Hamas said Friday that it had agreed to release Edan Alexander, the last living U.S. citizen held hostage in Gaza, as well as the bodies of four dual-nationals.
Nothing has been finalized, Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman told NBC News. But he said that the militant group had agreed to a proposal put forward by mediators and was awaiting the results of further negotiations.
The decision to free Alexander, an American Israeli, was first announced in a statement posted to Telegram on Friday. It said that Hamas was ready to begin negotiations to start the second phase of its ceasefire deal with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Hamas was engaging in “manipulation and psychological warfare.” It added that Netanyahu would convene his ministerial team on Saturday “to receive a detailed report from the negotiating team, and to decide on the next steps for the release of the hostages.”
Talks around maintaining the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continued in Doha, Qatar. The first phase ended without an agreement on starting the second phase of the deal, which has brought a pause to the war in Gaza.
The State Department and National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News. A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment.
The Trump administration has been engaged in direct talks with Hamas over the release of U.S. hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, the White House said this month.
Hamas said that its leadership had received a proposal on Thursday from mediators to resume negotiations and that it had “responded responsibly and positively” Friday morning, including its agreement to release Alexander and the bodies of four other dual nationals.
Hamas is believed to be still holding the bodies of four Israeli-Americans: Itay Chen, 19; Omer Neutra, 21; Judith Weinstein, 70; and her husband, Gadi Haggai, 72.
Edan Alexander, who grew up in New Jersey and had volunteered to serve in Israel’s military, is the last living hostage with U.S. citizenship. He was stationed outside Gaza when he was among around 250 people taken hostage during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
Since then, more than 48,500 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip after Israel launched a sweeping military offensive in the Palestinian enclave, according to local health officials, while around 70% of the infrastructure in the territory has also been destroyed, according to the United Nations.
The current ceasefire deal, which took effect Jan. 19, calls for the remaining 59 hostages in Hamas captivity to be released during the second phase, during which plans for an end to the war would be negotiated.
With the ceasefire's first phase having come to an end without the agreement of a second phase, Israel has pressed Hamas to instead accept an extension to the first phase, demanding the release of half of the remaining hostages in return for a guarantee of negotiating a lasting truce.
Hamas has said it wants to begin negotiations on the second phase of the deal, which would see the hostages who remain in its captivity released, along with the withdrawal of Israeli forces and ultimately, an end to the war.
