>> hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. i'm paula newton, and we have breaking coverage this hour. up first, israel's temporary truce with hamas and the expected release of hostages held in gaza, now delayed. israel says that process will not start before friday. the update came just hours before humanitarian pause in fighting and the initial release of 50 women and children hostages was expected to begin. both u.s. and israeli officials point to what they say are logistical details for the delay, well one israeli official says they haven't received the names of the first hostages to be freed. ahead of the expected truth, israeli forces continue ground and air operations wednesday, striking parts of northeastern and central gaza. palestinians say areas further south were also hit. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu expressed confidence that the deal would soon go into effect, and he made clear the war against hamas is far from over. >> translator: citizens of israel, i like to be clear, the war continues. we will continue with it until all of our goals are achieved. to bring back the hostages, to demolish a mass, and ensure that the day afterwards there is no source that educates terror to children and pays terrorists. >> joining us now from tel aviv, retired colonel -- the director of the international institute for counterterrorism and rightly university. it must be incredibly intense hours there in israel. you contend that this deal if it succeeds will be bittersweet, for many reasons. the obvious one is that not all the hostages will be free. but you also say that when any terror entity uses hostages and actually gets something in return, it makes, in your words, hostages be worthwhile for taking. it's sobering, isn't it? >> one of the challenges in today's world is, what do you do in such a situation? think of it right now for both of us. two women talking to each other, where terrorists coming, and take our children, our sisters, our brothers, our parents, ourselves, use them as a bargaining card, but if we don't give something for them, we are not going to get back our families, our people. it is the worst of the situation and essentially all the countries try to avoid hostage situations. in this case, that failure of october 7th, it's also about what amassed aspires to, using people as a bargaining cards. so the bittersweet is, don't we all want to see now a nine months, i have to correct myself, a ten and a half month baby who's been there from october 7th, come home? what do we do with the three year old and six-year-old who were taken, where their parents were murdered in front of them? what do you tell them when they come back? so in that sense you need to have them back, but you know that the hostages themselves are only used as a pawn, and that's a really challenging situation. >> in fact, challenging doesn't begin to cover. it it's nearly unprecedented, the situation israel is dealing with. and yet how difficult do you think it will be for israel to continue to prosecute the war as netanyahu promises. when the majority of the hostages will remain captive? >> so now think of the additional aspect, that the hamas are using the hostages, their bargaining card, they haven't told us who they are so that we're waiting to know who will be the first ten, who will be those first 50. can you imagine now, the other 190 families whose children, parents, kids, are the ones who are not coming back? so when you say about engaging in the war, hamas is a terror organization. one of the only reasons right now that they have agreed to this pause and to bring in the hostages and to exchange some are because of the military pressure. it's not the only one. it's going hand-in-hand with additional pressures. but israel has to continue that pressure because that is, sadly, the only language that they understand a terror organization, hand-in-hand who else pressures them? perhaps qatar, a bit. maybe a bit more. probably also egypt. but they need to also understand that their military terror capabilities are also completely under threat. >> under threat and yet some contend, and the u.s. perhaps tried at this point, to make sure that perhaps israel postponed or had a more surgical approach to airstrikes. is that not a salient or lurched forward, that may be negotiations would've gone better even if all of them have been freed in that situation? >> paula, let's take this apart for a moment. i'm now the terror organization, and what you just said to me is, i know now where i'm going to build all of my defenses. i'll build them into the civilian population, and you, me, the world, will then tell israel you have to stop. you can trust the hostages. you can't even destroy the hamas terror capability because hamas built their terror capabilities into the civilian population. it's like giving the recipe of where the terrorists should build their capabilities. so i'm not saying in any way as a mother or as a human being that i am anyway want ever, that i ever will target civilians. but you have to act against that type of terror capability. you can't allow it to grow. that would be a terrible lesson, let alone right now, they won't let the hostages. out it won't let the people of the gaza strip. and i agree, the price is horrible, and there is no other way to do it. if we wanted to kill everybody in the gaza strip and find her hostages, we wouldn't have soldiers in a ground operation working slowly and systematically. they could do it and if different way. sarcasm doesn't work well on tv or any well. we are working systematically. we're telling civilians to. move you're right, civilians absolutely have been horribly hurt. this is a war. civilians in israel have been horribly hurt. but it's the only way to act against a terror organization. >> so many difficult hours, difficult days ahead for everyone there. i really want to thank you for your insights. appreciate it. >> thank you so much, laura. >> now for the families of the hostages held by hamas, they are agonizing wait. it gets ever longer. some are remaining hopeful that they'll see their loved ones soon. cnn's matthew chance has more from tel aviv. >> israelis await the release of some women and children held in gaza, the vigil for one of the hostages who may be left behind. 