DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — According to Hamas, Edan Alexander, the last remaining American hostage in Gaza, is expected to be freed as part of an effort to secure a cease-fire, reopen border crossings into the Israeli-controlled territory, and allow aid to be delivered again.
The statement released by Hamas on Sunday evening did not specify a release date. The announcement precedes U.S. President Donald Trump’s scheduled visit to the Middle East this week. Trump is not scheduled to visit Israel.
Alexander, an Israeli-American soldier who was raised in the United States, was taken from his base during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which initiated the Gaza war.
There has been no immediate comment from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s administration previously expressed discontent with the U.S. holding direct discussions with Hamas earlier this year.
According to Khalil al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, the group has been in communication with the U.S. government in recent days.
Al-Hayyah stated that Hamas is prepared to “immediately start intensive negotiations” to finalize an agreement for a lasting truce. This agreement would include ending the war, exchanging Palestinian prisoners for hostages in Gaza, and transferring authority in Gaza to an independent body of experts.
Alexander’s parents have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Trump and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, have frequently mentioned Alexander, who is now 21 years old, in recent months. Witkoff is expected to visit Israel shortly.
“Every time they mention Edan’s name, it’s like they haven’t forgotten. They haven’t forgotten that he’s American, and that they’re working on it,” Edan’s mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press in February.
Hamas released a video of Alexander in November during Thanksgiving weekend, which his mother said is his favorite holiday. She said the video, in which he cried and asked for help, was difficult to watch but provided reassurance that he was still alive.
Edan Alexander, originally from Tenafly, New Jersey, where his parents and two younger siblings still reside, relocated to Israel in 2022 after graduating from high school and joined the military.
After previous releases through cease-fire agreements and other deals, 59 hostages remain in Gaza, with approximately one-third believed to be alive.
Bombardment continues
According to local health officials, Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday resulted in the deaths of 15 people in the Gaza Strip, predominantly women and children.
Nasser Hospital reported that two strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents. Hospitals also reported that another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military asserts that its targets are exclusively militants and that it takes precautions to avoid harming civilians. They attribute civilian casualties in the 19-month war to Hamas’s practice of operating within densely populated areas. There was no immediate response from Israel regarding the recent strikes.
For over 10 weeks, Israel has imposed a complete blockade on Gaza, preventing the entry of all imports, including food, medicine, and emergency shelter. Israel claims this is a pressure tactic to force Hamas to release the hostages. Israel restarted its offensive in March, ending a cease-fire that had enabled the release of over 30 hostages.
The U.N. and aid organizations report that food and essential supplies are dwindling, resulting in widespread hunger. Aid groups describe the humanitarian situation as the worst it has been during the 19-month conflict.
On Sunday, children carrying empty bottles were seen chasing a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza. Residents of the densely populated Shati refugee camp said the water was supplied by a charity from another part of Gaza. Without this source, they rely on wells that are often salty and contaminated.
“I am forced to drink salty water, I have no choice,” said Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal disease, and there’s no medicine to treat it.”
COGAT, the Israeli military division responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, maintains that sufficient aid was delivered during a two-month cease-fire earlier this year and that two of the three main water pipelines from Israel are still operational.
Trump to visit the region
Trump, whose administration has consistently expressed strong support for Israel’s actions, is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates this week as part of a regional tour that excludes Israel.
The war began with an attack on southern Israel by Hamas-led militants, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, and the abduction of 251 hostages.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s offensive has resulted in the deaths of over 52,800 Palestinians, primarily women and children. The ministry does not specify the number of fatalities who were combatants versus civilians. The offensive has caused widespread destruction and displaced approximately 90% of the territory’s population of around 2 million.
Israel recovers remains of soldier killed in Lebanon in 1982
In a separate development, Israel announced the recovery of the remains of a soldier who died in battle in southern Lebanon in 1982, after being classified as missing for over four decades.
The recovery of Sgt. 1st Class Tzvi Feldman’s remains brought closure to a long-standing case. The Israeli military reported that his remains were found deep inside Syria, without providing additional details.
Netanyahu visited Feldman’s surviving siblings on Sunday and said the ousting of Syrian President Bashar Assad in late last year created an “opportunity” that allowed the military and the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, to gather more intelligence and eventually locate and recover the body, as shown in a video released by his office.
Feldman disappeared, along with five other Israeli soldiers, in a battle against Syrian forces in the Lebanese town of Sultan Yaaqoub. Several years later, two of the missing soldiers were returned to Israel alive through prisoner exchanges with Syria. The remains of another soldier were returned in 2019, after Russia claimed to have assisted in locating them in Syria, while the fate of the remaining two remained unknown.
Cases of soldiers missing for decades have a significant emotional and political impact in Israel, where military service is mandatory for most Jewish men.
—Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
