Hamas says it will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander held in Gaza

12/5/2025 6:16

Hamas will release the

Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander held in Gaza, a senior

Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday.



Freeing Alexander, believed to be the last surviving

American hostage held by the militant Palestinian group, comes

ahead of U.S. President Trump's visit to the Middle East this

week.



A source familiar with the matter said Alexander would

likely be released on Tuesday.



It is part of efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement and

allow humanitarian aid to enter the besieged enclave, the

Palestinian militant group said.



Another official, the exiled Gaza Hamas chief Khalil

al-Hayya, said efforts to facilitate the release have been

jointly carried out by Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey.



"The movement affirms its readiness to immediately start

intensive negotiations and make serious efforts to reach a final

agreement to end the war, exchange prisoners in an agreed-upon

manner," Hayya added.



Direct four-way talks that led to the release were held

between officials from the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Hamas, a

source briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.



There was no immediate comment from the Israeli prime

minister's office on the announcement.



Hamas had released 38 hostages under a ceasefire that

began on January 19. In March, Israel's military resumed its

ground and aerial offensive on Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire

after Hamas rejected proposals to extend the truce without

ending the war.



Israeli officials said that offensive will continue

until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is

demilitarized. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part

of a deal to end the war and has rejected demands to lay down

its arms.



Hamas has said it is willing to free all remaining

hostages its gunmen seized in attacks in southern Israel on

October 7, 2023, and to agree to a permanent ceasefire if Israel

pulls out completely from Gaza.



Israel, which is in control of around a third of Gaza's

territory and has been imposing an aid blockade since March,

said in May it will expand its Gaza offensive.



U.S. special envoy Adam Boehler said: “It’s a positive

step forward and we would also ask that Hamas release the bodies

of four other Americans that were taken."



A State Department spokesperson said Hamas bore sole

responsibility for the war as well as for the resumption of

hostilities.



The U.S. had previously held discussions with the

Palestinian militant group on securing the release of U.S.

hostages held in Gaza.



Israeli media reported on Sunday that Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu had told a closed session of the Foreign

Affairs and Defense Committee that Hamas could soon release

Alexander, an American-Israeli hostage, as a goodwill gesture

towards Trump, who will visit the Middle East this week.



The prime minister's office did not immediately respond

to a request for comment on the reports.



Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for

the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that killed 1,200 people,

according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken hostage into

Gaza in the deadliest day for Israel in its history.



The campaign has killed more than 52,800 Palestinians,

according to local health authorities, and has devastated the

Gaza Strip, leaving its 2.3 million population depending on aid

supplies that have been dwindling rapidly since the blockade.