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24 Hostages Held By Hamas Were Released On Friday; Four-Day Truce Appears To Be Holding Into Second Day; Hamas To Free More Hostages On Day Two Of Truce; United States Official: Americans Not expected To Be Part Of Saturday Release. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired November 25, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Good to have you along. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Saturday, November 25th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isabel Rosales, in for Amaral Walker. Thank you for being with us this morning.

BLACKWELL: This morning we are waiting for the release of more hostages being held by Hamas. Meanwhile, we are seeing video of these family reunions. We've got video here of 9-year-old, Ohad Munder. You see him running down the hall and jumping into his father's arms after seven weeks in captivity. Now, Ohad, his mother and grandmother were among the 24 hostages released yesterday.

ROSALES: Thirteen Israelis, ten Thai citizens, and one Filipino were in that first group. This video was released by Hamas and CNN had no control over its content. These hostages, they were immediately taken to hospitals near Tel Aviv for medical checkups, but officials say that they are in good condition, good physical condition. In return for the freed Israeli hostages, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Videos obtained by CNN show the crowd waving Palestinian and Hamas flags and carrying the newly released prisoners through the streets of the West Bank. Other former prisoners hugged friends and loved ones. The released Palestinians included women, girls and male teenagers. A 150 Palestinian prisoners, again including women, girls and male teenagers, they are set to be released during the four-day truce.

BLACKWELL: An Israeli official says 14 hostages will be released today in exchange for 42 Palestinian prisoners will be transferred from Israeli prisons. CNN's covering the developments here. Larry Madowo, Oren Liebermann are standing by. We're going to start with Becky Anderson, our CNN anchor, who was there.

This is the second day of this four-day truce. It is holding. And as I said last hour, we probably need to, instead of talk about this in days, talk about it in hours, because there are some points here where between the Palestinian negotiators and those in Israel, where there are some points of contention already, Becky. BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there are. I mean, according to the mediators of this deal, brokered here in Qatar by a mediation team between two parties who have absolutely no trust in each other at all. Israel on the one hand and Hamas on the other.

We are into day two with a proof of concept, Victor. It mostly worked relatively, well, mostly worked well yesterday, let's put it that way. The hostages were released by Hamas into the arms of the ICRC. They were, they travelled in a convoy down to the Rafah border crossing in the south and then were transferred into Israel.

That group of Israelis were joined by a group of Thais and a citizen of the Philippines, foreign nationals, whose release was brokered separate to this main deal. This main deal of course is a humanitarian truce which allows for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians, the guns to go silent and humanitarian aid to start rolling across the border. And as I say, though fragile, it did work well yesterday.

Today, that scheduled release is for around 4:00 in the afternoon local time, which is a couple of hours from now. Again, women and children and expect a significant number of women, sorry children, in that number of at least 13, possibly 14 Israeli hostages today. But there is certainly a sense of disquiet on both sides and that's perhaps understandable, you know, nobody expected this to go as well as it has, quite frankly.

But on the Palestinian side, the head of the Palestinian committee for detainees, very frustrated that, as he describes it, the Israelis are not keeping to the terms of the deal hostages, or certainly putting hostages on their list for release, who have spent a significant amount of time in prison. Yesterday, those 39 Palestinian women and teenagers who were released, frankly, had not been in prison for very long and there are people on that list who have been in prison for years and years.

[07:05:33]

And that is what the Palestinians and Hamas those are the profile of the prisoners they want released and they have called this a crisis. Now, I've spoken to diplomatic sources very involved in the mediation of this deal and they say it is still on track, though they have said to me that things are tense, extremely tense behind the scenes and they expected that. In fact, members of that Qatari mediation team have arrived in Israel today on a flight from Qatar to talk to people on the ground about providing safeguards, ensuring that these releases continue to go ahead as planned.

