Hamas terrorist groups said on Saturday that if Israel implements the existing ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, they will only release Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.
21-year-old Alexander is the last living American hostage Captive in the Gaza Strip.
A Hamas official told The Associated Press that long-standing consultations on the second phase of the ceasefire have begun on release dates and should continue within 50 days. Israel must also ban humanitarian aid entry and withdraw from the strategic corridor along Gaza's Egyptian border.
Hamas called the “exceptional deal” aimed at getting the ceasefire back on track, according to an official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The woman has the image of Edan Alexander hostages during the day of global unity and prayer with Israeli hostages and missing family forums, representing relatives of people captured by the Palestinian Hamas extremists during the attack on October 7th. (Photo by Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)
After Trump's threat, Hamas refuses to release more hostages without a phase 2 ceasefire deal
Hamas is also demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, officials said.
Hamas agreed on Friday to release Alexander along with the bodies of four other hostages following the transaction provided by the mediator. He has now been taken prisoner for 526 days as of Saturday, the Hostages and Missing Family Forum said.
Meetings are underway in Qatar and are coming to establish the next stage of the Israel Hamas halt fire.
“President Trump has made it clear that Hamas will release the hostages soon or pay a severe price,” the office of Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkoff and the National Security Council said in a joint statement.
Witkov and Eric Tragar, senior directors of the National Security Council of the Middle East and North Africa, presented proposals for a “bridge” to extend the ceasefire with Ramadan and Passover, and negotiate the framework for a permanent ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a team of ministers on Saturday to receive detailed reports from negotiators and decide on the next step in hostage release.
President Donald Trump can be seen posing in New York City on October 7, 2024 in a photo of Edan Alexander. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, many rallies are expected to take place across Israel on Saturday, demanding that all 59 remaining hostages be released, the Hostages and Missing Family Forum said. The main meetings will take place in Tel Aviv, Shahlhanegef Junction, Kalmaigat and Jerusalem.
According to the American Jewish Commission (AJC), he spent most of his life in New Jersey, but was born in Israel just months before his parents moved to the United States.
After graduating from high school, Alexander decided not to enroll in college, but to join the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
On October 7th, the IDF Golani brigade Alexander served in the infantry Golani brigade, but was patrolling near Gaza when Hamas began attacking in Israel. The attack killed 1,200 Israelis and 251 hostages were filmed, including Alexander.
Hamas terrorists will take the position ahead of the hostage release at Dayal Balau in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, February 8th, 2025. (AP)
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Edan's mother, Yael Alexander, spoke about the day she was held hostage in a recent interview with AJC's People of the Pod. Yael was in Israel in early October 2023, looking to visit his family and meet Edan. On the morning of October 7th, she spoke to Edan. Edan said he was watching “awful things,” but he assured him he was safe. He was then taken hostage.
On November 30th, 2024, more than a year after Alexander was captured, Hamas released a video of him speaking in Hebrew and Arabic. Alexander, like the other hostages, was forced to create a propaganda video, delivered a message about Netanyahu and subsequent presidential elections, Donald Trump.
Yael Rotem-Kuriel, Trey Yingst, Rachel Wolf, Stephen Sorace and the Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.
