debated over the last several hours, whether or not a deal to free the israeli hostages has been approved or not. we don't have that information for you quite yet. >> as we await the developments here, obviously very significant. thank you, matthew chance. thank you, all of you for joining us. ac 360 starts now. the waiting must be almost unbearable, but for at least some of the families whose loved ones have been held captive by terrorists for the last 46 days, the waiting could be closer to being over and their loved ones could be that much closer to coming home. john berman here in for anderson. just moments ago the israeli's full cabinet meeting ended with hamas. the cabinet meeting just ended. we do not know what they decided on. according to multiple sources, these are the proposed points of a possible agreement. hamas would free 50 women and children, mostly children, taken on october 7th. in exchange, israel would release 150 palestinians and take a four to five day pause, israel would, in operations in gaza. reporting for us tonight, alex march quart, becky anderson in doha and qatar and/or oren liebermann. what are you hearing, oren? >> reporter: john, the meeting ended moments ago after many hours of debate. it is the expectation this deal is going to be approved, but we don't have that word yet officially from the prime minister's office. i'm checking my notifications and waiting for it to come through but it has not yet. this was a debate prime minister benjamin netanyahu was leading as it went through the cabinet. it had gone through the legal and political process, through the war cabinet and it needs the approval of the full cabinet. it involves a release of palestinian prisoners in exchange for a release of israeli hostages. netanyahu said although it was a difficult decision to take a pause, it was the right thing to do. but there were some elements of his coalition, some of the far right members who said they would vote against it. still, they don't have the votes to try to scuttle this deal. that's why the expectation is it was going to be approved. we're waiting for a final statement here. it will be welcome news to many of the families who have waited for this moment. some sort of breakthrough that would allow some of the 240 or so israeli hostages held in gaza to be released. women and children first. but in speaking to many of these families, they believe this is a possibility to get to a larger breakthrough and begin the process of releasing more hostages. crucially, john, as i just said, it is women and children. it does not include men and it does not include hostages who were israeli soldiers. >> oren, i keep looking at my notifications also to see if we are getting final word that it was approved. this meeting went on for several hours. is there any sense that there might have been more opposition or might have been a tougher slog for netanyahu to get it through? >> reporter: well, first, it's the israeli government and there will be debates about just about everything. it's not too much of a surprise that it lasted several hours. there was some opposition. again, some of the far right party members wanted to see israeli keep pounding hamas believing that would be -- that would be the way to release all of the hostages from a complete surrender but they didn't have the votes and netanyahu knew they didn't have the votes -- >> oren. >> -- he was able to push this through. >> oren, let me interrupt, oren. it just crossed. israel's cabinet has approved a deal that would see the release of some hostages from gaza. again, cnn is reports that israel's cabinet has approved a deal that would see the release of some hostages from gaza. oren, there you have it. the result of that hours long meet being there, but perhaps an outcome that was expected. >> reporter: absolutely. netanyahu knew he had to support this and it's not just within his government. there were some elements trying to push against it. they didn't have the votes to scuttle the deal or take down his government. netanyahu probably not too worried here. he also knew based on public opinion polls that this was what the israeli public was demanding. even if it wasn't a deal for all of the hostages, it was a demand for bringing home at least some of the hostages. not a surprise, women and children are first. they have gotten, fair and accurately, much of the attention and many of the international calls were to release women and children. so after hours of debate and a legal and political process, again, the smaller war cabinet, the security cabinet and the full cabinet itself has been approved as we have reported. i will point out one more thing quickly, john. there is a 24-hour period where anybody who opposes can file at the supreme court and try to stop it. that is part of this process. it is largely, however, a formality. the expectation is this is going through and we could see some hostages released into thursday morning, perhaps friday depending on the time line. that, too, will play out in a process about 10 a day. what i'm seeing now is when the palestinian prisoners will be released from israeli prisons, 150 women and children. >> we're reporting this in real time. we'll let you get back to working your sources. israel's prime minister thanked president biden for his role in the hostage talks, we can calml it the hostage deal. alex marquardt is here. what are you hearing? >> reporter: the hostage deal and the prisoner swap, john, as oren was just noting there, that we expect palestinian prisoners to be released from israeli prisons. i'm looking at my phone here because another part of what we expect to happen in the coming hours is a statement by qatar, which has been the main mediator in all of this. the they have a very important role as the ones who speak directly with hamas. they also engage at the same time with egypt and the united states. the u.s., of course, doesn't deal directly with hamas because they are a terrorist organization so we are expecting a statement to come from qatar. it is a possibility that it comes tomorrow because it is so late in the region. but, john, the u.s. has been central to this process, not the least because you have american hostages who are involved. some ten american citizens who are missing, believed to be hostages, a mix of men, women and children. one of the most famous cases, someone who was mentioned by president biden a few days ago after a phone call with the amir of qatar, abigail idan, who is a 3-year-old in hamas custody. she is turning 4 years old on friday. this has been so important for the biden