As you rightly pointed out, those releases are 50 hostages on the Hamas-held side over the next four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. Don't expect this to go, you know, per schedule, as it were, but like I say, we have a proof of concept in what happened yesterday. Let's talk more now about what happened yesterday. CNN's Oren Liebermann was at a hospital where some of the hostages were taken after their release yesterday. Oren, tell us about what you heard and saw. OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, I was at Wolfson Medical Center, and that's where five elderly hostages were brought. Two by ambulance fairly early in the evening, around 9:00 and then three more by helicopter around 11:00. There were moments of joy there. We saw video of them transferred from the helicopter to the ambulance. Cheers of joy there. And then once again when they arrived at the hospital, another round of joy, according to staff at the hospital.

The hospital said this morning they are in stable condition. They were reunited with their family the moment they arrived at the hospital. And that joyful reunion. You can see there the picture of the 13 Israeli hostages who were released yesterday, eight of them went to Schneider Children's Medical Center the others, two, where I was at Wilson Medical Center and then the other eleven who were also released ten Thai nationals and a Filipino national.

Let's take a look at this video, this is 9-year-old, Ohad Munder, in Schneider Children's Medical Center being reunited with his father obviously running down the hallway you can see as he runs down there, sees his father the big hot there after fifty days separated. And Ohad, 9 years old there, who was in Hamas captivity for 50 days. We're just starting to get these videos the families choosing when and if they want to release this. Of course, we're respecting their privacy we can show you this video as well.

This is the Asher family -- Yoni Asher, the father being reunited with his two children: Aviv Asher and Raz Asher. The mother, Doron, was also in captivity. She was also released. That family together again. Once again, the joy visible there, the happiness there, even as they know there are others who remain in captivity, their story at least able to come to a bit of closure right now as we wait on the release of more hostages later on today.

Still waiting for the list, more children, according to what we've learned so far, suggesting they will also go to Schneider Children's Medical Center, which is what you just saw in those videos there. They have set up a special wing to try to make it feel less sterile, less clinical, frankly less like a hospital and more like a fancy hotel they can come to and be welcome not only, of course, by the open arms of their families, but by the hospital staff will begin the medical evaluations the mental health checks and everything else they have to go through as they wrap up and finish their nearly 50 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza, and are once again welcomed back to Israel here.

At the same time, that will lead to the release later on today of an expected 42 Palestinian prisoners, women and children, from Israeli jails and we'll see that process play out too later on this evening.

ANDERSON: Yes, and I reported, Oren, on a crisis in the implementation of this agreement according to the head of the Palestinian Committee for Detainees, that Palestinians want to see more prisoners released who have been serving a longer time in Israeli prisons. So, we've also heard talk of a sort of disquiet on the side of the Israelis who want to see families who are held hostage kept together. Certainly, we saw three families released yesterday. We know that

there are 35 kids, as the Israelis understand it, held as hostages. There are mothers held hostage of, eight mothers held hostage of those 35 children. So implicit, it seems, from the Israeli perspective in this agreement is that Hamas will keep those families together.

[07:10:15]

It will be interesting to see today when we actually get line of sight, we get some visibility on who it is who is released by Hamas, whether they are sticking to that implied agreement as it were and we hope this will hold together. Oren, thank you.

The temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has also allowed for an increase, a significant increase, in the number of aid trucks and some fuel trucks to enter into Gaza. CNN's Larry Madowo is in Cairo. And Larry, we are expecting to see more aid trucks cross into Gaza today.

What we understand, of course, is that this is aid supplies very specifically for the humanitarian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, sewage works and the fuel, of course, in the agreement is absolutely crucial to ensure that those hospitals, as education centers, the system of humanitarian aid can be supported for the people of Gaza. What are you hearing?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We hear now from an Egyptian official that another 348 trucks have left the Egyptian side into Gaza but it's not made it into Gaza yet because they have to be searched one more time by Israeli officials before they are allowed to be dispatched to these aid organizations to maintain that infrastructure of the humanitarian operations, especially the southern Gaza Strip.

