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CNN This Morning

Soon: Hamas Expected To Free Some Hostages; Now: Israel Prepares For Expected Release Of Palestinian Prisoners; Egypt: Twelve Thai Nationals Will Be Released In Addition To The 13 Hostages. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 24, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

MARK REGEV, SENIOR NETANYAHU ADVISER: And I remember that very clearly.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: OK. So we'll see if it -- if it does go forward.

Based on what you've seen now that we are 12 hours in, a little over 12 hours, is this deal, is this truce between Israel and Hamas holding?

REGEV: I suppose everything is a matter of expectations. I suppose we could say it's holding as good as can be expected. And, yes, you've seen it's the -- quiet has returned in the main. And that's a good thing. We wanted this humanitarian pause to facilitate the release of our people.

And we want this to go ahead without any glitches. Yes, we want to see those 50 people out in the next -- over the next four days. And then we -- well, remember, Kaitlan, there's an option to extend this humanitarian pause for another day and another day, if they agreed to release more hostages. Another 10 hostages for every day.

Now Hamas won't do it because they've suddenly become humanitarian. And let's be clear. They're the opposite of humanitarian. So the sort of violence they committed is inhuman, both their violence against Israelis and the way they treat their own people, the Palestinians of Gaza.

But maybe they have an interest. We've been putting sizable military pressure on them. We've taken out their underground fortresses. We've taken out and eliminated senior commanders. They're under a lot of pressure.

They need that pause. And if that's a way for us to get our people out, so be it. And once again, we want to see more people released. They have an opportunity to do it. They want this pause. They want this time out from the fighting. And so maybe this is a way to expedite our people.

COLLINS: Mark Regev, we will be watching closely in the next hour or so. Thank you for your time this morning.

REGEV: Thanks for having me, Kaitlan.

Collins: And you heard Mr. Regev there. Once these 13 hostages are free, they will announce it once they are back here in Israel and safe. Of course, that is part of also this deal where Israel is going to release 39 Palestinians who have been jailed here in Israel. They are also expected to be released.

We're going to have a live report from a border crossing near Ramallah just ahead to check in on that.

Also, as you heard, crucial aid entering Gaza is part of this 96-hour truce. So far, we've seen at least 90 trucks go into Gaza today where they are so desperately needed. We'll bring you all the latest developments from there as well right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:28]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Just minutes from now, the first wave of hostages is expected to be freed from Gaza, if Israel and Hamas -- if hold up their ends, of course, of this agreement and all goes according to plan, 13 women and children will be released back into Israel.

Let's dig into this with CNN Global Affairs analyst, Kim Dozier. And diplomatic correspondent for the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, Amir Tibon. Good to have both of you with us this morning.

Amir, just to start with you. From what we've seen so far, this truce is holding at this moment. We just heard from Mark Regev, who's just speaking, of course, with Kaitlan Collins. Everybody seems to be watching this with bated breath, waiting for that moment until the hostages are seen to really know if this will happen, Amir.

AMIR TIBON, DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, HAARETZ: Yes. I can tell you an entire country is on the edge right now. And I feel it personally because apart from my work as a journalist, who is covering this, I'm also a resident of the Gaza border area. My community is one of the border communities that were attacked on October 7 and we had several of our neighbors kidnapped into Gaza. All of them civilians, husbands, fathers, a grandmother and two young girls to sisters. So we are so anxious to know that actually we're going to see this first batch of our hostages released. And that this deal will go as planned and we'll see the next phase of it tomorrow as well.

I'm relieved to see that so far the ceasefire is holding, but we will not feel any kind of relief until we actually see with our eyes the first group of our hostages. Again, you know, just women and children released from the hands of Hamas.

HILL: And just real quickly, Amir, do you have any indication at this hour that some of the people from your kibbutz, Nahal Oz, maybe in this first group? TIBON: Right now, it's not really clear who exactly is going out that information, is only available to a very small group of people.

And I want to say, even though my journalistic instincts are always to want to know as much as possible, I understand that this is a very delicate issue.

And for the families of those who are coming out, supposed to come out, and those who still have to wait, an entire world right now is hanging in the balance and we have to be patient and understand what kind of difficult situation we're dealing with here.

We'll know more details in a short time, but for now, we have to wait a little more.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Kimberly, CNN's reporting this morning is that Americans will not -- will not be included in the first 13 hostages expected to be released. Why do you think that is?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I have no idea what the thinking of Hamas is in terms of looking through its roster of hostages that it's been able to identify.

But White House officials do tell us that three Americans are supposed to be released in this initial four-day exchange. And U.S. officials and the Qatari officials who've brief reporters, both hope that this truce maintains without any violent break in it, such that they can keep going day after day after day.

