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The Situation Room

Israeli Hostages Released; Interview With Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired October 13, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

REP. DAVID KUSTOFF (R-TN): And everybody in the Middle East can see a finish line. And I have no doubt that President Trump is going to remain as engaged as he has been over these last several weeks and months to achieve that goal.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Let's hope.

Republican Congressman David Kustoff of Tennessee, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

KUSTOFF: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And there's more breaking news still to come here in THE SITUATION ROOM, dramatic scenes playing out in Gaza, massive crowds celebrating, swarming buses right now to greet the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees just released from Israeli jails.

We will have details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:27]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And welcome back to CNN's breaking news coverage of the release of the last living hostages from Gaza.

I want to tell you another story, the story of Elkana Bohbot, who was kidnapped from the Super Nova Music Festival. And as the attack unfolded, he told his wife and mother that he was helping to evacuate wounded people. And now his friends are looking forward to being reunited. So much joy there, some of his friends, as you see, celebrating his release, -- quote -- "My dear brother, we are waiting for you."

Elkana is the father of a little boy. And here is his son waiting at the hospital for his father's return. For two years, that little boy and his friends, they have been apart. Soon, that wait will end -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And, as you know, Pamela, these stories are so, so powerful, so emotional, these little kids finally after two years seeing their daddy up close. BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: Once again, it's just amazing what's going on. You watch it, and you appreciate it, but you get very, very moved by all of this, as I have and I know you have as well.

I want to continue following all the late-breaking developments out of the Middle East right now.

And joining us now is the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny .

Ambassador, thanks so much for joining us.

As you see these images of these young kids finally after two years, reconnecting with their dads that have been freed after all these -- after two years of captivity in these tunnels, for example, what goes through your mind?

DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: It's a historic day.

Wolf, we prayed for that day. We fought for that day. And to see the unification of the young boys -- some of them went to a party and they come back home after two years in captivity. We are grateful for President Trump, for Prime Minister Netanyahu.

But we also remember the sacrifice, the number of casualties. More than 2,000 civilians and soldiers died in those two years in order to bring us to where we are today. So we remember the heavy price, and also we have to remember that we still have the hostages who are deceased that are in Gaza.

They were supposed to arrive today. From what we are hearing, we haven't received good news about it. Apparently, Hamas is not delivering what they're supposed to in terms of the bodies of the deceased hostages. I hope that there will be some changes before the end of the day.

BLITZER: I know it's so important for these families to receive the remains, the coffins of these dead Israeli hostages, so that they can have a proper Jewish burial for them. That's so important for these families, as you and I well know.

Tell us a little bit about the conditions, both physical and mental, Ambassador, of the living, the living hostages, as we understand right now.

DANON: You know, Wolf, we took them to hospitals. They're being checked by doctors now.

From what I saw, they look OK. They communicate. Some of them need medical treatment that they haven't received for two years. But, overall, we are happy to see them like walking, actually, and speaking to their families. But it's a long process. It's going to take them a while to recover, to come back. But it was a miracle to think about where they were only a few hours

ago, in a tunnel in Gaza. And, today, they will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles with their family. That's something that we prayed for, and we are very happy to see those pictures.

But, as I said earlier, we have to take into consideration that we have to bring back all of the hostages. And also the -- when we look at the second phase, it is much more complicated. It will require a lot of efforts from the international community in order to make sure that Hamas is not regrouping and is not taking over control again in Gaza.

BLITZER: I want you to watch, Ambassador, one moment from this weekend, when the U.S. special envoy working for President Trump, Steve Witkoff, a man I assume you know, Steve Witkoff addressed Hostages Square here in Tel Aviv. Listen and watch this.

[11:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

(BOOING)

WITKOFF: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: When he mentioned President Trump at that hostage forum event, there was applause and cheers and "Thank you, President Trump."

When he mentioned Prime Minister Netanyahu, as you just heard, Ambassador, there are boos. There were a lot of boos in the audience. Is he the right person, this prime minister, right now to lead Israel at this critical moment in the country's history?