So, we know that out of the 340 trucks, the Egyptians say it includes seven fuel trucks and four cooking gas. However, the Israelis also confirming that some trucks have made it today. This is the second day of this humanitarian pause, but they say that included four fuel trucks and four gas trucks. CNN is aware of the discrepancies in these numbers.

We're trying to figure out exactly what happened, but that's part of this ramping up in the number of, in the amount of aid coming into the Gaza Strip. It was part of the condition of this temporary truce, and it's an important one because so many people badly need this food, this medicine, this cooking gas in the Gaza Strip. 1.7 million people displaced, and this is how serious it is. Listen to this one individual who's been waiting just for something to cook with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EZZEDDINE ABU OMEIRA, GAZA RESIDENT (through translation): Gas cooking is essential for everyone in Gaza. Nobody can cook or do anything without gas. We hope that they will provide us with some gas in the next two days. So, all the people are hoping and ready for it to make their lives easier.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MADOWO: And this is still seen as a success by the Egyptians who say

that part of the reason why this aid can go in is because Israel agreed to stop this drone surveillance flights over Gaza. At the same time today, this Egyptian official is telling CNN, Becky, that 17 injured Palestinians have crossed over into Egypt for medical treatments.

ANDERSON: Larry, good to have you. Joining me now is Washington Post columnist, Josh Rogin. I'm in Dubai -- I'm in Doha, Josh, where the operations team mediating, who mediated this talk, these talks, this agreement, and who are now watching minute by minute the implementation of this deal, say that things are going according to plan, they've got a proof of concept that this agreement could work on Friday, but clearly it is very, very fragile.

They've baked in a series of obligations on both sides and a series of safeguards to try and ensure that both sides of this agreement stick to their obligations. What do you make of what you've seen to date and what are you hearing about how robust this will be going forward, at least for the next four days?

JOSH ROGIN, THE WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: Well, I think there's a clear understanding that although this is fragile, it will continue to work as long as all sides believe that they're still seeing some sort of benefit from it. So, that means every aspect of this has to keep moving along at least at some pace. That's the aid. That's the release of Israelis and the release of Palestinians.

And then, of course, there's the American piece. We saw President Biden say yesterday that he was hopeful and that he expected Americans to start to be released. And we haven't seen that yet. We don't know if and when that's going to happen. Maybe today, maybe not. There may be up to about 10 Americans still being held hostage in Gaza. And so, this is a very, at least four or five dimensions that have to keep turning away.

[07:15:02]

No one expects it to go perfect, but if any one of these pieces falls out, the whole thing could collapse, as you all know. And of course, we have to acknowledge here that Hamas doesn't necessarily control all of the pieces inside Gaza. There very well may be hostages held by other groups.

Part of the reason you saw this pause in surveillance was because Hamas said that they needed time to go find some of these other hostages being held by some of these other groups and that is among many one of the things that could go wrong if they don't know where the hostages are they can't hand them over.

ANDERSON: You're right to bring up the Americans who are being held hostage at this point alongside other foreign nationals, of course. And this deal is very specifically carved for Israelis and dual nationals. Of course, many of those Americans who are held hostage are actually dual nationals, so can be included in the body of this deal and that is what the U.S. administration who I'm told have worked very, very closely with the mediators here in Qatar are hoping to achieve.

No word yet as to whether Americans would be involved in today's releases. What we are hearing from Israeli officials is that the number of hostages released today could be as many as 14, although diplomatic sources that I've spoken to here are slightly nervous about putting that number on what we may see today. But as I say, we got a proof of concept yesterday. This thing now needs to happen again today. With the same process, actually, you know, went to a certain extent relatively smoothly yesterday.

What we have heard, of course, from the hostage families who have been extremely angry with the Israeli government about the fact that not everybody is involved in this deal. We have heard from those who have soldiers held captive that the fight will still go on. This is a temporary truce to allow for the release of some civilian hostages. But at the end of the day, the Israelis have said, the fighting will continue and could continue for at least two months.

