situation room live from tel aviv. i will see you tomorrow at noon eastern. happening now, breaking news. hamas releases 11 more civilian hostages from gaza on this, the first day of a temporary truce. back in israel where hospitals are preparing to treat them after more than seven weeks in captivity. the pause of hostilities has gotten. right now about this very fragile agreement. also tonight, my special interview with the uncle of a 13-year-old hostage who was freed on saturday without, repeat without, her mother despite demands from israeli officials. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in tel aviv israel, and you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. the breaking news this hour, moments ago israeli hostages began arriving at the hospitals here in tel aviv, just hours after hamas released 11 more civilians from gaza. with a trace of extension now in effect, we expect additional captives to come home in the immediate days ahead. cnn correspondents are standing by here in the middle east, as well as back in washington. they have new details. first let's hear from cnn's oren leeberman who has a closer look at all of today's very dramatic developments. >> reporter: a nation celebrates as more israeli men and women feel freedom. the truce extended for 48 hours, sealed with the release of hostages. already some of the freed hostages like moses are being discharged from hospitals, ready to head home. >> i need to tell you how amazing you are, really, for everything you have done. >> reporter: meanwhile, others rejuice in their first moments, a reunion. among those freed over the weekend, four-year-old israeli american, still the only u.s. citizen to be released from gaza. all of monday's group. the truce said to be extended by two days. hamas will release another 20 women and children and israel will release 60 from prison. the temporary cease fire will last a bit longer. >> we will return to fighting. we will apply the same force and more. therefore, this is the mission now. >> reporter: the pause revealing a hellscape in parts of northern gaza with barely a building left untouched. a few days of quiet does not mean peace. >> i came from the north. there is nothing left in the north. the north has become a large plane. nobody knows where their houses are. we don't know what happened to us. overnight, we became displaced from the north to the south. >> reporter: aid trucks are bottlenecked at the truck to gaza, needing relief for the crushing humanitarian crisis. palestinians rallied as women and children have been released. according to the palestinian women society, twice as many have been detained since friday. at best, this remains an uneasy truce between two sides that vow to keep fighting as the sun sets on the first stage of this agreement. >> reporter: and oren is with me here in tel aviv. what do we know about the locations of these 11 hostages? >> we saw that video a moment ago. that was one of the helicopters landing at the hospital which isn't that far away from us right now. that, according to the ministry of health, is where today's group of 11, 3 women, 8 children are being taken today. we heard from the idf that a number of other helicopters left. they will also be headed to this hospital. they have undergone their first group or their first batch, i would say, of preliminary health checks to make sure they're okay. obviously, they will follow up on those checks as they get here. that includes physical health checks but also mental health checks. one more point that's worth making, when this process began, israel released a list of 300 names who could be released from israel jails in exchange for the release of prisoners. the prime minister's office added 50 women to that list saying they too could be released if more israeli hostages are released. we know the process will continue for at least 48 hours. it seems israel is preparing for the possibility of it continuing beyond that. it will require a massive diplomatic effort to get there. but at least some of the pieces appear to be moving into place. no guarantees yet. but a tremendous amount of international effort will try to get it over that line. first, of course, let's see the next 48 hours. >> yeah. let's hope all of those hostages eventually come home and home soon. oren, thank you very much. right now i want to bring in jeremy diamond. he's at a keyboarder crossing where the hostages were brought back into israel today. jeremy, what did you see today? and what's the status of these freed hostages right now? >> well, wolf, we have witnessed israel hostages leaving -- coming into israel via this crossing and entering israel via motorcade the first two nights of this hostage release scheme. tonight, wolf, was the first night we saw helicopters landing at the border crossing and then taking off shortly thereafter with hostages aboard and landing later on at the hospital in tel aviv. wolf, we saw these held cicopte coming in right by our position, landing before the -- departing shortly thereafter. this is the second night in a row, wolf, that these hostages have been brought directly into israel from the gaza strip by passing that initial stop in egypt via the rafah crossing. yesterday, we saw that happened near central gaza but today happening at this crossing, which has really been shut down between israel and gaza since that attack on october 7th. so a very notable moment. a very notable development in the way in which these hostages are being brought back into israel. we know the hostages are being brought to a hospital where they are going to face all kinds of care, psychological, medical, et cetera. the question now, wolf, is how will this continue over the coming days. we know that truce has now been extended for two additional days to allow for the release of 20 additional civilian hostages, but questions remain about the days to come after that. hamas does not have all of those hostages in its captivity that others are with other militant groups as well. so questions about their ability to bring them in. >> and, jeremy, what's the situation inside gaza for civilians during this temporary truce. >> well, wolf, these last four days have offered a much needed respite for the people of gaza, who have suffered continuous nonstop bombardment for over seven weeks inside the gaza strip. it has been an opportunity for people to take stock of what they have left, to bury their dead in some cases and to try to retrieve belongings from their home, some of which have of course turned to rubble. there have been hundreds of aid trucks that