Hamas video signals potential talks for new hostage deal
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Transcript
00:00 Let's start just with the families of the three people,
00:03 the three men, old men actually,
00:05 all in their 70s in that video.
00:08 You know, they were reassured to see them alive,
00:11 but one of the sons said, you know,
00:13 my father is usually fun loving, food loving,
00:16 roly poly, life loving,
00:19 and now he just looks old and exhausted.
00:21 And another woman said,
00:22 well, it is a great reassurance to see they're alive.
00:25 She doesn't know how long they have left.
00:26 So that's the first circle of influence.
00:29 Then I think it goes more widely.
00:31 The public is reminded that there are still hostages alive.
00:34 They don't have to come back dead
00:36 and there's pressure on the government.
00:38 And of course, you know,
00:39 the shooting of those three Israeli hostages
00:41 by Israeli troops on Friday night,
00:44 I think has the largest impact of all
00:46 because if anything has restarted these negotiations,
00:50 I think it's that, and perversely,
00:52 the release of the video is actually a sign
00:54 that things are moving along,
00:55 but it's definitely the restart followed
00:59 the death of those three hostages.
01:01 And you can see that it's gathering momentum.
01:04 - So what at this point,
01:06 do we know about those hostage negotiations?
01:10 - We know that yesterday,
01:13 three key figures who haven't met
01:16 since the last hostage deal and ceasefire deal collapsed,
01:21 they met and that is the president,
01:24 the prime minister, sorry, of Qatar,
01:27 the US CIA director and the Israeli Mossad director.
01:31 They met last night in Europe and they had a conversation.
01:35 Today, we are hearing from Palestinian sources
01:37 that the leaders of Hamas are going to go to Egypt,
01:42 also a player in this, of course,
01:45 they're going to go to Egypt for the first time
01:46 since the previous deal collapsed.
01:48 So you can see that there's motion.
01:50 And as I said, the release of the video is also a sign,
01:54 I think, that something is happening.
01:56 I don't know when it would happen.
01:58 I don't know what the terms would be.
02:00 What Hamas is saying is that it wants
02:02 a complete cessation of all warfare.
02:06 No more fighting before it will release anyone
02:08 and it wants every single prisoner held in Israeli jails.
02:11 So that's their ambit claim.
02:13 Let's see what would be agreed in the end.
02:16 But I think it's the first time since the last hostage deal
02:20 that I actually have felt there is some motion on this issue.