Good evening and welcome to the source. Im kaitlan collins. Tonight, two more hostages have been free. 17 days after they were kidnapped by hamas. Weve just obtained new video of the two israeli women who were released, taken to a Medical Center in tel aviv tonight. They are 79yearold nurit cooper, who you can see here, and 85yearold Yocheved Lifshitz. They were both kidnapped with their husbands from the kibbutz nir oz near gaza on that deadly day. Their husbands, i should note, were not released tonight and do remain captives of hamas. These women were released to the red cross at the Rafah Crossing between egypt and gaza. This happened just in the last several hours. This news comes three days after the release of judith and Natalie Raanan. That was last friday. Now they are expected to be back on their way to the United States this week. Over 200 hostages do still remain in gaza tonight, a number that we do know includes american citizens. Cnn has now learned that the white house, meantime in the background of all of this, is quietly urging israel to delay its invasion of gaza in order to buy more time to potentially get more hostages out. The white house has been extremely careful with how theyve been talking about this in recent days. That much was evident, as President Biden today, as he was weeking with reporters about this, quickly corrected himself after the mere mention of a ceasefire. Why did you we should have a ceasefire not a ceasefire. We should have a hostage release. Then we can talk about it. A white house spokesperson also followed up on that clarification on cnn earlier, saying that the Biden Administration does not believe that this is the time for a ceasefire. Now, just to fill you in on those two women, Those Two Haas T Tajs whose families are so grateful that they are safe and in israel in the care of the idf, what we are told about sources, how this all came down, is there was some behind the scenes negotiating happening between the egyptians and the qataris. Thats what sources told us. Nurit cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz are at Medical Centers undergoing checkups. Thats something we saw happen with judith and Natalie Raanan last friday. Their Family Members are waiting for them, we are told. But of course this news is bittersweet for a lot of families out there. A lot of the relatives of other hostages, who still have no news about their loved ones. It is believed to be 218 hostages that are still in gaza tonight. Anderson cooper joins me now live from tel aviv. And anderson, i know you got to speak with yocheveds daughter, charone. What did she tell you . Shes obviously overjoyed about the news about her mom. She was at the airport about to board a flight to come here to tel aviv to see her mom. Shes going to be landing shortly, if she hasnt already gotten here. Shes obviously thinking very much about her father, who is in custody, and all the other hostage families. Lets listen in. Its impossible to describe. My mom, i think she had a good smile. I dont know. Im so delighted. But my heart is with, you know this is a small ray of light in a big story that is still unfolding. My father is there. Theres so many other people. We are waiting for good us in about everyone. My heart is with all my friends and loved ones and Everybody Else that are still hostage. I think this is a great sign that we are moving in the right direction. Your father is still being held hostage. Have you had any information about him . No. I dont know any information. Im waiting to hear what my mom says. I do not know. Kaitlan, when i asked her what her message was to all the other families of the hostages, many from her community, from nir oz, she started to cry. And she clearly is thinking very much of them tonight and the pain that they are experiencing and very much wants all of these hostages to come home. Yeah, its such a difficult moment to be so overjoyed for your own family and at least i mean, her, its still bittersweet because her father is still being held tonight. Anderson, i know you mentioned nir oz, the kibbutz where these women were kidnapped. Thats where hamas came in. They killed many people there. They slaughtered many people there. They took others hostage. I know you went inside nir oz. What did you see when you were in there . Yeah, i mean, as you see from the images, its all still like it was On October 7th, when people were slaughtered and when the gunmen finally left. This is how they left it. Theres blood stains still on peoples floors in safe rooms where they were shot, where they were killed, people kidnapped. I talked to mrs. Lifshitzs grandson, who saw her at the hospital tonight. He was flown in from allot, where most of the community of nir oz has been moved to. Theyre basically living together in a hotel there. You know, these kibbutzim are very close agrarian communities. This family has been there they were part of the founding of this kibbutz in the early 50s, i believe. They are very, very tightly nitted together, these families. They grow up together. They live there much of their lives. And they are together now in exile, essentially, and all waiting for word of loved ones who are missing or many of whom are still being discovered as dead. Theyve all been displaced from their homes. I mean, these two more hostages now its a total of four who have been released by hamas since last friday. Theres still so many other families that are waiting on words of their loved ones. Our reporting is, anderson, that the white house has been quietly and not directly telling them, trying to get israel to delay this planned Ground Incursion