have been able to enter gaza in recent days, also provided much needed aid, including in the northern part of the gaza strip which has not seen much aid enter it until this humanitarian pause went into effect. much more aid, wolf, could still come in if this truce is extended. >> yeah, good point. jeremy diamond reporting for us. jeremy, thank you. no americans are among the hostages released today, something i pressed a key white house national security official on earlier in the day. here's john kirby. listen in. >> it's difficult to know and tos a tan how they make up these lists. we are working hard to keep this flow of hostages going. glad to see there is a two-day extension and we would hope in the next two days, in this next couple of installments that we'll see some americans coming out. >> let's go to washington right now where chief national security alex mark is joining us. why were american hostages not released today? and where the u.s. goes from here in order to try to get them home? >> wolf, you can sense the disappointment from the white house. during the four days of pause when 50 women and children were to be released that those americans would get released at the same time. there was an expectation. president biden said this several times that three americans would get released during those three days. there was young abigail adan and two american women. that did not happen. now, you heard john kirby confirm to you no americans were released today, talking about how he hopes the flow of hostages will keep coming. there is certainly a hope from the biden administration that during these two extra days that not only will more aid go into gaza, that more hostages are released, but specifically that these two american women will be released as well. you have to imagine that hamas understands the value of these hostages, understands the value and the potential of holding on to these american hostages so that they can get more of a pause. and, wolf, certainly the biden administration is applying pressure to hamas to get these american hostages released. we know that earlier today president -- that secretary of state antony blinken spoke with his qatar counterpart. we know over the holiday weekend, president biden spoke with the prime minister of israel about this extension in the pause and about getting those americans home, wolf. >> all right. thank you, alex. coming up, i'll get reaction to the latest hostage release and the extended truce from a senior adviser to the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. also ahead, my special interview with the uncle of a 13-year-old little girl released from hamas captivity but without her mother. why israel says that's a clear-cut violation of their agreement. you're watching cnn's breaking news coverage of the israel-hamas truce now extended by two days as more hostages are released. let's bring in the senior adviser to the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. thank you for joining us. first of all, what, if anything, if you tell us about their condition? >> obviously they have just arrived. and they go through thorough medical inspections when they arrive. we want to make sure they're okay and, of course, psychological. we have to see how they are from the point of view of their psychological state, after being over 50 days hostages held by hamas, it can't be easy, especially for the children. we can presume they have gone through a level of trauma. >> the temporary truce has been extended for another two days, another 48 hours. what will it take from israel's perspective to extend it even more? >> there is a cabinet decision from last week which said four days, as agreed. >> so the first four days are now over? >> yes. 50 hostages, that finishes tonight. then it was open ended in that israel agrees to the continuation of this special humanitarian pause each day for ten hostages. so in many ways you can say hamas will decide how long this will last for because as long as they keep releasing hostages to the day, the humanitarian pause will continue. so people who want to see the pause continue should be putting pressure on hamas, continue to release hostages. >> cnn confirmed there are nine american hostages still being held by hamas in gaza. what is it going to take to get those nine american hostages out? >> you have to ask hamas. they're deciding who is coming out. at the moment, preferential treatment to children and women for obvious reasons. and i think that will continue for the time being. i don't know. i remember the americans talking about there were two women amongst the americans. so maybe they will be coming soon. i hope so. >> why do you think only one has been released so far? >> that you have to ask hamas. >> do you think there is a political decision on the part of hamas or anything? >> it is very difficult to read hamas. the only thing we can say for certain, wolf, is they are brutal and they are fanatical. today they released twins, three-year-olds. what sort of people kidnap three-year-olds? you have to be sick. there has to be something wrong with you. unfortunately, that's the enemy we're dealing with. every time we get one of these releases, it is like pulling teeth. it is never easy. hamas is a terribly difficult interlocutor. >> you probably know this. says the military will fight with even stronger force when combat resumes against hamas. is there any concern these sorts of comments should disrupt continuation of the release of hostages? >> on the contrary. this went -- the fear hamas has of israel resuming combat actually is an incentive for them to continue with the pause because they know when israel goes back to the campaign against hamas, we'll be destroying their military and in infras infrastructure. we will be taking out their senior leadership, their senior command. they will be on the receiving end of massive blows from the idf. that motivates them now to keep this time-out. so actually, the two goals of destroying hamas militarily and at the same time getting hostages out, they compliment each other. >> different but related matter, there is an increased amount of violence imploding right now on the west bank. israeli settlers are going after palestinians right now. you have seen all those reports. president biden even complained about what's going on in the west bank. how concerned are you about this? >> the prime minister has spoken about this and he opposes any vigilante violence. he's gone to the settlers themselves and said, this has to stop. he said the police and law enforcement community will bring