And then the question will be, well, if you get half of the hostages back, why stop? And then the pressure is going to be on Israel. Why restart hostilities when this process is working? And the international community will also be saying, why interrupt this process when we're getting humanitarian aid in, although not possibly enough in four days to meet the needs of the people on the ground?

[08:40:12]

HILL: And those are the challenges and certainly the concerns that we have heard. I think since this -- since this deal was announced.

What does it look like moving forward if and when you get to that point? You know, Israel has promised that the fighting, Amir, will in fact resume, has been very clear in that. What has not been clear is the role of the Red Cross here. And I'm sure you have been pressing for information on this as well.

Mark Regev just saying that it's the obligation, just a few moments ago, of the Red Cross. And that if Hamas hasn't allowed that to happen, that that's on them. But he said this was absolutely always part of the original deal that the Red Cross would be needing with the hostages.

Is it clear to you where the disconnect is here, Amir? Is this, hey, it's Hamas' fault. They won't let the Red Cross in. Is it really that simple? TIBON: First of all, we have to demand it. I don't know whether it was agreed or not in the deal. I'm not party to those details. And I was not involved in the negotiations.

But it's clear we have to demand that the Red Cross will come in and see the hostages who are not being released right now. I understand that Hamas doesn't want it, because Hamas is playing a very, very ugly and vicious game here. And just trying to torment the Israeli population at wide with the way that it shares information and disinformation about the state of the hostages.

But I think it's very important to continue demanding this. I don't know if we can promise it. I know the Prime Minister, two days ago, actually, made it a promise to the public. And I don't know if that was backed up or not, but we have to demand it. We have to demand it.

From a place just of sheer humanity that these are women and children and husbands and fathers, civilians. And we need the Red Cross to come in and see their status and see if they need any medical help and give some kind of update to the families.

HARLOW: Kim, we just heard Mark Regev tell Kaitlan that if this truce holds and if Hamas abides by their side of this agreement that day by day, 10 more hostages could be released and exchanged for a pause in fighting that continues.

We heard Danny Danon, the former Israeli Defense Minister, though say yesterday, quote, it's only the beginning in terms of this war. And the current Defense Minister said there's at least two more months of fighting. What does a more extended pause mean for the actual battle in Gaza once that resumes?

DOZIER: Well at this point, Israeli Defense Forces are hunkered down into a defensible locations. That's how it's been described, places where they can hopefully see the enemy coming in case any of the Hamas militants or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants want to take a chance or take this opportunity to strike them.

And they're not going to stay static. They've already said they'll move around in preparation for the next phase. And while they don't have drones in the air, you can bet that the U.S. has re-task satellites to soak up the areas of Gaza where Hamas and other militants might be moving around to try to find the location of the different hostages.

Hamas itself, I understand from current and former Israeli officials, might not know where they all are, because they keep that compartmentalized even within their organization. So this is going to be a time of great movement within the Hamas organization to try to locate all the hostages.

And so the possibility is even once fighting starts again, that Israel will have a better idea of where to go, where to raid to get their people back.

HARLOW: That's interesting. Yes. Kim Dozier, Amir Tibon, thank you very much.

DOZIER: Thanks.

HILL: And as we wait and as we watch the first hostage, of course, expected to be freed by Hamas, just about half an hour from now, 39 Palestinian prisoners will also be released from Ofer Prison. We're looking at some live pictures here from outside that prison. Stay with us. We'll keep you updated just on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:49]

COLLINS: Happening right now, Israel is preparing to release the 39 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for those first 13 Israeli hostages that are being released by Hamas from Gaza today.

The Palestinian prisoners, we are expecting to be taken to the Ofer Prison in the West Bank before they are released. That's where we find CNN's Nada Bashir joining us from outside that prison.

Nada, obviously a lot of this is a work in progress. We're still waiting for the actual confirmation of this swap to happen. What are you seeing on the ground this morning?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Look, we're actually nearby the Beitonia (PH) Crossing in, Kaitlan, which is just near the Ofer Prison, which you can see in the distance behind me. This will be the focus of many of those prisons that are set to be released today.

They'll be moving from the southeast prisons near Haifa down to the Ofer Prison, where they will be held for some time to undergo checks by the Red Cross, but also crucially for Israeli authorities to confirm that all three hostages are safely released and evacuated from inside Gaza.

Now, once that has taken place, once that confirmation is in place, the 39 prisoners, which as we understand it, include 15 children, 24 women. They will be moved from the Ofer Prison across here through the Beitonia crossing.

And in fact, what we have seen today is many people gathering up on this hill where we are right now, waiting to see that crossing take place.

And we are beginning to see some slight tensions here. If you just take a look towards this side. There is a slight presence of Israeli troops there. They have begun firing tear gas at these crowds, trying to disperse those who have gathered here.

Some of the crowds have ended throwing stones towards the Israeli troops down there. They have moved upwards, in fact, some of these troops up the hill to where we are now.

