Hamas has apparently agreed to a tentative deal to free dozens of hostages. That deal is apparently now being considered by the Israeli government. It would release at least 50 women and children among the about 240 that have been held now for quite a few weeks. [00:00:16] In exchange for the hostages, Israel would have to agree to a three-to-five day pause in place in the fighting. Increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the release of an unspecified number of women and children held in Israeli prisons. This is not a case where they're trying to get captured, Hamas fighters back or [00:00:32] anything like that it'd be women and children for women and children. That is a thing that is now being considered. And diplomats from another number of countries, including gulf nations and the United States are involved in those negotiations. So, that would obviously still leave many of the hostages not [00:00:49] being returned, 50 is a lot. I'm not a diplomat. It's hard for me, Mondale, to judge whether Israel has any chance of agreeing to this. But, it's a lot of families who I'm sure are fingers crossed, hoping that they do. What do you think? >> Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, listen, if people are saying there should be no [00:01:09] ceasefire without hostage release, I think this should damn well go a long way, making Israel at least listen to what is being proposed. I'm confused by all of this honesty, John, and my confusion is not about the politics of it, right? [00:01:26] My confusion is why America is so silent on what's going on over there when we have so much influence. We give so many resources to that country, so as to be good allies to Israel. And I don't think anyone is. [00:01:42] But some people are questioning that. That's not my question, here's my question. Hamas membership, pre December, right of this year, or, I'm sorry, November of this year, was ten to 12 20000 Israel. [00:01:59] And I keep saying we in Israel, because the two are inseparable, have already killed over 13,000 people. If you've killed more than what their membership is, and it wasn't their membership, what is your end goal? I'm confused by this. [00:02:15] You've killed almost 13,000 innocent people. What is your end goal? Where do we stop at? Because if it takes you 10,000 to kill, if it takes you 13,000 individuals to kill a few hundred of Hamas, the numbers extrapolated means you [00:02:30] have to wipe out everybody in Gaza to get to the full membership. Is that what we're okay, with by not demanding a ceasefire? So I mean, I'm super frustrated with who and what Hamas is for sure, everybody who cares about humanity is. [00:02:47] But that does not address the fact that people the size of all of Hamas have been murdered, even though they had nothing to do with that organization. And I think this hostage thing on the Hamas side is still a distraction and they're playing politics. [00:03:02] A ceasefire is what we need, regardless of what Israel government and also Hamas have going on and what they're negotiating, period. And if we were serious, if we were being serious about putting an end to what Hamas represent, there'd be some real conversations with some of our allies outside of Gaza, i.e. [00:03:22] Qatar and also Saudi Arabia, about why they're housing the real leadership of Hamas. >> Speaker 2: Maybe that is a part of some of these negotiations going on behind the scenes. But it's a great point. And your point about the number that have been killed and [00:03:38] questioning how many need to be. I would love to hear all of these people sitting on their shows and advocating for the violence to continue. Is there a line? Is it 20,000 civilians? Is it 20,000 kids? [00:03:55] Is it 20% of all of those who live in Gaza? Where is the line, if any, that you are drawing on when it finally becomes unacceptable the war strategy that's being pursued? [MUSIC]