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One World with Zain Asher

Twelve Hours Away From Israel-Hamas Truce; Hezbollah Agrees To Go Along With The Truce; Geert Wilders Vows To Halt All Immigration And Stop Providing Arms To Ukraine; Bentley Crashes Into The Border Posts At The Rainbow Falls Border; Macy' Thanksgiving Parade Take Place. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired November 23, 2023 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Roughly, well, no actually, 12 hours exactly away from the truce between Israel and Hamas going into effect. This is ONE

WORLD. We start now.

Thirteen women and children being held hostage are set to be released. I'll give you the details and the time scale of that's going to happen. And a

shocking victory in the Netherlands. The far-right party has got the most number of seats.

And now, the battle of whether the controversial Gerd Wilders can put together a coalition and become Prime Minister. That speeding car, the

Bentley that launched into the air, crashed. We know it wasn't terrorism. What was it all about? And the terrifying moments when it happened.

A very good day to you live from New York. I'm Richard Quest. Zain and Bianna are off today. It's Thanksgiving in the United States. This is ONE

WORLD.

A day later than initially hoped, Qatar now says 12 hours from now, a four- day truce between Israel and Hamas will go into effect. The country's foreign ministry spokesman described the pause in fighting to begin at 7

A.M. Israel Standard Time, that's on Friday morning. To put that in perspective for where you are, that's 12 hours from now. And then

approximately nine hours after that, the first group of hostages, which is 13 women and children, are going to be released.

Palestinian prisoners can comment on will be freed during the 4 P.M. hour. How many? These are details that we just don't have at the moment. The

Qatari spokesman is expressing cautious optimism that things will go well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJED, AL-ANSARI, DOCTOR, QATARI SPOKESMAN: We are hopeful. I don't know if I should say confident, but we are very hopeful. And as I said, the

commitment we have seen from both sides leads us to be very positive, to deal with this very positively. We are seeing a good level of commitment

over the agreement itself, the details, hashed out.

The first, you know, glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel of this crisis, and this is why we needed to succeed and we are hoping and working

towards it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, there are many aspects to this deal. A crucial part was these trucks. Part of the 200 trucks a day of humanitarian aid that's going to be

allowed into Gaza once the truce takes effect. They're currently on the Egyptian side of the border. Our Jeremy Diamond's with me in Sderot in

Israel. Jeremy, into this sort of no-man's-land and no-man's-time, if you will, 12 hours to go, the two sides still fighting, but everybody getting

ready for what comes next.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely. And no one more than the families of those hostages who are expected to be in the first batch

released tomorrow. Thirteen hostages, women and children, expected to cross into Israel sometime after 4 P.M. local time tomorrow. That is of course

less than 24 hours away.

And we are told that the Israeli government has now notified the families of those 13 hostages and also notified the families of those hostages who

will not be in that first release. And so, there are some families in Israel tonight that are ecstatic, that are hopeful that they will see their

loved ones tomorrow, and others for whom the wait will still be longer. But less than 12 hours from now, Richard, we will see the fighting that has

been ongoing behind me in the Gaza Strip stop if all goes well, if this truce goes according to plan.

We have been hearing all throughout the day, these really military continuing to operate in the Gaza Strip. We have heard heavy bombardments.

We have heard a small arms fire indicating ongoing battles between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, and the Israeli military making very clear that

they will continue to operate up until they get the order to stop, and that for now, Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip are quote, "business

as usual", according to the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.

Now, we do have some additional details about how this initial hostage release will go forward. Thirteen women and children expected to be handed

over to the Red Cross by Hamas, and they will then be handed over to Israeli forces at three potential different crossing points into Israel.

[12:05:00]

Children under the age of 12, their parents will meet them directly at specific areas near those crossing points, and all of the other hostages

will head directly to hospitals in Israel where they will then undergo medical evaluations and be able to meet their family members as well.

Of course, all of this has been the result of weeks of negotiations and not only will you see those Israeli hostages released but also a big, big major

reprieve for civilians in the Gaza Strip who will perhaps see the first four days of no fighting in Gaza, no aerial bombardments, and of course,

much-needed aid. Hundreds of trucks expected to begin entering Gaza as soon as that truce begins early tomorrow morning our time.

