(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Hamas said on Sunday that it would release Edan Alexander, a dual US-Israeli citizen and IDF soldier who was captured during the October 7 attack, and confirmed that it had been in direct talks with the US on a potential Gaza ceasefire deal and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
“As part of the efforts being made by our mediator brothers to achieve a ceasefire, Hamas has been in contact with the US administration over the past few days,” said Hamas official Dr. Khalil al-Hayya, according to Drop Site News.
“The movement has expressed a high degree of positivity, and the release of Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, a dual US citizen, will be part of the steps being taken to achieve a ceasefire, open the crossings, and allow aid and relief to reach our people in the Gaza Strip,” al-Hayya added.
According to Axios, US envoy Steve Witkoff spoke with Alexander’s parents and told them he should be released soon. Israeli media is reporting that a Hamas official said Alexander would be released on Monday at noon.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas would release Alexander “without any compensation or conditions as a gesture of goodwill toward the US.
“The US conveyed to Israel that this move is expected to lead to negotiations for the release of additional hostages, based on the original Witkoff framework—which Israel has already accepted,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The “Witkoff framework” refers to a temporary ceasefire deal the US and Israel tried to get Hamas to agree to after Israel ended the truce established by the agreement signed in January, which would have led to the release of all the hostages and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza if fully implemented.
Reuters first reported on Sunday that the US and Hamas were holding direct talks. The US previously held direct negotiations with Hamas, but they ended abruptly after a leak to the media, which was likely an effort by Israel to sabotage the talks.
News of the US-Hamas talks comes amid a series of reports that say President Trump is frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and may be looking to pressure him to agree to a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Israel’s Channel 12 has reported that Witkoff recently told the families of Israeli captives who remain in Gaza that the US “wants to return the hostages, but Israel is not ready to end the war.” He added that Israel “is prolonging the war, even though we do not see where further progress can be made.”
Israel has repeatedly rejected Hamas’s offer to release all remaining Israeli captives in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, and Netanyahu has said that freeing the hostages is not his priority. Israel has been demanding that any deal must include the disarmament of Hamas, but the US has reportedly backed down on that demand.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
