Were in israel visiting family. Hamas said the pair were freed for humanitarian reasons. The white house says that President Biden has spoken to the released us hostages and theirfamily by phone. In a Statement Issued shortly after their release was secured, President Biden said. Us Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken has said he was relieved the women had been released but reminded that many others are still being held. Theres still ten additional americans who remain unaccounted for in this conflict. We know that some of them are being held hostage by hamas, along with an estimated 200 other hostages held in gaza. They include men, women, young boys, young girls, elderly people, from many nations. Every single one of them should be released. Our correspondent Barbara Plett usher brings us more from inside the halls of the State Department. The release of the hostages disrupted the day here at the State Department. We were sitting down for the daily briefing, and then we were told that it would be delayed for two hours because of Breaking News. Now, they didnt say what the Breaking News was, but we knew what it was. And so when we returned to the briefing room, there was another delay and then Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken came up to speak. And this was an important moment for him, because he has really been pressing for the release of the hostages during his recent trip to the region, engaging in Shuttle Diplomacy between israel and the arab states. He was pressing for this, especially in qatar, which has taken the lead in trying to negotiate the release of the hostages because it has relations with hamas. Theres a hamas office in doha, so qatar has been working very hard on this. The Foreign Ministry there released a statement saying there had been days of continuous communication to get to this point with all parties and saying that the qataris would continue talks with hamas and with the israelis to try to get the rest of the hostages released, and hopefully that would help to de escalate the situation. Rabbi meir hecht in illinois Knows Bothjudith and Natalie Raanan personally. He spoke to me after the news of their release. Judith prays every week in our congregation, for every sabbath, every holiday, and we miss her and shes been a part of our congregation in such an important way, and as a family friend, someone who would come to our home every sabbath, parade around the house with our baby and bring over gifts for the children. Really, our hearts are filled with gratitude to almighty god for this miracle. And again, we continue to pray and ask everyone to pray for the release of the other 200 plus hostages in the hands of hamas terrorists. And what more can you tell us aboutjudith and natalie . As you say, theyre members of the congregation there. What kind of women are they . What kind of role do they have in the community there . Judith and natalie are really special people. Judith is the most kind, giving, sharing, generous person, someone who is always first to be there for other people in their time of need. She is a woman who would, as i said, come over, bring gifts for the children. Shes someone who loves life, loves humanity. Her daughter natalie is the same. Like mum, like daughter. These are people who have a love for every human being, and they are both artists, which means that they have a special touch of spirituality in their soul, something that theyre able to convey through the beauty of art. Earlier, i spoke with michael allen, the former special Assistant To The President at the National Security council, for his take on what concessions may have been made for the hostages release and the diplomatic issues surrounding the war. So i think it might give israel some hope that the Qatar Negotiation Channel with the leaders of hamas who are there in doha might bearfruit. They may they may give the Hostage Negotiations channel more time to work before going into gaza. Welljust have to see whether this is an isolated incident where hamas decided it was in their interest for these two american hostages to be let go or whether its a sign that they might be able to do more negotiations, perhaps hamas hostages for ones that israel has in prison, for whatever crimes they might have committed. Given your experience in this sort of field, do you think that something or someone may have been exchanged in place of these two women . My sense tells me that, yes, i believe the United States, maybe in an indirect way, could have possibly tried to facilitate a similar Hostage Release or maybe taken some sort of action that was requested by qatar, perhaps on behalf of hamas. Its too soon to say. I think in coming days, well know what, if anything, was negotiated here. But for now, at least, if it bears out, this will be good news coming into the weekend that this American Mother and her daughter are free. If we go back to that attack by hamas that triggered this latest round of intense conflict, it was a grand scale Intelligence Failure on the israelis behalf. What needs to be changed . What needs to be reformed there . Well, so often, i think intelligence entities in the Analysis Section start to believe conventional wisdom. I think they believed in this case that there would be no attack from gaza, that the gazans were interested in the economic passage, that many of the workers there had to come into israel. I think israel was distracted and thought that if any terrorism was to occur, it would come from the west bank or, of course, from the north, where theyre always engaged with iranian proxies. So i think they were looking in the other direction, and i think it will be incumbent upon all intelligence services, including ours in the five eyes and the uk and the United States, to constantly question their assumptions. I think also it would have been wise for the United States as we weighed a Normalisation Agreement between israel and saudi arabia, to have asked the question, whos going to oppose this and what might they do . I hope that analysis had been cast out and conducted some weeks ago. I hope that analysis had been tasked out but if not, its a reminder that we need to constantly be, as they say, red teaming our analytical conclusions, putting other teams on facts and trying to get them to discern or see if there are alternative conclusions that can be drawn on that point. On that point, weve seen a state Department Official resign over the approach that the us has taken, giving that unwavering support to israel. There is reporting that some other senior officials in the State Department are preparing a communication to come up the dissent channel, registering their dissatisfaction with the approach the us is taking. Whats your view on all of that and on how this policy may have been set out . Yes, i think there will be some level of discomfort within the State Department for those who view this, just as the publics Around The World view this. Its a very controversial, emotional issue. Many people in the United States are, of course, supportive of israel. But there are two ways to look at it, im afraid, and im certain that some people hope or would rather President Biden address more aggressively calls for a ceasefire and maybe even advancing a Two State Solution under the aegis of United States diplomacy. I dont think thats in the cards right now. I think President Biden, like many americans, is absolutely