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CNN's Breaking News Coverage Of The Israel-Hamas Ceasefire And The Release Of The Remaining Hostages Held By Hamas. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 13, 2025 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, and he's been very well-received here in Israel ever since he arrived, he's very pro-Israel. Mike Huckabee always has been, and he plays a key role.
Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, has flown over here to Israel to be here. Normally he's in Washington now, and he plays a significant role in all of this. So between Huckabee and Ambassador Leiter, and Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff, and of course let's not forget the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, they all play very significant roles in advising Trump, but it's Trump himself who gets directly involved in squeezing some of the Arab countries to support this deal, to work and convince Hamas they got no choice, they got to start releasing the hostages.
And if Hamas had started releasing these hostages a year ago, perhaps there wouldn't have been all this destruction in Gaza, as we've seen over the course of the last year especially. And so he keeps reminding folks of that as well and if Hamas were to go back on this deal, there's no doubt that Trump might give the green light to Israel to resume that military activity in Gaza, which would be disastrous for the people of Gaza, for Hamas, for everyone right now. So we'll see if that happens.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, you've been a reporter here on the ground in Israel, you've covered the White House, covered U.S. presidents.
I mean, to see this split screen moment that we are watching right now, on the right, hostages square, but we were also just watching motorcades make their way through southern Israel. This is where people are waiting with bated breath for the release of these hostages. Seven so far, 13 more expected to be alive.
And then on the left side of your screen, you see President Trump surrounded by people like Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and the Israeli Prime Minister.
BLITZER: I'm really looking forward, Kaitlan, to President Trump's address before the Knesset. It's similar to when a foreign leader comes to Washington, addresses a joint session of Congress and we see what happens then.
COLLINS: It's rare for a U.S. President.
BLITZER: It's rare. And it's rare in Israel, too, for a foreign leader to appear before the Knesset, 120 members will be there. And even though they have very powerful disagreements amongst themselves on domestic issues, national security issues, foreign policy issues, I think there will be enormous rounds of applause and standing ovations for President Trump for what he's achieved right now in achieving the ceasefire, which is now in effect and seems to be working, and the release of the hostages and the reintroduction of enormous economic and military assistance to the people in Gaza.
Trucks are moving in, hundreds of them are moving in with medical equipment, with food and water supplies. And this will be so beneficial to the people of Gaza as well. So a lot of positive things are happening on both sides, and let's hope it continues.
COLLINS: And I just think, Wolf, you know, watching Trump and Netanyahu, their dynamic has extended back years, of course. It was incredibly acrimonious after Trump left office in between his two terms there in office. There was the moment in the Oval Office not that long ago where Netanyahu was on the phone with the Qatari Prime Minister apologizing for that Israeli strike on Qatari sovereign territory where they were trying to go after Hamas negotiators.
It's hard to think that in that moment,--
BLITZER: Who were in Doha?
COLLINS: -- who were in Doha, to think of that moment that just a short period later we'd be here with a brokered agreement that Hamas agreed to and the U.S. president on the ground in Israel.
BLITZER: Now let's not forget that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and several of the other Arab countries, Egypt especially, and the Muslim countries like Turkey, for example, a NATO ally, played a significant role in convincing Hamas. They got no choice, but they got to accept this arrangement, release the hostages and move on. Otherwise, there would be even more disaster for Gaza in the process.
So it was a combination, but you got to give Trump a lot of credit for bringing all these various parties together and working together to achieve a ceasefire deal, a release of the hostages and a reintroduction of enormous amounts of truckloads of food and medical equipment going to the people in Gaza.
COLLINS: Yes, and Wolf, we've just seen, as obviously we're watching President Trump about to get into the beast on the left side of the screen, the presidential motorcade, where he'll then make his way to the Israeli Knesset, where he's going to be with hostage families first.
On the right, we're seeing hostage families as they are in Hostages Square, the loved ones of these families waiting for word of their release. The first group of hostages has made it back here on Israeli soil. We're waiting for the second group to be handed over from the Red Cross to the IDF, where then they will be brought to Israeli soil. BLITZER: Normally, it would take about 40 minutes for a car and driver to drive from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem, much closer to Tel Aviv, maybe 40, 45 minutes, a little bit longer if there's traffic. But what the Israelis have done, the main highway from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem has been shut off the traffic.
[03:05:02]
So Trump and his limousine and his motorcade will be able to go quickly to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, and get ready for that big speech.
COLLINS: And Trump didn't criticize Netanyahu and offered the opportunity earlier by reporters. But one thing, and he praised him actually at some points, he said he believes he's now more popular in Israel because of this, as we see the President getting into his motorcade there.