QUEST: So, there's a lot going to happen in a relatively short period of time. And listening earlier to what the press conference, I guess there's a

lot that -- when I say, go wrong, you know, what I mean, there's a lot of infelicitations that can take place.

DIAMOND: Absolutely, and we saw already this delay of nearly 24 hours in this truce that came very late last night just shows you how fragile this

situation still is, how much could still go wrong. And that's certainly something that the families of these hostages, some of whom I've been in

touch with, are very much aware of.

And certainly, the parties involved are aware of it. But for now, all of the parties, Israel, Hamas, as well as the mediators in Qatar have

confirmed that this truce is set to go into effect at 7 A.M.

And what we also heard from the spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry was hope that this initial release of 50 hostages over four days, that this

could be a testing ground effectively to perhaps get more hostages out, to see that truce between Israel and Hamas extended, and perhaps even to lead

to some kind of a more permanent diplomatic solution to this conflict.

QUEST: Jeremy Diamond in Sderot. And thank you, Sir. Once more, come back. The response from Washington -- we know that President Biden was very much

involved in every detail of this and was kept fully informed. And now of course, we'll be well aware. CNN's Arlette Saenz in Nantucket Island in

Massachusetts -- that's where President Biden is spending Thanksgiving.

I'm guessing even -- well, I'm thinking of the clock. It'll be midnight when it takes place. So, might well be obviously, he might be off to be by

then. But I assume in the hours ahead he's going to be monitoring closely.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, he definitely will, Richard. And just moments ago, President Biden was actually out and about

in Nantucket visiting a local firehouse, and he projected optimism about the first wave of hostages being released tomorrow. He told reporters that

he was finger -- keeping his fingers crossed that would happen.

And it comes as the U. S has been closely involved in monitoring the developments in this hostage release with a keen focus being on the

potential release of Americans. There are potentially three Americans that U.S. officials believe could be released in this larger deal of these 50

women and children who will be released by Hamas.

It's unclear at this moment whether they will be part of that first wave that would be released tomorrow, but U.S. officials say that they plan on

contacting the families of the Americans if they are in that batch, once they get confirmation that they've departed Gaza. Essentially, there will

need to be an American official or a trusted third-party source who has set eyes on these Americans and then they would be able to notify the families.

What's important to note though, is that some of these hostages do have that dual citizenship. So, there is a possibility that if Americans are in

that first batch, that they could also be notified by the Israelis first. Now, it's expected that the three Americans include that three-year-old

girl, Abigail Idan. There are also two other women. And the White House has been focused not just on trying to get them out, but also the other

Americans -- there's roughly 10 unaccounted for that they believe could be held hostage.

Now, this comes as the administration has expressed confidence that this deal is on track. They are hopeful that the implementation will start

tomorrow. The implementation has been a key focus for President Biden. He even held some calls yesterday with the emir of Qatar talking about

ensuring that this deal is implemented the way it should be. I'll also note President Biden today was also asked about those Americans being held in

Russia -- Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, he said that the U.S. is working around the clock trying to get them home, as well.

QUEST: Arlette, thank you. To Becky Anderson in Doha who has covered, lived every twist and turn of this. Becky, all right. We know the details.

We know what's expected to happen.

[12:10:00]

We also know, because you told me last hour, about the lack of trust in a sense between the parties. But what is interesting, I think, is that Israel

had to put trust in Qatar to mediate in a fair and honest fashion when they don't have any relations with Qatar -- formal relations, and Qatar has been

highly critical of Israel's behavior on previous occasions.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR, "CONNECT THE WORLD": That's right. I mean, no formal relations, certainly not the sort of relations that those who have

normalized their relationship have with Israel from this region, for example, the UAE.

But there's been a backchannel with Doha for years. So, it's not an unfamiliar relationship. And, for example, we know that David Bonnier, the

head of Mossad, has been in and out of Qatar over the last couple of weeks, very involved in these negotiations, as has his U.S. counterpart, Bill

Burns, who is the head of the CIA, the U.S. intelligence organization.

