The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian extremist organisation Hamas, announced on the messaging service Telegram that they will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander on Monday.
Israel is already making the necessary preparations. As with the previous releases, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will receive the 21-year-old man and then hand him over to the Israeli army. From there, Alexander will be taken to the Re’im military base, where he will be reunited with his family. He will then be taken to a hospital.
Alexander has been held in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, 2023, after being captured during Hamas’s large-scale attack on Israel that resulted in the kidnapping of 251 people. He is the last known surviving Israeli-American hostage still held in the territory. His release, according to a Hamas statement, will occur “in the context of efforts for a ceasefire, the opening of border crossings and the access of aid and emergency services to our people.”
Trump and mediators react
US President Donald Trump responded to the news on his platform Truth Social, saying, “I am grateful to everyone involved in making this monumental news possible. This step is taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators – Qatar and Egypt – to end this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and bodies to their loved ones,” he wrote. “Hopefully, this is the first of those final steps that are needed to end this brutal conflict. I am very much looking forward to that festive day!”
In a joint statement, mediators Egypt and Qatar called the move “a gesture of goodwill and an encouraging step towards a return to the negotiating table to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of prisoners and detainees and the guarantee of the safe and unhindered flow of aid” into the region.
Israel distances itself from ceasefire talk
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, made clear that the release does not signal broader concessions. “Israel has not committed to a ceasefire or to the release of terrorists (Palestinian prisoners – ed.), but only to a safe corridor that would allow the release of Edan,” Netanyahu said. He added that Israel is preparing for “an intensification of the fighting.”
The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum confirmed in a statement that Alexander’s family has been informed. “No hostage should be forgotten,” the family said.
