The next is the transcript of an interview with Brett McGurk, the White Area Nationwide Safety Council coordinator for the Heart East and North Africa, on “Face the Country with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Jan. 19, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We flip to Brett McGurk, White Area Nationwide Safety Council coordinator for the Heart East and North Africa. Excellent to have you ever right here, Brett.
BRETT MCGURK: Thank you. Margaret, nice to be right here.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We are gazing the breaking information. It is a deal you negotiated. What are you able to let us know about how those 3 ladies who’ve been transferred to the Purple Move are doing? Neatly,
BRETT MCGURK: I simply showed with my Israeli opposite numbers that they are now in Israeli custody. So this has simply came about. Glance, I do know they are alive. I am positive they’re in- they have been held in deplorable prerequisites over 470 days, however the Israelis have an excellent device to take them into their care, and they’ll get the care they want and be reunited with their households.
MARGARET BRENNAN: It gave the impression that even up till this morning, it used to be in query whether or not Hamas used to be going to move via with this. The Israelis stated they hadn’t passed over the names of the captives. Can we- why and do we all know a lot in regards to the smartly being of the 3 American citizens which might be nonetheless being held?
BRETT MCGURK: Neatly, glance, this deal used to be negotiated over a 12 months for just right explanation why. It is a detailed, complicated association to go away not anything to likelihood. Or even as much as closing night time, I used to be up till 4 o’clock within the morning, when this in any case went into position to make certain that the whole lot went in keeping with the plan. Hamas owed the checklist of the 3 names, that needed to occur for the stop fireplace to enter impact. That used to be behind schedule a pair hours. It in the end came about, and now we’ve got the scoop these days. You’ve got a complete ceasefire in impact in Gaza. You’ve got about 800 vans of support entering Gaza these days.
MARGARET BRENNAN: 800?
BRETT MCGURK: 800 vans of support must achieve Gaza these days, and you’ve gotten had the 3 women now, once more, reunited, expectantly with their households, and they are now in Israeli custody.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, the UN says a mean of 72 vans consistent with day went in in December, and that’s the reason been the case in January. Is there even the capability for the Israelis to go looking those vans and make allowance in that meals. Do you are expecting 800 vans to make it into Gaza these days?
BRETT MCGURK: That is why I have been within the Heart East for the closing month, continuous to ensure the whole lot is able to pass. This used to be now not put in combination within the closing week. This has been put in combination, in reality since Might, when President Biden laid out this framework. He evolved this framework with the Emir of Qatar and with the president of Egypt, President Sisi, he introduced it to the arena in Might. It used to be unanimously recommended through the UN Safety Council. We concept we have been shut in August, Margaret, after which we had six hostages killed in a tunnel beneath Rafah. I used to be simply to your inexperienced room speaking to the mum, or talking with the mum of Hersch Goldberg-Polin, who used to be killed tragically in August. It used to be that incident in August when Hamas killed the ones hostages that we made up our minds to turn the script. There used to be now not a deal, as a result of Hamas would now not comply with liberate hostages. We supported the Israelis in going after Hezbollah. They took out Hezbollah in Lebanon. We now have a stop fireplace in Lebanon. We now have a brand new govt in Lebanon. That remoted Hamas. Iran is within the weakest place it is been within the Heart East in a long time. So we went again to the desk in December, Hamas, for the primary time, for the primary time, used to be able to just accept the Might framework and start to liberate hostages. It wasn’t till early January that they in fact licensed the hostage checklist, and that’s the reason how we were given to the outcome these days.
MARGARET BRENNAN: However do we all know Keith Siegel, Sagui Chen and Edan Alexander, how they are doing?
BRETT MCGURK: Keith will pop out in segment one. Sagui will pop out in segment one. Edan used to be a uniformed Israeli soldier. He’s segment two. However we’re dedicated. I believe you simply heard this from Mike Waltz, and we have been running seamlessly with the incoming crew. I believe it is a testomony to President Biden and to President Trump, permitting us to paintings in combination. I labored with Steve Witkoff over the past week, once more, a partnership, I believe, historical, to assist get this performed–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Trump’s envoy.
BRETT MCGURK: We’re committed- We’re dedicated to getting Edan out as early as conceivable. I spoke with Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, simply closing night time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So High Minister Netanyahu described this in a single day as a brief stop fireplace, and he says he has permission to start out preventing as wanted. Do you consider he sees this as only a strategic pause, or that he in fact desires to finish this warfare?
