Let's bring in now, this is General Wesley-Clarke, a former NATO Supreme Allied commander and CNN military analyst. General, good to have you. I just want to first start before I ask you a question. We've just got an update from Israeli officials on the number of hostages they believe are still being held by Hamas. That number is 201. They know that this is inconsistent with the number that has happened before, but these numbers, as you know and our viewers can understand, fluctuate based on information coming in. The Israel now believes there are 201 hostages taken October seventh who are still in Gaza. Let me ask you about the strategy moving forward and what the military is gaining and losing during this period. The surveillance drones for a period are not flying over Gaza. They're not bombing the tunnels as they have been for seven weeks. At the end of this truce, is it a net gain or loss as it relates to that mission of ending Hamas? They'll lose potentially some intelligence, but gain some from the hostages. What do you see we get at the end of this from the Israeli perspective?

I think from the military perspective in Israel, it's a net loss. Military in Israel is going to look at this as first Hamas has been dedicated to the destruction of Israel. They proved they're willing to go very far along this. They are considered an existential threat. If Israelis' military looked to the north and they see Hezbolla, and they ask themselves if Hamas gets away with this and survives this, what will that say to Hezbolla? What can Hezbolla do on the north to Israel if they decide to follow the same tactics? And soThere's a lot riding on this. But the Israeli military has got to listen to political authorities. There's a lot of political pressure coming from Washington and also from the Israeli public. Get those hostages free, then we'll worry about what happens next. Hamas knows this. Hamas is playing it like a fiddle. They release hostages. They're prepared to squeeze if they don't get exactly what they want. They want more food, they want more fuel. They ultimately want global opinion and an Israeli opinion to halt the Israeli military operations. Hamas then emerges victorious. They're a hero in the Islamic world, or at least in the Palestinian view, and this then gives them a major victory.

Israel maybe gets its people back, maybe not all of them. Israel shutters, the Israeli military shutters, thinking, What's going to happen next?, especially if Iran gets a nuclear weapon.

If you think this truth is a net loss for the IDF, let me ask you plainly. Do you think the President Biden is wrong in his suggestion that this truth should be extended at the end of the four days? I think.

President Biden is walking a narrow line. On the one hand, our military and the Israeli military know what needs to be done with Hamas. But it is ugly. It's causing civilian casualties. There's no way to go after Hamas without inflicting a certain amount of casualties on civilians who are not Hamas. This puts a lot of pressure on the United States. We've got other global objectives. We're not solely dedicated to Israel. We've got to worry about our relations with allies, relationships in the region. Our longer objective, longer-term was to get the Saudi, the Kuwaitis, and others in the region aligned with Israel so that we could end this issue. We've got the longer term to think about it. It's a tough position for the President. We've got to get the American hostages out, try to prevail on the Israelis to limit the damage to civilians. Ultimately, the Israelis have to decide, are they going after the destruction of Hamas at all costs? Or do they have to balance this with their relationship with the West and especially with the United States?

And is the destruction of Hamas even an achievable goal? The political and military angle of it may end, but the ideology, could it come back? Will it come back in some other name or form? General Wesley-Clarke, thank you so much for being with us.