What does the U.S. administration make of that threat? The restarting of this conflict after this pause and what's the talk behind the scenes about the relationship between the U.S. and the Israeli government at this point?

ROGIN: Right, well you're very right to bring up the frustration and anger amongst the families of the hostages. This has been an ongoing theme for the last six weeks. I think the families and their supporters frankly deserve a lot of credit for placing a lot of pressure on all of the governments to prioritize this issue and to recognize that at some point the military operations and the goal of getting the hostages out were in tension with each other and putting this issue as the top priority seems to have made a big difference and I think the family members and their supporters deserve a lot of credit for that, although of course they still have a long ongoing struggle ahead of them.

When it comes to the dynamic between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government, I think there is a clear and actually public dispute over what happens when this truce ends, an unresolved dispute. And President Biden said yesterday he has some reason to believe that this truce could lead to a longer truce, a longer pause, and that's directly opposite of what the Netanyahu government is publicly saying. And it's impossible to ignore that these two visions for what happens after this temporary truce are irreconcilable. And we know why they're irreconcilable, because on the Netanyahu side, all of the domestic pressures are to achieve the goal of how they describe it as eliminating Hamas, which is far from over.

And on the U.S. side, President Biden has a domestic pressure to end the fighting. His poll numbers are going down, especially amongst young voters and 70 percent of young voters disapprove of his handling of the war because of what they see as an overuse of Israeli violence and the images that they see from Gaza. So, their political interests, these two men, Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden, are opposed to each other. And in the end, what we've seen is that Joe Biden has very little ability to influence Netanyahu's decisions on such matters at the end of the day. ANDERSON: Understood, understood. It's good to have you Josh, thank you very much indeed. Up next here from some Israeli families who are holding out hope that their loved ones will be the next to return. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:24:21]

BLACKWELL: We're learning this morning that the released hostages provided at least one Israeli family some proof their abducted loved one is still alive. The freed hostages, the families, a stress, an urgent reminder that the remaining 213 still captive must be saved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOAM PERI, ELDERLY FATHER KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: I can tell you this morning that we have a sign of life from my father. We know he's alive from other people from the community who were released yesterday. It brings a lot of hope and yet together we feel very urgent to let them all out. We don't know how much time they're going to be able to hold on there.

NADAV RUDEAFF, ELDERLY FATHER KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: I was very happy to hear from Noam that they do have some sort of a sign that her dad is still alive. Unfortunately, I don't have that privilege. And the fact that we are still here 50 days later trying to convince and demand the communities in Israel and around the world to come forth and help us bringing the pressure for everyone to be released is very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And what better sweet news that is to know that your family relative is OK. They're alive but still hostage in Gaza. Now, the woman you heard there at the top, Noam Peri, was thankful for the release of her mother, Hannah, yesterday. Noam also said she has not received official confirmation about the status of her father. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is joining us now from Karim Shalom. And Jeremy, talk to us about the release and this really sensitive, delicate choreography of getting these hostages out.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is certainly a very delicate and complex choreography. But we did see yesterday that it was able to work. And that was such a critical element of yesterday. Beyond the joy and the relief that so many of these families who got their loved ones out yesterday felt, there was also the hope that it offered for the families of the other hostages who still remain in Gaza.

And that's because it showed that this whole complex system that has been the result of weeks of negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the Qatari government as well as the United States, it showed that this process that has been built out can actually work, that Hamas was able to deliver on its end of the bargain to deliver these hostages to the Red Cross, who then took them to the Rafah crossing, who then took them to Israeli officials at the Karim Shalom crossing.

And that crossing is right behind me here, where you see those lights in the background, that is where that Karim Shalom crossing is, where those 13 Israeli hostages made their first steps back onto Israeli soil. From there, they were able to take this road that you see behind me here. We saw them actually go by, and they were taken to a nearby Air Force base.