But you're absolutely right. You know, you've got Qatar at the heart of this mediation -- mediating between Israel that it doesn't have a formal

relationship with. And Hamas, who is a terror group that has a political office here, let me be quite clear, at the behest or in communication with,

or set up with the support of the Americans.

So, you've got, you know, Israel on the one side, Hamas on the other, Qatar able to speak to the two, the two do not trust each other at all, and then

you have the support of Egypt and the U.S. It's difficult.

They've called this intense. They've called this extremely difficult, complex, complicated at times, but they have at least got this first effort

and this is huge when you think about this is the first significant diplomatic breakthrough since this conflict began back on October the 7th.

So, they've got this over the line. They've told me that this is only the beginning of their work. They've got a lot more work to be done. And

Richard, they have been quite clear about what they can talk about as far as the sort of operational details of this deal is concerned and what they

can't talk about.

I wanted, for example, to get more detail from Majed Al-Ansari, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here, about how these

hostages would move, be routed from Hamas' sort of, you know, hands, as it were, into the safety of the ICRC -- the Red Cross. And then out to Israel

to be reunited with their families. So, we had that discussion earlier on at the press conference. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: What would constitute a break in this truce -- a breaking of this truce?

AL-ANSARI: Becky, I can tell you that the agreement is about full secession of hostilities within the four days. So, obviously, any

resumption of hostilities of any kind would be a breach. So, I think it's very important that lines of communication remain open so that any possible

breach, however it is defined, is communicated immediately to both sides and there is a way to walk back from it and make sure that we continue with

the --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, that was actually another part of our conversation but I think it makes my point. It was difficult to get any real operational

detail on how these hostages would get into the safety of ultimately the Israelis.

The detail wasn't clear but there have been two releases to date -- an American woman and her daughter and two elderly Israelis. And so, we've got

a sense -- of a sort of, you know, a concept sense of how this might work. But again, you know, that was a question about how, you know, how the truce

would actually work and what would constitute a breach. Again, you know, the detail on that isn't absolutely clear, but certainly the Qataris did

their best to provide as much detail as possible.

Just to leave you with this. I think what's been really interesting about this deal, Richard, and this is something that came out in my conversation

with the lead mediator from the Qatar team, is that they have provided a deal which has obligations on both sides across all of the contours of this

deal.

For example, on what does a truce look like and how would it be broken. You know, it's really important that both sides have obligations every day that

they don't breach. If they do, this truce or pause will fall apart, you know, to the detriment of the hostages.

[12:15:00]

And don't forget, to the detriment of those who need an increase in humanitarian aid which is also part of this deal. Two hundred trucks a day

will be allowed into the Gaza Strip full of aid and fuel, supplies and fuel to get to the humanitarian infrastructure schools, hospitals that need it

most. So, the obligations are quite clear, as far as both sides are concerned. Break those, you know, as it were, at your peril. Richard?

QUEST: Thank you, thank you. Becky Anderson in Doha, we'll talk more. Thank you. The Israel Defense Forces say the head of Gaza's largest

hospital, Al-Shifa, has been detained. In a statement, the IDF doctor says Muhammad Abu Salmiya is being questioned about evidence allegedly showing

the hospital under his management was used by Hamas for command and control. The statement also claims Hamas Tunnels Network under the

hospitals used the compound's power and resources.

The Israeli military says it's striking back after Hezbollah attacks came from Lebanese territory. IDF fighter jets have been hitting Hezbollah

rocket launch sites they say. The Lebanese militant group announced it had launched nearly 50 rockets at the headquarters of the Israeli infantry unit

in northern Israel.

Ben's with me. Ben Wedeman from Beirut. Last hour, Ben, you were telling me that Hezbollah has agreed in a sense to go along with this truce. But it

doesn't have the same stamp, if you will, as, say, for example, the Hamas and Israel one has. So, I guess the possibility for more military activity

there still remains quite strong.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It remains strong, but let's keep in mind that this has been a fairly disruptive period for

Lebanon, as well. According to the U.N., as many as 50,000 people have left villages and towns along the border in south Lebanon to safer ground.

