With theirfamilies in israel. It follows Mediation Efforts by the gulf state of qatar, with hamas, designated as a Terror Organisation by many western governments, including the uk, saying they were freed for humanitarian reasons. Around 200 hostages are still being held in gaza, and israels airstrikes and total siege of the territory, cutting off food, water and medicines, will not end until all of them are freed. Desperately needed humanitarian aid has still not reached the besieged people of gaza. Emergency aid trucks stocked with supplies sit on the border with egypt, waiting to be let across the rafah crossing as part of a deal to allow in limited aid. Lets bring you more now on the fate of those two american hostages freed by hamas. Us President Joe Biden spoke with the two women after their release on friday, telling them that their government quote will fully support them as they recover and heal. And Secretary Of StateAnthony Blinken said hes relieved the women have been released, but reminded reporters 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. And our correspondent Barbara Plett usher has this report from 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, for 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. There is 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. They said they would release more if the Security Environment allowed. Reports said if the airstrikes was not this could be a possibility. Antony blinken was asked if this was a window of opportunity to follow up and he didnt really go there. He said the us position was all hostages should be released immediately and unconditionally and he said he would not take advantage value anything that hamas said. I spoke to Gina Abercrombie winstanley, president of the middle east policy council, and suzanne maloney, Vice President and director of the Foreign Policy program at the brookings institution, to get their thoughts on the hostage situtation. Good evening to you both. Very good to have you both on bbc news tonight. Gina, well start with you. The news of these hostages released can you give us an idea of what would have been going on Behind The Scenes to secure their release . Well, clearly for the last several days there have been negotiations supported by probably a number of parties. Certainly, the United States has been intent on doing all that we can to secure our own citizens, as any government would, working i know the israelis, of course, are doing the same and qatar has a very Important Role to play, because it is in that position of being able to speak with all parties. And this elevates qatar in comparison with several other countries in the region, that would be supportive of these negotiations. So no doubt the United States, to some extent the government of israel, the government of egypt, but really led by the government of qatar, who is able to speak directly to hamas, to effect the release of these two women. Yeah, they really appear to be very complex negotiations that were happening Behind The Scenes, gina. Suzanne, i want to bring you in on this and ask, you know, what do you make of this . Could we be witnessing the start of a De Escalation . I would love to believe that that might be the case, but i really have no reason for confidence that we are seeing anything that could lead to a broader De Escalation. I think the release of the two American Israeli Hostages is a credit to the incredibly tireless diplomacy of secretary Secretary Of State tony blinken, but also the wider efforts on the part of the Biden Administration to try to press for at least some pause by the israelis before a Ground Invasion begins, in order to do as much as might be possible to effect the release of as many hostages as possible. Now, the human toll has mounted throuhgout this crisis. More than 1,400 people have been killed in israel and at least 3,400 palestinians have been killed. On october 7, hamas attacks southern and Central Israel by land and air, Killing Israeli civilians and soldiers, in what has led some leaders to call it israels 9 11. Soon after, israel launches retaliatory airstrikes on gaza, with president Benjamin Netanyahu announcing that israel is at war. Strikes have continued from both gaza and israel. The very next day, israel declares a seige on the territory, saying it is cutting off gazas electricity and water until hamas releases hostages. On october 13, Israels Defense Force calls for all residents of gaza city to evacuate their homes and move south for their protection, ahead of a possible ground offensive. On october 17, hundreds of people are killed in an explosion at the Al Ahli Hospital at the centre of gaza city. It still has not been confirmed who launched the attack. Mr biden visited israel to show us support on october 18, vowing the us would help the country defend itself. He also pushed for humanitarian aid into gaza, securing 100 million in aid to palestinians and striking a deal with egypt to open its rafah crossing into egypt. Into gaza. But not everyone in the Biden Administration agrees with the us governments policy. Josh paul was a former state Department Official who resigned over the us response to the war. In a public letter, he explained his reasons for quitting. He walked through his rationale with my colleague Caitriona Perry earlier. You say in your letter that the Biden Administrations approach has been an impulsive reaction built on confirmation bias, political convenience, Intellectual Ba nkru ptcy and Bureaucratic Inertia. Can you explain what you mean by that . Surely. So, impulsive i think everyone was shaken and shocked by the horrific attacks of hamas on october 7 and lets not make any bones about it, those were absolutely an outrage and should be condemned forthright but there was an impulse there to say, ok, this something horrible has happened. What is israel asking for . Lets do everything we can. I say that there was Bureaucratic Inertia because, again, this has been the trend for many years, that when israel asks for something, we give it. And rather than pausing to think about what were doing, thats how we move forward. Confirmation bias in the sense that we see an attack, it confirms our bias that this is an enemy that must be defeated. And and there is certainly an argument to be made there but rather than standing back and looking at the broader situation and, again, looking at both sides. So i think in each of those respects. And Intellectual Bankruptcy, because this is something we have tried for years and years and years, and it has not led to security for israel. It has not led to peace. To talk more about the Biden Administrations policies, i spoke to emily harding, Deputy Director of the International Security program at the center for strategic and international studies. I want to get your thoughts on josh paul and his reason for leaving the state department. I think he had to do what he thought was best but i would disagree with a lot of his comments. I dont think Intellectual Bankruptcy is the way to look at this. Hamas� attack was heinous. The us has always been a staunch supporter of israel and