that temporary truce between israel and hamas is winding down and global protests are heating up. then there's some kind of hold-up in the release of today's hostages. only two israeli russian nationals set go so far. brigadier general pat ryder and leon panetta are here. "your world" starts now. welcome, everybody. i'm neil cavuto. let's go to northern israel. a hold-up in this release or snafus, we don't know how to explain it. we know that nate can help us. what's going on? >> well, neil, just in the past few minutes, local reports are that ten israeli hostages are being handed off to the red cross right now. we're working to independently verify those records. this comes after a delay. we've heard some logistical problems possibly. but it appears that that transfer is underway right now and comes after you mentioned two israeli russians were freed earlier. let's take a look at this video of them being released. this is a mother and a daughter, 73 years old and 50-year-old. they were kidnapped from their kibbutz on october 7th with the mother's son and his girlfriend that are still being held by hamas. as these families finally reunite, of all the hostages that have been released so far, there's still over 130 hostages in hamas captivity including roughly eight americans. whether or not tomorrow brings more reunions like this will depend on negotiations tonight. you mentioned the extended cease fair expires after today. u.s. secretary stated antony blinken arrives tomorrow as three u.s. military flights deliver aid for gaza in to egypt this week. israeli officials say the only way to extend the cease fire is for hamas to release all women and children hostages. if that doesn't happen, israel defense minister said today that troops are prepared to resume operations should the decision be made. neil, we're learning that right now just minutes ago, the israeli war cabinet is convening. they're going over a proposal by hamas that would include more prisoner hostages exchanges. it would extend the pause in fighting by two days. this would be an extension to the previous agreement rather than a new agreement. we'll see what comes out from israeli officials tonight. >> neil: nate, be safe. thanks. great reporting as usual in northern israel. we're learning some of the hostages are making their way to the hospital right now. we'll keep you updated on that and more reports as they come in. meantime, we've been telling you about protests planned around the country including here in new york city and could disrupt a christmas tree lighting in rockefeller center. the backdrop shows the dilemma for the white house in dealing with this with the concerns and protests building within. peter doocy has more on that back and forth. peter? >> american diplomats are pushing for the cease fire that is about to expire to last longer. they think that's their best chance to get more hostages out. the qataris are telling the "wall street journal" there's been enough good will built up that maybe they can start talking about a permanent truce. that is still to be determined as democrats here in washington d.c. are now saying, they might not tank the republican proposal to tie money for israel and ukraine to border funding. >> i'll trust senator schumer to make a judgment about what should go to the floor. but i hope for a vote as soon as possible on aid for ukraine and israel if there is no agreement possible, i'm willing to be flexible on proposals for immigration reform, but not if they are infact poison pills designed to sabotage that aid package. >> pro-palestinian protesters have taken to the streets of new york hoping to disrupt tonight's rockefeller center christmas tree lighting thinking that that will help win hearts and minds for their cause. we have seen quieter protests including from a cia case officer that for some reason has a social media account and used it to post a pro-palestinian image. >> it's disconnected from the role that they have to post a pro-palestinian. what are you doing posting on social media when you're a professional analyst at the cia? >> all the president wants to talk about is his climate agenda. he just did admit in his remarks in colorado that he was so distracted by a call with his national security team about the next tranche of hostages that he walked off of air force one and passed his greeters and in to the limo. he was saying sorry to them. >> neil: thanks, peter to david freedman, the former u.s. ambassador to israel. we're learning some of these hostages are in fact making their way we're told to the hospital to be checked out. there was a lot of confusion on this. whether that came from the hamas side, i don't know. you might know better. what happened? >> yeah, i -- we don't know. you know, every single one of these transfers has been plagued by emotional blackmail from hamas. you know, it's heart breaking. i think hamas has figured out how to exact the most pain, the most emotional and physical pain upon the hostages and the peacing loving public. i'm not surprised be it and we'll probably see more. the question is when are they going to be eliminated? a lot of people in israel and people in america that want to see a good conclusion, we're waiting for the battle to start again. nobody wants to jeopardize hostages, but this battle has to restart. i heard earlier commentary about a long-term truce. you know, without a victory being signals, that is the worst thing that could happen for anybody in the region. >> neil: there apparently trying to iron out another two-day extension of the pace. i believe that would make it an eight-day pause to allow more hostage releases. i'm just wondering whether hamas is dragging this out to the point that to your earlier concerns, it works to their advantage. >> it only works to their advantage. they're