But yes, what we heard is that an official with Hezbollah speaking on Al Jazeera Arabic said they would respect the truce, but it's been not very

calm in the south today. It was really set off last night when Israeli jets hit a house in south Lebanon about seven and a half kilometers from the

border, killing five Hezbollah fighters, including one who is the son of the leader of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc.

And since then, by our count so far today, there have been 21 Hezbollah strikes on Israeli positions along the border. And perhaps, just as many

Israeli counter strikes, as well. On the Israeli side, it's important to keep in mind that most of the civilians have evacuated from settlements and

towns along the border on that side.

Now, in addition to all of that military action on the border, the Iranian foreign minister was in Beirut yesterday and today before going to Qatar

today. This afternoon -- this morning, he met with the head of Hezbollah Hassan.

Nasrallah, they talked about developments in the region pretty vague. We don't know where they met because Nasrallah has not appeared in public

since before the 2006 war. But the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir- Abdollahian did tell Mayadeen Television that if the pause does not hold in Gaza, in his words, the scope of the war will expand. Richard?

Ben Wedeman, thank you, I'm grateful. Coming up in just a moment, an unexpected election win is celebrated from the political far right and

leaves many in Europe deeply concerned -- in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Dutch voters have handed the far right a landslide victory after the populist Geert Wilders and his party potentially could form a coalition

government. They won the largest number of votes and seats in the national election.

QUEST: Now, he's often called a Dutch Donald Trump. He's vocally anti- E.U., has vowed to halt all immigration and stop providing arms to Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEERT WILDERS, DUTCH FREEDOM PARTY: We will make sure that the Netherlands will be for the Dutch people again. We will restrict the asylum tsunami and

migration. People will have more money in their wallet again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Anna Stewart's with me. Nobody can be under any doubt what Geert Wilders stands for and the way he's done it. But look, the number of votes

he got -- the number of seats he's got in parliament, it's quite clear.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than two million people voted for Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party. He's got nearly 25 percent of the

seats in parliament. And so, this is going to be the big thorny question for the other parties who have done much less well, I have to say, will

they go into coalition with this party?

Because on the one hand, they have to of course, respect that a huge portion of the population of the Netherlands have voted for this man. They

have voted essentially, largely on immigration here.

QUEST: Anna Stewart, I'm grateful. I want to put -- Becky, I'm sorry, I thought we would -- but Anna, stay with me. Don't go away, Anna.

STEWART: Back.

QUEST: There are two aspects to it, though. The first is whether -- trolling from what you said, whether anybody goes into coalition with him

or his party. The second and perhaps a corollary to that, is whether they could -- amongst themselves, disparate parties cobble together a coalition

that would defeat him.

STEWART: And they're probably all thinking and talking about those two scenarios right now. But clearly, the first scenario is they have to, at

least on the face of it, try and see whether they can form a coalition with a party that has won the most votes.

I think the second largest party that's won here, which is the Green Labor Alliance, have firmly said they will never go into government gut-builders,

and I think they will maintain that. Slight softening, though, of the outgoing Conservative Party and also a centrist party. With those, they

would get 81 seats, so that would be a majority in parliament, so that is possible.

But these negotiations will likely take months and there will have to be a serious negotiation with Geert Wilders, particularly over some of his

stances, for instance, on the E.U. because he is very anti-E.U., he would even like to see a referendum. So, I think those negotiations will be

tricky and could really water down those policies that so many people perhaps have voted for.

In Brussels, this is the -- this is the nightmare, isn't it? I mean, we had a bit of that in Poland and we've had a bit of it not at the last election,

I'm talking about earlier elections, and we've had a bit of it in Hungary.

STEWART: Slovakia?

QUEST: Yes, yes, but thank you for reminding me of that. Yeah. But now, the fox is in the chicken house.

