The wait is over. The Palestinian prisoners are finally being released. What does this mean for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners who have been held hostage for years? And what does it mean for their families waiting for them to return home?
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00:06:22.040But this is all of the Israeli captives being released.
00:06:27.100It is a very large number of Palestinian prisoners.
00:06:29.960In the past, when we've seen these sort of releases, it's been a very long, drawn-out process.
00:06:36.140This is all supposed to be happening or have happened by the time President Trump arrives in Tel Aviv.
00:06:43.000And I can tell you, according to the White House schedule for Air Force One, he is due to land in Tel Aviv in an hour and ten minutes.
00:06:50.180So this all needs to be compressed in a very short period of time.
00:06:54.560And these sort of handovers are always fragile and delicate moments where things can go wrong.
00:07:02.320So it is, I think, even though it's been very carefully planned, I think there still will be some nervousness among all of the mediating countries,
00:07:12.800particularly Qatar, Egypt and the US, that this is going to go according to plan because it is part of this Trump schedule.
00:07:19.940He's going to go after he lands in Tel Aviv, he's going to go to the Knesset and make what we think will be some sort of victory speech of an achievement of this peace deal that he will claim credit for.
00:07:36.060So if there are any last-minute hitches, this is somewhat problematic and high stakes.
00:07:43.840Yeah, he's been also speaking on Air Force One. Has he en route?
00:07:49.940Yeah, he's been speaking on Air Force One en route here to reporters, saying, again, what a good deal he says this is,
00:08:00.800saying it's a good deal for every single country that has been involved in this,
00:08:07.380and certainly a good deal for the people of Gaza and the people of Israel.
00:08:10.540I think the questions many in the international community have is what happens after this period of these releases that we expect to see in the next hour or hours.
00:08:23.560What happens then about the longer-term parts of his 20-point plan?
00:08:28.420Because there, I think there are no details, as Norm was saying earlier on,
00:08:33.840this is something that the negotiators, the mediators, have not pinned down the details,
00:08:39.380because they were worried that this could all fall apart if they got stuck on some of those details of the later part of this.
00:08:46.200And that, I think, is where it is problematic.
00:08:48.240It's worth telling you that President Trump is in the region, in Israel and Egypt, for just under eight hours.
00:08:56.120Just four hours of that will be in Israel, and about three hours will be in Egypt for that summit that's taking place in Egypt.
00:09:07.100It means that probably at the summit itself, meeting with the other world leaders,
00:09:11.040he's only going to be there for two hours, meeting with those.
00:09:16.220But he's coming back to give Charlie Kirk the Medal of Honor, if I'm not mistaken.
00:09:21.760...at a summit, but I'm not sure how much substantive conversations these leaders will have with President Trump
00:09:27.640and whether any of that detail that is lacking can be negotiated in that time.
00:09:32.660James, thank you. James Bays there for us in New York.
00:09:36.900Now, Xavier Abu-Ede is a political analyst and former communications director for the Palestine Liberation Organization.
00:09:42.540He joins us from Oman. I've just got to also say to your viewers that these are images that we're getting on our screen from Khan Yunis.
00:09:49.280At the moment, Hamas is armed wing. Reportedly, he's saying that it's fully committed to the ceasefire deal
00:09:54.680as long as Israel adheres to its side of the bargain, as it were, here as well.
00:09:59.740But let's get Xavier's views on all this.
00:10:03.000Thank you, Rashad. I think it's very important to understand that this ceremony could be very important for many people.
00:10:15.680Of course, there will be thousands of families in Palestine that are waiting for the relatives.
00:10:20.520But I think also it is leaving many questions.
00:10:23.960And the questions are basically dealt with in the fact that we don't know what's going to happen next.
00:10:30.340We know that President Trump was very keen to get to the point where we are now.
00:10:34.960But eventually, if the talk for a comprehensive peace is real,
00:10:40.060we need to include several elements that are not part neither of this initiative nor from his foreign policy.
00:10:47.660So far, the U.S. has not been able to utter the term two-state solution, nor ending the Israeli occupation.
00:10:55.280And therefore, there are so many questions that are left open after this ceremony that, once again,
00:11:01.020it's going to be very important for many Palestinians, also for Israelis.
00:11:05.440But also, I would like to add just one point.
00:11:08.120When the Israeli captives are back to their homes, as a society for Israel, it's going to be over.
00:11:13.460But when the Palestinian prisoners are back, not all Palestinian prisoners,
00:11:17.560just a minority of those who are in Israeli jails,
00:11:19.960you have to start thinking of reconstruction and, of course, in the occupied West Bank of ending the occupation.
00:11:24.400So, therefore, there are two different processes here that cannot be compared.
00:11:30.100Now, Xavier, one of the people missing off the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released
00:11:38.940is, of course, Marwan Barghouti's name, who's seen as a big unifier.
00:11:42.820Does that also perhaps send off some alarm bells as to whether Israel is truly committed to peace in the future,
00:11:49.500because he's seen as a unifier of all the Palestinians?
