and hamas could be coming to an end, expiring in just a few hours. so is the fighting about to ramp up again? plus, a palestinian student shot in vermont just out of surgery as his family fears he may never walk again. this as we're learning new details about the suspect in that shooting. and, go eff yourself, that's elon musk's message tonight to the growing list of companies willing to advertise out of x. and that's not all he has to say tonight. let's go "outfront." good evening, i'm erica hill in for erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, deadline looming. the truce between israel and hamas is set to expire midnight eastern time, unless it is extended once again. at this hour, though, there is no official word that will happen. when the pause ends, israel has promised to resume its military campaign inside gaza, which the israeli prime minister said there will continue until there is no longer a threat to israel. and that raises questions as to whether or if the remaining hostages would be released. today a total of 16 hostages were freed, most of them arriving back in israel moments ago. these are pictures you're looking at of their convoy. among these released today, five children, and one american israeli woman whose story we have followed closely on "outfront." >> got some very good news to report. benin is safe in egypt. she's across the border. i talked with her mother and father. they're very appreciative. and things are moving well. she'll soon be home with her three children. >> her father will join me on "outfront" in just a moment. many of you, many of our viewers know him, he's been a frequent guest on here. >> i will take it as it comes, and when my daughter is released and why son-in-law, and they arrive home safe, then i'll find time to breathe a sigh of relief. >> well, tonight, one month after he said those words, yehuda will have the chance to hold his daughter tonight. his son-in-law is still being held in gaza. jeremy diamond is where the newly released hostages just passed through. you just saw that convoy. i know you also have some new information about the future of this truce. where do things stand at this hour? >> yeah, that's exactly right, erica. minutes ago, this area was filled with dozens of israelis who offered a very warm welcome to those 14 newly freed hostages who just arrived back in israel. but now, erica, questions are beginning to turn to the future of this hostage agreement, and the ability of israel to get more of its hostages out of gaza as part of this agreement with hamas. we are less than five hours away now from when we expect that this truce between israel and hamas, a very fragile truce, could potentially expire. and, as of now, that truce has yet to be extended. we understand that over the last couple of days, there have been extensive negotiations in doha, qatar, in particular among israeli, american, egyptian, qatari intelligence officials. hamas, on the other side, mediated by the qatari government. the aim is to still focus on those women and children, to try and seek an extension of one or two days, and israeli official don't believe that hamas has the ability to make good on ten additional women and children per day, perhaps for another two days. and then, of course, the questions will start to turn to the broader question of men as well as israeli soldiers. but today a senior israeli official telling me that they will not turn to that question, not begin that next phase of a hostage agreement until all women and children are out, until hamas has fulfilled that end of the bargain. now, what we also understand is that extension of the truce likely would not be announced until hamas provides that list of ten additional israeli civilians who it is prepared to release the next day. but, again, we are less than five hours away from when that truce could potentially expire. and as of yet, we have yet to see that list, and israeli officials have yet to receive that list from hamas. >> a lot of people waiting and watching very closely. jeremy, appreciate it. as we reported, an american citizen has been released by hamas. and she is, at this hour, about to arrive at the medical center in israel. liyat is the second u.s. hostage to be released since this truce began. and we have followed her story very closely on this show. "outfront" now is liyat's father yehuda benin who is joining us. you are anxiously awaiting the reunion with your daughter. she is expected to be at the hospital within the hour. have you been able to speak with her yet? >> first of all, thank you for having me again. actually, the phone call with her is supposed to be taking place as we speak here. but i need to explain why i would pass up on the opportunity to speak with my daughter by phone. as you described, i believe very accurately in the reporting before you brought me on, there are remaining hostages, males, and so on that have yet to be included in any deal, while at the same time, the government in israel is threatening to renew the hostilities. this, nationally, would create a great deal of fear that the hostages would again come under some kind of danger as a result of renewed israeli bombing, and it's something that concerns me and the many other israeli families with hostages in gaza, it concerns us very greatly. so, there are some issues here that are troubling. >> you talk about families like your own who still have loved ones being held hostage. we're talking, of course, about your son-in-law about aviv liyat's told. you told us he was injured when he was taken. have you had any word tonight as to his condition -- >> no, we haven't. >> -- as to his conditions or his whereabouts? >> nope, we have not. >> do you have any indication that maybe he and liyat were held together? >> we know that they were not held together. they weren't together when they were abducted. it seems that, first of all, it's clear that more than one terrorist group was involved. in fact, in addition to hamas and the islamic jihad, apparently there are other groups in addition who were involved. so, it seems that there are some issues in tracking down exactly whose hostage where. but i don't have -- i certainly don't have any definite information about that. >> well, as you mentioned, you're waiting on this call from your daughter, who is free now after being held captive as a hostage for 54 days. you haven't spoken with her yet. do you have any indication, though in, terms of how she's doing, how is her health, how is she in this moment now that she's been freed? >> we saw the images that were broadcast from the