[12:25:00]

STEWART: Yes, I think this will be a big concern. This is really a warning shot for Europe, particularly for next year, because we have the E.U.

parliamentary elections in June. And already, polls are suggesting that, for instance, far-right leader Marine Le Pen's party could be doing rather

well there and that could have a seismic shift ,really, for the E.U.

So, this is certainly a warning shot. Perhaps governments in Europe need to take the fact that inflation, cost living crisis and immigration are really

hot topics that they definitely need to grapple with.

QUEST: Anna, I'm grateful. Anna Stewart, thank you. In a moment, the radio station that continues to broadcast, even though it plays no music and --

but is a lifeline for many. We'll talk about that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: This is ONE WORLD. One more time, I'm Richard Quest. The headlines -- or the other headlines -- I'll update you with Israel and Hamas in just

a moment. The Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Minsk in Belarus where he's holding a summit for collective security. He joins the Belarusian

President Lukashenko as well as leaders of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The threat of a volcanic eruption in Iceland is still very much on the agenda. Authorities there say they're considering a plan to pump water to

cool the lava as it slows its progress if there is an eruption. Experts have been warning of the dangers of a major volcanic eruption event for

several weeks and local areas have been evacuated.

[12:30:00]

A dangerous rescue mission in India may be coming to an end. An official in the northern Himalayan region says crews are getting closer -- are trying

to reach the 41 workers who have been trapped inside a partially collapsed tunnel for 11 days now. It's been hindered by falling debris and equipment

failures.

To return to the Israel Hamas truce that takes place in just over 10 to 12 hours, Qatari officials say the fighting will halt in around 11 and a half

hours from now and dozens of aid trucks will enter Gaza. Then later on in the day, mid-afternoon local time, Hamas has agreed to release 13 of the

women and children it's -- took from Israel on October the 7th. If all that goes well, it will be repeated for several days, allowing more hostages out

and more aid in.

Now, for The Exchange. Joining me now is Yossi Melman, an Israeli journalist and one of the country's leading commentators on national

security and intelligence. He joins me now. There are those in Israel tonight who are, I mean, their loved ones are not out yet, but their hearts

are soaring at the prospect and there are those tonight who are disappointed that they are not -- their loved ones are not part of it. This

is an emotional rollercoaster for the country.

YOSSI MELMAN, ISRAELI JOURNALIST: Yes, indeed. But there is a great hope that in a matter of four days, 50 Israelis will be released from their

torment and hostage situation in the tunnels, in the dark tunnels of Gaza. And hopefully, another 150 along the road also will be swapped for

Palestinian terrorists.

Israel had no choice. Theoretically Israel did have a choice, but practically the Israeli public wouldn't tolerate if these hostages are not

released or for God's sake they are being killed. So, this is a good move and I don't think it would interfere with the Israeli strategy that once

the swap, the release is taking place, then Israel will continue the war against Hamas.

QUEST: Yeah, realistically, there's going to come a point when Hamas, let's just say this continues for the full seven days or six, seven days,

but there will come an irreducible number of hostages where it's not in Hamas' purview or it doesn't serve their purpose to release them all simply

as a leverage against Israel.

MELMAN: Yes, you are right, Richard. This is this is the fear in the Israeli military, that if Hamas is going to release hostages, each time 10

or 12, as we are expecting tomorrow, then it will take another two, three weeks in order to prevent the renewal of the Israeli attacks. This is

Hamas, no doubt about it, delaying tactics.

And the Israeli military and the government are aware of it. But the goal of releasing the hostages, I think, is accepted, supported, and encouraged

by 70, 75 percent of the Israeli public, not just the families. It's uniting the Israeli people, and therefore it's almost a sacred mission to

release them.

QUEST: Do you see the contradiction in the Prime Minister's dual ambitions here, the elimination of Hamas and the return of the hostages. And at what

point do you think that contradiction, if you think there is one there, becomes critical?

MELMAN: Well, there is a contradiction, obviously, because the Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant and the Chief of

Staff, all of them want to move as quickly as possible in order to smash Hamas as a military force and as a government in place. And this is the end

game of Israel. Israel would not accept any other solution but the end of the Hamas government.

