By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An American-Israeli soldier held hostage for more than 19 months in the Gaza Strip was released Monday, Hamas said, in a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration that could lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire with Israel.
An Israeli official confirmed that the transfer of Edan Alexander was underway without providing specifics. The official was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Alexander was taken from his military base in southern Israel during Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which set off the war in Gaza. His release would be the first since Israel shattered an eight-week ceasefire with Hamas in March, unleashing fierce strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds.
Israel has promised to intensify its offensive, including by seizing the territory and displacing much of its population again. Days before the ceasefire ended, Israel blocked all imports from entering the Palestinian enclave, deepening a humanitarian crisis and sparking warnings about the risk of famine if the blockade isn’t lifted. Israel says the steps are meant to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement on Israel’s terms.
Israel says 59 hostages including Alexander remain in captivity, with about 24 of them said to be alive. Many of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the 2023 attack were freed in ceasefire deals.
Television footage showed Alexander’s mother, Yael Alexander, arriving at the Reim military base in southern Israel, where her son was expected to be taken first.
Alexander’s grandmother, Varda Ben Baruch, said she had barely been able to sleep and had baked Edan’s favorite foods, some of which she sent to the military base.
Trump calls expected release ‘hopefully’ a step toward ending war
Hamas on Sunday announced its intention to release Alexander, shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump is set to arrive Tuesday in the Middle East on the first official foreign trip of his second term.
Trump on Sunday called the planned release “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.”
“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!” Trump said on social media.
Trump, who is traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is not scheduled to stop in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday with the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and discussed efforts to release the remaining hostages, his office said.
“To this end, Prime Minister Netanyahu directed that a negotiations team leave for Doha tomorrow,” the prime minister’s office said, adding that Netanyahu had “made it clear that the negotiations would only take place under fire.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing relatives of hostages, welcomed the news that an Israeli delegation was headed to Doha for talks.
“While Edan Alexander’s release gives us hope, all 58 of our loved ones must come home. Time is running out. These negotiations must bring everyone back,” the group said in a statement. “Trump’s plan offers a real path to freeing all hostages immediately. Every passing day puts their lives at greater risk. We cannot wait any longer.”
Israel says it still plans to escalate its offensive
On Monday, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said Israel was not granting any concessions for Alexander’s release.
The statement said Israel did not commit to a ceasefire or the freeing of Palestinian prisoners as part of the release and that it had only agreed to create a “safe corridor” to allow for Alexander to be returned.
The statement said Israel would carry on with plans to ramp up its offensive in Gaza. Israel says it won’t launch that plan until after Trump’s visit to the Middle East, to allow for a potential new ceasefire deal to emerge.
A statement by the office on Sunday said the U.S. had told Israel that Alexander’s release could lead to a new deal with Hamas to free more hostages.
Netanyahu faces criticism for not freeing all hostages
Israel’s involvement in Alexander’s expected release wasn’t immediately clear. But it created a backlash against Netanyahu, with critics accusing him of having to rely on a foreign leader to help free the remaining hostages.
At the opening of his trial for alleged corruption, where he is giving testimony, a woman in the courtroom asked whether he was “ashamed that the president of the United States is saving his citizens, and he is leaving them to die there in captivity.”
Critics assert that Netanyahu’s insistence on keeping up the war in Gaza is politically motivated. Netanyahu says he aims to achieve Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in the 2023 attack. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians.
Israel’s offensive has obliterated vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often multiple times.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.