But Wolf, when he was asked earlier if he saw that moment at Hostages Square when Steve Witkoff was speaking, and when he said President Trump's name, there were loud cheers and when he said Prime Minister Netanyahu's name, there were boos. Steve Witkoff tried to stop that, but Trump earlier noted that when that moment happened, they might have booed Netanyahu, but they cheered Trump.
BLITZER: They certainly did. Even before Witkoff mentioned the name of Trump, there were applause and people saying, thanks Trump, thanks Trump, thanks Trump, that was going on.
And it underscores the support that President Trump has here in Israel right now for this latest achievement. And I think that's significant.
COLLINS: That's I should note, Netanyahu and Trump in the backseat of the beast together, having a conversation -- a private conversation just between the two of them, it appears, as we are waiting for this second group of hostages to be released any moment now, according to the IDF, as they are updating us basically by the moment, Wolf, to see the profile of Trump and Netanyahu sitting next to each other in this moment is quite striking.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY ANALYST: You know, Kaitlan --
BLITZER: It would be interesting to see if Netanyahu goes to Jerusalem together with Trump in the presidential limousine, or if he just gets out of the car after they have a little chat.
COLLINS: Yes. Jim, go ahead. What were you thinking?
SCIUTTO: Yes, I was thinking when we were in Alaska a couple months ago, that other ride in the beast, Putin and Trump, when Trump invited the Russian President into the beast after a red carpet welcome, in Anchorage for a piece that Trump wanted, but was not able to make progress on in that summit, right, in fact, came away and the war expanded.
Here you have a red carpet, greeting to Air Force One, an invitation into the back of the beast for the Israeli leader with an accomplishment, right? Trump did get the ceasefire he wanted here, a contrast to that moment two months ago, which is, of course, the other major war that Trump came into office hoping to bring to an end, the Russian, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, that war sadly expanding.
But here, Trump getting the ceasefire that he had sought and getting that red carpet arrival summit in effect, right, particularly when you look forward to what the meeting of leaders in Cairo to follow Trump's visit to Israel, but a very different ride in the back of that limousine now that they have, they have progress to, they have progress those two leaders to discuss.
COLLINS: Yes, greeting him with an embrace, they both seem to smile and now they've both been sitting there for a few moments. Jim, obviously, that was something we watched incredibly closely in Alaska.
Now another car is just parked there in front of the motorcade. Obviously, the security is pulling up next to them. But I mean, you have to wonder what the prime minister and the president are talking about in the backseat of that motorcade.
And Jeremy Diamond, I want to get back to you because we're watching the president arrive here as he's preparing to head to the Israeli Knesset as we're awaiting the second release of hostages, the second group. What do we know so far, Jeremy?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the first seven Israeli hostages who have been released from captivity today are indeed now at this Re'im military base, which is right behind me. You can see the crowds of Israelis who have been along this route waiting for them to arrive. We also just saw a convoy of Israeli troops drive by as well, potentially those who went inside of Gaza to bring those hostages to this military base.
But those seven hostages at this moment are at this base and presumably at this very moment, they are finally embracing their loved ones for the first time in more than two years. Incredibly emotional scenes that we have seen play out in Israel over the course of the past two ceasefires as well and presumably later in the day, we will get video from the Israeli military of those incredibly moving scenes of reunion between those hostages and their loved ones.
Now, as it relates to President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu greeting each other for the first time, I also just want to play into that because I think it's important to note just the extent to which President Trump is really increasingly boxing the Israeli prime minister into this deal. Not just into a phase one ceasefire deal, which the Prime Minister has been talking about, but into what the President was very adamant has happened now, and that is that the war in Gaza is over.
And that really does put the Prime Minister in a box because Prime Minister Netanyahu has wanted to keep his options open.
[03:10:00] He has wanted to keep his right-wing coalition allies happy as well by insinuating to them that there is always the possibility of going back to war with Hamas if the militant group does not agree to disarm, does not agree to other conditions that Israel has.
But the fact that President Trump on his way here is saying very publicly and very forcefully this war is over really puts the Israeli prime minister in a tough position. And it is going to make it very hard for Prime Minister Netanyahu to wiggle out of that, especially given what we have been seeing, what we've been talking about over the last several days, and that is the incredible support that President Trump is enjoying from the Israeli public here, the extent to which Israelis are crediting him directly with securing the release of all of the remaining hostages.
COLLINS: That's such a great point, Jeremy, because the framing of that question to President Trump on Air Force One was, Prime Minister Netanyahu has not gone as far as to say this war is over.