against terrorism in all its forms. Supporting israeli to do what they felt they needed to do is important. It is important to have a debate of what the right course of action is. Kudos to him for study of what he believes in, but i disagree with his opinion. But i disagree with his opinion but i disagree with his oinion. ,. , ~ but i disagree with his oinion. ,. , y. , 4 , opinion. How do you think this is la ed opinion. How do you think this is played out opinion. How do you think this is played out for opinion. How do you think this is played out for the opinion. How do you think this is played out for the bidon is played out for the bidon administration, because that very balance between pressing israel on its operation in gaza but also standing behind is and supporting it has been a difficult one for the Biden Administration to walk . The Biden Administration to walk . Tue Biden Administration administration to walk . Tte Biden Administration has been very clear about its staunch support for israel from the go. I think bidon� s visit to israel during what is in essence a war really speaks to that. Further i think the Biden Administration is doing the right things when it comes to asking israelis hard questions about their plans but balancing that with support. And the diplomacy that Antony Blinken is carrying out any regents region speaks to a broader viewpoint as well. This isnt just an israel question. This is a regional question. Is a regional question. How difficult is a regional question. How difficult because is a regional question. How difficult because we is a regional question. How difficult because we werej difficult because we were talking earlier about a possible Ground Operation can you give us an idea of how difficult, because you have worked in counter terrorism, this will be for israel, given the situation on the ground. And we seen pictures of the rubble strewn everywhere. Tt rubble strewn everywhere. Tit will be an extremely difficult situation. Gaza is one of the most densely packed places on the planet. There are still civilians there despite the evacuation order. The tunnels and systems underneath the buildings that hamas have dug over decades are still in existence. The location of the hostages is mostly unknown. A guarantee Israeli Intelligence pauses are working hard to work out the location of the hostages to rescue them. But itll be a very difficult house house fight. The fallout from this war is having an impact in the wider region, with protests breaking out injordan, lebanon and egypt in response to the al ahli Arab Hospital explosion in gaza. Iran is urging muslim countries to sanction israel following the deadly explosion. Some countries in the region are calling for an immediate ceasefire. In a rare move, the Egyptian Government approved and even organised dozens of locations for protestors to gather. And in the west bank, crowds clashed with israeli forces. Smoke from burned tyres filled the streets as protestors hurled rocks at security personnel. 0n israels northern border with lebanon, there have been regular exchanges of gunfire between the Israel Defense forces and hezbollah, the group designated as a Terror Organisation by many western governments, including the uk, and which, like hamas, is financially backed by iran. The Israeli Military is now evacuating thousands more residents near the frontier, this time from the city of kiryat shmona. Its the Largest Community forced to move out as concerns grow that the israel Gaza Conflict could spread. Anna foster, has that story, from northern israel. A threat so close you can see it. This hezbollah Observation Post is metres from an israeli town. And thats why even more of this border is now emptying out. Today, kiryat shmona, a community of 20,000. But leaving isnt easy. In the shelter, this lady waits with a husband and three children. She has cancer, but since the war began all her medical appointments have been cancelled. Translation theyre evacuating today and i asked them to take i the sick people first. I know they evacuated others, but no one has reached out to me. The feeling is very scary, thats why i want them to evacuate my family as soon as possible. Even underground, efrat doesnt feel her twins are safe. She says the law bans locking the door of these public shelters and she fears another massacre, like the one in the south. This is israels defence. Thousands of soldiers digging in as the people move out. This is whats been happening all the way along the border. Fields turned into Forward Operating bases, Artillery Shells are being prepared, armoured vehicles are being readied. Israel has been doing as much as it can to strengthen and fortify this border. These Reserve Forces know that everything is different now. Not my first war, and i have never have seen such massive amounts of of units, all across israel, trained on scales weve never seen before at least not in my lifetime. These are some of israels darkest moments, and here, they hope there arent even harder days to come. Anna foster, bbc news, on the israel lebanon border. I was joined by our panel for more on the situation. Suzanne, weve heard the Biden Administration and allies Around The World warning iran not to get involved. How serious do you think the risk is of that actually happening . I think there is a real risk. 0bviously, i think there is a real risk. Obviously, as you said, iran is a very important backer of hamas, in addition to financial backing, iran has provided hamas and other Militia Groups around the region with considerable materiel support, especially in the form of missiles, which of course hamas and others have used against israel as well as against american interests and positions across the region. For the most part, i think the iranians prefer to stand back from the fire. They tend to light the match and then watch the region burn. But there are huge risks, particularly if we see continued action on the northern border the exchange of fire between israel, hamas fighters in southern lebanon, as well as hamas, as well as hezbollah, could draw this into a much wider conflict, and i think the iranians while theyd prefer to avoid direct fire themselves, its not inconceivable that they could get into the action. Get into the action. Gina, we saw president get into the action. Gina, we saw President Biden get into the action. Gina, we saw President Biden saying i get into the action. Gina, we i saw President Biden saying just this evening that he thinks hamas attacked israel as he was urging saudi Israel Normalisation of ties. Do you agree with that assessment . Well, i think theres good reason to support that assessment. It certainly was changing the focus of the middle east that it was increasingly moving the palestinian issue away from the centre of what the basis of relations and discussions, negotiations, in the region about various issues sat that certainly would be a part of it. I dont believe that we can ignore the longstanding lack of trust and hope that palestinians have in the palestinians have in the palestinian pa, the Palestinian Authority thats how hamas Got Into Pow