whether to sign off on a deal to free some women and children held hostage by hamas. cnn correspondents are in the region and right here in washington covering this critical moment in the war, first i want to go to cnn s matthew chance in tel aviv, israel. what s the latest word on this deal and what it entails? reporter: well, that deal, pam, is still being debated by the israeli cabinet. they ve been meeting for hours, and it could be several hours still, we re told, before a decision is finally reached but the terms of that deal are pretty clear, it would involve the release of at least 50 israeli hostages from gaza by the palestinian group, hamas. over a period of between four and five days, so there would be about ten people every day being released. in the meantime, israel would pause its conflict, pause its hostilities there and allow for that hostage release to take place. the israelis have said they d be open to the possibility of a further pause as well as long as