the ones that are asking for the cease fire. israel never wanted a cease fire. israel is engaging in a cease fire to get back the loved ones of so many families. six to eight days. again, as long as there's hostages coming out, the cease fire will hold. hamas isn't stupid. they're going to want more. they're going to -- they're supporters are going to put more and more pressure and the domestic situation here in america and places like michigan will put more and more pressure on joe biden to push for a cease fire. i said before, it's going to start looking a lot like afghanistan if that's the way the president goes. we can't retreat. we can't force israel to retreat, this is an existential battle with a ruthless enemy. they have killed americans, holding americans hostages and there's no negotiating with them. as i see this, i'm getting the feeling that the american administration is moving a lot closer to a more permanent cease fire. that will be a life line for one of the most vile organizations on the face of the earth. >> neil: is the netanyahu administration prepared to say no to joe biden if that is the recommendation? in other words, look, we have a terrorist group here that killed 1,300 of our people back on october 7th. we cannot let them survive this and capitalize off of this. is israeli prepared to go to that point if the pressure builds to such a point the administration says enough? >> i have no doubt. i don't think israel has a choice. the politics wouldn't permit it. the government will fall a minute after netanyahu calls for a permanent cease fire. the people of israel are -- they want this fight. they want to end this. they have been living with this threat over time. the rocket fire, the indiscriminate rocket fire for 20 years. they're entitled to end it. everyone in america should want to see israel end it as well. in the absence of that, it's a license to terrorists everywhere to adopt this template, which is cynical and subhuman and the free world, we have to put an end to it. >> neil: i've been following the numbers, rough math on my part. we've had about 80 of the 240 hostages released thus far on the israel and multinational side. yet three times as many palestinian prisoners have been released. do you know why that is? why the palestinian releases are so higher than the israeli releases? >> just to put a finer point on that, the israelis are getting back innocent women and children and israel is giving up convicted criminals. people who had attempted or succeeded in terror attacks. it's a very simple answer. it's a regrettable answer. it puts israel as a disadvantage here. we love our children. israelis love our children. americans love their children. we love our grand parents. we can't sleep at night knowing that children are living in holes unaccounted for. the palestinians have a culture of death. one soldier was traded for 1,000 palestinians a few years ago. it's hard to fight a war when you value life and your enemy values death. that's are the circumstances. >> neil: real quickly on that point, ambassador, you know, hamas has been saying that some of these hostages were traded off to private groups, private terrorist groups, i would suspect and claims that it doesn't know where good many of them are. do you fear they might not be alive? >> of course. i mean, there's been rumors already that they're not alive. this idea of subcontracting out hostages to other terrorist groups? we're in a world that none of us are familiar with. news of us can even get our arms around. these are the worst of the worst people on earth. just additional emphasis on why they have to be eliminated. >> neil: thanks, ambassador. always enjoy talking to you. i apologize under these circumstances. thank you. >> thank you, neil. >> neil: i want to focus on news closer to home that has a lot to do with what's going on in israel. the crowds building on6th avenue outside our studios on the left here. huge crowds for the annual lighting of the rockefeller christmas tree. there were these protests going on earlier today. still going on now, hopefully they say to get to midtown manhattan and disrupt it as they did yesterday. so for this iconic moment when we celebrate peace on earth like in washington yesterday, sometimes anything but. there's challenges, and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world. when migraine strikes you're faced with a choice. ride it out with the tradeoffs of treating? 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>> well, look, obviously people in this country have the right to protest and to do it without any violence or disruption. that is something that we accept in a free society. i think the administration and frankly everybody has to keep their eye on the ball here. the ball, the mission here, that is taking place as a result of this war is really two fold. one is to destroy has and make sure that they never again can conduct an attack like october 7th. the other is obviously to get our hostages released. that's important as well. whatever we can do to obviously get the hostages released as we had over these last number of days, i think is a good thing. as the same time, the focus still has to be on destroying hamas and making sure that that kind of attack never happens again. i think that has to be the principal focus. >> neil: i was speaking to david friedman. one thing that came to us, the united states telling israel to stand down, your response is over the time. you have to cool it. he has israel has an obligation to say no. we have to do this. do you think it will come to that? >> i hope that's not the case. we have a strong bond with israel. he had a strong relationship over a number of years since their creation. we're in many ways obligated to work with them in order to make sure that they're able