>> i have to tell you that hug was precious moment for us. we are very, very lucky and grateful to have her back. >> the happiness and the joy that we all could breathe again and let our heart fill with optimism and happiness right after the holidays. >> john: hostages freed by hamas and loved ones are breathing sighs of relief. word two israeli russian nationals on their way to israeli territory. far too many remain in gaza, including the 8 to 9 americans still likely held by hamas and time is running out, with the extended truce set to expire hours from now. i'm john roberts in washington. sandra, so begins a wednesday afternoon. >> good to be with you. sandra smith in new york. this is "america reports". right now we are waiting the release of another group of hostages but we have still no word on whether any americans are on this newest list. meanwhile, negotiators in qatar are scrambling to extend the truce with the help of cia director william burns. he is pushing for a massive hostage deal that would include the release of americans in a longer, multi-day pause. so, how likely is it that will happen? >> john: adam boehler helped negotiate the abraham accords and negotiated with the taliban. >> sandra: greg palkot, any word if the truce will be extended for a second time now? >> sandra, no hard word, but certainly a lot of talk. a lot of developments, a lot of moving parts in this israeli war against hamas. let's start with the reports the latest transfer of hostages from the gaza strip. there are reports this could be underway. the former captives had been transported to israel crossing the southern part of gaza, women and children again, the red cross involved. israeli military talking about two so far but the number in the past few nights around 12, that proves to be true, when the total number of hostages freed to over 70. this as the fate of the youngest hostage, 10-month-old, and 4-year-old, and mother and father also a question. earlier this week, report hamas had transferred custody to another militant group. the family said they have been informed by the israeli military they would not be a part of the return tonight. there have been varying reports about their conditions, none of which we can confirm tonight. also up in the air, yes, the fate of this ceasefire. this is the sixth day of the halt in fighting between israel and hamas. if nothing further is announced, clashes could resume as early as tomorrow morning. but both sides have indicated an interest in extending it. israel especially saying however it would not agree unless there was a clear commitment more hostages would be given up by the terrorists. what prime minister benjamin netanyahu had today earlier tonight. >> there is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end. this is my policy. the entire cabinet stands behind it. the entire government stands behind it. the soldiers stand behind it. the people stand behind it. this is exactly what we will do. >> exactly what we will do. this amid all the reports not just of happiness of families receiving their loved ones who have been held captive for weeks and weeks, but the conditions that they had to endure, little sleep, little slight, unsanitary conditions, beatings, even forced to watch torture videos, tough conditions all around, with no clear end in sight. back to you guys. >> sandra: greg palkot live in tel aviv. john. >> john: adam boehler, helped negotiate the abraham accords and negotiate with the taliban on behalf of the trump administration, and adam, great to have you here. you are usually coming to us from nashville. welcome back to d.c. the big question here, how long is the truce, ceasefire, pause, whatever you call it going to last and how many hostages ultimately can be brought out. >> it's interesting. right now what's happening, william burns in qatar, he's negotiating with sheikh mohammed and a general from egypt. i have directly negotiated with them. they are both very serious people. william burns and mossad head there. it's the right cast of characters to do something. i think it's likely you will see at least a day or two. has to be conditioned on hostages being released clearly and it sounds like the qataris are feeling good about some adult males being released. that's what i think you are going to get a day or two and then the question is what's going to happen after that. >> john: we saw, we had rachel goldberg on yesterday whose son herch had half his arm blown off. she has no idea of his status, though she saw a video of him, hopes he got the appropriate medical treatment for his grievous wounds but no idea whether he's alive or dead or where he might beor what condition he could be ina of an ceasefire, u.n. secretary general guterres wants this to be a prolonged ceasefire, pushing in that direction. pressure mounting every day on israel to accept this idea of a lengthy ceasefire. netanyahu and others, gallant, keep saying no, no, no, we can't do that, we have to complete the job of decapitating hamas. hamas is playing this for everything it possibly can and using these hostages to as much advantage as it can. how do you think ultimately this is going to end up? >> this is the question. so, this was the risk in the first place of israel doing this, and hamas is a master at the p.r. of these things, and playing the victim. it's what they do, it's what they have done, and now we are hearing about releasing hostages for palestinian, those, the palestinians there are criminals, right. last i checked, they are convicted criminals. last i checked the hostages like the 11-month-old that they are saying is dead is not a convicted criminal. first, and one is, 1 to 3 on the release. so, here is the question. how can you eliminate hamas? i can only really see two great paths. one is israel finishes the job. the only other alternative and i see the general for egypt, who is taking accountability. possibly egypt. obviously they border, there is some trust there, they have the military strength to do it, and to ensure that hamas is gone, if they are really gone, it's the only alternative i could see because otherwise who is policing gaza? >> john: so tell us about the sense in the region in regard to hamas. because most of the arab countries are standing up for the palestinians but quietly behind the scenes, saudi arabia, the uae, bahrainis, maybe even qatar, saying they don't like hamas, don't like iran messing around with the proxy groups and creating instability in the region, where do they stand on hamas. >> it's interesting. i had a meeting with some of the ambassadors of some of