border crossing, and subsequent images when she was transferred from the red cross to idf hands. and we saw her. she looked pretty good. she looked like she was in good shape. relatively good shape. we'll see, soon enough. >> what do you expect to say to her? >> uh, a lot of people ask me this question. what's up? what can i say? we're all happy to see her here. we're also here in the hospital with her three children. and we'll let them -- my wife and i will take a backseat at first for sure. later we'll speak with her, we'll see what's going on. we'll see what she knows. everything basically, in accordance with the guidelines that we've got in front of us, social worker and other professionals, it's all been taken care of very well, guidelines on how to approach a situation like this. so, we'll see. we have to go with the flow. we'll see when ahappens. >> i imagine it was quite a moment for you and your wife and her children and grandchildren when you got word that she was among the hostages to be released. what was that moment like for you? >> you know when it hit me actually, i'll be very frank. i have a tremendous knot in my stomach. the issue of aviv is weighing on me very heavily. it is not a simple situation by any means. the cases of women and children were more clear-cut. and now we're facing some real challenges. and people who are affiliated with the hostage family forum are weighing how to move forward. and the forum has, up until now, been apolitical in its approach. and it seems that, from this point forward, it's not going to be possible to maintain that apolitical approach, and some political decisions are going to have to be made. the nature of trying to manage a war with two objectives that are diametrically opposed to each other, that issue needs to be addressed. we need to understand how to approach the government to work towards releasing the hostages as its first priority. >> which we have heard repeatedly from so many families, that that should be priority number one. before i let you go, we heard briefly from president biden before we came to you where he said that he had spoken with you. what did president biden say to you in that moment? >> first of all, i was looking at my phone, and i saw the washington, d.c. phone number. and i thought it was the pr firm that the american hostages are working with. and then i take the call and they say, hi, this is joe biden, like that. it took me a few seconds to realize what was coming down, like, whoa. so immediately i called my wife over and some of the other people around who were all recording the conversation. it was quite unusual because my first question is a guy. you see, i'm talking to the president of the united states. where is prime minister netanyahu in all this? and the answer is obvious, of course. the conversation that my wife and i had with the president was very pleasant. we first and foremost thanked him for his efforts, the efforts of his administration in securing the release of our daughter. he invited us to visit him and his wife in the white house, and, once again, the president has shown me or anybody else who's listening to this conversation that the president is sharp as a tack, sharp, sharp as a tack. and that any intimation to any other state of his mind is just patently ridiculous. so, it's happy, i'm glad that -- i'm glad that president biden is the president. i don't see any other person around who would be able to manage this current situation as well as he has. >> yehuda, we appreciate you, as always, taking the time to join us tonight, especially, as we know, you wanted the opportunity to talk about your son as well, and that delayed the conversation with your daughter. please go take that call now. >> thank you. this is indeed the next mission that we have in front of us, and it's a very serious mission. >> thank you again. joining us "outfront" now, retired army lieutenant general mark hertling, former commanding general of europe. general hertling, it's good to have you with us. we heard clearly what the concerns are for yehuda, in terms of his son-in-law and so many other families about what could happen if in fact this pause ends tonight, if that happens, what do you imagine the fighting will look like when it resumes? >> well, i couldn't have said it any better than mr. beinin just did. he actually outlined the various factors of the strategic implications of what different governments are trying to do. if i can just review that very quickly, mr. netanyahu has said his stated objective is to destroy hamas. hamas has said their stated objectives in their charter is to kill jews and destroy the israeli state. then you have the american, president biden, who is saying, hey, my objective is to get as many hostages out and prevent a humanitarian disaster in gaza with the palestinians. so those three things somehow are clashing, and it's causing some great emotional trauma on the part of families of the hostages for sure, and many people that are watching the citizens of gaza being caught in the middle as hamas uses them, purposely uses them as shields against attacks by israelis. i think what we're going to see tonight, erica, if the pause does end, if this kinetic pause regains momentum, you're going to see a lot of kinetic activity by israeli defense forces against hamas. hamas has used the period of time with the pause to maneuver, to move the hostages, to find new ways to draw israel into a fight that's going to put palestinians in the middle, and it's going to be more of what we saw in the first six weeks of the operation. >> we have reporting tonight that president biden told netanyahu if this military action resumes that israel cannot operate in southern gaza the way it did in the north. we have heard these calls for israel to be more precise moving forward when the fighting resumes. how much sway, especially given what you just laid out there, does biden have here? >> well, he's attempting to influence netanyahu and his approach to this entire operation. but, truthfully, erica, it's going to be very difficult. i've heard a lot of people compare this operation in gaza to some of the operations the united states is conducting like mosul and fallujah. but it's a world of difference. in all those other operations, you did not have an enemy force in a subterranean environment using defensive operations in prepared positions that they've been preparing for years, and on top of with the population on top of them. so it's very difficult to say, hey, let's do a more precise campaign, let's do more precision attacks against hamas, because