Levi Ben Baruch, the uncle of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, wears a prayer shawl over his shirt showing an image of his nephew. Photo / Heidi Levine, The Washington Post

Hamas says it will release last living American hostage from Gaza

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World

Author: Washington Post,
Publish Date: Mon, 12 May 2025, 1:29pm

Hamas is preparing to release Edan Alexander, a US-Israeli citizen, as part of ceasefire efforts.
Steve Witkoff confirmed the release, with plans to travel to Israel to pick up Alexander.
Negotiations have stalled over ceasefire terms, with Israel demanding the immediate release of all hostages.

Hamas said on Sunday it is preparing to release Edan Alexander, the last known US citizen hostage held alive in the Gaza Strip, as part of an effort to secure a ceasefire with Israel and after what it said were direct contacts with the Trump administration “in the last few days”.

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, confirmed the militant group’s announcement in an interview with NBC News, saying he was travelling to Israel and would be “picking him up, probably tomorrow”.

In a post on X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the United States “informed Israel of Hamas’ intention to release soldier Edan Alexander as a gesture to the Americans, without conditions or anything in exchange”.

Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, said in a WhatsApp exchange that Israeli authorities had informed him that his son would be freed, but did not give the timing. He said he and Edan’s mother were preparing to travel to Israel from their home in New Jersey.

Administration officials did not respond to requests for comment about its contacts with Hamas or the expected release.

In a social media post late Sunday, Vice-President JD Vance said: “Pray that Hamas follows through and Edan gets to come home.” He credited Witkoff, who is also negotiating an end to the Ukraine-Russia war and nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, with “another triumph”.

The pending release comes as Trump prepares to travel this week to the Persian Gulf. But he has pointedly not included Israel on his itinerary amid widespread reports that he has grown increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu’s plans to continue and expand the war with Gaza that Trump vowed he would end in short order after assuming the presidency.

Alexander, 21, a dual US-Israeli citizen and a member of the Israel Defense Forces, was among around 250 hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack inside southern Israel in which more than 1200 people, mostly Israelis, were killed. Since then, 145 have been freed or released during two brief ceasefires in exchange for Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners. Eighty-two have been killed, with up to 24 thought to still be alive, including Alexander.

The fate of the hostages has been an increasingly contentious one inside Israel, where large demonstrations, many led by families of released hostages and those still held, have demanded that Netanyahu bring an end to the war lest those remaining be killed as expanded military operations begin. Netanyahu has said that while rescuing the hostages remains his goal, Hamas must be destroyed inside Gaza.

Negotiations have recently come to a standstill over Hamas’ insistence that any ceasefire include a US-backed Israeli pledge to permanently end the war, and Israel’s refusal. Israel has said that all hostages must be immediately released.

Since the collapse of the most recent ceasefire in March, negotiated by the United States, with Qatar and Egypt as mediators, Israel has resumed attacks in Gaza with increasing intensity. For the past two months, it has imposed a blockade on the entry of food, water, fuel and other humanitarian aid into the enclave, claiming the previous aid shipments were stolen by Hamas, a charge that humanitarian organisations have disputed. The United Nations has said that many of Gaza’s more than 2 million people are on the verge of starvation.

In a statement on Monday, Trump said that the people in Gaza “are starving and we are going to help them get some food”. The administration has endorsed, and credited as a Trump initiative, an Israeli-backed plan to deliver aid to vetted Palestinians in IDF-designated zones in southern Gaza. The United Nations and most of the humanitarian agencies operating inside Gaza have refused to participate on grounds that it is inadequate, unworkable and violates their neutrality and international law.

The Hamas statement released on Sunday by Khalil al-Hayya, the head of the group’s negotiating team, said that during contacts with the United States in recent days, “the movement has expressed a high degree of positivity, and the release of Israeli soldier Edan Alexander … will be among the steps taken toward achieving a ceasefire, reopening the crossings, and allowing aid and relief to reach our people in the Gaza Strip”.

It “affirms” readiness by Hamas to “immediately begin intensive negotiations and exert serious efforts to reach a final agreement to end the war, exchange prisoners by mutual consent, and ensure the administration” of Gaza “by an independent and professional body”.

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