shocked at the horror and bloodlust coming out of the gaza strip last saturday, and so i think its going to take some time. Our experience here in the United States, of course, is september 11th. I think president bush and any democratic leader, frankly, would have rejected calls for diplomacy just after those attacks. So i think we understand when Prime Minister netanyahu, and even those that are usually his political opponents, when they all agree its a time of war for israel, i think they need to be given some time to try and root out hamas. And so i dont think its a really realistic Policy Outcome in the United States to start insisting upon israel that they enter into some sort of negotiations with a mediator with hamas after what theyve done. Ok, well leave it there. Michael allen, thank you forjoining us. Thank you. For more on those hostages returning home, and the wider regional conflict, my colleague Sumi Somaskanda spoke with the north Dakota Republican senator kevin cramer. Senator, thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news tonight. I first just want to get your reaction to the news that two american hostages have been released. Well, first of all, its impossible to be anything other than pleased by it, joyful about it, grateful, frankly, that at least a couple more people are free and they get to be reunited with their families. And thanks to everybody in the value chain that made that possible. Senator, are you confident that this is a sign, perhaps, that other hostages might also be released . Well, you know, its obviously. Wed like to get them all released. And right now would be a good time to do it since we couldnt get it done sooner. That said, hostages are hostages for a reason. Usually, theyre used for some motivation. And so well see. But obviously, two today is great, and lets hope that it leads to two later and two again and again and again. But in the meantime, we still need to be diligent, do everything we can to identify where they are and do everything we can to get them released, either by diplomatic means or by force if necessary. Hopefully, diplomatic means will do it. But this is where we need ourfriends in the region, like the qataris and like egypt and and otherfriends in the region, to help us with the diplomatic side of things. And that seems to be what happened here. I dont know what, if anything, hamas gets out of this or if theyre going to demand anything going forward, but were just grateful for these two for now. I want to ask you about what we saw from President Biden on thursday evening. He has said that hes asking congress for more than 100 billion in funding for israel, for ukraine, also some money for the us mexico border. And he said in his address that its, quote, a smart investment thats going to pay dividends for American Security for generations. Do you agree . Well, i agree that it can, but weve got a long ways to go to make it the type of package that actually does have forward leaning opportunities, that does, in fact, secure the Southern Border of the United States of america as well as other countries� borders. So were going to obviously have to work it over in the United States senate and certainly the house will as well. Its a collaborative process that gets to something that can actually pass. I dont think the amount is so horrible. That doesnt bother me. In fact, i wouldnt mind if it was twice as much as long as its put to a use that does in fact have a secure future. But at the same time, part of why we are here at the moment we are is because weve been projecting weakness both out of the white house and, frankly, out of the country for the last few years, as weve really neglected our military. Weve neglected rebuilding. So, senator, could ijump in there and just ask you. Could i ask you what youd like to see then instead from President Biden . Sure. What id rather see, quite honestly, is a United States of America National defence supplemental. And yes, ukraine is part of that. Yes, israel is part of that. Certainly, the Southern Border has to be the most important part of that, because what good is it to secure other nations if were not going to secure our own . But i think we need to recognise that weve been taking a peace dividend, really, for decades, and its caught up to us. We have a 60 year old Nuclear Deterrent and we need to modernise that. Our strategic posture is not what it needs to be. So what im saying is, lets rebuild our weapons systems, lets modernise our weapons systems, lets put more money into intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and next generation war fighters and make sure that the world is safer because the United States is stronger, much like Ronald Reagan and Maggie Thatcher did when they won the cold war without firing a shot. So you said, senator, that this request would need some work in the senate, in congress. If you look over at the house at the moment, theyve been without a speaker for two weeks. It doesnt look like the process is going to get resolved any time in the next few days, at least. What is your message to your colleagues in the house . Well, first of all, i would say to individual members of the house and i have many good friends over there, i served there for six years i would say, you exist for the congress. The congress does not exist for you. Put aside your petty differences and whatever disagreements you might have on an individual basis and look at the collective, and that is your colleagues, the other 434 members, whats good for the institution, whats good for the country and whats good for the world. Because right now, part of that projection of weakness, unfortunately, as a republican, it pains me to say this, but part of that projection of weakness is coming from the message coming from the House Of Representatives and the chaos thats ensuing over there. Because when a small group of people can sort of force the vast majority of people into a Compromising Position or a chaotic position, were not projecting the kind of strength that the United States needs to project. So its time to get over it. Now if, in fact, its hard to get over it, and i dont want to dismiss just how difficult it is when there are people that are hurting for various reasons or feeling disenfranchised, then lets then lets do the Patrick Mchenry thing. Lets go ahead and empower the Acting Speaker who doesnt want the job, which i think makes him smarter than most. He doesnt actually want thejob. Lets empower him to continue to function as a speaker so that the house can function in its responsibilities, notjust as it relates to the security of the nation and the world and this particular supplemental, and realise, again, were coming up against another fiscal cliff in less than a month. All right, senator, thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news tonight. My pleasure. Thank you. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news. 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The scandal is proving an embarrassment for miss meloni. Youre live with bbc news. In gaza, an estimated i million displaced palestinians continue to wait for desparately needed aid stuck at the Rafah Crossing on the egyptian side of the border. Un secretary general Antonio Guterres visited the crossing with egypt on friday, where hundreds of trucks are waiting at the border. Mr gutteres says he expects the first shipment of 20 trucks that President Biden