00:20:03.020So, Professor, the answer would be no to that, given what you just said.
00:20:08.840The next part is, well, what is Donald Trump's resolve looking like in all this, in your view?
00:20:14.420In my view, President Trump has a very short patient to details.
00:20:24.340He will move ahead and leave it to his assistants.
00:20:27.880The key question is whether his assistants, Witkoff, Gerard, Kushner, and others, will keep in line and supervise the implementation of the agreement and negotiate strongly with Israel, impose on Israel to make concessions regarding the next stages.
00:20:52.820But more so, civil societies are responsible for the future.
00:20:59.480Without the civil societies and media pressure on the politicians, no politician in West Europe or United States will move ahead towards imposing this agreement on Netanyahu.
00:21:13.080Much depends on public opinion and media pressure on political establishments.
00:21:21.360This is our, as society members, civil society members, this is our responsibility.
00:21:30.480Menachem Klein, thank you very much indeed for joining us, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University, talking to us from West Jerusalem.
00:22:09.800We had just a short while ago an Israeli helicopter landing at the southern town of Re'em, which is near the eastern border of the Gaza Strip.
00:22:18.980It is preparing to pick up these captives after they've been handed over to the Red Cross.
00:22:23.520And we know at the moment that, or reportedly, that there are seven have been taken into the charge of the International Committee for the Red Cross.
00:22:35.020It's 8.32 in the morning there in Tel Aviv.
00:22:38.020Large, large crowds here, bated breath.
00:22:41.060These include families of the Israeli captives.
00:22:43.520They've been holding a vigil through the night and awaiting news of the release of their loved ones.
00:22:48.200And this is the view at Ofa Prison in the occupied West Bank.
00:22:52.840And that's where many of the Palestinian prisoners will be released by Israel.
00:22:57.520And that's one of the worst prisons in Israel, by the way, where they grape the prisoners, etc.
00:23:02.160This probably is an SDE Teriman or Teneman jail?
00:23:06.080If it is, that's one of the worst ones.
00:23:08.380Now, and have instances, mostly for attacks or alleged involvement in violence against Israelis.
00:23:15.080One hundred and thirty-five of them will be deported to the Gaza Strip or, indeed, exiled abroad as well.
00:23:23.680One hundred are expected to be sent to the occupied West Bank.
00:23:27.400Now, fifteen are set to be released in East Jerusalem.
00:23:31.500Now, ahead of the exchange of prisoners, we have them being transported to Ofa Prison, as we just saw, near Amala, and Ketziot Prison in the Negev Desert.
00:23:44.020All living captives and bodies of dead Israeli captives held in Gaza are being released in exchange for these Palestinian prisoners.
00:23:50.520Just to reiterate on this, twenty Israeli men are expected to be handed over to the Red Cross.
00:23:55.520They've spent two years in Gaza since October the 7th, 2023, when Hamas and its allied fighters took captive 251 Israelis and foreign nationals during their attack.
00:24:06.560Now, every week, their families have gathered in Tel Aviv, protesting against Israel's war, calling for a ceasefire and the release of their relatives.
00:24:15.160Many accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of blocking a deal for a ceasefire and return of those captives for his own political gain.
00:24:56.960I'm currently standing in front of the medical checkpoint where the Palestinian prisoners are going to be transferred first as they arrive to the Gaza Strip.
00:25:10.580Now, what we know so far is the Red Cross is going to be doing all the logistics.
00:25:17.560They're going to be transferring the Palestinian prisoners.
00:25:20.960They're going to be first transferred to this medical checkpoint here in Khan Yunis, in Al-Nasir Hospital.
00:25:26.600This has been all established and set up for this day exactly.
00:25:33.200So doctors, nurses are saying that they are waiting for the Palestinian prisoners.
00:25:39.960They will first do a medical checkup on them, and then they're going to be welcomed by thousands of Palestinians who are waiting for them in front of the medical checkup point.
00:25:53.480Now, every time Palestinian prisoners are freed, they become exhausted, drained, thirsty, hungry, and very, very mentally—their health is very, very ill.
00:26:09.420And they're also mentally exhausted from everything they went through during their detention.
00:26:15.820Now, what we know is there are at least 1,700 Palestinians that are going to be freed today.
00:26:23.120And these were the Palestinians that were either arrested or missing since the 7th of October, 2023.
00:26:35.300And everyone is happy that today is going to be a day where Palestinians are going to reunite with their families, a day that Palestinian families have been waiting for so, so long.
00:26:47.460But they're expecting a delay, and they are expecting that they're going to be released in late hours.
00:26:54.700And this is because this happens every single time where families wait for so long for this moment.
00:27:03.380I've got to get to Aman and Noor Odeid there.
00:27:06.140Noor, just getting reports from the Reuters news agency that all 1,966 Palestinian detainees slated for expected release have boarded buses at Israeli prisons.
00:27:16.260This is according to the Reuters news agency.
