Hamas says final residing American hostage in Gaza shall be launched
World Information
Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the USA.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas mentioned Sunday that Edan Alexander, the final residing American hostage in Gaza, shall be launched as a part of efforts to ascertain a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the Israeli-blockaded territory and resume the supply of support. Two Hamas officers instructed The Related Press they count on the discharge within the subsequent 48 hours.
The announcement of the primary hostage launch since Israel shattered a ceasefire in March comes shortly earlier than U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Center East this week. Trump isn’t planning to go to Israel.
Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the USA. He was kidnapped from his base through the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault that ignited the struggle in Gaza.
There was no speedy remark from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace. Netanyahu’s authorities was angered by U.S. direct talks with Hamas earlier this yr.
Khalil al-Hayyah, a Hamas chief in Gaza, mentioned the group has been in touch with the U.S. administration over the previous few days.
Al-Hayyah mentioned in an announcement Hamas is able to “instantly begin intensive negotiations” to achieve a ultimate deal for a long-term truce, which incorporates an finish to the struggle, the change of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of energy in Gaza to an impartial physique of technocrats.
A senior Hamas official, talking on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to talk to the media, mentioned Alexander is predicted to be launched on Monday as a goodwill gesture. One other Hamas official, talking on situation of anonymity to debate negotiations, mentioned Alexander’s launch is predicted within the subsequent 48 hours, including that it requires Israel to pause preventing for a few hours.
Alexander’s dad and mom didn’t instantly return requests for remark.
Trump and his particular envoy Steve Witkoff have continuously talked about Alexander, now 21, by title up to now few months. Witkoff is predicted to go to Israel within the coming hours.
“Each time they are saying Edan’s title, it’s like they didn’t overlook. They didn’t overlook he’s American, and so they’re engaged on it,” Edan’s mom, Yael Alexander, instructed The Related Press in February.
Hamas launched a video of Alexander in November through the Thanksgiving weekend, his favourite vacation, his mom mentioned. The video was tough to look at as he cried and pleaded for assist, nevertheless it was a reduction to see the latest signal that he was alive, she mentioned.
A local of Tenafly, New Jersey, the place his dad and mom and two youthful siblings nonetheless reside, Edan Alexander moved to Israel in 2022 after highschool and enlisted within the navy.
Fifty-nine hostages are nonetheless inside Gaza, round a 3rd of them believed to be alive, after many of the relaxation have been launched in ceasefire agreements or different offers.
Bombardment continues
Israeli strikes in a single day and into Sunday killed 15 folks in the Gaza Strip, principally girls and kids, in response to native well being officers.
Two strikes hit tents within the southern metropolis of Khan Younis, every killing two youngsters and their dad and mom, in response to Nasser Hospital, which acquired the our bodies. One other seven folks have been killed in strikes elsewhere, together with a person and his little one in a Gaza Metropolis neighborhood, in response to hospitals and Gaza’s Well being Ministry.
The Israeli navy says it solely targets militants and tries to keep away from harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths within the 19-month-old struggle as a result of the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no speedy Israeli touch upon the most recent strikes.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, together with meals, drugs and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a strain tactic geared toward forcing Hamas to launch hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the discharge of greater than 30 hostages.
The U.N. and support teams say meals and different provides are operating low and starvation is widespread. Support teams say the humanitarian disaster is worse than at any time within the 19-month struggle.
Youngsters carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated space of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp mentioned the water was introduced by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza. With out it, they depend on wells which can be salty and infrequently polluted.
“I’m compelled to drink salty water, I’ve no alternative,” mentioned Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal illness, and there’s no drugs to deal with it.”
COGAT, the Israeli navy physique answerable for Palestinian civilian affairs, says sufficient support entered throughout a two-month ceasefire this yr and that two of the three principal water traces from Israel are nonetheless functioning.
Trump to go to the area
Trump, whose administration has voiced full assist for Israel’s actions, is about to go to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour.
The struggle started when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 folks, principally civilians, and taking 251 hostage.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, principally girls and kids, in response to Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t say how most of the useless have been combatants or civilians. The offensive has destroyed huge areas of the territory and displaced some 90% of its inhabitants of round 2 million.
Israel recovers stays of soldier killed in Lebanon in 1982
In a separate improvement, Israel mentioned it retrieved the stays of a soldier killed in a 1982 battle in southern Lebanon after he had been categorized as lacking for greater than 4 a long time.
The Israeli navy mentioned Sgt. 1st Class Tzvi Feldman’s stays have been recovered from deep inside Syria, with out offering additional particulars.
Netanyahu visited Feldman’s surviving siblings and instructed them that the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad late final yr led to an “alternative” that allowed the navy and the Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence company, to collect extra intelligence and find and retrieve the physique, in response to video launched by his workplace.
Feldman went lacking, together with 5 different Israeli troopers, in a battle with Syrian forces within the Lebanese city of Sultan Yaaqoub. A number of years later, two of the troopers have been returned alive to Israel in prisoner exchanges with Syria. The stays of one other soldier have been returned in 2019, after Russia mentioned it had helped find them in Syria, whereas the destiny of the opposite two remained unknown.
Magdy reported from Cairo. Related Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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