And so, we saw this whole process unfold before our eyes yesterday as it was going on, and it does present the opportunity for the future. Now, I'm told that today an Israeli official telling me that the Israeli government expects that 14 hostages will be released by Hamas in exchange for 42 Palestinian prisoners as well as of course the continuation of this very fragile truce between Israel and Hamas in order to facilitate this release.

We don't know for sure where exactly they will come through but there is a very strong suggestion that it will be once again through this Karim Shalom crossing. This Karim Shalom crossing is just less than two miles from the Rafah crossing and then you have another option which is the Nitzana border crossing between Israel and Egypt. That one is significantly further away but it is also an option that Israeli officials have told us exists as a possibility between in order for these hostages to get from Egypt into Israel.

ROSALES: Yes, very sticky situation, not only in negotiations, but in logistics as well. Jeremy Diamond, thank you.

Let's discuss all of this with CNN National Security Analyst, Juliette Kayyem, who served as an Assistant Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security.

And Juliette, a lot of folks are touting what we saw yesterday as a success. A Palestinian official, however, warned of a possible crisis in negotiations accusing Israel of not keeping its side of the deal by not releasing Palestinian prisoners in order of the length of time served. You're a crisis management expert. How do you see this?

[07:29:18]

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, let's start with the good news. At least there's some proof of concept that this can work, that you can release simultaneously Hamas prisoners from Israel, as well as the Israeli prisoners from the Gaza area, and basically make the logistics of this work, because it's not easy.

Think of how many countries are involved, and you want to - and both parties need to have a political as well as a sort of communications victory out of this. We should never forget what a victory, symbolic victory this is for Hamas, the exchange of prisoners, is for them because Israel has often said they never negotiate with terrorists. But the political pressure for Netanyahu, for obvious reasons, to get some of the Israelis released meant --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYYEM: We should never forget what a victory -- symbolic victory this is for Hamas that the exchange of prisoners is for them, because Israel has often said they never negotiate with terrorists.

[07:30:03]

But the political pressure for Netanyahu, for obvious reasons to get some of these Israelis released, meant that they focused on this aspect, and in exchange, are getting humanitarian relief into the Gaza area.

The next 12 to 14 -- I'm looking at the clock, the next 12 to 14 hours will determine whether these statements that are being made by various Israelis or Hamas members that it didn't work, or that it's not good, or it's not as -- whether that's just posturing for their own constituency.

And then -- and yet, we'll see this continue on, there's a lot of investment in making, at least, this part of it work.

ROSALES: Yes. And that's success for Hamas to seen in the numbers that three to one exchange. Three Palestinian prisoners to the one Israeli hostage.

Well, let me ask you this. Juliette, what do you think -- why do you think that no Americans were included in that first group that was released yesterday? What would be the strategy on the part of Hamas in withholding these Americans?

KAYYEM: That's -- it's a great question, because there is a strategy. So, look, the United States is a partner, we're not driving this. We are not the story. We have our own, of course, political issues here, it related to the support for Israel, and what's happening in Gaza, and the divisions that you're seeing, in particular, within the Democratic Party.

They are putting pressure on the Biden White House, to push the ceasefire aspect of this. So, the Biden administration certainly wants to focus on not just the hostage exchanged, but what came with the hostage exchange, which is, of course, the movement of humanitarian relief, and the ceasefire.

If you can extend it past the four days, that is actually good news, in particular, for the Palestinians.

So, our focus on the limited number of U.S. hostages is not going to resonate at the table, so to speak, as much as Israel's voice will be to get there, in particular, women and children out.

For Hamas, their strategy is, the more that we remain engaged in negotiations, the better off they are, because they are getting more out of this than the Israelis are. So, if we get our hostages back, they may -- they may incorrectly perceive that we will be less interested in this fight.

So, unfortunately, these people are our pawns. It's immoral, what is happening, I don't want to pretend otherwise. But they are going to have to wait out some calculation by Hamas, that it's worth releasing the U.S. hostages for limited political gain on Hamas's part and the risk in Hamas's calculation that the United States may lose interest in promoting the ceasefire if we get our -- if we get our hostages back.

