Tonight, explosions continue to rock Gaza. The pause and fighting is now delayed 24 hours ahead of the expected release of women and children being held hostage by Hamas terrorists. And even after this hostage release, the fate of the vast majority of those still being held captive remains very much in question. The White House saying today that President Biden has been, quote, personally engaged in negotiations. Alex, mark us out front in Washington for us. Alex, what are you learning about the status of negotiations for the rest of the hostages held by Hamas?

Well, Kate, we've heard repeatedly from U. S. Officials that they say they will not rest until the rest of the American hostages come out, aside from these women and children, that the US. Will stay very much engaged for all of these hostages. But those conversations really have not begun in earnest yet. The main focus really has been on getting these women and children out, making sure that this mechanism works. It is believed that the easiest negotiations with Hamas were to get these women and children out. And that's assuming, of course, that this owl goes according to plan, that these 50 or more actually come out in the coming days. I was speaking with an official who is involved in these conversations, briefed on the negotiations, who told me that this first swap of 50 people is the most crucial to make sure that this mechanism is working as was agreed. So assuming this goes smoothly, you then have, as you say, the vast majority of the hostages who remain. And they really do fall into three distinct buckets. You have men who are both elderly and non Israeli nationals. Then you have Israeli soldiers, both men and women.

And then you have bodies, people who were killed either on October 7 or since then. US. And Israeli officials agree that the most difficult negotiations are going to be around the Israeli soldiers, both the men and the women. No one in Israel certainly has forgotten the exchange of Gilad Shalit back in 2011. He was held for years by Hamas. And when he was exchanged, hamas was able to get more than 1000 prisoners out of Israeli prisons. So it is possible that the conversations about the rest of the hostages begin soon. But it could be quite some time before the rest of those hostages come home.

Kate?

Yeah, I've heard weeks, months, how it's described to me by a couple people just today. It's good to see. Alex, thank you so much. Out front with me now, Jonathan Deckel Chen. His son SEGi is among those kidnapped by Hamas now nearly seven weeks ago, still captive in Gaza. Jonathan, thank you for coming on tonight. Given what we know about this agreement, it does seem unlikely that Sigi will be among those released in this moment. What then does this moment feel like for you?

Well, I think it's two polls. The first poll is assuming that hamas can deliver on its promise here that these 50 women and children will be released, I'm overjoyed for them. Keep in mind that from my kibutz alone, for my one community alone, there are still 75 hostages being held by Hamas since October 7. Of the list that's been published, there are multiple children and women and moms, including Leaathatsilli, who you spoke with her dad a few minutes ago. These are all my neighbors, my friends, my kids friends, my grandchildren's friends. So I couldn't be more pleased for those families because it's like my extended family coming home. On the other hand, it's very difficult to say in terms of Sagi and the other 190 hostages, again, 190 hostages who aren't referred to at all in this stage of the agreement. It's almost impossible to say, given Hamas as sort of a barbarian terrorist organization with no regard for human life, israeli or Palestinian for that matter. What this first stage might say about the coming stages.

Do you allow yourself to think about that moment when you will see SEGi again? It seems just like I keep thinking of this, Jonathan, because it's like this moment of being in a suspended nightmare. I almost envision. It feels like being just seven weeks, nearly seven weeks now since that horrible, horrible day. I just wonder if you allow yourself to think about that moment.

Well, there's not a waking or even a sleeping moment that I'm not thinking about Sagi in some measure. And I can certainly visualize and love visualizing his two little girls running into leaping into his arms when he comes home and in hopes that he comes home quickly, but if not, then meeting his third little girl who's set to be born in a couple of weeks. So I absolutely have that in mind as something that I'm working for or towards, together with the release of all.

Of the hostages, his poor wife and what she's going through, and about to bring another beautiful child into the world in the midst of this. Unbelievable. How is she doing? How's the rest of the family handling this news right now of this deal?

Well, we're doing the best we can. It's a multi level crisis, really, because not just Sageev's family, wife and two young daughters, but I have another daughter who lives on the kibotz with her young family. So there are four little kids between the age of two and six who were utterly traumatized by this hell on earth that befell the kibutz on October 7. So missing our loved ones, those that were murdered, all of my grandkids, again, from age two to six, have close friends who are no longer alive, who were murdered in their beds on October 7. So we have to deal with that. And we also have to deal with the fact that our community as a whole, our cooperative farm, like many others around the Gaza Strip, not just were massacred, but rather, also had all of their properties stolen by hundreds, thousands of looters, actually, from Gaza. And then whatever could not be looted was burned to the ground. So there's no going home for any of these kids or the adults. Our home as we knew it no longer exists. It's a series of tragedies for us Israeli civilians and honestly, for the Palestinian civilians as well, who find themselves in this horrible situation not of their making, but by Hamas's making, we keep ourselves busy, I mean, in thinking about what the future will bring for us.

For me personally, working with the press and with governments in Israel and abroad, keeping laser attention, focused on this humanitarian universal issue and challenge of our hostages in the hands of Hamas, and taking care of the little ones the best we can in trying to help them make sense of shattered lives, make sense.

Of what is impossible to make sense of. Jonathan, thank you so much.