Do you believe it's over? And he didn't just say, yes, it's over. He said, it's over. Do you understand that? I mean, he made it very clearly and expressed in that statement of, yes, this war is over.
And I think you make a good point, Jeremy, about the dynamic here of what's playing out between Trump and Netanyahu as they're still right now in the presidential motorcade together and as Wolf was noting, have quite a bit of a drive before they get to the Israeli parliament to have that one-on-one discussion right now.
DIAMOND: Yes, absolutely. And I think you can expect that we've seen President Trump, when necessary, use tough language with various people, whether it's his allies or his adversaries. And certainly with Prime Minister Netanyahu, there had been reports already that he had told the Israeli Prime Minister to take the win and to be happy about this deal.
And just to hear the President publicly saying this war is over, if he needs to drive that message home in private with the Israeli Prime Minister, I'm sure that he will. But it's not just the President.
We've seen since this deal was brokered, President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, his special envoy Steve Witkoff, both of them have been spending a lot of time with the Israeli prime minister and with other members of the Israeli government, all in an effort to ensure that this ceasefire deal sticks, that it does result in a lasting end to this war in Gaza.
And as U.S. officials are acknowledging as well, that this is a fragile moment. Despite the President's bluster and his kind of very definitive statements, we have had senior U.S. officials acknowledge to us privately that this is a delicate moment, that not all of the details have been negotiated and agreed to in terms of the next steps of what happens here, which is Hamas being disarmed, which is the Israeli military pulling back from the rest of the Gaza Strip and handing over that territory to this international security force governed by both an independent Palestinian technocratic government, but also overseen by this international board that President Trump has talked about.
None of those next steps have been agreed to yet between Israel and Hamas. And you can see a world in which the Prime Minister is going to seek an avenue to go back to the war in Gaza, which he will be pressured to do by his right-wing allies and government. And President Trump very clearly trying to buy out of that position and instead box him into a lasting ceasefire agreement that results in the war in Gaza not resuming again.
BLITZER: Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much.
I want to bring in Clarissa Ward. She's over at Hostages Square for us. I don't know if they're watching, I know there are big screens there at Hostages Square.
Clarissa, are they seeing the president of the United States at the Ben Gurion airport and his motorcade beginning to leave to head here to Jerusalem to address the Knesset? Are folks there watching all of this?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They certainly are, Wolf. They have been cheering like crazy from the moment that Air Force One was first spotted making its descent over Tel Aviv, landing at Ben Gurion airport, to the moment where the door of Air Force One opened and President Trump then began to make his way down the steps of the aircraft, you heard the whole crowd here started to erupt into cheers of thank you, Trump, thank you, Trump.
And I have to say, everywhere you go here, there are posters of Trump that we have seen people who have made artifacts dedicated to Trump, fear to say that President Trump is possibly even more popular here than he is in the United States.
[03:14:56]
There is just a huge amount of goodwill in this crowd because they believe and feel, as everyone has already been articulating, that it was really down to Trump that he was able to push this deal across the finish line. And as you have all been discussing, there are so many moving parts that have yet to fall into place and so many things that can go wrong.
But for the people here in this square, those are tomorrow's problems, Wolf. The people here are watching, they are wrapped, every movement that they're seeing of those convoys taking the hostages to Re'im Air Base, of these incredible video phone calls between some of the hostages and their loved ones, they are cheering again now.
What are they saying, Mike?
UNKNOWN: Speaking to one of the hostage families.
WARD: Speaking again to one of the hostage families. There was this extraordinary moment where they showed up a screenshot of one of the hostages with a Hamas fighter behind him as this hostage was talking to his loved ones. And people here are just in a kind of mixture of emotions, Wolf.
On the one hand, absolutely jubilation, relief. This moment is finally here. For more than two years, these people have been coming to this square every week, sometimes every day, fighting to see this historic moment when those hostages would finally be brought home.
But also, there are moments of real sadness and grief and the very real knowledge and you keep hearing them reminding people over the loudspeakers, not everybody is coming home alive today.
Do not forget the hostages who are coming home in coffins today. But certainly this feels like a historic moment that people are witnessing a moment that people hadn't lost hope would happen, but had lost any sense of when it might happen. And that's again why you're seeing this outpouring of support for President Trump as he arrives here, as he makes his way to the Knesset to deliver his speech and to accept the highest civilian honor that can be given here in Israel.
Everyone now waiting, I should add, for those first videos that we might see of these incredibly powerful, moving reunions between the hostages and their loved ones. As we know with previous releases, the Israeli military has quickly tried to turn those around to make them available to people because there is such an appetite in this crowd and across this nation to see those moments, to feel the reality of it setting in, that finally those 20 hostages who are returning today alive are back in the arms of their loved ones, Wolf.
