Hamas set to free US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander Monday in goodwill gesture to Trump
Israel wasn’t told in advance about release, which is being made unconditionally by Hamas in hope that US will coax Jerusalem to accept deal to end war in exchange for remaining hostages
Hamas was set to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander on Monday after over 580 days in captivity, with the Palestinian terror group agreeing to the move as a gesture of goodwill to US President Donald Trump ahead of his trip to the region, hoping that he will in turn coax Israel to sign a deal freeing the remaining hostages in exchange for an end to the war, a US official, a Palestinian official and a third source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Sunday.
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff called Alexander’s parents Yael and Adi on Sunday afternoon to inform them of the news, a US official said. The Alexanders flew to Israel with US hostage envoy Adam Boehler on Sunday night in order to arrive in time for Alexander’s release. Witkoff was slated to fly to Israel separately from Oman, where he held the fourth round of nuclear talks with Iran on Sunday.
“The entire family is now on the way to Israel,” Edan’s father, Adi, told the Ynet news site. “We were completely surprised to receive the call from Witkoff. We knew about the negotiations but not about such a dramatic development.”
Boehler himself tweeted that the news of Alexander’s release was a positive step forward, adding: “We would also ask that Hamas release the bodies of four other Americans that were taken.” The bodies of slain hostages Itay Chen, Omer Neutra, Gadi Haggai and Judith Weinstein Haggai are among the 59 captives still held by Hamas. Up to 24 of those hostages are believed to still be alive.
Hamas has said it is willing to release all of the hostages at once in exchange for an end to the war, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused such an exchange, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power.
Hamas is hoping that releasing Alexander will be enough to convince Trump to push Netanyahu to accept the trade, the source familiar with the matter said.
The source added that Hamas was assured by a mediator that Alexander’s release “would go a long way” with Trump, who wants to see the remaining hostages released and for the war in Gaza to end.
Certain security measures need to be taken in order for the release to move forward, such as Israel halting military operations and drone surveillance of parts of the Strip, as it has had to do in previous releases, a source involved in the process told The Times of Israel.
Alexander, a dual citizen who grew up in New Jersey, was serving in the Israel Defense Forces at the time of his abduction. He was kidnapped from his base during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught that started the war in Gaza.
In a statement, Hamas said the decision to release Alexander came after recent talks with US officials and “intensified efforts to achieve a ceasefire, open border crossings, and allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.”
It did not say when Alexander would be released. The officials who spoke with The Times of Israel said that — contrary to Hamas’s claim — no direct talks were held between the terror group and the US.
Hamas in its statement also said that it was prepared to enter intensified negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement to end the war, establish a mutually “agreed prisoner exchange, and enable Gaza to be administered by an independent professional authority.”
Hamas uses the term “prisoner exchange” to refer to the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners, including terrorists convicted of murdering Israelis.
“This was a step taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday evening. “Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict. I look very much forward to that day of celebration!”
Qatar and Egypt welcomed the news in a joint statement, calling it “a gesture of goodwill and an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of prisoners and detainees, and ensure the safe and unhindered flow of aid to address the tragic conditions in the Strip.”
The US did not brief Israel on the effort to release Alexander until after the deal with Hamas was reached, the source familiar with the details of Alexander’s release told The Times of Israel.
Israel was generally aware that efforts were ongoing, but only knew about them from its own intelligence operations. On Sunday evening, Witkoff updated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer about the development, the US official said.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the US had informed Israel that Hamas would release Alexander “without any compensation or conditions,” and as a gesture of goodwill to 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 proposal — which Israel has already accepted,” said the PMO in a statement, referring to a framework that sources have told The Times of Israel was in fact proposed by Israel, under which around half the living hostages would go free in exchange for an extended truce, with the rest being later freed in exchange for an end to the war.
Israel was making preparations for the potential release, the PMO continued, adding that “according to Israeli policy, the negotiation will take place under fire, with a firm commitment to achieving all the objectives of the war.”
Earlier Sunday, multiple reports quoted Netanyahu as telling the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hamas could release Alexander during Trump’s visit, and welcomed the possibility, adding: “These are very critical days.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement Sunday that the release of Alexander “must be the start of a single agreement that will return all 59 hostages.”
“There is only one moral, proper and necessary agreement: the immediate return of all the hostages and the end of the war,” said the forum, which has long been calling for the government to agree to a deal that will return all the remaining hostages at once, rather than in phases.
“Now is the time to bring about a breakthrough in negotiations. The responsibility lies with the Israeli government,” it added. “Nobody can be left behind.”
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of eight slain Israeli captives during a ceasefire between January and March. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war. In exchange, Israel has freed some 2,000 jailed Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gazan terror suspects detained during the war.
Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive, and the bodies of 41 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.
The body of another soldier killed in 2014, Lt. Hadar Goldin, is still being held by Hamas, and is counted among the 59 hostages.
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