The terrorist group of Hamas said on Saturday that it will only release it Israeli-American Hostage Edan Alexander as Israel implement the existing ceasefire -fire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Alexander, 21, is the last living American hostage Capture in the Gaza Strip.
A senior Hamas officer told The Associated Press that long delayed conversations about the second phase of the cease-fire should start to start the day of the release and lasts no longer than 50 days. Israel should also stop limiting the access of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along the Gaza border with Egypt.
Hamas called it an “exceptional deal” focused on the weather on the right track, according to the civil servant, who spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity.
A woman has a picture of hostages Edan Alexander during the Global Day of Unity and Prayer with Israel’s Highnesses and Missing Families Forum, which represents the family members of those who are imprisoned by Palestinian Hamas militants during the attack of 7 October. (Photo by Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty images)
After Trump threat, Hamas refuses to release more hostages without phase 2 ceases –
Hamas also demands the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, the official said.
Hamas voted on Friday in Alexander to release together with the bodies of four other hostages after a deal offered by mediators. He has now been held in captivity for 526 days from Saturday, said hostages and missing families forum.
It is because there are conversations underway in Qatar to determine the next phase of the Stakes-Fires of Israel-Hamas, the first phase of which ended on 1 March.
The office of Steve Witkoff, special envoy for the Midden -EastAnd the National Security Council said in a joint statement that “President Trump has made it clear that Hamas will either release hostages immediately or pay a serious price.”
Witkoff and Eric Slower, senior director of the National Security Council for the Midden -Oost and Noord -Africa, presented a ‘bridge’ proposal to strike it -to extend the fires outside Ramadan and Pascha and to give time to negotiate a permanent ceasefires.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene his ministerial team on Saturday to receive a detailed report from negotiators and to decide on the following steps for the release of the hostages.
President Donald Trump poses posing with a photo of Edan Alexander on October 7, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty images)
In the meantime, it is expected that a number of rallies will take place in the Israel on Saturday to demand that all remaining 59 hostages will be released, according to the forum of the hostages and missing families. The most important rallies will take place in Tel Aviv, Sha’ar Hanegev Junction, Carmmei Gat and Jerusalem.
Although he brought in most of his life New JerseyAlexander was born in Israel a few months before his parents moved to the US, according to the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
After graduating from high school, Alexander decided that he would hire the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) instead of registering for the university.
On October 7, Alexander, who served in the Golani Brigade of the IDF, served an infantry unit, near Gaza when the attacks of Hamas on Israel started. The attacks ended with 1200 Israelis killing and 251 hostages, including Alexander.
Hamas terrorists take positions in front of a hostage in Deir al-Balah, Central Gaza Strip, Saturday 8 February 2025. (AP)
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Yael Alexander, Edan’s mother, told the day he was held hostage in a recent interview with AJC’s “People of the Pod”. Yael was in Israel at the beginning of October 2023, visited her family and hoped to see Edan. On the morning of October 7, she spoke with Edan, who said he saw ‘terrible things’, but he assured her that he was safe. Then he was held hostage.
On November 30, 2024, more than a year after Alexander was captured, Hamas published a video of Alexander who spoke in Hebrew and Arabic. Alexander, just like other hostages forced to make propaganda videos, provided reports about Netanyahu and the then chosen Donald Trump.
Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel, Trey Yingst, Rachel Wolf and Stephen Sorace, as well as the Associated Press, contributed to this report.
