Hamas mentioned on Friday that it had agreed to free Edan Alexander, an American Israeli soldier who has been held in Gaza for 17 months, together with the stays of 4 different hostages with twin citizenship. Israel instantly forged doubt on the proposal’s viability, suggesting a deal was unlikely to be imminent.
In a press release, Hamas mentioned it had formally declared its willingness to free Mr. Alexander and the others in a response to the most recent cease-fire proposal provided by mediators, with out specifying which of them. However the Palestinian armed group didn’t say what it was demanding in trade for the captives or when it might flip the 5 over to Israel.
A senior Hamas official mentioned the group’s supply stipulated that Israel launch some Palestinian prisoners, restore help to Gaza and enter talks on the cease-fire’s subsequent section in trade for Mr. Alexander — believed to be the final surviving captive with American citizenship — and the stays of 4 different American-Israelis.
Hamas was prepared to debate the quantity and identities of the prisoners, the official mentioned, so long as Israel accepted the precept of the supply for the 5 People. The official spoke on situation of anonymity to debate delicate diplomacy.
The workplace of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, argued Hamas was engaged in “manipulations” and “psychological warfare.” Israel had already accepted a separate U.S. supply that may see much more hostages launched in trade for an extension of the cease-fire, Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned in a press release.
Hamas’s gesture appeared not less than partially to be an enchantment to President Trump, whose administration has repeatedly referred to as for Mr. Alexander’s freedom. Final week, Adam Boehler — Trump’s choose for hostage envoy — met Hamas officers in Doha, Qatar, to barter the discharge of Mr. Alexander and the our bodies of the 4 different People.
Hamas’s announcement might pose Mr. Netanyahu with a dilemma: rejecting a proposal to carry house the residing and useless People held in Gaza — even for a steep value — might antagonize members of the Trump administration who’ve clearly mentioned they need Mr. Alexander and the our bodies of the others to be introduced house.
Mediators had hoped that Israel and Hamas would have agreed by now on the subsequent steps within the Gaza cease-fire that started in January. The second section is meant to see a complete finish to Israel’s marketing campaign towards Hamas, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the discharge of the remaining residing hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
However these talks have seen little progress given entrenched disputes between the 2 sides over the way forward for Gaza. Israel has demanded Hamas be faraway from energy, whereas Hamas has appeared loath to disband its battalions of armed fighters or ship its leaders into exile. Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right allies have additionally agitated for a return to combating towards Hamas, that means that ending the battle might destabilize the prime minister’s grip on energy.
The Trump administration’s direct conferences with Hamas sidestepped the moribund cease-fire efforts and broke with yearslong U.S. coverage that aimed to isolate the group by refusing to speak to it instantly. The talks prompted ire within the Israeli authorities, which Mr. Boehler acknowledged throughout a spherical of tv interviews this week.
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, later described Mr. Boehler’s conferences as a “one-off” that had but to supply outcomes.
However Hamas’s newest supply was much like what Mr. Boehler proposed final week in Doha, which included a plan to jump-start negotiations for the second section and produce house the remaining hostages, mentioned a U.S. official, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to talk publicly. That proposal adopted days of talks that Mr. Boehler performed in shut coordination with Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Center East envoy, the official mentioned.
As much as 24 residing hostages and the our bodies of greater than 30 others are nonetheless in Gaza, in line with the Israeli authorities. They embrace 5 People.
Hamas and different militant teams seized about 250 hostages in the course of the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel that ignited the battle in Gaza. Greater than 100 have returned alive to Israel after offers with Hamas in trade for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli troopers retrieved the our bodies of dozens of others in the course of the floor invasion of Gaza.
In mid-January, Israel and Hamas signed off on the multiphase cease-fire, throughout which 30 hostages and the stays of eight others have been exchanged for greater than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners over the primary six weeks of the truce. The discharge of others — like Mr. Alexander — was deferred till each side concluded talks on the nebulous “second section.”
Mr. Alexander grew up in Tenafly, N.J., to Israeli-born dad and mom. After highschool, he moved to Israel to enlist within the army; he was kidnapped from the submit the place he was stationed in the course of the Hamas-led assault. Hamas printed a hostage video that includes him final yr.
The prospect that captives holding one other nationality — like Mr. Alexander — is perhaps prioritized has already prompted livid denunciation from the kinfolk of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Many have referred to as for a single settlement that frees all of the remaining captives without delay.
“If Israel insists on stopping within the center and leaves its residents behind — let each Israeli mom know that she should get her son a overseas passport, or else he’ll be deserted,” the Hostage Households Discussion board, an advocacy group, said in a press release.
