The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | January 18th, 2025: Gaza Ceasefire Deal Reached & Why Greenland Matters
Sat, 18 Jan 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A major breakthrough in the Middle East as Israel and Hamas strike a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza. We’ll discuss the agreement, including the planned release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, with Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. President Trump’s recent remarks about Greenland are sparking debate over America’s role in the Arctic. With rivals expanding their influence, is the U.S. losing ground? Brendon Weichert, author and National Security Analyst at The National Interest, joins us to break it down. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What breakthrough occurred in the Middle East?
Hi, Mike Baker here. I'm still out in the desert. It's an amazing trek into great cause, raising awareness for the UK's Special Forces Benevolent Fund. While I'm gone, Mike Slater is stepping in to deliver the President's Daily Brief.
Welcome to the PTV Situation Report. I'm Mike Slater filling in for Mike Baker, who's currently making his way through the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Jordan on Camelback. Because why not, right? We've all done that before. It's Baker's turn. In the meantime, let's get briefed. Kick it off today's show. We got a major development from the Middle East.
Israel and Hamas have struck a deal to stop the fighting in Gaza and release some hostages. Part of the agreement, Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners could be released as early as this Sunday. We'll be joined by Jonathan Shanzer from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy's for all the details.
Then later in the show, President Trump's recent remarks about Greenland, drawing some questions about America's role in the Arctic, where rivals have been steadily expanding their footprint in the region, raising questions about our priorities and our influence, and China's influence as well.
Author and national security analyst at The National Interest, Brandon Weikert, joins us for more on that coming up in just a few minutes. But first, today's Situation Report Spotlight. At long last, it seems Israel Hamas I've reached an agreement to halt the fighting in Gaza, bringing the promise of a long-awaited ceasefire. It's a few days before President Trump takes office.
2023.
So I want to emphasize that. In exchange, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. If implemented, the agreement would provide the first meaningful pause in violence for Gaza's war-weary population over a year. It could also pave the way for Palestinian civilians to return to northern Gaza and significantly boost humanitarian aid into the region.
While the deal offers a moment of hope, its success depends on the cooperation of both sides in this fragile moment of diplomacy. For the people of Gaza and Israel, it could mark a turning point. Maybe just another fleeting pause in a long conflict.
For more on this, let me bring in Jonathan Shanzer, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, who is currently in Israel as we speak. Jonathan, thank you for being here. My pleasure. Where is your head at on this Hamas deal? What do you think?
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Chapter 2: What details are known about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal?
The Israelis are confident enough in their military and their intelligence and the tactics and strategies that they have, that they're okay with that if they get back 33 souls that have been held in Hamas custody in really grueling conditions.
So 33 is the number. Now you mentioned women, children, elderly, sick. How many hostages are there total and what are we hearing about phase two? The numbers are as follows.
So far, they're... Well, okay, right now there's 98 hostages still in Hamas custody. Unclear how many of them are alive, how many of them are dead. We just don't know. I'm not even sure that Hamas knows. You're going to get back out of those 98, you're going to get back 33. If the Israelis go to a second round, phase two, then there could be more.
But the people there that would be released would be men of fighting age. So, you know, between, let's say, 17 or 18 and, you know, up to, let's say, 40 or 50, even 50 years old. But I don't expect there to be a phase two. I think the Israelis are not likely to want to go that long and to allow Hamas to regroup for any longer than they'll get in this first round. I think there is a sense here.
Whether it's right or wrong, I'll let viewers decide, but I think in their view, the men of fighting age, the people that have been conscripted into the Israeli military, These are people that knew what they were getting into. Many of them were wearing uniforms on October 7th. Israel, I think, is, I don't want to say is willing to sacrifice them, but understands that this is the cost, right?
That you lose soldiers in battle, and I don't think they're going to want to make deals. They may try, but I think it seems unlikely from what I'm picking up.
But in the end, when you look at the deal that happened after 10-7, right, where there were 80-plus hostages that were released in the first round, then the Israelis were able to recoup a number of them, I think in the end more than a dozen or so, through operations where they saved individual hostages from tunnels or from apartments where they were being held by Hamas operatives.
Then you add to that the next round of 33, What I understand right now is that we could see out of the original 254 hostages that were taken that day, you're likely to see in the end, maybe about 130, 140, maximum 150 returned alive. Many of the ones that are dead were dead on October 7th.
And I don't know how to do the math here, but I think the Israelis believe that with the deal that they're making, they're going to get back upwards of 140, 150 people alive. And I don't think anyone in this country thought from the original 254
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