And therefore, there is this contradiction that Hamas is using this card of the hostages. But we had known it from day one, and Israel is in a

tremendous dilemma. It's a moral duty to release the hostages, and therefore it will take as long as it will take, but eventually I think the

Israeli military will have to -- to end the job with Hamas.

[12:35:00]

Hamas cannot be in Gaza anymore as an organization.

QUEST: What do you make of the relationship with Qatar? No formal relations, but as you know, you and I know well, there have been lots over

many years of diplomatic, business, whatever, relations between. And but here, Qatar has to play the role of the honest broker between the two sides

and has done spectacularly well in what must be extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

MELMAN: Well, Richard, you know very well that Qatar is playing a very interesting game. She's playing with many, many actors, with Iran, with

Israel and support Hamas. Ideologically, as part of their ideology, the Muslim brotherhood. But without Qatar, I'm not sure that the hostages would

have been rescued and released.

Qatar at this stage is the only player in the game, although the Egyptians are also trying to make some move, but the key player is Qatar. And

therefore Israel had no choice, not to mention that Israel asked Qatar a few years ago under Netanyahu, previous Netanyahu's government, to send

money to Gaza --

QUEST: Right.

MELMAN: -- not for the military buildup of Hamas, but for the restructuring of Gaza. Unfortunately, the money was used to build their

military force. And this is the most -- this is the harsh criticism of Netanyahu that actually he built Hamas in part of his divide and rule

strategy to divide between Gaza and the West Bank.

QUEST: Right. Can I -- I feel comfortable asking you this. As we got reports of babies in incubators dying either through lack of heat or

electricity or whatever in the hospitals where Israel was conducting military activities for whatever reason. Was there any noticeable shift do

you think in support for the way this was going ahead?

MELMAN: Well, the international community was calling Israel --

QUEST: In Israel-- in Israel.

MELMAN: In Israel itself, well, yes. To be honest, yes. What many, many Israelis do care about the suffering of the Palestinians and the Gazans.

And they do believe sincerely and honestly that it's a tragedy. But on the other hand -- of the Israelis and the public is much more concerned about

its own hostages. And therefore, I think the IDF was trying to somehow to maneuver between those two polars.

The IDF was moving very cautiously, very slowly, first of all to avoid its own casualties, but also to try to avoid casualties on the other side. The

IDF provided incubators and medical supplies to the Shifa hospital. Although Israel did know, and it's now coming out, that Shifa -- under

Shifa, there are bunkers, there are tunnels, there are war rooms, and a lot of military equipment.

QUEST: I'm grateful, Sir. Thank you, Yossi. It's always good to talk to you, Yossi Melman, with me. Thank you, Sir.

MELMAN: Thank you.

QUEST: Now, some of the Palestinians held by Israel have been in jail for years. While they wait for their possible freedom, their families are

sending messages and they do so through a Ramallah radio station. CNN's Nima Elbagir reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A lifeline keeping some connection between families torn apart. Callers

send in voice notes to radio presenter Murad Abu Al Sabaa.

Radio Ajyal has dedicated its airways for years to the families of the thousands of Palestinians desperately trying to reach out to their loved

ones held in Israeli prisons. The young listener's aunt, a Palestinian activist, was arrested by Israeli authorities, along with thousands of

other Palestinians, after Hamas' deadly October 7th attack. The station is trying to support the families, so desperately waiting for any news from

inside Israel's prisons.

[12:40:00]

MURAD ABU AL SABAA, RADIO AJYAL PRESENTER (through translator): We have three phone lines here to receive messages from families of the prisoners.

Because of the volume of the calls, people weren't getting through, so we've started making promo announcements. If you can't get through, send us

a voice note through WhatsApp.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): In the horrifying aftermath of the Hamas attack, Israel not only carried out mass detentions of Palestinians but is denying

prisoners all family contact. This is the only way their families can reach out. The sheer volume of messages, evidence of the realities of

imprisonment here.