hamas wants israel to attack them through the population and use that against the international community to put israel, again, in a bad position. so it's going to be very difficult to have more precision operations. but i think the president is attempting to influence israel to make sure that they do the very best they can in terms of destroying hamas without affecting the palestinian people. that's near impossible to do from a military perspective. >> general hertling, always appreciate your insight, thank you. >> thanks, erica. "outfront" next, the palestinian students shot in the spine in vermont, just out of surgery this hour. his mother who just flew the u.s. to be by his side. injured and alone for days, how a ukrainian soldier escaped and survived. you'll see his harrowing story here, first. and elon musk defiant tonight, offering some choice words for advertisers fleeing x in the wake of his anti-semitic post. >> go [ bleep ] yourself. [ laughter ] is that clear? tonight, new details about the man charged with shooting three palestinian students in vermont in what is being investigated as a possible hate crime. cnn learning in recent months jason eaton was experiencing financial trouble and struggled to hold down a job. this information coming as two of the three students who were shot underwent surgery today. his family says right now he's unable to move his legs. his mother and uncle will join me in just a moment. but first polo sandoval is "outfront" with new reporting on the investigation. >> reporter: new details tonight about the man who burlington police say stepped off the porch of his apartment building saturday night and shot three palestinian students walking by. jason james eaton pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder, while burlington investigators have revealed evidence they say links the 48-year-old burlington man to the shooting. the motive remains elusive, says the mayor. >> nothing i have heard at this point is that kind of critical piece of information i think we're all looking for that would really explain how he could have done this. >> reporter: police say the three palestinian students were walking down the streets speaking arabic and english, two of them were wearing traditional scarves associated with palestinian identity when eaton approached and opened fire. the mother said her sons recalled one of his friends screaming with pain with a chest wound. once the shooter fled, one of the friends was able to dial 9-1-1. and the pistol was recovered and police say they matched the gun to casings recovered at the scene of the shooting. investigators are turning to his online history in order to build a profile of the suspected gunman. his work experience spans from finances to farming. he most recently worked at a financial services company. the company said eaton worked there for less than a year and was terminated in early november and was even an assistant scoutmaster with the boy scouts. that organization says, poupon learning of his arrest, he was banned from registering in scouting in any capacity. he also appeared to experience financial trouble, according to his former landlords. >> towards the end he got a little bit weird because he really couldn't hold a job down. >> reporter: debbie goldstein and her husband rented a room to wheaton. >> he went out and bought this thing for the back of the door so the male would get caught in this bag. then bought four little baskets for each of the tenants, put their names on them so all the mail could get divvied into the baskets. like, does that sound like this person? >> i don't think anybody should be supported or forgiven for what he did. >> to me, it was a hate crime. >> reporter: and tonight we're learning from sources close to the investigation that the fbi is still very much involved in assisting burlington police go through all the evidence that was removed from the apartment in the building you see behind me, and also a positive of now we have learned the parents of two of the victims are finally here in burlington after completing a journey that they've began, a grueling journey that they've began four days ago when their sons were gunned down on this very street that i'm standing on tonight. so, as you can imagine, they are finally by the sides of their sons helping them through the healing. >> polo, thank you. "outfront" now is elizabeth price, hisham's mother as well as his uncle rich price. you just arrived not long ago there in vermont from your home in the west bank. i know you were able to see your son for the first time. that must've been, to put it mildly, emotional for you. what was that moment like for you to finally be able to lay eyes on your son to maybe touch your son finally? >> well, i think you're right. i think mothers, maybe parents as well, my husband did this as well. you see your grown child and you treat them like a baby. so i just stroked his hair for about five, ten minutes. my husband kissed his hands. we just wanted to have our hands on him and just give him the care and nurture that we could provide through touch. it was painful, it was painful seeing our son who we had seen last in the summertime so incapacitated. >> was he alert? i know he was in surgery again today. so, understandable -- >> he was alert. yeah, he had had a repair done to his clavicle, which is really important to be able to create torso strength, given the fact that he has lost functional mobility in his legs. he was alert. and he was happy to see us, obviously. and i think particularly happy to see his father so he could talk to his father about what he'd gone through. >> what did he share with you about what he's been through? >> well, i mean, i think what my son experiences is that he really sees it in the context of the oppression of his people. i mean, as he's described, he's just one casualty of a much wider conflict. and so i think he sees this in a much larger context of the dehumanization of the palestinian people. he talked about the fact that there were up to potentially 20,000 people killed in the gaza strip. the gaza ministry of health, the palestinian ministry of health in gaza has stopped counting because they could no longer keep track of those who died. and there are thousands of palestinians who are trapped in rubble, mostly children, given the fact that most of gaza, the population in gaza, palestinians are under the age of 15. so i think he really sees this in the context of attacks on palestinians as an individual. so i think he feels like this is something that is, obviously, he's feeling personally because i