ROSALES: While President Biden said this week, "We will not stop until American hostages are freed."

KAYYEM: Yes.

ROSALES: What is his administration doing behind the scenes? Maybe things we haven't seen publicly to help bring those Americans home.

KAYYEM: Yes.

ROSALES: And should the president be doing more?

KAYYEM: And it's very hard to do more. I've gotten a couple of briefings from the White House over the last week, as they briefed those of us who know about homeland and national security.

And so, one is in hostage negotiations, the silence doesn't mean anything. I mean, this is what's so hard for people to realize. People are clamoring from the outside, we need to do more, we need to do more.

Actually, lots is being done. You just don't want it to be public less the party that you're negotiate -- negotiating with gets upset or walks away from the table, because of something that was said.

So, the clamoring on the political side makes no sense to me. Anyone who's been involved with hostage negotiations knows that quiet may mean a lot is going on.

And they're going to vote first of all, we don't know everything about all of our hostages yet. So, part of it is just information, trying to find out where everyone is and who is still alive.

I suspect that some of the people that have gone missing are not alive anymore.

And then, second, see where we can prioritize the release of these hostages in this wave that we're expecting, and then, whether there is more ways.

Remember, yesterday was just proof of concept. Can this very complicated negotiation involving five or six parties work and it appears to have.

ROSALES: Juliette Kayyem, a very important perspective. Thank you for your time.

BLACKWELL: And we'll talk more about that. The president is applauding the initial release of hostages. He says the White House will not stop until all of them come home. We'll take a look at how they're handling these delicate negotiations ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:38:32]

BLACKWELL: We've got some new details that are coming in about the expected hostage release coming up later this morning. Arlette Saenz is joining us from Nantucket, where President Biden is spending the weekend. Arlette, what are you learning?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, just moments ago, a U.S. official told me that American citizens are not expected to be part of this second wave of hostages that are released on Saturday.

This comes as the Israelis just a few hours ago has said they are expecting about 14 Israeli hostages to be released. President Biden just yesterday, had told reporters that he was unsure when exactly the American citizens would be getting out, but it was his hope and expectation that, that would happen soon in the coming days.

Now, there are three American citizens who U.S. officials are hopeful will be part of this negotiated hostage release. That includes two women and also 4-year-old, Abigail Idan, whose parents were killed in the October 7th Hamas attack.

But even as these Americans are not expected to be part of the release that's expected to unfold in the coming hours, the White House is remaining hopeful that they will be released in the coming days.

I want to read you a quote from a White House official, who told me, "The President secured the release of two American citizens as the pilot to this larger release of hostages." That was this earlier -- referencing the earlier release of the mother and daughter that were both Americans.

They added, "We are early in the process that we'll see, at least, 50 women and children released during the" phase of -- "first phase of the agreement. We are hopeful that will include three dual national women and children, who are American citizens. This will unfold over the coming days."

[07:40:05]

And the official added, "We will not comment on individual cases as the process is underway."

Of course, there has been a high anticipation and high hopes from the White House that American citizens will be part of this hostage release. But we're learning this morning that they will not be part of this second group that is expected to be released today.

ROSALES: Yes. And certainly, a big blow to what I'm certain are hopeful families keeping touch and very, very close contact with the latest information coming in.

Arlette Saenz, thank you.

CNN's coverage of this breaking news continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:08]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, it is day two of the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip. And at this stage, we are just a couple of hours away from what the mediators here in Doha hope will be the second successful release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons,

The time that this release started yesterday, about 90 minutes from now. So, if all goes to plan and is similar to the protest that happened Friday, we should expect to hear about who these hostages are, on the Israeli side, who are held by Hamas.

Remember, this is women and children very specifically, as we understand it from the Israelis, there are some 35 kids still being held by Hamas. Some eight women who are the mothers of those children.

So, as we await to find out what happens, the guns remain silent, and the aid has begun to flow across the Egyptian-Gaza border.

