U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia near historic agreement to free Oct. 7 hostages

U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia were on the brink of a historic agreement to free the Oct. 7 hostages, according to a new report from PBS NewsHour’s Compass Points. Moderator Nick Schifrin highlighted the rapid negotiations and the U.S. response to the war in Gaza. The discussion focused on the rush to release hostages and the broader diplomatic context. Schifrin and co‑host Brett McGurk detailed the negotiations that brought the three nations closer to a resolution.

Schifrin serves as PBS NewsHour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent and hosts Compass Points. As deputy senior producer for foreign affairs and defense, Dan oversees and produces the program’s foreign affairs stories. Their pieces have broken new ground on a range of military issues, exposing debates simmering outside the public eye.

Zeba Warsi, a foreign affairs producer based in Washington DC, is a Columbia Journalism School graduate with an M.A. in Political journalism. She was a leading member of the NewsHour team that won the 2024 Peabody award for coverage of the war in Gaza and Israel. Her work has helped shape the program’s coverage of international conflicts.

Read the full story at pbs.org.