Israeli law allows Palestinian prisoners to be detained indefinitely without trial or stated charge. The families don't even know whether the

prisoners get to hear their messages, but that doesn't stop them from sending.

The Israel Hamas hostage swap, exchanging 150 Israeli held Palestinian prisoners, women and teenagers for 50 Hamas held hostages, means that for

now there is some hope for both Israeli and Palestinian families.

ELBAGIR: We are going to meet a Palestinian lady who, one of her loved ones, is coming home. But as ever in this context and in this situation,

it's never that simple. Families on both sides, even those who are awaiting the return of those who love are also dealing with the reality of those who

won't be coming home.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Iman Al-Barghouti's sister-in-law, Hanan, was arrested alongside her three sons. The sons remain in prison. Hanan is on

the list to come home. Iman said neither she nor Hanan is involved in the politics of this war, yet they suffer its consequences.

IMAN AL BARGHOUTI, WIFE OF PALESTINIAN PRISONER: Now, she has seen her sons, they get married, so they have kids. They are waiting to see their

grandmother. You know, she has a beautiful relation with them. She loves everybody.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): In the midst of Iman's joy for Hanan, she is beginning to hope that her husband, Naila Al- Barghouti, the longest

serving Palestinian political prisoner, could also be released in a swap.

AL BARGHOUTI: It is a happy day for us. We know that this is really start, because that mean my husband will come. My husband, Nail, who's in prison

now since 44 years. When he was arrested, it was the first time in 1978.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): The Barghouti family is revered by many Palestinians deemed a threat by the state of Israel. Valuable enough to Hamas that they

were included in the 2011 Israel-Hamas deal, among 1100 Palestinians for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, after Hamas held Shalit for five years.

Who else was swapped on that day? The man, Israel says, is the architect of the October 7th Hamas attack. Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, a fact that

haunts every move Israel makes as it negotiates for the release of more Hamas-held hostages, as families on both sides wait and hope. Nima Elbagir,

Ramallah, the occupied West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now, students in Australia have staged a walkout on Thursday in support of Palestinians. Hundreds of them took to the streets of Melbourne,

according to our affiliate Nine News. The demonstration was part of a mass protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: You know what? We should be at school. We should be learning. But this is a genocide unfolding in front of our eyes.

UNKNOWN: We wanted to come here and say that, like, you know, we're only high school students and even we know what's wrong and the government isn't

doing anything.

UNKNOWN: Our schools want us to stay in school and learn and get educated while our brothers and sisters in Palestine are getting killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, as you can see, some students wore traditional Palestinian head dresses and dressed themselves in the Palestinian flags. Coming up,

apparently, the third time's the charm for North Korea. It's now got a spy satellite first into orbit. In a moment.

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[12:45:00]

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QUEST: South Korea says North Korea's spy satellite has indeed entered orbit, as Pyongyang has claimed. And a South Korean MP says it was made

possible thanks to help from Russia. North Korean state media says the satellite will now undergo some adjustments before beginning its formal

mission on December the 1st. CNN's Will Ripley reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As if the world doesn't have enough to worry about, rising tensions on the Korean

Peninsula. North Korea claims big progress in its satellite program.

Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un appearing triumphant in state media, posing for propaganda cameras with a team of North Korean scientists and engineers

celebrating an apparently successful third attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit, two failed launches earlier this year.

Pyongyang promises more satellite launches in the near future, satellites crucial to improving the accuracy. North Korea's Intercontinental Ballistic

Missile Program, a program banned by the United Nations Security Council, possibly perfected with the help of Russian rocket scientists.

Acting on orders from President Vladimir Putin, Kim and Putin's September summit at this Russian space launch complex signaling Moscow's growing

support for Pyongyang's space program, a partnership believed to be providing Putin with badly needed North Korean weapons, arming Russian

soldiers on the battlefields of Ukraine.

Putin told state media reporters at the time, Russia would help North Korea launch its own satellites and rockets, saying, that's exactly why we came

here. Japanese authorities issued an emergency warning, what they believe to be a satellite carrying ballistic missile soaring over Okinawa.