into gaza because theyre worried about the hostages. Theyre worried about not being able to get them out. Obviously the idf has continued its aerial strikes in gaza. What is the latest youve seen on the ground in tel aviv as far as what that response looks like militarily . I think a couple of israeli officials have publicly said theyre not getting that message from the u. S. It remains to be seen. The question is, does this drip, drip, release of two hostages one night, two hostages several nights later, does that add to the pressure to delay . Certainly hamas would like to see a delay, a ceasefire altogether. They are very eager to get Fuel Supplies in there. Theres a lot of humanitarian organizations who obviously would like to see a ceasefire. They want to see more Relief Supplies coming over the rafah border. But, look, theres more than 300,000 troops amassed on the border. It would be very hard to imagine a longterm ceasefire, a longterm pause, given the state of readiness,. It appears to be on the brink here. Again, thats going to be a political and diplomatic solution, if there is one. Well see. Anderson cooper, thank you for that. Im joined now by former israeli ambassador to the uk and current Senior Adviser to Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, mark ray gef. Thank you for joining me, mr. Ambassador, for being here. We are being told that the u. S. Has advised israel to delay its Ground Invasion of gaza in order to allow for more time to get other hostages out. Is that something that the Israeli Government is receptive to . So, we want to get the hostages out too. Theyre our people. But we believe the best way to do that is to keep the pressure up on hamas. You know, this terrorist organization isnt suddenly going to become humanitarian and release hostages because its the right thing to do. Theyre going to release hostages because theyre under pressure. So, we believe upgrading the pressure on hamas, thats the military pressure, thats the diplomatic pressure on their allies and supporters abroad. Thats the right way to get people out. As we increase the pressure, well see more people released. Well, i am hoping you could clear something up. Because on saturday, the reporting was that hamas had offered to release two hostages, they provided names, it was widely reported in the media, the Regional Media at least. But the Prime Ministers office said that that was im quoting the pms office said it was propaganda lies. We did see these two women released today. Did israel initially reject that offer . Can you explain what happened here . I think this is hamas disinformation. Its not logical at all to suppose that israel would refuse to accept hostages released. Its just ridiculous. It was psychological warfare. Anyone they release, well of course accept. And our demand is that, you know, theres more than 200 people held hostage. We dont want one or two released. We want them all released. They should all be released unconditionally and immediately. And before theyre released, they should all be visited by the International Committee of the red cross, which has asked to see the hostages. But of course hamas has refused that. Of course Everyone Wants all of the hostages home. I spent a lot of time with their families last week. But is israel telling hamas via intermediaries that israel will only take bigger groups of hostages, or has that changed . No, israels message is clear. We will keep hitting the hamas military machine. We will keep applying the pressure. We think, first of all, one, were going to defeat hamas on the battlefield and destroy their military machine. That process is instrumental in speeding up the release of the hostages. Is it accurate that Israeli Government officials said they want all hostages released before the delivery of fuel is allowed into gaza, as is being reported tonight . So, fuel is a difficult issue. Israel has given the green light for medicine, for water, for food, humanitarian aid for the civilian population. Obviously we dont have a problem with that. Fuel, unfortunately, is essential for hamas military machine. They need it for their rockets. They need it for their underground Terror Network of tunnels. We had a documented case last week where fuel i think six tankers, cnn reported, went in through Rafah Crossing with egypt. And that fuel, a large proportion of it and it was said of course the fuel is going to generators in hospitals to save lives. And yet hamas, at gun point, stole a large portion of that fuel, and we presume it was diverted to their military machine. Weve said to The Americans and President Biden has addressed this issue publicly, if supplies that are meant for the people of gaza are supposed to alleviate Human Suffering are in fact stolen by hamas, there must be consequences. But is the delivery of more fuel tonight conditional on the release of all the hostages . No. At the moment we have no interest in more fuel going to the hamas military machine, and we have not authorized fuel. Weve authorized medicine. Weve authorized water. Weve authorized food stuffs. Weve not authorized anything else. And were in a state of war with hamas, and we have no interest whatsoever in helping them beef up their military machine. On the contrary, we want to destroy their military machine. Just to be clear, even if they released all the hostages, that doesnt change your mind on fuel being allowed into gaza, is that right. The government decision is that fuel doesnt go in because it will be stolen by hamas and it will be used by them to power rockets that are fired into israel to kill our people. Weve all been talking