no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. hello again everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm fredicka whitfield alongside my colleague wolf blitzer in tel aviv. following an agonizing 50 days held by hamas, today jubilation in the streets of israel as another 17 hostages are now returned and safe. it's the third exchange of hostages as part of a four-day truce in hostiles between hamas and israel. right now the 13 israelis released as part of today's deal are being treated in hospitals. among them, 4 combrrd american abigail edan. she was the youngest american captured by hamas on october 7th. an additional four foreign nationals including three thai nationals and a russian-israeli dual citizen. let's send it over to wolf. >> fred, thank you very much. we have a team of our correspondents covering all these developments. matthew, what more are you learning about the conditions of the hostages released today? >> reporter: wolf, we're not being told about the medical condition of those hostages. we know there are nine children amongst the israelis released in this third group of people to be released from gaza under this hostage deal. the majority of them, if not all of them, and it's not exactly clear, are expected to come here, talking about the children now, here to the schneider medical facility which is on the outskirts of tel aviv. you can see right behind me is that hospital. there's also a helicopter landing pad which is a few meters from where i'm standing n now, the ambulances preparing to receive those former hostages when they come here. we don't know exactly when they're going to arrive, but amongst them is the hostage family forum, the support agency set up to help these families. saying abigail edan, 4 years old. she had a birthday on friday inside gaza as a hostage, is one of the people expected to be brought here by helicopter in the next few minutes, perhaps 20 or 30 minutes away. we don't exactly know. the world that she comes back to, wolf, is going to be dramatically transformed from the one that she was snatched from back on october 7th. her family members say that abigail may not be aware that she is now an orphan. both her mother and her father were killed on october 7th in the kibbutz of kif far as sa where hmgs broke in and undertook that rampage. other children also returning potentially to this schneider medical facility into a transformed world. we're talking about the children of the almog children. shen almog is the mother of the children. they've lost their father and they've lost a sister as well. we're also expecting to see later on hagar brotouch and her children. i spoke with the husband. he lost his wife and three children, held hostage in gaza. hei spoke to him earlier and he said he was very relieved to see them after more than 50 days. >> matthew chance reporting from the schneider children's medical center right outside tel aviv. cnn's jeremy diamond is joining us from orim, israel. what more are you learning about the process to get these hostages home and safe? >> reporter: wolf, we are learning a little more information about the reason why these hostages returned to israel not through that crossing further south between israel, gaza and egypt where we've been the last few nights where we witnessed the hostages entering israel, but instead near one of the sites of the terrible massacre on october 7th which is right behind me effectively. the main reason why is because one of those hostages, 84-year-old el ma abraham was in serious medical condition and required immediate evacuation. we're told she was medically evacuated directly from the gaza strip by the israeli military and onward to a hospital in israel. the rest of those 12 hostages entered directly near the area of kibbutz ari. we saw the convoy coming right down the way to the air force base nearby. from there they're being taken from helicopter to hospitals like the one matthew was just reporting from. we also know these hostages have been through a terrible or deal. that is why they have -- there's a whole range of preparations that have been made for them. medical, psychological, social services all made available for them at the various hospitals. as mathew was just saying, many of them are returning to a different reality where most of their family members -- most of them have either had a family member killed or still captive in the gaza strip. that's also an important point to remember. as some of these israeli hostages are freed, many family members are so elated to see them home, yet so many of them still have families held hostage in gaza. >> jeremy diamond, thank you very much. i want to bring in cnn's nada bashir. as part of today's agreement, 39 additional palestinian prisoners held by israel are set to be released. do we know when they might be free? >> reporter: we have seen some of the 39 prisoners crossing and now arriving in central ramallah where we have seen, once again, huge crowds gathering, palestinians in the occupied west bank, gathering to welcome and celebrate the release of these prisoners, all of those released today on the third day of that truce between israel and hamas are teenagers, one as young as 14 years old. the majority held under administrative detention, no charges laid against them, no ongoing legal process. as we have seen over the last three days, this has been for many palestinians, a huge moment of hope for those detainees and prisoners, but also for their family members and loved ones. we have seen over the last few days a bit of uncertainty around the release of these detainees and prisoners, the list of who set to be released. it's uncertain on what time they are to be released. we've seen family members and parents waiting to hear if their loved ones would be on the list. a total of about 150 palestinian women and children currently held in israeli custody are set to be released. this, of course, if the terms of the truce agreement are upheld and we continue to see the release of israeli hostages held capity by hamas in gaza. we spoke to some of those teenagers who were released yesterday. 