Hamas to release the last living American hostage in Gaza

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas said Sunday that the last living American hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the Israeli-blockaded territory and resume the delivery of aid.

Two Hamas officials told the Associated Press that they expect the release in the next 48 hours.

President Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed late Sunday in a message to AP that the militant group had agreed to release Alexander as a goodwill gesture toward Trump.

The announcement of the first hostage release since Israel shattered a ceasefire in March comes shortly before Trump visits the Middle East this week. It highlighted the willingness of the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, to inject momentum into ceasefire talks in the 19-month war as desperation grows among hostages’ families and Gaza’s more than 2 million people under the recent Israeli blockade.

“This was 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,” Trump said on his social media platform Sunday evening. “Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict. I look very much forward to that day of celebration!”

Alexander is an Israeli American soldier who grew up in New Jersey. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the U.S. informed it of Hamas’ intent to release Alexander “without compensation or conditions” and that the step is expected to lead to negotiations on a truce. Netanyahu’s government was angered by U.S. direct talks with Hamas this year — which led to a Hamas offer to release Alexander and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel recommitted to a stalled ceasefire deal. Days later, Israel resumed the war.

Witkoff told the AP that Hamas’ goal in releasing Alexander was to restart talks on a ceasefire, the release of additional hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza before Israel carries out a threatened total takeover of the territory.

Khalil al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the U.S. administration over the last few days.

He said in a statement that Hamas is ready to “immediately start intensive negotiations” to reach a final deal for a long-term truce that includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in the Gaza Strip and the handover of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats.

Indirect talks between Hamas and the U.S. began five days ago, an Egyptian official and a senior Hamas official told the AP, with both describing the release of Alexander as a gesture of goodwill.

The senior Hamas official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Alexander is expected to be released Monday. Hamas was advised to “give a gift to President Trump and in return he will give back a better one,” the official said.

Another Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations, said Alexander’s release is expected in the next 48 hours, adding that it requires Israel to pause fighting for a couple of hours.

The Egyptian official involved in ceasefire negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss talks, said Hamas received assurances from the Trump administration through Egyptian and Qatari mediators that Alexander’s release “will put all files on the negotiating table,” including an end to the war.

Alexander’s parents did not immediately return requests for comment.

Trump and special envoy Witkoff have frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, in the last few months. Witkoff was expected to visit Israel in the coming hours.

“Every time they say Edan’s name, it’s like they didn’t forget. They didn’t forget he’s American, and 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 the Thanksgiving weekend, his mother said. The video was difficult to watch, as he cried and pleaded for help, but it was a relief to see the latest sign that he was alive, she said.

Fifty-nine hostages are still in Gaza, around a third of them believed to be alive. Most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. The Hostages Families Forum, the grassroots forum representing most hostage families, said Alexander’s release “must mark the beginning of a comprehensive agreement” that will free all remaining hostages.

Trump, whose administration has voiced full support for Israel’s actions, is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour.

Bombardment continues

Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.

Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Yunis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Seven other 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 says it targets only militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It has blamed Hamas for civilian deaths throughout the war because the militants are ensconced in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes.

Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for more than 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.

The United Nations and aid groups say food and other supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.

Children carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp said the water was brought by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza. Without it, they rely on wells that are salty and often polluted.

“I am forced to drink salty water. I have no choice,” Mahmoud Radwan said. “This causes intestinal disease, and there’s no medicine to treat it.”

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, says that enough aid entered during a two-month ceasefire this year and that two of the three main water lines from Israel are still functioning. Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the 19-month war.

Trump to visit the region

Trump, whose administration has voiced full support for Israel’s actions, is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 others hostage. Fifty-nine hostages are still in Gaza, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 52,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory and displaced about 90% of its population of around 2 million.

Remains of a soldier from 1982

In a separate development, Israel said it retrieved the remains of a soldier killed in a 1982 battle in southern Lebanon after he had been classified as missing for more than four decades.

The recovery of Sgt. 1st Class Tzvi Feldman’s remains brought closure to a case that has troubled Israel for years. The Israeli military said his remains were recovered from deep inside Syria, without providing further details.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Feldman’s surviving siblings on Sunday and told them that the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad late last year led to an “opportunity” that allowed the military and the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, to gather additional intelligence and locate and retrieve the body, according to video released by his office.

Feldman went missing, along with five other Israeli soldiers, in a battle with Syrian forces in the Lebanese town of Sultan Yacoub. Several years later, two of the missing soldiers were returned alive to Israel in prisoner exchanges with Syria. The remains of another soldier were returned in 2019, after Russia said it had helped locate them in Syria, while the fate of the other two remained unknown.

Cases of soldiers missing for decades have a powerful emotional and political resonance in Israel, where military service is compulsory for most Jewish men.

Shurafa and Magdy write for the Associated Press and reported from Deir al Balah and Cairo, respectively. AP writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.