BLITZER: It's amazing what's going on here in Israel right now. I'm really looking forward to President Trump's address before the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
But more than that, and I know Kaitlan you are as well, we're both really looking forward, a lot of people here in Israel are looking forward to actually seeing the hostages back in Israel and get a sense of, and hearing from them a little bit if they want to say anything. I just think that would be so powerful, so we're looking forward to that as well.
COLLINS: Yes, you see so many smiles and such laughter in that audience. Some people also brought to tears in this moment, Wolf. And I remember when we first came here and were reporting in the aftermath of October 7th how quiet Tel Aviv was, the streets were silent, no one was out.
It was just such a moment full of grief in this city and in this country. And now to see this moment, this day, that as Clarissa noted, yes there are still plans just to come and questions of what happens next, but for today there's so much happiness here in Israel.
BLITZER: Yes, when we were here in the immediate aftermath of October 7th, I remember with you, we walked down Dizengoff, one of the main streets here in Tel Aviv, and normally it's packed, people are shopping, going to cafes, having freshly squeezed orange juice and everything, but it was pretty quiet.
COLLINS: Indeed. BLITZER: People were staying home, they were sad, they were wondering what's going to happen next, and two years later it's changed as a result of this ceasefire agreement that people are beginning to get back, but it's still going to take some time.
COLLINS: Yes, and obviously having these hostages home and having the last survivors of October 7th here. Obviously Wolf and I will be watching all of this very closely with reporting from Jim Sciutto, Jeremy Diamond, Clarissa Ward.
Still to come here as the President has just landed. He's now on his way with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the car with him to speak at the Israeli Knesset.
[03:20:02]
We'll be watching all of it closely and have all the developments for you here as well as that second group of Israeli hostages are set to be released right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're following the breaking news here in Israel. It's very dramatic, very powerful breaking news. The first seven Israeli hostages freed by Hamas are now safely in Israel.
The first seven, more to come. They crossed the border from Gaza into Israel in the last hour or so and there was a lot of excitement around this country, especially at Hostages Square and elsewhere. A lot of folks were simply applauding, screaming, shouting out of excitement.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, he landed at Ben Gurion Airport outside of Tel Aviv a while ago. He was greeted by the Prime Minister of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And now President Trump is in the Presidential Limousine making his way from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem where he'll be meeting with hostage families but significantly also delivering a major address before the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset.
And we'll of course have live coverage of that coming up.
[03:25:02]
Joining us now from Jerusalem is Dan Illouz. He's a member of Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, and I assume, Mr. Illouz, you will be in the audience when President Trump arrives and speaks, right?
DAN ILLOUZ, ISRAELI KNESSET MEMBER: I will be in the audience. It's a historic moment. We're very grateful to the President for everything he has done for Israel and for the hostages, and I think we will show him a lot of love from across the political spectrum in Israel.
BLITZER: Before arriving here in Israel, he told reporters aboard Air Force One, President Trump, that he believed the war is now over. Do you agree? ILLOUZ: I hope that it's over. It's been a long war. Tonight is the
holiday of Simchat Torah, and October 7th on the Jewish calendar was on Simchat Torah, so we're exactly two years, according to the Jewish calendar, after October 7th happened.
It's been a long war. Our soldiers fought very bravely, and we hope it's over, but we have to remember that we've said since the beginning that Hamas cannot be in power in Gaza. The Trump plan, actually, this is what it says, and we hope that this is what will be actualized.
And so we hope that it's over. The next steps of the plan still need to be actualized and implemented in order for that to happen. It needs to be seen, but we definitely hope that it's over.
BLITZER: Is there something specific, Mr. Illouz, that you want to hear directly from the President when he speaks to the Knesset?
ILLOUZ: I honestly think that this President has proven time and time again that he is the greatest friend that Israel had in the White House, definitely ever since I was born, but the Prime Minister said in the history of Israel. And so I think that what you'll see in the Knesset is, on the one hand, the President reaffirming his commitment to Israel's security and the existence, but on the other hand, you also see Israelis from across the political spectrum.
You know, in Israel's political world, there's very little things that we agree about, but one thing that we agree about is the deep appreciation for Trump's actions when it comes to Israel. It was true in his first term when he moved the embassy to Jerusalem. It was true when he recognized the Golan Heights as part of sovereign Israel, and it's true now when he's using all of his political weight in order to bring back the hostages home, and also to defeat Hamas, to ensure that Hamas will not hold on to Gaza, so that the mothers and children in southern Israel will be able to sleep safely, sleep comfortably, without having to fear being attacked once again, as it happened on October 7, this vicious day that I don't need to describe again, where women were raped, babies were burned alive.