33 of them were released yesterday. many of them spoke to us about the conditions they faced inside those prisons and the miss treatment they faced inside prisoner. the hope is for many palestinian families across the occupied west bank and jerusalem, they'll continue to see their loved ones released, if there is an extension of that truce agreement. >> nada bashir reporting from jerusalem, thanks very much. i want to go to cnn's oren liebermann just north of tel aviv. i understand you're at a hotel where we're told some of the members of kibbutz el as sa are being held. >> reporter: many have come here to this kibbutz about 10 or 15 miles north of tel aviv. this is where they set up a big screen to watch the unfold dings on israeli tv. watch the pictures as their loved ones, friends and families came out of gaza in some seven weeks. we had a chance to speak with one of the women whose husband was murdered on october 7th. she said the last seven weeks have been seven weeks of hell. she said to finally see some of those that she knows coming out of gaza, an incredibly emotional moment as each new picture came up, each clip of video of the newly freed hostages making their way out of gaza and into israel, there was more applause, more cheering, more hugs and for the first time in so long for many of these families, there was more happiness. spokesperson rear admiral daniel hagari, they said for all of the hostages released, they have a family member killed or still held hostage. that gives a sense of the pain this community has been through and how important this day was and how they came together watching what urn folded here. they say there are members of the community held hostage in gaza. they hold their breath for those releases as they do for the release of all the other hostages still held in gaza. >> oren lieberman, thank you very much. cnn's priscilla alvarez is at the white house watching all this unfold. what else is the president saying on a day when we saw the youngest american held by hamas finally freed and safe? >> the president, wolf, welcomed the news. he celebrated that abigail edan, who is the youngest, 4 years old, was released. she's the first american hostage as part of this group released by hamas. he talked about what she had endured, both during captivity and also on october 7th when both her parents were killed. her siblings, though, still alive. the president said she had endured terrible trauma and what she had gone through was, quote, unthinkable. the president didn't have details on her condition. white house officials have been working furiously behind the scenes and around the clock to try to secure the release of hostages and especially american hostages. the president expressed some confidence that there would be additional releases, two american women they're trying to seek the release of. the president also hopeful this pause in fighting could be extended. u.s. officials have said that israel has agreed that, if hamas were to release ten hostages, that they would add a day in the pause in fighting. the president speaking the that and telling reporters that he's hopeful there could be more hostages out and more aid going into gaza. take a listen. >> critically things are going in and hostages are coming out. building on the results is my goal, our goal, to keep the pause going beyond tomorrow so we continue to see more hostages to come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in gaza. >> reporter: the president said he plans to speak to prime minister benjamin netanyahu. we're awaiting more details on that call. for now, the president making clear he's celebrating and welcoming the news of abigail edan now being in israel. >> priscilla alvarez, thank you for that report. one u.n. aid agency says the aid trucks moving into gaza right now are still just a drop in the ocean, his words, when it comes to what is actually needed for the people in gaza. i'll speak with someone from that agency to get more on what conditions are like inside gaza. we'll do that when i come back. as part of the temporary truce agreement, up to 200 trucks of badly needed aid per day are crossing into gaza. let's bring in julia, from unra. u.n. agency for palestinian refugees. your spokesman said that the aid getting in is just a drop in the ocean. i know you were just in gaza. give us your thoughts, how great is the need right now. >> huge, huge needs, and also very, very visible. in one of the visits to one of our shelter, it was overcrowded. 13,000 people literally on top of each other. people keep coming in in search mainly for protection, including in just the past few days. we cannot cater for those needs. we are simply overwhelmed. we're currently hosting 1 million people. this is unprecedented. it doesn't happen. the united nations normally does not do that. so any supplies that are coming in are going to be extremely helpful and we hope to get more. >> what are the challenges of getting that aid to the parts of gaza where it is needed most? >> the needs are everywhere. they're overwhelming everywhere. the assumption that some areas are less in need or more in need is not accurate. 2 million people have been impacted by this war. 1.7 million people were forced to flee their homes. some families are hosting relatives and friends. what's also needed is to support the private sector to get back on its feed. when we were driving around in southern gaz va, every shop was closed, the pharmacies were closed. there were a few vegetable stores. while humanitarian aid is extremely helpful, what we need right now is a boost of the private sector. in the long term humanitarian aid can't do it alone. >> what do you expect to happen with the aid to gaza once this temporary truce is over? >> it's hard to predict. with the velocity and the volume of this war have been phenomenal. it's hard to predict. what we hope for is for this temporary pause to continue for aid to continue to come in, for fuel to continue to come in which is really excellent that we've had fuel coming in and also cooking gas for the first time since the war began. we hope that the pause continues, it materializes anything something more long term and that aid continues to flow and bit by bit supplies for the markets. >> juliet, can you also give us an update on the state of hospitals in gaza, particularly the al shifa hospital that was the focus, as all of us now, of some serious fighting? >> well, our colleagues from the world health organization have been to the hospitals. my cleans from unrwa helped them with the evacuation of the babies, if you remember last week. the hospital turned into a death place and it's no longer functional. there continue to be some people in the hospital. there were a few ambulances sent to the north of gaza as part of this pause and part of the aid that has been coming in it's almost non-functional. >> juliette touma, director of communications for unrwa. good