22-year-old was abducted at a music festival on october 7th. as an adult male, he's unlikely to be on the one of those. fried still his mother you've told me she believes her son will eventually be set free. >> i know in my heart that i want my son home and i believe this is just a start you know because if everyone had to get home then this is a stout. >> so you're optimistic? >> very. >> israel insists it's keeping up pressure on hamas. even if the agreed pause in this gaza war approaches. the hostage deal strikes like this one in -- in southern gaza will be suspended, while israel frees palestinian prisoners and israeli hostages handed over. hostage support volunteers like this one tell me they are bracing to cancel dozens of traumatized women and children with the return home. >> maybe sharon and her daughter will be released today. maybe. because the daughter and the mother. the way they are going to continue is, first of all, we have to ask for the remission permission to go inside. and to do the first step together. >> and of course a possibility that these people could have suffered terrible trauma while in gaza. >> we are so afraid about the conditions that they will come so we cannot blame the trauma program, because first we have to meet them, from the best psychologists, what is the best way to deal with, and then step-by-step, with the family, the family and a -- >> step-by-step, down a long road. matthew chance, cnn, tel aviv. >> a news conference at wednesday before the hostage delay was announced, prime minister benjamin netanyahu said as part of the deal the red cross would be allowed to offer medical support to the hostages who will remain in gaza after the initial release. the truth would also allow more humanitarian aid into each gaza. hamas meantime released a statement on wednesday saying the agreement involves hundreds of trucks delivering to the enclave in israel has been reluctant to allow fuel into gaza because since the hamas attack. some if you have been allowed into several humanitarian groups say it's not nearly enough. we're pushing to get fuel it is critical for civilians in hospitals. >> any halt in the act of hostilities is welcomed by everyone, especially by the people of gaza, who have been through over the last several. weeks if we do get the security guarantees that we need, we want to be able to go over the entire strip, the north, the middle, in the south, and for the last two weeks we have only been active in the middle and the south after the northern parts of the strip has been completely sealed. we've been able to deliver food, some clean drinking water, and to provide medical services, mostly through our mobile clinics and nine of our 25 health centers because the rest of them are in the north and it's been closed. we want to be able to scale up, to replicate, to receive more tracks, and supplies and be able to distribute them. we're currently talking about 156 shelters coasting around 930,000 people. that's more than half of those who are at this place. >> as you can imagine, gaza residents say they are ready for friday's expected troops to begin, even if it's just for a few days. the idf continued its attacks on gaza even after the truce deal was announced. explosions, flares, and smoke right across the border late wednesday. with users prime minister pledging the war will continue once the true truth visited, palestinians say they need a permanent cease-fire. >> we have been waiting for it for over a week. we have been waiting for a cease-fire every day. cease-fire, cease-fire, and nothing was happening. i do not know. >> cease-fire should be comprehensive, all over the gaza strip. sometimes the israelis make false promises and kill children without hearing to anything. we want a comprehensive cease-fire so people can get their needs for gas and flower. >> still ahead for us, potential freedom for hundreds of palestinians jailed in israel. until they are released, or mueller radio station provides a lifeline. >> more than 150 palestinians helen surely jails are expected to be released as part of israel's hostage release deal with a mass. while they wait, their family send messages through a ramallah radio station. cnn's reporter takes us there. >> >> translator: a lifeline, keeping some connection between families torn apart. collars said in a messages to the announcer. >> [speaking in a non-english language] >> this radio station has dylan dedicated his railways airways two years for the families of thousands of palestinians trying to reach out to their loved ones held in israeli prisons. the young listeners aunt, a palestinian activist, was arrested by israeli authorities along with thousands of other palestinians after hamas's deadly october 7th attack. the station is trying to support the families, so desperately waiting for any news from inside israel's prisons. we >> translator: have three phone lines to receive messages from families of prisoners. because the volume of the calls, people weren't getting through, so we started making announcements. if you can't get through, send us a voice message on whatsapp. >> in the horrifying aftermath of the hamas attack, israel not only carried out mass detentions of palestinians, but he's denying prisoners all family contract. this is the only way their families can reach out. the sheer volume of messages, evidence of the realities of imprisonment here, israeli law allowing palestinian prisoners to be detained indefinitely, without trial or stated charge. the families don't even know where the prisoners get to hear their messages, but that doesn't stop them from sending. . the israel hamas hostage swap, exchanging 150 israeli held palestinian prisoners, women and teenagers, 50 hamas held hostages, means that for now there is some help for israeli and palestinian families. >> we are going to meet a palestinian lady who one of her loved ones's coming home. but as ever in this contact, in this situation, it's never that simple. families on both sides, even those who are awaiting the return of those they love, are also dealing with the reality of those who won't be coming home. >> her sister-in-law was arrested alongside her three sons. the suns remain in prison. hainan is on the list to come home. it man said neither she nor hainan is involved in the politics of this war, yet they suffer it's consequences. >> she is saying her sons they get married so they have kids. they are waiting to see the grandmother. she has a beautiful relationship. she loves everybody. >> in the midst of a man's joy for hainan, she's beginning to hope that her husband, the longest serving palestinian political prisoner, could also be released in a swamp. >> it's a happy day for us to know that this is going to start because that means my husband will come. my husband, who is in prison now since 44 years, when he was arrested it was the first time in 1978. >> the