DANON: Well, I think that was an unfortunate incident.

At this moment, I think we should speak about unity and be grateful for everyone who were involved in the effort to bring back the hostages. But we have a democracy. The ones who decide about the future are the people of Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu was elected, and we're going to have elections in the next year. And the people of Israel will decide. So, in a crowd of a demonstration, where you had tens of thousands it's not elections. So I think, today, what we saw in the Knesset, in the Israeli Parliament, the support that both President Trump received and Prime Minister Netanyahu, it shows that the people of Israel are grateful for both of them for their efforts.

And when the time will come, the people of Israel will go again and will decide who will lead them in the future.

BLITZER: And we will see what happens during those scheduled elections for next year. Potentially, they could happen even earlier.

We will see what happens. Ambassador Danny Danon, thanks, as usual, for joining us. Good luck to you.

DANON: Thank you, Wolf. Thank you very much.

BLITZER: And coming up: tearful reunions in the West Bank. Newly freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees, some jailed for decades, embrace their families.

We will share that with you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:17]

BLITZER: The president of the United States, President Trump, welcoming to the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt several key world leaders who have gathered there for these talks on what happens next.

We're watching all of this, clearly President Trump very pleased, very happy as he receives these world leaders at this summit that's ongoing, just started in Sharm el-Sheikh. It's going to continue for a while. We will stay on top of it. He's individually welcoming all these leaders from Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere as well.

It's a very important moment indeed. We're following the breaking news coverage of what has been called phase one of this historic cease-fire that has been achieved thanks in large part to President Trump's efforts, the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Today's return of the last living Gaza hostages has also triggered the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, some who have been held by the Israelis for a long time. Take a look at this. This was the dramatic scene as some of them arrived earlier today in Gaza.

Let's go live right now to CNN's Nada Bashir. She's joining us from Ramallah in the West Bank.

What happens to the released prisoners and then detainees now that they're back in Palestinian custody, Nada?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Wolf, we were there when the buses arrived in Central Ramallah. We saw the prisoners taking off from those buses carried by the Red Cross, meeting with their family members once again.

It certainly was an emotional moment for many of those families. It's important to underscore, of course, that many of the 250 Palestinian prisoners, the vast majority were serving either long-term sentences or life sentences, some even multiple life sentences, for serious offenses.

So this is not something, of course, that many family members would have been anticipating outside of this cease-fire deal. And, of course, in addition to that 250, we also saw more than 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza who were detained over the course of the war, many of them without charge, being returned to the Gaza Strip.

And, as you mentioned, we saw that dramatic video of these Palestinian Gazan prisoners being returned to the Gaza Strip in those buses, huge crowds surrounding those buses as well. But, of course, there are also some, at least 150, who have been deported. These are individuals who are charged with violent crimes.

Many of them have been deported to Egypt, it's understood. And, of course, this was an important aspect of the cease-fire deal. It is an important part of the agreement that Hamas has long pushed for. There are individuals, of course, that they have pushed for, including senior political figures who were not released.

But, again, this is a significant moment here in the occupied West Bank and for the Palestinian community -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Nada Bashir in Ramallah in the West Bank for us.

Nada, thank you very, very much.

And we will continue our breaking news coverage, special coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:36]

BROWN: Welcome back to our breaking news coverage.

The last of the living Gaza hostages are now back in Israel. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees were also released today as part of phase one of the cease-fire agreement. President Trump is now in Egypt for a summit with world leaders.

With us here is CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Wow, what a day.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It certainly is, Pamela.

BROWN: We're all just trying to absorb how momentous today is, but then there's tomorrow and the next day and the next day. What does Gaza look like in these days ahead?

LEIGHTON: So, right now, Gaza, of course, is basically a pile of rubble, to put it bluntly.

Gaza has at least 90 percent of its structures that are either completely destroyed or damaged. So these places are not habitable. They're not livable.