This is how it all started, and now we're ending it with the release of our soldiers, and hopefully Hamas will not be in control of Gaza, but we need to remember how it also started in that vicious, horrendous day, where all norms were broken, and we saw this graphic terror come to southern Israel.
BLITZER: And you make an important point. During his first term in office, President Trump was very popular in Israel, not only for recognizing the Golan Heights as officially part of Israel, and belonging to Israel's sovereignty, but maybe even more importantly, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and moving the U.S. embassy from here in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to underscore that.
That made him very popular, and then the achievement of the so-called Abraham Accords, when several key Arab countries for the first time formally established full diplomatic relations with Israel. So he was building on all that popularity. Now, you're a member of the Likud party, which is Prime Minister
Netanyahu's party. Will the opposition parties, do you think, align with you today in applauding President Trump?
ILLOUZ: Definitely. The support for President Trump, again, it's not a support when it comes to American politics. I just want to be clear, we don't get involved in internal issues that happen within the United States.
But when it comes to his support for Israel, then we appreciate it across party lines. It's not something that divides coalition and opposition. I will say that there is a small minority of anti-Zionist parties within the Israeli parliament that don't even really believe in Israel's existence.
And so I'm not sure they will attend the speech. If they do attend the speech, I'm not sure how they will react.
[03:30:02]
But they're a very small minority, and they definitely do not represent the very large majority, I would say, more than 90 percent of the population in Israel, which appreciates everything that Trump has done for Israel, recognizing that Israel is at the front lines of this battle for Western civilization, and that our soldiers are defending not just ourselves, but all of Western civilization. And so Trump is acting with recognition of that, and we recognize the fact that he's been acting this way.
BLITZER: One final question, Mr. Illouz, before I let you go. The next scheduled Israeli elections are in October of next year. But if there's a political crisis and the government potentially could fall, there would be early elections.
Do you see that happening? Is that possible?
ILLOUZ: Everything is possible. The Israeli political system is very dynamic, and so everything is possible. But I want to say that we still have a lot of things to accomplish, you spoke about the Abraham Accords.
We're looking forward to broadening them, and we're hoping that many countries will join the Abraham Accords now that this war is over, now that Israel has also shown strength, and we know that the Abraham Accords came from strength and not from a position of weakness. They came when Israel showed strength, and then the Arab world wanted to have relationships with this strong country called Israel.
So now that Israel has won this war and shown strength, then I hope that the Abraham Accords will once again expand with new countries. Obviously, there's talk of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, many other countries. We hope that this will be a time for peace, there was a time for war.
Now we hope that this time will be a time for peace. And so we still have a lot to accomplish, and so I'm really hoping that the elections will be at their scheduled times. Again, Israeli politics are very dynamic.
BLITZER: Let me just follow up, Mr. Illouz, because expanding the Abraham Accords, for example, bringing Saudi Arabia, a key Arab country, into the Abraham Accords, which is a goal of the U.S., a goal of Israel, to be sure. The Saudis have told me, and they've told many others, publicly, privately, that they would do that, but only once Israel makes a commitment to what's called a two-state solution, support for a new Palestinian state living alongside Israel.
Is that something you believe really could your party, Prime Minister Netanyahu's party, will eventually accept a two-state solution, a new state of Palestine emerging?
ILLOUZ: Listen, I think it's in everyone's interest, including the Saudis, that the Abraham Accords be expanded and include them. When it comes to the details, they will obviously be negotiated and closed doors. I hear different voices also from the Saudis.
I will say that about a Palestinian state. I think that if the result of October 7 is seen to be a Palestinian state, then that will be a Palestinian state which was established from terror. The founding fathers of this state will be Yahya Sinwar, the arch-terrorist, and the founding moment will be the rape of women, the burning of babies, and the beheading of people and the hostage-taking of elderly.
This will be the founding moment of a state. It will not be a state which is constructive to world peace, to stability. It will be the exact opposite of what we want to establish and promote with the Abraham Accords.
And so I don't believe that this is the way forward. I do believe that with the Saudis we can get to an arrangement which will be based on mutual respect, mutual interest, and will bring stability, economic development, and peace in the Middle East. This is something which is in the Saudis' interest.
It's in Israel's interest, it's in the world's interest. And I think that this is something that we need to push forward. But I don't think that the Palestinian state is the way to move that forward.
BLITZER: Yes, that was a big chunk of Prime Minister Netanyahu's address before the United Nations General Assembly a couple of weeks ago as well. Opposition -- total opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state. But the Saudis and several other Arab countries and Muslim countries are making it clear they're not going to have full relations with Israel until Israel at least makes a commitment to accept a new Palestinian state.
