had a love for the state of Israel and the security for the state of Israel. So this is -- this is not and should not become a partisan issue.
[18:55:03]
Sadly it has become a bit of one. But my hope is and my idea right now is all I care about is what's going on in Hostages Square today and what's going on in the living rooms of these Israeli families that hopefully within a few hours, they'll be able to embrace their loved ones. And to be clear, there's -- I have friends of mine who sadly their son body -- they just want the body of the son back who was killed in Gaza. So I -- you know, listen, I'm obviously relatively political as many people are, but this is not a time for politics.
This is a time to embrace what's happening and not only end the war, end the suffering in Gaza, hugely increased humanitarian assistance that's going to Gaza, which is desperately needed, that's what I'm focused on tonight. DEAN: And also, too, just because you've played such a key role in
Israel's relationship with its closest ally, the United States, how would you assess that relationship now and where does it go from here?
NIDES: Listen, you know, the United States is Israel's most important ally. No question about it. Remember, Israel is this beautiful living democracy. The last -- in the last two years every Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have shown up in Hostages Square demanding these hostages be released. No one has been arrested. No one has been shot. This has been peaceful. That would be like millions of Americans showing up every day in Washington, D.C.
This is a beautiful democracy. And the relationship between United States and Israel is enduring. Is it going to have some -- do we have some issues? Without question. Do we have some repair work to do? Absolutely. That's why we need to end this war. We need to dramatically increase humanitarian assistance. We need to focus on what comes next.
Listen, this is great to get these families back. As you know, there's many steps to this, including, and I say this with great sincerity, we need to be focused on the long-term solution in Israel and the Palestinians, which means we need to talk about a two-state solution at some point. The reality is, the Palestinians aren't going anywhere, nor are the Israelis. So we need to figure out how we're going to live peacefully side by side.
DEAN: And so to that end, how involved do you think the United States needs to be in figuring out what happens next in Gaza?
NIDES: Listen, as much as I've given -- as I've given credit to the President Trump and President Biden, we know the devil is in the details here. The president needs to have his moment today, which he deserves to go to the Knesset and embrace those families. But it's not just today. It's the next week and two weeks and three weeks. There's got to be a real plan of what governance goes on in Gaza.
The rebuilding of Gaza, the humanitarian issues in Gaza, what's going on in the West Bank, what's going on with the Palestinians who live in the West Bank? So the responsibility of the United States can and should be supported, but also need to be focused on the details of what comes next. And I hope and I pray that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and the president of the United States focuses on that in the next month, two months, three months, when all the -- with all the cameras go away, the real work begins.
DEAN: All right. Ambassador Tom Nides, thanks so much for your time.
NIDES: Thank you for having me.
DEAN: All right. We'll be right back.
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