people who break the law to justice. he says, though, it is important not to blame the entire settlement community, the overwhelming majority, the law-abiding tax paying citizens. they're good people. there is a small minority. there is no tolerance for them. but if one looks at violence in the west bank, it is not matched. but if you look at the terror coming from the palestinians, what are we doing today? you have hamas cells across the west bank, and we have been pre-empting. we have been arresting people in the middle of the night and taking out hamas extremists, dealing with the terrorists there to keep the situation calm. compared to what's going on in gaza, we're managing to keep the level of violence in the west bank low, and that's a good thing. >> let's hope it stays low. keyword low. thank you very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. all right. there is more breaking news we're following, including my emotional, very special interview with the uncle of a young teenage girl released by hamas this weekend without, repeat without, her mother. we're following breaking news here in the middle east. the newly extended truce between israel and hamas with hamas releasing more hostages. israel is handing over palestinians in its custody. israeli law allows palestinian prisoners to be detained indefinitely without a trial or formal charges. >> the moment a mother finally sees her daughter for the first time after eight years in an israeli prison. the relief, the anguish, the utter joy. she was the first wave in prisoner exchange between israel and hamas. >> it was painful because i was leaving the sisters i made inside prison. and i feel like my freedom was paid for with the blood of the 14,000 gazans killed. >> israeli authorities say no one was injured, and, yet, she was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to ten years. when her family appealed, it came down to nine. she served almost eight of those years, spending the remainder of her teenage years behind bars. her family maintains her innocence. fatima had dreamed of this day for years, to embrace her daughter, to share that joy with her community. she says this was denied. >> the israeli authorities were with us from 2:00 p.m. they surrounded the house and ripped down the decorations of any display of celebration. they stole the joy of my daughter's release. >> to be released doesn't mean you are fully free. israeli national security minister who is, himself, found guilty in 2007 before he was a minister of incitement to racism against arabs and supporting a terror organization, he instructed israeli forces to use an iron fist, preventing palestinians from celebrating the release of their loved ones saying the prisoners were terrorists. >> expressions of joy are support for terrorism. celebration of victory give strength to the same human scum, the nazis. the policy here is very, very clear, not to allow these expressions of joy and strive to make contact and stop any support of these that sis. >> another night, another scene. taking a heavy handed approach as ordered by their national security minister. in bethlehem, in the occupied west bank, they were able to defy, celebrating the release and others from the city. they returned almost seven months later with life changing injuries. shot by israeli soldiers and accused of attempted murder. >> they accused me of carrying out the stabbing. it's not true. they opened fire on me. i was hit in the spine with two bullets. two vertebrae were damaged. they replaced them with titanium. i cannot feel my legs or stand up. they removed five centers from my liver and one kidney. >> her family say they were denied access, even as her detention stretched on. >> it was forbidden for my relatives to visit me or even the lawyers. i was not allowed to make any calls. >> israel says she attempted murder. and, yet, she was only detained, not charged. she didn't twgo to trial. she wasn't given any opportunity to defend herself. this is a story we keep hearing again and again from released prisoners. but they aren't given due process. and, yet, this prime exists alongside their names. the israeli prisoner service responded saying national security prisoners released from the israeli prison during the last two days were serving time for serious crimes, such as attempted murder, assault and throwing explosives. all prisoners in ips custody are held according to the law. that's not true. cnn broke down the numbers. in a list of 300 palestinian prisoners identified by israel as eligible for release, 80% are listed as just detained, which means they have not been formally sentenced. israel operates two systems of law in the occupied territories. palestinians under the military. israelis under civil law, creating a low bar for the arrest of increasing numbers of palestinians. as israeli hard liners in this far right government seek to characterize every palestinian as a terrorist, that number is rising every day. cnn, jerusalem. >> thank you for that report. this just coming in right now. according to the israeli prison service, 33 palestinian prisoners have been released today. we're following all the breaking news, but coming up next, my interview with yahir. his niece was released from gaza on saturday without her mother, despite demands from israeli officials to keep parents and children together. watch this. >> i know this is very emotional, pretty sensitive time for you and your loving family and, obviously, if there is anything very sensitive you don't want to discuss, we totally, totally, of course, understand. you are here at this hospital. it is a major hospital outside of tel aviv because your 13-year-old little niece is here. she was released. she was a hostage. she was released by hamas. she was supposed to be released together with her mother, your sister. but she is still being held by hamas. so what goes through your mind? >> what goes through my mind is what is the reason for not releasing my sister as well? i mean, they were held in captivity together with another girl callle emily that was kidnapped with them. they were together in the same place. the agreement between hamas and israel says you don't separate kids from their parents. and hamas just ignored that and just chose to release her without her mother. >> which is a clear violation of this agreement, according to the idf. they said it was specific in the agreement that if little children are with their mothers, the mothers have to be released with the children. let us walk-through when you reconnect with your niece. how did that feel? >> it f