about when this Ground Invasion is going to occur. Of course what that is going to look like. We have heard from the u. S. That theyve urged the Israeli Government to delay it. Do you believe that a Ground Invasion, if it goes forward, makes the release of more hostages less likely, sir . We dont take a Ground Incursion lightly. First of all, theres the fate of the hostages. And secondly, we know that our young soldiers going into battle, itll be dangerous. I mean, hamas has dug in. Theyve got their underground network of tunnels. Theyve got their booby traps. Theyve got their bunkers. It will be difficult fighting. And im realistic. I know that those young soldiers going into battle will face lifethreatening situations. And unfortunately, not all of them will come back alive. And thats the sad reality. I was speaking to some young soldiers, and you know, theyre committed to this. They know what needs to be done. They know we cannot continue to live beside this terror enclave. So, in a Ground Incursion to gaza, we take it very seriously. We know the risks involved both for the hostages and for our fighting men. But this has to be done. Lets be clear, israel refuses to go back to the, sort of, reality of 6 00 a. M. On october 7th, where we live next to this Terrorist Enclave and they can inflict the, sort of, deadly, horrific, gruesome violence that they inflicted upon us. We refuse to live that way anymore. We will destroy hamas military machine. And in so doing, not only do we better protect our own people and safeguard their security, but i believe we create opportunities for better reality for the people of gaza, who for 16 years have lived under hamas rule, which is only bought them hardship and suffering and impoverishment. There are still questions about what happens to the Palestinian Civilians if israel is successful. And no one has articulated who would be in charge of gaza if that happens. When you look at what happened and President Biden being in tel aviv last week, sitting in on that wartime cabinet meeting, how much influence does the u. S. Have over when israel does move forward with that Ground Invasion . Look, america is our best friend. Its our strongest ally. And in israel, people are appreciated greatly President Bidens forthright support and not just in his words but in his actions. Hes giving us the tools we need. Hes replenishing our armaments so we have the tools we need to defeat hamas. And by moving those two carrier groups to the region, hes shown that he wants to deter others who might see the war in gaza as an excuse to attack each other on another front. I mean, we have nothing but praise for President Biden. And of course when you have a good friend, you listen to what they have to say. But israel is a sovereign country, and well make our own decisions according the our own assessment or of national security. You are a Senior Adviser to Prime Minister netanyahu. When we hear from some officials or some former Military Officer who is say that they believe he should resign over how this was handled, over the governments role and lack of a response, a slow response on that day, when you speak to him, does he accept responsibility, any responsibility for what happened On October 7th in terms of how the government handled that . I mean, in israel, theres no shortage of former offices, and theyve all got their own opinions. And youll have a whole range of opinions across the spectrum. But i think its clear we have to do a serious when this is over, yes, when weve defeated hamas, then theres going to be of course an intense public conversation in israel about Lessons Learned and mistakes made. I mean, first of all, we were surprised. Intelligence didnt get in time that hamas was going to launch this murderous, brutal attack. They massacred us because we werent prepared and there wasnt the warning. Second we have to ask, why is the fence that we spent so much time building and the technology and so forth which was supposed to be an impassable barrier that they passed it so quickly and relatively easy. Thirdly, theres the question of why did it take so long to clear out the terrorist thats infiltrated into israel. Still, it took us days, as youll recall, first to clear out our territory from Hamas Terrorists who were killing and keeping people hostage and so forth. For all these reasons and more, we need to have serious investigations. Ultimately we have to learn from our mistakes. And the only way you learn from the mistakes is by studying exactly what happened. And there will be Lessons Learned. To be fair, i think the focus today has to be on winning this war. We didnt want this war. It was forced upon us. But having been put in this situation, we will win it. Well win it on our terms. And theres definitely going to be, when this is over, a serious process of looking at lessons that need to be learned. Ambassador, thank you for your time tonight . Thanks for having me, kaitlan. Much appreciated. I should note, as far as his comments on fuel, what we at cnn know is that no fuel has entered gaza in these aid trucks since the war began. Its our understanding that the ambassador was referencing what we heard from an idf spokesperson alleging that hamas stole fuel that had already been in gaza. Coming up on the rest of the source tonight, the kibbutz were abducted, seven miles north of another one on the gaza border. That kibbutz. I visited it this weekend. That story is next. Also ahead, an update from gaez, where more aid strucks have arrived today. But no, it is not nearly enough for the civilians who live there. So far 2,000 children have been killed in gaza.