We'll see what happens on that front. Dan Illouz, thank you so much for joining us, I appreciate it very much.
ILLOUZ: Thank you.
BLITZER: And still ahead, Israeli hostages are now beginning to come home after being held in Gaza for more than two years. We're going to have much more on all the late-breaking developments. We're standing by to see those hostages.
We're also standing by to hear President Trump address the Israeli Knesset, the parliament. A lot of news still to unfold. We'll take a quick break, we'll be right back.
[03:35:02]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: And we're back now on our breaking news as the Israeli military says that the second group of hostages is set to be released any moment now by Hamas. We've been watching the motions here get in way as we've been watching the first seven living hostages released earlier. They arrived at the Re'im military base earlier today, they've been having conversations with their loved ones for the first time in two years.
And of course, as we monitor that and see these emotional moments that are playing out where they're reunited with their families, they're also about to undergo their first medical checks before they'll be taken to a hospital for further evaluation. As Jeremy Diamond noted earlier, they could spend days or potentially even weeks there, given, of course, the conditions that they have been in.
This all comes as there is a split-screen moment playing out here in Israel with U.S. President Donald Trump here on the ground. He is on his way right now to the Israeli Knesset. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is in the car with him as he is going to meet with hostage families before he then addresses the Israeli parliament himself.
A large delegation of Israeli officials were there, not just the Prime Minister, but also the Israeli President, as well as the President's own family members. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were there at Ben Gurion Airport as well. And the family's going to go, the President's going to go on to meet with those hostages, continue out his very short trip here in Israel, though, but still a momentous one in this moment as all of this is playing out.
CNN's Jim Sciutto is here. And Jim, as we're watching this moment where the President is going to come and speak and become, I believe, only the third U.S. President to address the Israeli parliament.
[03:40:02]
It's also just so much bigger than that in terms of what this moment looks like and something that you really couldn't have even written to see the president arriving here as this release of the hostages, the last survivors from October 7th, is playing out.
SCIUTTO: It's a big moment for this President. Israel is making it a big moment for him as well with this address to the Knesset, they're also going to award him the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor. When he goes on to Egypt, he's going to get the Order of the Nile from the Egyptian president, El-Sisi. The President is, this is his moment, right? And they are
acknowledging that moment for him. And as you know, the President likes that public adulation. And he certainly was essential to getting the ceasefire and hostage release across the finish line.
I should note that when he's meeting hostage families shortly, that will include hostage families -- families of those hostages being released alive, and of course a happy moment for them after all these months, more than two years with their loved ones held in captivity. But it will also include hostage families, families of hostages who are deceased, who have a question now, will they get the remains of their loved ones home?
Because as you noted earlier, Kaitlan, Hamas has acknowledged that they don't know where all the remains of the hostages are. And it's still an open question.
I've been speaking to Ruby Hen, whose son Itay was killed in the initial hours of the October 7th attacks. He doesn't know the answer to that simple question. Will he get, will he and his wife and his family get the remains of Itay home?
I asked him what his plans are when he meets with President Trump shortly, along with other hostage families. He said, we, the hostage families, will thank the president for making the impossible possible, credit their notion. But he adds that the hostage families' healing cannot begin without the last deceased hostage returned to his family.
So there is that void there that still needs understandably to be filled for them. So great joy today for those families who are receiving their loved ones home and still something missing, right?
For those who are still suffering the heartbreak of loss and an open question, Kaitlan, as to whether they'll be able to give their loved ones a proper burial in Israel.
COLLINS: Yes. And that's so important to them. They want that closure in that moment. And Ruby, I'm so glad you pointed him out because he has been so vocal for the past two years. He's such an amazing father and speaking about why they want their son returned and how important burying him on their terms truly is for them and what that looks like.
And obviously we all hope that, that he gets that. Jim Sciutto, we'll check back in with you as we are awaiting the second release of the second group of Israeli hostages here in Israel.
Any moment now, of course, we've also been watching what's playing out in Gaza, where you've seen tons of people returning back to Gaza city as aid trucks have been going in aid that is so desperately needed food, water, medicine, things that so many people have been incredibly short on for two years now.
So we're also watching that play out. The President was describing it as a demolition zone in Gaza, as he was on his way here to Israel and saying that he would like to visit Gaza one day, whether or not that happens in the near future, obviously remains to be seen right now. I want to bring in Ambassador Adel Atiya, who is here with me now and
is the European affairs department -- director of the European affairs department at the Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs. And thank you so much for being here, sir. I just wonder what you've been watching as we've been watching all of this play out over the last 24 hours.
