Frontlines: Peace talks focus on hostages

NewsNation National Correspondent Robert Sherman has found himself on the frontlines of some of the world's biggest stories: from Ukraine to Israel and across the U.S. He shares what he's seeing on the ground.

Peace talks focus on hostages

Good morning from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.

It's an indescribable feeling to sit in the heart of a nation where seemingly every single person is overcome by a palpable anxiousness. As we speak, negotiations are taking place in Egypt to bring about a peace deal in Gaza. People here are getting their hopes up — higher than I've ever seen, which is remarkable considering how many of these deals have fallen apart over the last two years.

And yet, despite the anxiety, people are optimistic. Perhaps that's because of what U.S. officials have been saying over the last 24 hours.

Egypt hosts negotiators for Gaza peace talks >

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview on Fox News Sunday this weekend, said this is "closest we have been in a very long time" to getting all of the hostages out. The details to iron out when it comes to a hostage release are described as being "technical" in nature with logistics being the main point of discussion.

That would be phase one of a deal. Phase two gets more complicated because that involves "the day after" in Gaza: governance, demilitarization and the like.

"What happens after Israel pulls back to the yellow line and potentially beyond that as this thing develops?" Rubio said in a separate interview with NBC's Meet The Press. "How do you create this Palestinian, technocratic leadership that's not Hamas, that's not terrorists, and with the help of the international community? How do you disarm any sort of terrorist groups that are going to be building tunnels and conducting attacks against Israel? How do you get them to demobilize? All that work, that's going to be hard."

The president has dispatched Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Egypt. Today, the Israelis will be sending their top negotiator, Ron Dermer.

Meanwhile, President Trump remains highly optimistic that the deal will get across the finish line, and at the very least, bring the 48 hostages home.

"I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST," The President said in a Truth Social post. "I will continue to monitor this Centuries-old 'conflict.' TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE OR, MASSIVE BLOODSHED WILL FOLLOW — SOMETHING THAT NOBODY WANTS TO SEE!"

Our own Libbey Dean pressed the president on if Hamas will have a formal, hard stop deadline to accept, to which he said he believes the negotiations are "working" and will "wait a little while" to see if Hamas comes all the way.

So yes, optically, things do appear to be developing.

Alon Pinkas is a former Israeli diplomat and negotiator who told us the same. "It looks close, but that can be misleading. It looks like the best deal possible. whether or not it's feasible or implementable remains to be seen. The mention of the Palestinian authority as sharing power in post war Gaza, the redeployment of the IDF, and the fact Hamas can leave peacefully meaning it is not officially disbanded."

The fact things are looking up but could always flounder is amplifying that anxiety I mentioned before.

Netanyahu hopes to announce release of all hostages from Gaza 'in the coming days' >

Everywhere I go, people are talking about the hostages. Every lamp post is covered in stickers showing the faces of one of the taken — demanding they be returned. Even without making an effort to eavesdrop, it's easy to walk into a coffee shop and hear every conversation including the words "Hamas" and "hostages" and "Trump."

The attention of the entire nation is fixed on what the Trump has to say and the small details they get here and there about the developments in Egypt.

As I sit here now in hostage square, there's a young man sitting alone playing a piano. There are yellow ribbons upon almost everyone's chest and countless photos of the 48 still in Gaza, meant to serve as a signal they have not been forgotten.

What is most striking, from this vantage point, is the large clock in the center of the square which has counted up from the moment the hostages were taken — moment by moment.

At the time of this writing: 730 days, 9 hours, 34 minutes, 44 seconds.

Despite the heartbreaking failed attempts at diplomacy, there is still a firm conviction that one day soon, there won't be a need for clocks like that anymore and this will all be over.

As an aside, I'd like to write and say thank you for all your support regarding my first book Lessons From the Front. It is set to hit shelves December 11th and I'll have some wonderful, humbling endorsements to share soon. Momentum is building! For those still interested in pre-ordering, you can do so through Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Bloomsbury.