And one of the key issues that's going to have to happen, Pamela, is, they're going to have to get the aid in there very quickly. There is aid that's moving in there right now, but the aid is going to have to come in really quickly in order to prevent not only starvation, but also possible deaths from frost as the winter comes in.

And that's going to be a critical thing for this area. They have to move quickly. They're trying to do that. All the U.N. and other aid groups are definitely poised to do this. But there's nothing like speed for something like this. And then when it comes to the security situation, you're looking at an area where there already is a contested area between Hamas policemen and various clans within Gaza.

Some of those clans have helped the Israelis. And there's a lot of fighting going on right now there. So this is going to be a very tenuous situation. Some people have likened it a bit to Mogadishu back in the '90s.

BROWN: Yes.

LEIGHTON: That is something that could happen, but the international community has to work very hard to prevent that from happening. This is a great day, but there's a lot to come for the future.

BROWN: So are you concerned a civil war will break out in Gaza?

LEIGHTON: Oh, I think it's very possible, because you have got a lot of clans that are part of the fabric of Gaza. So these are families that have lived there for centuries, and they have their own vested interests.

You have political groups like Hamas. You also have Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups. So there is a chance that these groups could go after each other. So this is why a peacekeeping force is going to be absolutely critical.

So what is happening now at Sharm el-Sheikh, where President Trump is at the moment, that is going to really, in essence, put things out for the future. And, hopefully, they will develop a plan to move a peacekeeping force in. But this is going to be a very dangerous area.

And if these clans and Hamas start shooting at each other in greater volumes -- they're doing that now to some extent. But if that happens on a mass scale, that is going to be a very dangerous place and it's going to be really hard to insert a peacekeeping force into something like that.

BROWN: So then what do you think about what the Egyptian foreign minister just said not long ago, calling for U.S. troops to be stationed inside Gaza? Do you see a scenario where that could actually happen?

LEIGHTON: It's certainly possible, but it's very much against what President Trump has said in his analysis of the situation.

And, basically, what President Trump has tried to do with the civil- military coordination center that they have developed, those 200 troops, the U.S. troops that are in Israel or about to be in Israel, those are supposed to be basically a command center for the peacekeeping effort in Gaza. There are not supposed to be troops on the ground.

[11:55:15]

And, really, 200 is not a sufficient number. You would need tens of thousands of troops, given the population of Gaza and the strength of Hamas, even in its decimated state. It would be very difficult to insert a force in there if it's not of sufficient strength.

So I think the Egyptian foreign minister's desire, I can understand why he would say it, but I think it's unrealistic. The Arab states are going to have to step up to make this happen. Otherwise, I don't see a lasting peace scenario possible for Gaza, unless there's something like an international force, but an Arab-based force, that does the kinds of things that need to be done to keep those sides apart and to allow the population of Gaza to get the aid that they need.

BROWN: Yes, hopefully, they get the aid that they need soon, two million people, around that number, very much in need.

LEIGHTON: Yes.

BROWN: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN's breaking news coverage.

I want to tell you the story of two of the hostages who were released from Gaza earlier today. Twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman were kidnapped from their home more than two years ago. They were separated in captivity. Today, they were among the first Israeli hostages to be released.

This was the moment their helicopter flew over Hostages Square right here in Tel Aviv. Watch this.

BROWN: You hear cheers erupt for the Berman twins as they made their way to a hospital. And this was inside the helicopter, both Gali and Ziv, you see right here, smiling, reunited. Their sign reads -- quote -- "The nation of Israel is alive. Thank you for everything."

Wow.

BLITZER: Wow, indeed, so emotional, so beautiful.

Before we go, amid all of the negotiations and meetings of world leaders, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge these 20 people, the remaining living hostages in Gaza who were all freed today.

BROWN: They are not just numbers. They are brothers, fathers, sons, and friends who were stolen on October 7, 2023, and are now finally back home.