family is revered by many palestinians deemed a threat by the state of israel. valuable enough to hamas that they were included in the 2011 israel hamas deal. among 1100 palestinians for one israeli soldier. after hamas held shall eat for five years. who else was swapped on that day? the man israel says is the architect of the october 7th hamas attack. hamas leader -- a fact that colin's every move israel makes as it negotiates for the release of more hamas hound hostages. as families on both sides wait and hope. in ramallah, the occupied west bank. >> joining me now from geneva, switzerland, professor sultan barak at, director of the center of conflict and humanitarian studies at the doha institute. as we just heard from her report, this release of 150 prisoners held in israeli prisons certainly many they are waiting for this moment. what does this deal represent to do, especially as she was explaining, a lot of those released are under the age of 18 and some haven't been formally charged with anything. . >> it's very important, i think, to include those palestinian prisoners because of the moral messages sent to the rest of the world that when we talk about hamas having taken hostage, hostages from israel, it's also important to remember that for many decades israel has had the practice of imprisoning young people, women, indefinitely, without putting them for trial or having the charge against them. and i think this is a point that -- wanted to score and has been successfully to dispose to make it because right from the beginning when we came out and tried to explain the reason for the attack with israel, he quoted two objectives, one wise the trying to prevent israelis from further attacking al-aqsa mosque, and the second was to release women and children from israeli prisons, which, of course, he was particularly concerned about, having spent months of his life in prison, and as we reported earlier, he was released only in 2011. so this is a promise that he has made personally to the palestinian prisoners. i think it will be received very well, particularly in the west bank. >> but the corollary to that is that hamas's terror attack worked. it worked brilliantly. he will be a hero and hamas will continue to strengthen in the middle east. >> i think, i'm not sure about within the middle east, but within gaza, yes, i think the original objective that netanyahu declared for himself is impossible to achieve. he went and determined to finish off a massive release the hostages by force. now 48 days later, the death toll has increased to a level where it's the traditional ratio, -- and it's becoming impossible for him to defend the objective, original object of the operation. i think this pause coming is extremely helpful to both sides, and it will offer badly needed rest bite from the palestinians in terms of assistance, and but also for israelis, it must be very welcome to have their primary members going home. >> certainly from a humanitarian point of view, as we have just heard, there is been so much suffering on both ends. on the other hand, i want to probe a little deeper, hamas is obviously the terror attack over to over seven, 1200 least killed, near least holding in gaza children, babies, toddlers, teenagers, elderly people. again, i'm just interested to get your perspective on the fight that hamas will consider this a win in that any of their attacks from the october 7th are justified. >> i don't think it's about justifying the tactics. even what has happened october 7th, the narrative has been re-visited a few times since october 7th. the recent lead supports from israeli intelligence blame their own air force for having killed few if not many of those who were at the festival. they suspected that they were driving towards tel aviv, and they suspected they would be palestinian fighters trying to penetrate israel. oliver killed on the road. the narrative that was put out about cutting the hands of children was revisited. the numbers, from 1400, 1200, they discovered the 200 of them are palestinians. which means that they were burned alongside the israelis. and there was an external force that has actually burned them altogether. so things are changing, i think. the pressure is increased on the united states and on israel, and the sympathy that israel had in the very start, which is very much in line with the fact that nobody really endorsed or condoned hamas's actions at the start is now eroding. people are starting to understand better what action took place. and i think it was all made worse in terms of the number of innocent people that have been killed in front of all of us, through killing sprees, we witnessed the way israel has devastated gaza and its infrastructure, the war that went after hospitals et cetera. >> it is clear, look the suffering in gaza is indisputable, it was also indisputable of the fact that the terror perpetrated by hamas was absolutely savage and israelis continue to hope with that. if i can infer what you are saying, you kind of agree that hamas will be emboldened by this hostage exchange and consider their brutal tactics, i'll ask you again, are they justified? is that not a dangerous president? >> i'm not sure about their brutal tactics. as far as what they have declared, the objective was to capture hostages. they understood exactly. this is been the playbook between them and israel. you cannot release your people without having someone to -- i think the regional objective was to go for these 15 security points. i'm sure things became, went out of hand and became very messy. but it doesn't justify killing civilians and taking children as hostages. no one really knows what went on on that day. what i'm trying to say is that the narrative that was put out by the israelis itself has changed so many times over the last few weeks that no one can be quite certain of what went on's. but this post does score a win more towards hamas and israel. because netanyahu was very much against any cease-fire. hamas, for it it must be a welcome respite. a >> welcome respite but i have to count your point that many eyewitnesses have video in their testimony in they saw the terrible situation that hamas perpetrated on people, on innocent civilians, again, on october 7th. so don barrack at, we will leave that there for now. >> thank you. bye-bye. >> still to come for us, the idf released what he claims to be evidence of more tunnels under the al-shifa hospital in hohospice in h hospital inin ga. more after the break. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. 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