our moderate arab friends. and this is what they said to me. they said what's interesting is there is more concern at american universities than there are in our countries because they have been through this. so they know, and one of the things, and this is why i'm sometimes cautiously optimistic meeting the long-term is hamas, i believe, hoped that everyone was going to rally here, and they have not. and that's because of the abraham accords, and the work that was done, and that shows something. we have more of an issue in the united states than their populations do. >> john: we should point out the pictures on the screen, these were taken a little while ago. these are of two dual citizen israeli russians that were released ahead of the ten israeli hostages expected to be released. hamas apparently released these two as a gesture to putin, trying to stay in his good graces. ultimately when this is over, hamas is trying desperately to survive and is going to use these hostages for all it can. if hamas does survive, what does that portend for negotiations between israel and saudi arabia on extending the abraham accords? >> i think for one, if hamas survives, it's just in the short-term. israel has a very long memory, we know it from the munich olympics. >> john: got everybody except the mastermind, ultimately. >> hopefully this time they'll get everybody. medium to long-term will be solved if israel does its job. in the short-term, if they survive, they have to be out and have somebody else there. you saw saudi, it's not what saudi says, it's what saudi doesn't say. so look for what these arab countries are not saying. it shows they have moderated. the real battle here, why you see hamas cozying up to putin, iran, russia, some extent china, but a battle, and to be clear, not only against israel but against the united states. so that's the real alignment and it is what those countries aren't saying, and i think that's really powerful. if we play our cards right, that's really powerful. >> john: an example, what aren't they saying? >> they are not inciting, not inciting their populations. they are saying they want ceasefire, concerned for palestinian citizens of course, but they are not aggressively pushing like they would years before. when you saw intifadas before, there was action and dollars flowing, not anymore. >> john: the language from this administration to israel, as israel contemplates the end of the ceasefire and what military operations will bring after that, they are talking about operations in khan younis in the south of gaza, it's widely believe the hamas leadership has fled the north and taken up residence in the south. sabrina singh, the deputy press secretary at the pentagon said about that yesterday. >> any operations they do in the south might look a little different from how they were conducting them in the north but again, we are not telling them how to conduct their operations. this is an idf mission, they are in control how they conduct operations on the ground. >> john: like saudi arabia, a difference of what's said in public and what's not being said in public, what's being said quietly behind the scenes and biden is pushing netanyahu to moderate his kinetic operations to ensure palestinian civilians do not find themselves in harm's way and since those million palestinians have been pushed to the south, this administration believes they are in grave danger if israel expands its kinetic operations to the south. >> i saw on capitol hill that you have a number of democratic lawmakers that are saying we have to condition aid to israel based on how they operate. but it's an impossible situation, it's a finger trip. get rid of hamas but do it in a place the size of manhattan and the boroughs where they are using civilians and hiding behind civilians and hospitals. how do you do that? it's an impossible situation. and so i think there's no question, if you don't have egypt step up to eliminate hamas or other arab countries and israel needs to finish the job which they would need to do, you are going to have a situation from a civilian perspective. it's impossible not to. >> john: we are getting new live pictures here and there again, the israeli ambulances as they prepare to receive a group of we believe ten hostages transferred at the rafah crossing at the egypt-gaza border. typically a bus will come in or some suvs from the international committee of the red cross. hostages off, a brief preliminary medical check at this facility here, and be debriefed by israeli special forces and then loaded into the waiting ambulances, and taken back to israel. they'll be taken to the hospital, first of all, to make sure everything is ok and then reunited with their loved ones. in terms of the biden administration support for israel, there's a sense among some people that biden may be going wobbly a bit because he's losing so much support among arab americans politically. he does not want to lose the jewish support here in the united states, but also does not want to lose arab american support, that could cost him states like michigan, might cost him a state like georgia. listen to what john kirby said about the biden administration support for israel yesterday. >> we believe they have a right and responsibility to eliminate this terrorist threat and hamas showed its colors pretty well on october 7th, and it's still a viable threat. >> john: he's still saying the right things in terms of support for israel as the israelis would like to hear. but where do you think the biden administration really stands, again this idea of what they are saying and what they are not saying when it comes to israel and the resumption of military operations? >> first i want to give john kirby credit, i really appreciate what he's saying and the national security council support, i think it's impressive, and i think that's a wonderful thing. we'll see whether biden follows through. >> john: as we watch this process unfold again, adam, let's bring in sandra, to the coverage as we are awaiting what is likely the transfer of another ten hostages of israeli citizenship. >> sandra: adam, almost identical to yesterday, this is another moment in the middle of this war, defining moment, adam. if you could bring our viewers through where we are with this. what this indicates to you about the days and weeks to come, as this pause is looked to extend, what it means for israel, and its continued fight. >> i want everyone to understand it's a really difficult issue because in some ways look at this. look at how wonderful it is to see ten hostages that are going to be