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: Today, North Korea conducted a launch using ballistic missile technology.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The Japanese Prime Minister condemning the launch. Swift reactions from South Korea. Seoul suspending military pacts with the

North.

UNKNOWN (through translator): The North Korean regime is entirely responsible for this situation.

RIPLEY (voice-over): A troubling sign even for locals who live every day under threat from the nuclear arm North.

BAE RA-MI (through translator): The successful launch of North Korea's spy satellite means that their technology has improved that much.

RIPLEY: We're at North Korea's brand-new Satellite Control Center. In 2015, I met with senior officials at North Korea's Satellite Control

Center. They insisted their purpose was peaceful space exploration, even expressing outrage and ongoing speculation they were secretly operating a

ballistic missile development program.

UNKNOWN: Our peaceful launch was not a threat yesterday, a threat to you today, and it won't be a threat tomorrow.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Tomorrow has arrived. And this may be just the beginning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: CNN's Will Ripley reporting there. As we continue, investigators are trying to actually work out why this 2022 Bentley took to the air,

crashed, exploded, killing two people in the car, but what actually happened? It wasn't terrorism, so what actually happened?

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[12:50:00]

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QUEST: Okay, we know what happened, we don't know why. The pictures show the events that took place. You'll see there, there's the Bentley in the

distance. 2022 Bentley comes along, takes to the air, because it hit a curb, and it then crashes into the border posts at the Rainbow Falls

border. Athena's with me -- Athena Jones.

We just don't know why, do we? I mean, you were telling me earlier, the two people are on board, man and his wife, who'd been planning to go to a

concert and then going -- changing plans and this -- we don't know why.

ATHENA JONES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, we don't know why or we know that they were planning to go to a concert by the rock star "Kiss"

-- rock group "Kiss" in Canada. When that concert was cancelled, they came instead across the border, or they came to this casino, one of the casinos

here in Niagara Falls, and the accident occurred on the way back across the bridge to Canada.

Across the street from me, the car accelerated at a high, high rate of speed. You can still see on the ground where it tore up the ground as it

hit the curb and launched over this barrier here, landing behind that gray building. It hit a Customs and Border Patrol booth, injuring the agent

inside. He suffered minor injuries and has been treated.

But really a tragic accident. Authorities, investigators led by the FBI and all of their state and local partners were able to open and close this

investigation in a matter of hours. But a very stressful and frightening several hours because this occurred at a time when there is an increased

worry and concern about terrorism, including the acts of lone wolves. And lots of law enforcement agencies in different parts of the country are

already on high alert because of that and certainly they were here.

You know, when I arrived here last night, even after it had been resolved, Richard, one of the local law enforcement said that he was still kind of

amped up because they have had incidents in the past and they thought this might be one.

Luckily, no terrorism links, no explosives found in the vehicle, but it's still unclear why that 2022 Bentley accelerated so quickly and ended up

airborne, leading to the deaths of the two passengers. And it's going to take a while for them to figure out what happened because the car was

incinerated. Governor Kathy Hockel saying the only thing left was the engine.

So, still a lot of mystery here. The investigation has been turned over to the local police department. They're investigating it as a traffic

incident. So, luckily, it was very disruptive that day -- yesterday.

[12:55:00]

Now, three of the four-bridge crossings are re-opened. We don't know yet when this bridge, Rainbow Bridge, will reopen, but there is a way to get

back and forth across the border now.

QUEST: Athena, I'm grateful, thank you. Athena Jones is up on the border, and the reason, of course, there was so much concern with the question of

terrorism, just look at today's pictures --The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

Now, here in New York, it has finished, of course. Santa Claus was there to greet his fans. Gorgeous day in New York, absolutely, crystal clear. Cold,

but crystal clear, beautiful sunny weather. The parade times changed the first time in 97 years, half an hour earlier.

The balloons were there, the wind cooperated, there was no -- it's just one of those great events of the year. But it does show you why there's such

concern when you get incidents of potential terrorism. There you have the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

That's our report for this hour. I'm Richard Quest. I'm grateful for your time and attention. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Isa Soares, coming up next.

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END