00:27:17.960We also have seven hostages, or should I say seven captives, which have been apparently put into the custody of the International Red Cross.
00:27:40.720Let's start with the Israeli captives.
00:27:42.560They are now in the custody of the Israeli army.
00:27:45.720And that's why you see the Palestinian prisoners, detainees, and the disappeared now in buses.
00:27:52.500We've also heard from the International Committee of the Red Cross saying that we have started a multi-phase operation to facilitate the release and transfer of hostages and detainees as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
00:28:07.960The Red Cross has also entered a military prison to transport a sick Palestinian prisoner out, separate from the buses.
00:28:19.620Apparently, he will need medical evacuation.
00:28:23.680We also are hearing from the families of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
00:28:28.960Twelve of them were expecting their loved ones to be released to their homes in the occupied West Bank, only to learn in the past hour that their sons will be exiled.
00:28:42.380They will not be going to the occupied West Bank.
00:28:45.520Those who already knew of the exile of their sons tried to leave the occupied West Bank yesterday, and they were denied by the Israeli authorities.
00:28:56.320So, there is a lot of emotions right now, and emotions are going really high.
00:29:03.340In addition to all that uncertainty and those last-minute changes, you have the situation in Gaza.
00:29:09.500Israel hasn't clarified when the 1,700 Palestinians will be released to Gaza, but the list has finally been released.
00:29:19.080And they are not a list of all the Palestinians disappeared from Gaza.
00:29:25.560So, while 1,700 families will be celebrating, others still have questions about the whereabouts and fate of their loved ones.
00:29:33.660Yeah, let's get it back to Khan Yunis and the Nasser Hospital here, because that's where, I believe, these Palestinian prisoners will arrive.
00:29:52.960The Red Cross teams, a medical team and a protection team, just arrived to a Nasser hospital, and they're now inside this department waiting for the Palestinian prisoners.
00:30:05.940Now, we know that the Red Cross is going to be transferring the Palestinian prisoners to here, to Khan Yunis.
00:30:15.340All of them are going to be transferred to this medical point.
00:30:18.840They're going to receive medical checkups.
00:30:21.540Everything is going to be checked, and then they are going to attend a ceremony where thousands of Palestinian families are waiting for their beloved ones.
00:30:31.340Now, what we need to know is most of the families do not know who's coming, who's being released, who's going to stay in Israeli prisons, what's going to happen.
00:30:39.900So, most of the Palestinian prisoners' whereabouts are unknown for their...
00:31:09.820But also, let me highlight the fact that these Palestinians were arrested after October 7.
00:31:17.420The amount of destruction that is in the streets, the amount of destruction everywhere across the Gaza Strip is unbearable.
00:31:25.660And it's going to be very hard for these Palestinian prisoners to adjust the fact of how the Israeli forces have completely destroyed Gaza.
00:31:36.320It's going to be very hard for them to process how Gaza has turned to a wasteland.
00:31:43.720And there is going to be a lot of emotional moments.
00:31:47.120Most of those Palestinian prisoners have their family members also killed.
00:31:51.980Some won't even find any family members left.
00:31:54.740And these are the stories behind what's going to happen today.
00:32:31.400Now we're going to look at Israeli TV.
00:32:32.660This kind of, I would say, like a schizophrenic behavior because Qatar, all of these countries that are meeting in Egypt, they're mostly enemies of Israel, including those that have peace treaties with Israel, such as Egypt.
00:32:50.760C.C. this very recently, a couple of weeks ago, Israel is its sworn enemy.
00:34:30.140Lidar, I am standing in front of the helicopter pad where the hostages, ten of them, will be arriving here behind me.
00:34:40.680Now, I want to read you the names of the ten hostages that will be coming here today.
00:34:45.100That will be Ghali Bellman, Ziv Bellman, Ariel Cunio, David Cunio, Alkana Bohbot, Yosef Ohana, Maxim Harkin, Segev Kalfon, Val Kaipelstein, and Bluskav Moum.
00:35:01.680So I want to say that there's a lot of anticipation here at the hospital.
00:38:00.780You know, so far, the hospitals that they were sent to indicates that they are somewhat, you know, relatively, given the situation, healthy.
01:59:39.480For the Israeli public, for the families of Israeli captives who credit Trump and no one else with the release of their loved ones.
01:59:50.580The Israeli president is expected to grant, to give Donald Trump Israel's highest medal of honour, highest civilian medal of honour, in appreciation, in recognition.
02:00:02.580And he's on his way out of the airport on the right-hand side of the screen.
02:00:08.760We're looking at the crowds that are in Hostage Square, what's known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.
02:00:14.780And we understand that they cheered as the U.S. president, Donald Trump, arrived at Ben Gurion Airport.
02:00:21.800You know, this has all seemed to end, right?
02:00:25.280At least this first phase of the ceasefire deal has come about via a deal.
02:00:31.440And this, perhaps, is not what Netanyahu wanted all along.
02:00:35.020He tried to find a sort of military solution to what was happening in Gaza and simply was unable to.