Hamas announced it would release the last living US hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American soldier abducted during the October 7, 2023 attack, reported CNN.
The Palestinian movement said on Sunday that the release of Alexander is part of efforts aiming at establishing a ceasefire, reopening crossings into Gaza, and resuming humanitarian aid entry into the Strip.
In a statement, top Hamas official, Khalil Al-Hayya, said: “The movement affirms its readiness to immediately start intensive negotiations, and make serious efforts to reach a final agreement to stop the war, exchange prisoners in an agreed manner, and manage the Gaza Strip by an independent professional body.”
The US President, Donald Trump, confirmed the news, hailing it as “a step taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Two sources familiar with the matter told CNN that Alexander’s release will most likely take place on Tuesday, the same day on which Trump will begin his Middle East trip. Trump’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Israel on Monday morning ahead of the planned release.
In response to the imminent release of Edan Alexander, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the US had informed Israel that Hamas would release the Israeli-American hostage “without compensation or conditions.”
It also noted in a statement that “Israel has not committed to a ceasefire, nor the release of any Palestinian prisoners, only to a safe corridor that will allow for Edan’s release.”
Moreover, the statement said that negotiations to release the remaining hostages in Gaza would “take place under fire.”
