Trump envoy confirms that Hamas has agreed to release the last living US hostage in Gaza

By Wafaa Shurafa Zeke Miller and Samy Magdy Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip Hamas revealed Sunday that the last living American hostage in Gaza Edan Alexander will be circulated as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire reopen crossings into the Israeli-blockaded territory and resume the delivery of aid Two Hamas agents informed The Associated Press they expect the release in the next hours U S President Donald Trump s envoy Steve Witkoff substantiated late Sunday in a message to AP that Hamas had agreed to release Alexander as a good will gesture toward Trump The announcement of the first hostage release since Israel shattered a ceasefire in March comes shortly before Trump visits the Middle East this week It highlighted the willingness of Israel s closest ally to inject momentum into ceasefire talks for the -month war as desperation grows among hostages families and Gaza s over million people under the new Israeli blockade 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 commented on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday evening Hopefully this is the first of those final actions necessary to end this brutal conflict I look very much forward to that day of celebration Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in New Jersey He was abducted from his base during the Oct Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s office noted the U S informed it of Hamas intent to release Alexander without compensation or conditions and that the step is expected to lead to negotiations on a truce Netanyahu s administration was angered by U S direct talks with Hamas earlier this year which led to a Hamas offer to release Alexander and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel recommitted to a stalled ceasefire deal Days later however Israel resumed the war Witkoff advised the AP that Hamas goal in releasing Alexander was to restart talks on a ceasefire the release of additional hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza before Israel carries out a threatened total takeover of the territory Khalil al-Hayyah a Hamas leader in Gaza mentioned the group has been in contact with the U S administration over the past meager days Al-Hayyah declared in a declaration Hamas is ready to at once start intensive negotiations to reach a final deal for a long-term truce which includes an end to the war the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats Indirect talks between Hamas and the U S began five days ago an Egyptian official and a senior Hamas official explained the AP with both describing the release of Alexander as a gesture of goodwill The senior Hamas official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media disclosed Alexander is expected to be distributed on Monday Hamas was advised to give a gift to President Trump and in return he will give back a better one the official declared Another Hamas official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations commented Alexander s release is expected in the next hours adding that it requires Israel to pause fighting for a couple of hours The Egyptian official involved in ceasefire negotiations speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss talks mentioned Hamas received assurances from the Trump administration through Egyptian and Qatari mediators that Alexander s release will put all files on the negotiating table including an end to the war Alexander s parents did not this instant return requests for comment Trump and Witkoff have frequently mentioned Alexander now by name in the past insufficient months Witkoff was traveling to the region on Monday ahead of Alexander s expected release Every time they say Edan s name it s like they didn t forget They didn t forget he s American and they re working on it Edan s mother Yael Alexander communicated The Associated Press earlier this year Hamas published a video of Alexander in November during the Thanksgiving weekend his mother explained The video was complex to watch as he cried and pleaded for help but it was a relief to see the latest sign that he was alive she explained The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel killing selected people mostly civilians and taking hostage Israel s offensive has killed over Palestinians mostly women and children according to Gaza s Soundness Ministry which does not say how countless of the dead were combatants or civilians The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory and displaced several of its population Fifty-nine hostages are still in Gaza around a third of them thought to be alive Greater part of the rest were issued in ceasefire agreements or other deals The Hostages Families Forum the grassroots forum representing the greater part hostage families reported Alexander s release must mark the beginning of a comprehensive agreement that will free everyone Trump whose administration has voiced full sponsorship for Israel s actions is set to visit Saudi Arabia Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour Bombardment continues Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed people in Gaza mostly women and children according to local wellbeing authorities Two strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis each killing two children and their parents according to Nasser Hospital which received the bodies Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood according to hospitals and Gaza s Robustness Ministry The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the -month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports including food medicine and emergency shelter for over weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages Israel in March shattered the ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than hostages Aid groups say the humanitarian problem is worse than at any time in the war with food running low Israel recovers remains of soldier killed in Lebanon in In a separate progress Israel revealed it retrieved the remains of a soldier killed in a battle in southern Lebanon after he had been classified as missing for more than four decades The Israeli military announced Sgt st Class Tzvi Feldman s remains were recovered from deep inside Syria without providing further details Related Articles Israel launches a new military operation in Gaza Netanyahu tells negotiating organization to stay at talks Gold palaces jet deals and McDonald s Donald Trump at home in Middle East California lawmakers pull ethnic studies bill introduce anti-discrimination bill Stanford declines to discuss Israeli divestment as hunger strike protestors vow to grow numbers Political indoctrination Parents claim ideological bias in college prep syllabus at California high school Netanyahu visited Feldman s surviving siblings and explained them that the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad late last year led to an opportunity that allowed the military and the Mossad Israel s foreign intelligence agency to gather additional intelligence and locate and retrieve the body according to video issued by his office Feldman went missing along with five other Israeli soldiers in a battle with Syrian forces in the Lebanese town of Sultan Yaaqoub Magdy informed from Cairo and Miller from Washington Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv Israel and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this assessment Follow AP s war coverage at https apnews com hub israel-hamas-war