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00:00 Well, for more on this, I'm joined now on set by France 24's journalist Shirley Sitburn.
00:05 Hi, Shirley.
00:07 These hostage families have already been through so much and they will have known this wasn't
00:15 going to be straightforward.
00:16 What can you tell us about what they're thinking?
00:19 Yes, since the beginning, they've seen all these ups and downs, so many disappointments
00:23 because Qatar and Egypt have tried to mediate a deal from the beginning.
00:28 And we've seen either side, either the Israelis or Hamas, just blocking these deals for various
00:34 reasons.
00:35 And yesterday, although the deal seemed almost certain, everyone was telling these families,
00:41 don't rejoice, don't feel relief right away.
00:45 You have to wait until this really is carried out because there's so many things that can
00:49 happen and that can delay this or make this actually not happen.
00:53 The exact identity of the people coming back, they told people, it's not because you have
00:57 a child who's a hostage that they're going to come back tomorrow.
01:00 You never know.
01:02 This is a deal on several phases.
01:03 It's extremely complex.
01:05 So what we're seeing now is that all sides are saying this hasn't been signed, there
01:11 are disagreements.
01:12 So basically, the Israelis say that they don't have the exact list of the hostages that will
01:17 be released in several stages and their state of health.
01:21 And Qatar says that their last minute disagreements over the deal, there are still some, I think
01:27 some holes in this deal and they're being negotiated right now.
01:30 And Qatar says this main mediator with Egypt saying that they hope that within a few hours,
01:35 they'll be able to say when the ceasefire will begin and when the swap hostages and
01:40 prisoners can start.
01:42 So families are very disappointed, but they're waiting, hoping for good news during the day.
01:48 And the Americans also saying that this is such a complex deal.
01:52 It has to be thought to the last detail.
01:55 Otherwise, lives are at stake.
01:56 Of course, lives are at stake also when the deal is not carried out and these operations
02:01 continue in the Gaza Strip.
02:04 So another day of waiting.
02:06 Meanwhile, on the Palestinian side, what in this deal that is going to impact the Palestinians
02:12 is, of course, the pause in fighting and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
02:18 Do we know who will be released?
02:20 Do we know much about what aid will get in?
02:23 Well, we know many things.
02:25 We talked about the ceasefire.
02:26 Of course, there is Hamas and there are the civilians.
02:29 Completely different.
02:30 Hamas, well, of course, it wants a ceasefire.
02:33 And the Israelis are saying it wants to rebuild, to regroup and maybe perhaps just stop the
02:39 Israeli push on the ground, maybe bring an end to this war and not go through all this
02:46 fighting.
02:47 But the civilians, the more than two million civilians living in the Gaza Strip, they see
02:51 the ceasefire as a relief because they've been facing this fighting, these bombings
02:56 and all of these deaths for such a long time.
02:59 And a ceasefire, this deal is not just about a swap.
03:03 It's about a truce and a halt to all of these bombings and seeing aid at last coming in.
03:11 They need food.
03:12 They need water.
03:13 They need medicine and they need fuel.
03:15 And hundreds of trucks will come in.
03:17 They're supposed to come in and the fuel will help, you know, help get electricity, mainly
03:23 for hospitals, but for everyone.
03:25 Everyone has shortages.
03:27 And what the Gazans also want and what Palestinians also want, of course, you talked about this
03:33 release of prisoners in exchange for the hostages.
03:35 And those people yesterday, the Israelis have released a list of 300 potential prisoners
03:43 who could be released.
03:45 Most of them are teenagers.
03:47 They're called security prisoners by the Israelis.
03:49 The Palestinians see them as political prisoners.
03:53 And there are also dozens of women in this list.
03:56 So about half of the people will, if the deal goes through, will be released, some 150 people.
04:03 And if everything goes well, if it does start, it goes well.
04:06 Well, maybe there'll be more releases in time, more hostages and more prisoners released
04:10 later on.
04:11 We'll see this how for how long this goes and if it goes according to plan and even
04:15 better to the plan.
04:17 That's what everyone hopes.
04:19 Indeed.
04:20 Thanks very much, Shelly Sitbon there.