So, despite this being fragile, despite there being lots going on behind the scenes, the Palestinians suggesting that the Israelis, for example, not keeping to the, at least, spirit of the deal, the head of the Palestinian committee for detainees says the Israelis had promised that they would release prisoners who had been detained or inside for some years.

That hasn't happened, they say, and they say that is creating a crisis. Be that as it may, we do expect to see the release of a group of hostages in the next couple of hours by Hamas. And in exchange, these Palestinian prisoners released in Israel is not clear, who these individuals are on either side at present.

But things look as if they are going according to plan still.

Now, I want you to see this. This is Abdullah al-Mugeida (PH), he lives in Gaza. This little fella. And in this video, shot at the beginning of the conflict, he says he is terrified of the war. We need electricity, Abdullah says. Not war.

He says he's walking charges phone at the neighbor's house. He says this is not right. And then, he says bye for now.

And then this, shot yesterday, and posted on his brother's Instagram.

Hello, he says with a huge smile on his face. There is no sound of airplanes, he says. Can you hear that? There is a truce. When I heard about the truce, he said, I became very happy. But this is a temporary truce, only four days. I pray to God that with this truce, things will be sorted out and we can get a permanent truce. Life is so beautiful without the sound of drones. I became so happy, he said. He is just a little fella caught up in this in the conflict in Gaza. We know that the Israelis have said that the conflict will begin again. That they will begin their fight against Hamas after this temporary truce. How long that lasts still unknown. Is four days, at this point, could be extended?

But I think it's worth remembering the kids who are involved in this back in Gaza. They just want peace.

Well, this is a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas. It does appear to be holding. But for now, some Gaza residents who fled south and are trying to return to the north are telling their stories. We'll have that up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:53:16]

BLACKWELL: So, right now, this four-day truce between Israel and Hamas appears to be holding, and now the second day. There are many Palestinians are welcoming this pause in the combat, and this a consistent bombardment in Gaza.

ROSALES: And some of them who fled to the southern parts of the enclave are trying to get back home to the north. But that journey is still too dangerous. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's the sounds of life, not death today on the streets of Gaza. For the first time in nearly 50 days, they are not running for their lives. No bombs raining down on them from the sky.

Some children can even smile again, even if only for a brief while. But there is nothing to celebrate. Too many lives have been lost, so much gone. And they know there will be more.

The Israeli military dropping leaflets on Friday, warning people that the war is not over. It will soon resume and telling them to stay away from Northern Gaza and its troops.

Many still tried to head back to the homes they fled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs to see what's left and grab what they can find, including their dead.

We want to see what's happened to our loved ones. So many are under the rubble for 20 days, Abu Ahmed (PH) says. We need to get them out.

Who else will bury them? Who will bury our 2-year-old and her father, says Ahma Abdullah (PH). What did she do to them?

It was a tense scene on Salah al-Din Street, the highway linking north and south. People here saying Israeli forces opened fire on those trying to head back north.

[07:55:07]

We want to get to our homes. They say this is a truce, Mahmoud says. We're civilians. They shot people. One was shot in the head and the other in the mouth.

Gunfire and the panic that ensued captured in this video geolocated by CNN. Asked about these shootings, the Israeli military says its troops are stationed along the, "operational lines" of the pause in accordance with the framework of the agreement. But that didn't stop those determined to get back to what's left of their lives.

Sisters Hanin and Saira (PH) cradling their cats who've been through it all with them, say they know the risks, but they just want to go back home. Gazans know all too well what comes after this brief calm.

What's this truce for, to hand over the hostages? What happens after they hand them over? What happens to us, Ahma Abdullah (PH), asks. We feel like we are dead, she says.

They hope it doesn't all start again, but all they can do now is prepare for a cool winter ahead.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Hundreds of families are waiting anxiously to find out if their loved ones will be one of the 14 hostages released in a matter of hours. We'll take you back to the region for all the latest developments. Stay with us.

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