administration because of those citizens but also because they have unique leverage with each of these players. the senior most members of the biden administration have been intimately involved with every step of this process since october 7th. we've just seen the top white house president for the middle east return from the middle east where he was continuing with talks. the cia director bill burns has been in the region speaking with israeli and qatar ri counterparts. the president himself has also played a significant role on the phone repeatedly with his counterparts from israel, from egypt, from qatar. we heard from the white house earlier today saying that he usually gets updates multiple times a day jumping in where he feels appropriate on a personal level. so this is going to be something that we expect the u.s. to continue to participate in. we do believe that some american citizens will be among this first release of these 50 hostages. hopefully it will be more in the days after that and that this framework and these meetings will continue. prime minister netanyahu thanked president biden for getting a better deal for the israeli people but also saying that the fighting will continue after this pause in the fighting. so we do expect those negotiations to continue as oren was just touching on even if, say, 50 to 70 hostages are released in the coming days. the vast majority of those 236 hostages held by hamas will still be in gaza, john. >> alex marquardt, stand by. getting more information. we are hearing the deal was approved by the israeli cabinet with a significant majority, that is according to a government source talking to cnn. let's go now to cnn's becky anderson in doha, in qatar where the framework was hammered out. becky, at this late hour where you are, what are you now hearing? >> reporter: yeah. well, we haven't got the official announcement from here yet. the understanding from here was that the qataris would be putting that announcement out first given that they mediated these talks. we haven't got that as of yet. that is not to suggest that this deal hasn't now been agreed upon. it was a proposal that was delivered to israel in the early hours of yesterday morning. the time here now is just after 4:00 in the morning on wednesday. so the israelis have had this for 24 hours. the parameters, as we've been discussing, is 50 plus women and children over a four to five-day period. aid trucks coming in over the border and this pause during which hostilities would season the ground and for periods in the air. as i say, nothing further from the qataris who have been mediating these talks for weeks. they have been complicated. they've been very, very difficult. i've spent time with the mediators and they say they have been looking over the weeks for a period of calm to get this done, but at this stage that period of calm will only come now that this pause will start. that's the news from here. excuse me. >> becky anderson, thank you very much for that. the 4 a.m. in qatar. the qataris a central figure in working this out which the breaking news is now has been approved by the israeli cabinet. as many as 50 israeli hostages expected to be released in exchange for 150 palestinians and a 4-5 day pause in the fighting. with us now is a woman whose grandmother was kidnapped from kibbutz by hamas gunman who murdered her grandfather and took the grandmother on the back of a moped through gaza. it's hard to know what it's like to hold on to a murderer and kidnapper. and so let me get right to you. describe your feelings now that you have heard that a deal has been approved by israel's cabinet. >> so this is very tension days for us, for all of us. there's air lot of uncertainty about everything. the expectations are high, obviously, but we learn to balance the emotions and we're waiting for any kind of information about her. we don't know anything for sure. i just saw the cabinet approved the deal. this gives me actually so much hope. i believe every soul we can save from there is essential for us. even if my grandmother won't be among those people, obviously i hope she will be, but even if she's not, i just can't wait to see the picture of the children, of the innocent people going out from there after so many days, so many long days that we're waiting for them. this is the first step i want to believe. >> have you been told anything about whether your grandmother will be part of this group? >> we know nothing more than you do. the you maybe even know more than i am. everything we know is mostly from the media or from rumors. there's a lot of rumors. there's a lot of psychology war that hamas is trying to do and obviously you can't ignore it. the this is also how we found out that my grandmother is even kidnapped, through the videos or those messages that they are sending. but i think along the way, you know, we're fighting this fight for a very long time. it's going to be the 47th day tomorrow. so we learn to be patient and be calm about it as much as we can. we can't stand to fill our hopes up and to disappoint, but i really do hope to see someone looking at it. i think it will fill us with hope for the others. and for a chance, we want a chance to see our loved one back. this is all we want, and i really hope this is just the first step. >> have you heard anything in the last week or two or three? anderson spoke to you in the days after the terror attack. have you heard anything about your grandmother and her well-being? >> nothing new. i just want to hope that she's holding on there. we cannot be sure about an anything. we don't have any kind of confirmed information about her condition. again, we just hold our breath and fight as hard as we can. >> you have been fighting. you have been fighting and you've been pushing the israeli government for information and for efforts to bring the hostages home. what's that been like for you? >> i think there's a lot of weight from the public pressure here in israel and global meaning of that because once you realize that this is the first priority of your public, of the people here in israel and even internationally i think it means a lot because we can't afford these people to be collateral damage for this conflict. and we won't let it happen because we stand for them. they're innocent. they're kidnapped from their house. i can't remember, i screamed at him, it's been four days. it's been four days. i was so emotional. i couldn't see a reality when i see over 40 days after and still on the very same condition. but, you know, this is the reality and i started to realize it, unless i'm going