released that are going to be united with their families. there's no way that israelis, that americans, that everybody doesn't feel this and i hope americans are released, too, hamas has americans. at the same time every day that israel waits, they are losing strategic advantage, and that is the impossible situation they are facing right now, and that they are trying to balance. >> john: so we have about 80 hostages in total released, 60 some israelis, i think either 61 or maybe 62, which still leaves an awful lot of hostages in hamas captivity. and they can drag this out. we were talking about a lieutenant colonel yesterday, hamas could drag this out for a long time. the deal with israel is there will be one day extension of the ceasefire for every ten hostages that are released. but if hamas decides dial it back to eight or maybe five, if they have 150, 160 hostages, drag it out for 2, 3 weeks, and what's israel going to say? we are still getting hostages out, just not the ten. i don't know that's a reason they could go back to kinetic military operations. how do you expect hamas to play this in the days ahead? >> hamas is going to continue to dribble it out. there's a reason why hamas still has americans. they are using that as leverage against the united states. if they released americans, they would think maybe the united states would have less interest and we wouldn't push for a ceasefire. so, hamas is very good at this so they are going to dribble it out, see them hold americans to the very last moment. you are still seeing them hold kids. 11-month-old they say is dead, a 4-year-old, fine, let's see -- where are they? you said they were killed by an israeli airstrike. they were probably killed because they were taken hostage. they are not fulfilling their end of the bargain. i think hamas backs off the ten, israel should act. >> john: israel has not confirmed whether kafir was killed as one hamas feed on telegram suggests but they are checking it out. >> sandra: take the viewers through what is on the screen, the rafah border crossing, egypt-gaza border, similar to this time yesterday, you have a situation where hospital vehicles, red cross vehicles are lining up, the red cross vehicles as we toggle between these live shots are carrying released hostages as they arrive there at the border crossing. media is gathered there. there is obviously medical professionals. we have already seen some of the hostages driven away and there are vehicles standing by there at the border crossing. adam, benjamin netanyahu underscored that israel will continue its campaign to eliminate hamas, very clear in his most recent words after this phase of returning abductees is exhausted, will israel return to fighting. my answer is unequivocal question. no way we are not going back to fighting until the end. but that timing and how this all plays out, when that plays out, that is going to be tricky. that is going to be a sensitive situation with the number of hostages that still remain. and that is what we have left to see, how that plays out over the coming days. >> i just want to comment the reason we are in the situation where hostages are being released is because israel pressed hamas. if they hadn't entered the north and done what they had done, they wouldn't have hamas on the run. hamas tried to stop that from happening, they tried to negotiate before, it is -- the reason they are at the table in the first place is because israel pressed hard and so absent a solution where we see somebody like egypt take responsibility for the strip, israel has to go back in. it's not going to help to get the hostages out, if they relax, and so if we see the ten hostages, fine, that's the deal they made. the moment they reneg on the deal, the moment it changes. >> one quick question before we go back to greg palkot standing by in israel, when we take a look at the scene here, we've got a number of ambulances with personnel out front ready to receive the hostages. and then we have this court of other ambulances with their lights flashing. i mean, this is quite a dramatic picture here of the hostage return. why is it -- i mean, for all intents and purposes, staged by israel this way. what's the reason for that? >> because for israel they have to show some up side. and so i know for them you've got a right line -- right wing in israel, a left wing in israel, and israel needs to show their people why they had so many -- 1200 people that were taken by hamas as hostages, or killed, and then you have 200 plus taken as hostages. why are they even speaking with hamas. and so for israel they need to show why they are doing that in the first place. this is why they are doing it, because they care about their people, and they want innocent people back but it's a hard decision and that's why israel is showing it's for their own people, too. >> john: adam, stand by with us, a lot more ahead. right now, greg palkot is in tel aviv with the latest on this. greg, what are they expecting from this hostage release? >> john, sandra, as you've been noting and showing, it's an impressive picture. lines of red cross ambulances ready to accept hostages being transported through what they call the rafah crossing, between southern gaza strip into egypt and then into israel. so far officially the israeli military have said there have been two dual nationals, israeli russians have been transferred, a mother and daughter combination. we could be looking at something like 12 in total tonight. we don't have that confirmed. we can't say that publicly. what we have been looking at, too, is more women and children being transported from the grips of the hamas terror group back into the safety of israel. if that comes to be true, we could be looking at 72 freed in gaza over the past six days, a good number as other nationals, dual nationals and foreigners that have been transported. this all part of a very, very careful negotiation that you have been talking about, i know, involving israel, the united states, third parties go betweens for the hamas militants, including that ceasefire, a halt in fighting between israel and hamas for the past six days, and that is the next question as we continue to watch these ambulances who will be -- which will be taking these individuals from this location to an air base nearby, and then up to hospitals in this area and other area, the question is whether there will be a continued cessation of fighting which will allow the exchange of hostages. both israel and hamas have agreed on one thing during this troubled time and that is that they would like to see an extens