Hamas terrorist organisations said Friday it would release the U.S. Israeli dual citizen, considered to be the last living American to be held in Gaza. The bodies of four dual states who died from brutal prisoners are also handed over.
The decision came after a proposal from a mediator to resume negotiations in the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, Reuters Report.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office raised doubts on the offer, accusing Hamas of trying to manipulate ongoing consultations in Qatar at the next stage of the Israeli Hamas ceasefire.
There are no specific details about when the release of Soldier Edan Alexander and the other four bodies will occur. Report.
Varda Ben Balk, whose grandson Edan Alexander has been held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas extremists, is gestured on a Torah scroll in his bedroom in his home in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday, November 14, 2024.
Alexander was 19 years old and was accused of from a base on the border with Gaza in southern Israel during the Hamas terrorist attack that sparked Israeli resolve in the October 7, 2023 attack on Hamas.
The United States, led by Trump administration hostage envoy Steve Witkoff, is pushing for a proposal to extend the ceasefire and see a limited number of hostages for prisoner exchanges, the Associated Press report said.
Last week, the White House made a surprising announcement that American officials had been engaged in “ongoing consultations and discussions” with Hamas officials and had left the longstanding US policy of not directly engaging with extremist groups.
It was not immediately clear whether these talks were linked to Hamas' Friday's announcement on the release of American hostages at all.