ADEL ATIYA, DIRECTOR OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, PALESTINIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Great hope. I hope that this is a good start to put an end to this cycle of suffering and painful images. The images that are coming, of course, from Gaza, from everywhere are heartbreaking images, but we hope that this is the time for Israel to take serious decisions, to respect the plan that has been proposed by President Trump, that, of course, we as Palestinians and Palestinian Authority welcomed -- warmly welcomed those efforts to end the war of genocide in Gaza and to lead to the release of the hostages and the release of an important member of our hostages in the Israeli presence.
Because I think, and I hope that the CNN will give equal attention to the Israeli hostages released today from Gaza, 20 of them, and to the 250 Palestinians that will be released partially to the West Bank and the 1750 to Gaza.
[03:45:05]
And I hope, really, we hope as Palestinians, I'm talking, I can say even on behalf of the Palestinian people, that this will bring to the end of this cycle of violence. Enough is enough suffering for both parties, by the way, not only for the Palestinians, but Israel should be serious this time to respect the conditions and the propositions came from the United States in order to put an end to this repeated cycle of violence that has been going for the last 77 years.
COLLINS: Yes, I should note, as we're watching the release of the hostages, also following that will be the release of the Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israel as part of this swap and this condition of the agreement that's been playing out. We've seen it play out on smaller scales before. We'll see it play on a much larger scale today.
And when you talk about the agreement holding, President Trump was asked about that on his way here. And he said he is confident that the agreement will hold because he said he got guarantees from all sides that it will and that those sides don't want to disappoint him. Is that how you see it?
ATIYA: I hope that Netanyahu will be serious to fulfill his commitments that he took with President Trump. But unfortunately, we Palestinians, we have in our memory a long record of Israel breaking the deals since 1993 with the Oslo agreement, then all agreements that followed.
And I just want you to remember that on 15th of January of this year, there was a ceasefire agreement that led to the release of dozens of hostages. Had Netanyahu respected fully the agreement, all those hostages that are being released today would have returned to their homes by the end of March of this year. But Prime Minister Netanyahu chose to break the deal and to return to the war and to the bombing of Gaza.
And this time, I hope that he will listen to the advices given by President Trump and also by the leaders, the world leaders, and the regional leaders that will meet tomorrow in Sharm el-Sheikh to reiterate, to confirm their commitment to this agreement and to bring an end to this cycle of violence, as I said, that has been going for too long, a lot of suffering in both sides. And we need to end with this occupation to eliminate all causes for this violence in order to avoid for our both people, for our both population not to live again in this nightmare.
COLLINS: Yes, and of course, Netanyahu accused Hamas of breaking that agreement back then months ago. I just wonder, as we are looking forward to Egypt, and when the president, he's here and on the ground, he's in Jerusalem for a couple of hours, then he heads to Sharm el- Sheikh for that meeting where it's not just going to include a lot of the nations that helped to broker this, you're also going to see several European leaders as well that are going to be there present for that.
Mahmoud Abbas is rumored to be attending, I think we're still waiting to see a final confirmation. What are your expectations coming out of that meeting in Egypt this afternoon?
ATIYA: Yes, President Abbas will join the meeting because we are the concerned party and any arrangement for the day after in Gaza should be within the framework of the implementation of the two-state solution with the central role of the Palestinian Authority to bring an end to the cycle of violence.
Secondly, President Trump will meet with regional and with European leaders. There is a consensus among international community that the only way out of this cycle of violence is the implementation, the materialization of the two-state solution.
And this is the only way to guarantee peace and security in the region for the Israelis and the Palestinians. But again, I hope that the message will be heard by Netanyahu and that he will honor his commitments this time and will not break the deal because the deal is good. We welcome all those efforts, but there are too many details that we need to fix in order to make sure that this deal will open a political horizon that will lead to the implementation of the two- state solution.
And up to date, Mr. Netanyahu is opposing a two-state solution and I hope that President Trump in his statement in the Knesset will invite members of the Knesset to voice their support to the two-state solution because until now the Knesset that is a majority of Mr. Netanyahu's political party is also opposing the solution, a two-state solution.
[03:49:52] And therefore, the American mediation, the American political efforts are very important to reverse the trend and to convince the Israelis for this time to engage seriously on the implementation of the two- state solution and to listen to the world consensus on this regard.
COLLIS: Can I ask you on that before I let you go? And thank you for joining us on this because I think it's important to have your perspective.