But we are, of course, expecting in the next coming hours for those 39 prisoners to make their way through the Beitonia crossing, where they will be released and returned to their homes.

Of course, it's important to remember that these are 39 names amongst 150 who are potentially set to be released over the next four days, if the terms of this truce are indeed upheld over the next four days. That will be in exchange for 50 hostages held by Hamas inside Gaza.

[08:50:06]

There is, however, I have to say, a feeling of muted happiness here. People are not necessarily celebrating that release because of the mounting death toll that we are seeing in Gaza. Many of the people that we have spoken to are saying that this is too high a price. They've had to pay for prisoners to be released.

As we know, many of those names listed in that initial list of 300 potential prisoners set to be released include many young men, teenagers, even children who have been charged with minor offenses. So there is hope that we will continue to see more people released.

But, of course, important to also underscore that this 150 figure is a small fraction of the more than 8,000 Palestinians currently held in Israeli custody, including more than 3,000 Palestinians who are under administrative detention, meaning, that no clear charges have been laid, but there isn't an ongoing legal process.

And according to Amnesty International, that process could be indefinite. So certainly muted sense of happiness amongst the crowds gathered here today, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes. Nada Bashir, we'll continue to check back in with you.

And Poppy and Erica, obviously, we are watching what is happening there closely with the other part of this deal. In addition to the aid that is going into Gaza, which is another major prong of this agreement that is instruct by Israel and Hamas that so far appears to be holding.

HARLOW: Kaitlan, thank you so much for that. For joining us this morning. We'll be with you all day, of course, as you continue to track this from Tel Aviv.

And in just minutes, it is minutes away now. The first hostages are expected to be freed by Hamas. The IDF says it is ready for them.

And next, we're going to take you live to our Clarissa Ward at a Children's Hospital in Israel where some of the hostages may be taken after this long ordeal. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: This just coming into CNN, we are learning now from Egypt that the 12 Thai -- that 12 Thai nationals will also be released today. This is in addition to the 13 hostages that we already knew about.

[08:55:11] So, again, as we're learning, this is just coming into us here. And again, just to recap too. None of the hostages who are set to be released today are American citizens.

CNN's Clarissa Ward is at Schneider Children's Hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, where some, Clarissa, as we understand that some of these hostages, some of the children, may soon be taking and obviously they're preparing for that.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I lost connection.

HILL: Clarissa.

WARD: Lost IFP.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lost IFP. Lost IFP.

WARD: Sorry.

HILL: So, Clarissa can't hear us right now, as you just heard.

WARD: Sorry. I think we had --

HILL: Can you hear us?

WARD: -- an issue there with the IFP. I can hear you. I can hear you.

HILL: OK.

WARD: Forgive me. We had a little issue with the IFP there.

But we are basically here at the Schneider Children's Medical Center. As you mentioned, this is where many of those children and their mothers. We expect there to be some mothers released in this initial batch as well, will hopefully end up.

And I say hopefully, Erica, because if there are very serious injuries, life-threatening injuries or very serious medical conditions, those hostages will be taken to one of a number of different facilities.

We've been talking to the staff inside. They said they haven't slept. There's a huge amount of tension. Also, excitement and hopefulness that tonight that some of these hostages will arrive here with their mothers.

This is also the point where some of them would be reunited with their families. We don't know exactly when they would arrive. We don't know how they would arrive. Obviously, it's a major hospital. There is a helipad over there.

No indication as of yet, though, that they would be arriving in a helicopter. But you are starting to see a lot more journalists arriving here now. There's been quite a few sort of curious onlookers as well and passers-by as really just anticipation growing around this moment and around what the next few hours could bring.

Hopefully, the safe return of some of those hostages, but also a very real realization that they will have undergone unimaginable trauma and that there will be many challenges still ahead, Erica.

HARLOW: Clarissa, the news that just broke that 12 Thai nationals will also be released, along with these 13 surprising to you? You were just in Cairo for weeks.

WARD: Not entirely surprising. I mean, it's interesting. Obviously, this part of the story hasn't gotten as much attention. But there are quite a few Thai nationals, also Nepali nationals, who lived and worked on those kibbutzim. Many of them studying the irrigation systems that the kibbutzim used.

There were cases of documented cases of Thai and Nepali nationals being killed, murdered in the October 7th attacks.

But let's be clear about this. Hamas really wants to use a propaganda moment to show that they can be benevolent, to show that they can distinguish between children and adults and foreign nationals, as opposed to Israelis or Americans, of course. So this is probably an attempt to capitalize on a propaganda moment.

HARLOW: It's a very good point. Clarissa Ward for us at the Children's Hospital, thank you so much.

And stay with CNN as we are covering minute by minute, hopefully in just minutes from now, reunions for 13 of these women and child hostages. CNN NEWS CENTRAL picks it up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.