BRETT MCGURK: The best way the deal is structured, on day 16, the negotiations start for segment two. Segment two will start a negotiation for the change of squaddies to Palestinian prisoners. But additionally the prerequisites must be set for segment two, and we improve the Israelis in ensuring the ones prerequisites are set so Hamas can by no means come again to energy in Gaza. Hamas can by no means once more threaten Israel from Gaza. The ones prerequisites must be set. We within the Biden management, had been very transparent. We wish to see this- this deal reached all 3 stages. Each and every hostage come house. I believe the Trump management very a lot stocks that goal and the template, the street map, once more, that the President set out in Might, this used to be the street map, in the long run, to finishing the warfare, getting everyone house is the one option to do it. That street map is now in position. We now have a stop fireplace these days in Gaza, and we’ve got an excellent chance to get each and every hostage house, and we were given to do the whole lot we will to make that occur.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Neatly, Hamas, in keeping with Secretary Blinken, has recruited virtually as many new militants because it has misplaced over the process this warfare. Blinken stated that this week.
BRETT MCGURK: Hamas has been considerably decimated. Its chief, Yahya Sinwar, used to be killed in October. With out that, we’d now not be at this deal. Hamas on October 7, used to be an arranged army formation. It invaded Israel with 3500 troops in army formations, battle brigades. It’s now now not ready to do this. It does now not have army capability–
MARGARET BRENNAN: However that argues that Israel has performed one thing that can backfire on them when it comes to the humanitarian scenario that has allowed Hamas to not lose improve, however to proceed to recruit.
BRETT MCGURK: To get the– I- I paintings intently with my Israeli colleagues. I spent hours with High Minister Netanyahu. It is a deal that he absolutely helps. They agree. There is a ethical debt to those hostages. You need to get them out. And Israel may be going to make certain that it protects its nationwide safety. And we are going to make sure that we did that, , Margaret, we were given this deal with out that wider Heart East warfare that everyone used to be predicting. American citizens didn’t get drawn into wider Heart East warfare. We defended Israel from Iranian missiles. We supported Israel going after Hezbollah. We supported Israel going after Hamas. We now have defanged Iran’s proxy networks across the area, and that ended in the isolation of Hamas. To in fact get this deal these days, that is how we were given up to now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Ok, I’ve to take a wreck right here. Brett, so do not imply to chop you off, however we can have extra questions, however we need to take a handy guide a rough wreck. Stick with us.
PART 2:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome again to Face the Country. We are proceeding our dialog now with Brett McGurk of the Nationwide Safety Council below President Biden. Brett, I simply wish to pick out up the place we left off. Simply this previous week, President Biden gave one in every of his closing interviews, and he shared a non-public dialog with High Minister Netanyahu. Take a pay attention to it:
BIDEN SOT: I stated, However Bibi, I stated, you’ll be able to’t be carpet bombing those communities. And he stated to me, Neatly, you probably did it. You carpet bomb, now not his actual phrases, however you carpet bombed Berlin. You drafted a nuclear weapon, you killed 1000s of blameless other folks since you needed to with the intention to win a warfare.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Biden went on to mention, that is why all the UN and global order used to be created to forestall that from ever going down once more. How a lot do you suppose Israel’s status on this planet has been broken through the behavior of its army?
BRETT MCGURK: Neatly Margaret, that used to be a dialog early on, when the talk used to be whether or not or now not the Israelis must pass in at the floor. And we had a debate with them about that. In the long run, we supported them, they usually have been proper, as a result of Hamas used to be residing in 400 miles of tunnels beneath Gaza. There used to be no option to root out Hamas with out going into Gaza, and albeit–
MARGARET BRENNAN: However he used to be speaking about losing bombs on structures.
BRETT MCGURK: You’ll be able to see– however I am simply going again to what the dialog used to be about. It used to be about how this used to be going to move. And glance, we have labored very intently with the Israelis. Too many of us have died on this warfare. That is why we paintings so exhausting to get to the place we’re these days with a stop fireplace. The stop fireplace these days, this framework, this street map the President specified by Might, used to be the one option to finish the warfare, and the one option to finish the warfare used to be, frankly, with huge force on Hamas and knocking out the opposite proxies that have been supporting Hamas. I simply have to emphasise this once more, when Hezbollah used to be firing on Israel each and every unmarried day, it used to be Hassan Nasrallah’s place that they wouldn’t quit capturing at Israel and making Northern Israel no guy’s land till, till Israel permitted all of Hamas’ phrases in Gaza. Israel needed to knock out Hezbollah to get this deal. That is what came about with the stop fireplace on the finish of November. That is what unfolded the distance to get this deal. It is been a brutal warfare, however to finish it, we needed to get the stop fireplace deal. And to do this, to do this, we needed to improve Israel and again them up. And we did.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will be able to see if the ceasefire turns into an finish to the warfare and there may be extra international relations forward. Brett McGurk, thanks for sharing the main points.