On the two-state solution, in that 20-point peace plan at the end, I believe it's point 19 or 20, it does talk about if all the conditions are in place and met of the agreement about the eventual creation of a pathway to a Palestinian state. Do you want to see President Trump more firmly come out in support of a two-state solution?
ATIYA: I would love to see President Trump align his position with the international consensus. Just remember there is almost 160 countries around the world who recognize the state of Palestine and the latest wave of recognition which comes from important partners to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia. They send a strong message that the only way, again, to save the two-state solution, to end this conflict, is to materialize, to implement the two-state solution and to allow the Palestinian people self-determination.
One cannot have peace under an apartheid regime. One cannot have peace with settlements, with settler terrorism on a daily basis. This year marked 77 years of Nakba.
It marked 58 years of occupation that started in 1967, it marked 18 years of a total blockade on Gaza, and it marked also 32 years of Oslo negotiations. We cannot continue negotiating forever and now it is time to end this cycle of violence by the implementation of the two- state solution that is the only guarantee for the security of the Israelis and of the Palestinians.
COLLINS: Ambassador Adel Atiya, thank you so much for joining us today.
And I'm joined now by Sanam Vakil who is the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House and it's great to have you here as we're just looking at this big picture of what this day means and waiting to hear what the President is going to say to the Israeli parliament. Only two U.S. presidents before have addressed the Israeli parliament, the Knesset before, Bill Clinton and George Bush.
Now with Trump coming to speak to them as he's about to meet with other world leaders, what are you going to be listening for?
SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well good morning, nice to be with you.
I think that Trump's comments are really going to frame what is ahead. Certainly he is going to be championing his peace efforts and he has been really instrumental in bringing the Israeli leadership and Hamas to the table and forcing them to sign on the dotted line of this first phase. I think President Trump hopefully will be laying out what the pathway ahead really looks like because there's some thorny issues from governance to security to rebuilding Gaza that need to be laid out.
And I'll be looking for the two-state solution and how he frames that and if he frames that will be very important to bringing Israel on board. There isn't a constituency at the top in Israel from Prime Minister Netanyahu but also many among the Israeli opposition for the two-state solution and that is a message that needs to be received in Israel.
COLLINS: Well we're going to hear from the opposition leader Yair Lapid speaking before the President actually addresses the Knesset. So we'll be watching for those comments and how different they are from Prime Minister Netanyahu's as well in terms of, you know, we saw what Lapid said recently about holding the coalition together if the far- right members of Netanyahu's cabinet tried to basically dissolve it.
But before we even get to a two-state solution, you know, one question is Netanyahu has not yet acknowledged that the war in Gaza is over and President Trump was asked about that and he flatly said no it's over to reporters. That is not something we've heard out of the Prime Ministers in his words yet.
VAKIL: Yes, you're quite right. There are a lot of details that need to be ironed out and certainly Netanyahu is trying to protect his coalition but protect his principles, he wants to have right to address Israel's security and he sees a permanent conclusion to this war perhaps as damaging to his coalition that is certainly fragile and composed of right-wing members like Smotrich and Ben Gvir.
[03:54:59]
So those tensions really need to be ironed out and it would be very important for President Trump to continue to press Prime Minister Netanyahu on the importance of ending this war really above all for Israel's security. There is a security angle here for Israel and addressing Israel's security is predicated on the next steps of this process in terms of governance in Gaza and the West Bank but also of course to demilitarize Hamas.
COLLINS: Yes and obviously the questions in terms of what comes next for Gaza because as the President was noting earlier he was likening it obviously he has a real estate mind to a demolition site saying he'd like to visit there but he didn't know when that could happen. But then he also seemed to say that this vision that he rolled out to us at the White House when Netanyahu was visiting back in February or March of this Riviera of the Middle East as the President put it.
I mean there are questions about what this looks like in the immediate future for these people who are returning home to complete devastation and destruction.
VAKIL: I mean you've seen these harrowing images of thousands and thousands of Palestinians walking home and that is harrowing let alone then of course the return home to rubble, ruin, a search for family members. It's devastating to read about and certainly to watch. I think that image of the dream of rebuilding Gaza is an important one to hold on to but there is much work that needs to be done and the rebuilding process is going to take a very long time.
So it's important that humanitarian provision continues to come into Gaza. It's important that there's security in Gaza.
We also saw factional rivalries playing out over the past few days between Hamas and other clans. So the conditions on the ground are really I think scary for people.
COLLINS: Yes, Sanam Vakil, thank you so much for joining us today.
I'm Kaitlan Collins in Tel Aviv, our breaking news coverage of President Trump's visit here as the release of the hostages is underway, the last survivors of the October 7th attack. We're bringing you all the developments live here right after a quick break.
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