luck. we appreciate what you're trying to do. there's word that several countries including the united states are working to extend this temporary truce beyond the agreed-upon four days. we'll head live to cairo for details right after a quick k break. we're continuing to follow our breaking news. i'm wolf blitzer in tel aviv. the third group of hostages released by hamas is now safe here in israel. their release ends more than seven weeks of captivity in gaza. among the 17 hostages handed oefrd to the international red cross today is the first american freed under this temporary truce, 4-year-old abigail edan is now safe, thank god. she was the youngest of the americans captured by hamas back on october 7th. cnn's larry meadow is in cairo. i understand egypt, qatar and the united states are working behind the scenes to try to extend this temporary truce. what's happening on that front? >> reporter: wolf, that is a possibility that hasn't been confirmed by either the united states, qatar or egypt. president biden said today it's his desire to extend the truce until the hostages are released. the qatari foreign ministry says they're working to build on the momentum to ensure the truce goes on for longer, and any such extension would be a delicate process involving the -- hamas would want more detainees released from israeli custody. on the other hand, the israelis want all the hostages released. we know it was built into this deal for every ten hostages released, another day of a pause in fighting is gained. if hamas can release ten more hostages every day. that will be useful if they can increase the number of detainees from israel that are released, there's a lot of diplomatic effort to try to get to work. we know all of these things could fall apart at a moment's notice. one saying they don't want to -- this is an effort to do that if that's an announcement. we'll probably hear it today or tomorrow when this truce is supposed to end. >> larry, what's the status of that desperately-needed aid getting into gaza? >> reporter: we know today more trucks have been coming in, seems to be at a faster clip. friday was the record, saturday hit a record. we're waiting for final numbers from the egyptians to confirm. the numbers we rely on from the palestinian red cross that can confirm with the u.n. that these trucks that came in from the egyptian side, through the rafah border crossing got checked by the israelis and allowed to unload into palestinian trucks made their way across the strip. so far they say at least 100 trucks made it to northern gaza which is important. there's been a lot of release, so many people able to go to market, get essential supplies. people are grateful as you can hear from this one person. >> larry, thanks for the reporting. i'm joined by aaron david miller, former state department middle east negotiator, a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. always good to see you and to talk to you. what's your takeaway on how this three-day hostage release has played out so far and the significance of today's release of a 4-year-old american girl, a hostage? >> given the fact that israel and hamas are not negotiating directly, given the fact that to say the least there's no confidence or trust between them. a day or two from now, wolf, they may resume efforts to kill one another. the reality is i think it's going remarkably well. that's because both hamas and the government of israel under great pressure. hamas clearly wants to buy time and trade hostages for the possibility of constraining or even derailing an israeli campaign, and the netanyahu government is under tremendous pressure from hostage families to redeem those people from the battlefield. in this case, from being cruelly abducted by hamas on october 7. so this is a process that seems pregnant with real possibility. complications, but possibility and i expect that, in fact, there will be an extension for a few more days. we'll wait and see whether or not that proves to be true. >> aaron, earlier today, just a little while ago, president biden said this release is -- in his words, is proof that this is working, and we just learned, by the way, over the past few minutes that president biden and prime minister netanyahu actually spoke once again today. do you think it's likely this deal, this temporary truce will be extended? >> i do. again, i think it's to hamas' advantage to drag and play this out. it's to mr. netanyahu's advantage to produce results under pressure from hostage families. president biden -- wolf, look, i think president biden has a clear moral interest in seeing these hostages released. also, it doesn't take much to read between the lines to understand the administration is pressing to continue this process, not just to get americans and the rest of the hostages back, but to surge humanitarian assistance into gaza. the administration is unders great pressure on that front and also to see if they can constrain, if not delay further ground campaign on the part of the israelis. i think that's a clear motivation on the part of the administration. secretary blinken is reported to be traveling to israel. qataris were there, egyptians will be pressing. i think the focus is shifting from ground campaign to extended period of negotiation to release hostages. >> we're told that secretary blinken is going to be here in israel within the next couple days or so for important talks with the prime minister and other israeli leaders. israeli officials are signaling they do plan to resume their military offensive when this temporary pause or truce, whatever you want to call it, expires. with the israeli defense minister gallant actually saying, and i'm quoting him now, any further negotiations will be held under fire. is that a negotiating tactic you think? or is it possible israel will end this truce after the initial four days and resume all the air strikes and the military activity in gaza? >> according to channel 12, wolf, there's 177 hostages that remain, 61 women and children and 116 if i'm doing the math right, adult males, including israeli soldiers. so you could see another six days, if you get a day of humanitarian pause for each of the 61 women and children, you could see another five or six days. i don't think hamas is going to be willing, frankly, to trade the adult, certainly not the 30 or 40 -- how ever many idf troops they hold. it's an insurance policy. the israelis are going to be pressing, greatly frustrated i think, to resume a ground campaign. if hamas ends up rem