to maintain the state of israel. so i think in the end that the relationship that we have seen is going to continue. i'm sure that the prime minister has gotten advice from the president and i'm sure that the prime minister's given advice to the president. that's what that relationship needs to be all about. the ability to be honest with one another and be able to say what you think. but in the end, the goal is the same. and the president, this country has basically embraced the goal of making sure that israel defends itself -- >> neil: but has he -- does he still embrace that? do you still get the sense the president does embrace it there's this enormous pressure in extending the pause. they're playing to hamas' advantage and frustrating the israelis that will most likely decide for another two-day extension we're told, could be wrong and that that is really hurting the israelis right now. what do you think? >> well, you know, you have to take this situation as it's presented to you. the fact that there's hostages that are being released i think is important. that's an important goal to try to achieve. at the same time, those calling for a cease fire or some kind of long-term truce in which, you know, we allow hamas to continue to exist, i think, are barking up the wrong trail. frankly hamas is a terrorist group this has to be eliminated for the sake of having a future peace in israeli between the israels and the palestinians. that cannot happen unless we're successful at trying to make sure that hamas doesn't have that ability. i think everyone basically embraces that goal. >> neil: ambassador, one of the things that stand out as we get more details on the latest release of hostages, ten israelis have been released,four hostages from thailand on their way to be looked at at a medical facility. but we don't know what held this up today, but almost every day stuff like this happens. hamas seems to play it to its advantage. do you think that this process is playing to hamas' advantage, they're getting the global sympathetic audience and protests that could play out even in new york city tonight and elsewhere as it has all over the world to israel's detriment? >> well, you know, the most important thing to remember is that we cannot trust hamas. they're a terrorist group. i dealt with al-quaida when i was director of the cia. the basic principal that we operated on is never trust a terrorist. the same thing applies here. so yes, of course, hamas will try to play this out, try to gain an advantage. but i think what all of us need to focus on is the fact that ultimately hamas cannot exist, that we need to go after their leadership and that we need to ultimately make sure that we achieve that goal if we are to have future peace in that area. that's the bottom line and that's what we all ought to be committed to. >> neil: you talked about your days as a cia director one. the present one acknowledged that this can't be in the drip drip fashion it has been. you wonder if the pause stops, any hostages that might still be remaining, that's a problem getting them at that point. >> yeah, no, there's no question. i really pay tribute to bill burns for what he's doing. he's working with the head of hamas -- i'm sorry, the house of massad and they're trying to sit down with qatar and hope that they can negotiate some additional releases of hostages. i think that's a good thing. i think that's important to try to make that effort. in the end, they also have to make sure that what is happening here is not a prolonged effort to basically delay what ultimately has to take place here, which is either that hamas has to surrender and give up or be defeated. that's the bottom line behind any deal with regards to getting the hostages. >> neil: leon panetta, thanks very much. i appreciate it. as leon was wrapping up, i want to bring your attention on some of the numbers i roughly scratch to keep track of these hostage releases, including maybe about 80 or so israeli hostages, not all israelis. what you heard in the latest group, four thailand residents. but by comparison, close to 170 palestinians have been released. so if you do the math, it's roughly running 3 to 1 in favor of palestinian hostage releases over israeli hostage releases. taking you to midtown manhattan. the reason i link up this, there's planned protested in new york city getting ready for the iconic lighting of the rockefeller christmas tree. some of these pro-palestinian groups plan to disrupt that and to march on that as some had last week you might recall during thanksgiving where few cemented, glued themselves to the ground to disrupt things. they did. smaller number there. we don't know the number they're anticipating tonight. we do know that the new york city police department has reminded folks you're free to protest, you're not free to disturb. deciding that difference will be a big matter in hours. the chase ink business premier card is made for people like sam, who make- everyday products, designed smarter. like a smart coffee grinder, that orders fresh beans for you. oh, genius! for more breakthroughs like that- i need a breakthrough card. like ours! with 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more. plus unlimited 2% cash back on all other purchases. and with greater spending potential, sam can keep making smart ideas- a brilliant reality! the ink business premier card from chase for business. make more of what's yours. >> neil: all right. we are beginning to get more details. this is the rafah crossing that links gaza with egypt and the latest hostages that are being entered and back in to israel. let's get the latest from nate foy who can tell us on how that is going. nate? >> well, neil, very good news to pass along. the ten israeli hostages are in the hands of the red cross. an american i