to fight and fight hard. not only me, everyone beside me. so nothing will happen. this is why we're also putting a lot of push, pressure on the government and the cabinet that we actually first met only two days ago. this was the first time that we met them in person and that we really had a chance to talk and to speak our mind in front of them personally and officially. so i just want to hope that it did what it had to do because i think that the family's voices are so important, and they need to be heard. they need to be heard. we're a democratic state, and i think there is a lot of weight for our voice. so i think the pressure -- there is something. >> thank you for being with us. i think we understand your hope but also your frustration and your trepidation upon learning this news that a deal has been reached. and i hope so much that you get to see your grandmother in the coming days and hold her in your arms. thank you. >> i really hope so too. thank you so much. let's get right back to oren liebermann in tel aviv who has new information from the israeli government. oren, i understand you have a statement? >> reporter: john, we just got the first official statement from the government confirming the deal has been be approved and confirming many of the details we reported about the deal throughout the course of the day. let me read this to you. this is not the official translation but i'll translate it from the hebrew. it says the government of israel is committed to the release and return of all of the hostages home. tonight the government approved the first stage of the deal for that -- to that effect according to which 50 hostages will be freed, women and children, over a four-day period. and that will lead to a pause in the fighting. the pause will continue every day in which ten more hostages are released, and then it goes on to say that the government of israel, the israeli military is committed to continuing the war, to continuing to free the hostages and to continue in its mission to destroy hamas and ensure the safety of israel. we'll get an official translation from the government but an important first statement acknowledging that the deal itself has been approved. a government source says it was approved by a significant majority following what was a very lengthy cabinet meeting. this was the expectation all along here, although there were a few dissenting voices. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has thread. >> you're not just doing real time reporting, you're doing real time translation for us and i do appreciate that. did the statement say anything specific about the hostages being released as being women and children? >> it does. it does specifically say women and children. it says the first -- the first 50 hostages, women and children, over a four-day period. and for every ten more hostages released there will be a continuation essentially of the pause in the fighting. no mention here of what -- >> so -- >> oh, go ahead. >> i'm sorry. on that other point, that we had heard the parameters of the four to five-day pause, 50 hostages released, and the possibility of it going on longer if other hostages came out. there it is explicitly in writing, albeit in hebrew, that if ten hostages a day were released, the pause in fighting would continue? >> reporter: that's what it says here. there might be a total of 70 to 80 hostages. our understanding is that includes only women and children. it's important to note this doesn't include likely any men or any soldiers. 80 are the first major step. the first 50 coming over the course of four days and the possibility to continue a pause in the fighting if there are more released. >> oren liebermann, terrific work. keep us posted. you're getting more information and we'll come back at a moment's notice. we'll get more reporting on this agreement. the israeli cabinet approved 50 hostages in the next four or five days. we're going to get a perspective from a form general senior masaad officer. all right. we are expecting more details in the coming moments about the deal approved tonight just minutes ago by israel's cabinet to secure the release over a four-day period of 50 women and children now being held hostage by hamas. a short time ago president biden who helped broker the agreement, he arrived on nantucket in massachusetts. cnn's arlitt sains. what is the biden administration saying about this deal that has now been reached tonight? >> reporter: well, john, this deal is certainly welcome news to the biden administration which has been working around the clock in trying to secure the release of these hostages. president biden as you mentioned landed here in than tublgt moments ago. we are still waiting to get a statement from the white house specifically on the contours of this deal. it comes as president biden had earlier today projected optimism that a deal soon would be released and hostages would soon be returned to their families. the contours are around 50 people in exchange for a multi-day pause in fighting, four to five days potentially, but one big question going forward is how many americans might be part of that deal? the administration has said that there are about ten unaccounted for americans since hamas's attack against israel on october 7th. one of those americans who is believed to be held hostage is that 3-year-old american girl, abigail adan whose parents were killed in the october 7th attack. administration officials are hopeful she might be part of this release and we'll see whether any other americans might be reported as well. this deal comes after weeks of painstaking negotiations, involvement with officials including conversations president biden has had himself trying to prod the negotiations along as the u.s. has said they remain committed to not just getting the americans out, but also more hostages with that number, 240 believed to be held by hamas. >> earlier today, benjamin netanyahu named president biden. president biden improved the deal from the israeli perspective. how much have the two leaders been communicating over the past few weeks? >> reporter: well, president biden has been in continual contact with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the last phone call was a week ago. in a succinct readout, the white house said the two men discussed efforts to try to get the hostages out. we know president biden has found other areas to get involved in as well. he spoke twice in the past few weeks with the amir of qatar. qatar has become a key mediator as they're working to find a way to get the hostages out. the white house