Hamas leaves a US Israeli hostage free-gesture for Trump

According to its own information, the Palestinian Hamas has released a US Israeli hostage in the Gaza Strip. Several Israeli media also reported that 21-year-old Edan Alexander had been handed over to representatives of the Red Cross in the city of Chan Junis in the south of the area. Israel’s army announced that she had been informed by the Red Cross that the organization had a hostage. The kidnapped person is now being brought to the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

Alexander was released with the USA due to an agreement by Hamas, without Israeli participation. Nothing was known about his state of health.

Hamas fighters captured the soldiers on October 7, 2023 on an Israeli guard position near the Gaza Strip. He is the first male soldier to have been released alive from the Hamas.

The Red Cross vehicles should bring him to representatives of the Israeli army, reported the Israeli news portal “Ynet”. Afterwards Alexander should be brought to the military base rhyme on the edge of the Gaza Strip to meet his family there. Then he is transported to a hospital with a helicopter.

After his release, Alexander could travel to Katar for a meeting with US President Donald Trump. Several Israeli media reported this, citing Alexander’s family. However, this only applies if his state of health allows this.

Hamas announced the release of the soldier on Sunday. There have been talks with the USA in the past few days. The release is part of the efforts of the Palestinian organization to achieve a Gaza agreement.

Trump spoke of a “monumental news” and gesture of accommodation towards the USA and the other two intermediaries Qatar and Egypt. Trump wants to start a Middle East trip lasting several days this week-without a stop in Israel.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the United States had said Israel that this step would probably lead to negotiations on a former proposal of the US specialist Steve Witkoff that Israel had already accepted.

Witkoff’s proposal aims at the release of all kidnapped and corpses remaining in the Gaza Strip in two stages with a longer ceasefire in between. However, Hamas insists on an obligation of Israel to a complete end of the war.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office announced in the afternoon of sending negotiations to Qatar on Tuesday.

Israel also plans to tighten the attacks in the Gaza Strip after the soldier has been released. “The negotiations will continue under fire, while preparations for intensifying the fights are ongoing,” said Netanyahus. Alexander’s release became possible “by the energetic policy that we led to President Trump, and thanks to the military pressure of the Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip”. Israel is not obliged to do any ceasefire or to dismiss in prisoners.

Relatives of other hostages without foreign citizenship expressed bitterness that their loved ones are not released and accused the government of Netanyahus indifference. Schimon Or, whose nephew is captured in the Gaza Strip, said “Ynet”: “Hamas noticed that US President Donald Trump has had enough of Netanyahu’s decision-making, so she threw a bone to him and left Israel.”

The association of hostage families emphasized that nobody should be left behind in the Gaza Strip. “Edans return must be the beginning of a comprehensive agreement that brings all hostages home.”

Alexander had also been tortured in the hostage, Israeli media reported, citing reports previously released. Accordingly, he was held in a tunnel for more than 500 days and was also chained for a while. The young soldier is also said to have lost significant weight. In November 2024, Hamas published a video of the young soldier that shows him uninhibitedly crying.

Alexander’s parents emigrated to the USA shortly after his birth. Her eldest son then came to Israel alone to serve in the army.

According to Israeli information, 20 living hostages are now being recorded, with three other kidnapped, it is unclear whether they are still alive. There are also the corpses of 35 kidnapped.

The Hamas had released two female US geese without conditions shortly after the war. In addition, two older Israeli women were handed over to the Red Cross for “humanitarian reasons”. During two ceasefire phases, dozens of other hostages were released in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

According to media reports, Alexander was the last living hostage with US citizenship, which was still captured in the Gaza Strip. Among the dead are still several people with American citizenship.

The Hamas and other Islamist terrorists killed around 1200 people on October 7, 2023 and dragged more than 250 into the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. The massacre was triggered by the Gaza War. According to the health authority controlled by the Hamas, more than 52,800 Palestinians have so far been killed, most of them women and children.