| |
Hamas to Release US-Israeli H 05/12 07:00
An American-Israeli soldier taken captive and held for more than 19 months
in the Gaza Strip is expected to be released on Monday, Hamas said, as part of
a goodwill gesture for the Trump administration that could lay the groundwork
for a new ceasefire between the warring sides.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- An American-Israeli soldier taken captive
and held for more than 19 months in the Gaza Strip is expected to be released
on Monday, Hamas said, as part of a goodwill gesture for the Trump
administration that could lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire between the
warring sides.
Edan Alexander was snatched from his military base in southern Israel during
Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which set off the war in Gaza. His
expected release would be the first since Israel shattered an eight-week
ceasefire with Hamas in March, when it unleashed fierce strikes on Gaza that
have killed hundreds.
Israel has also promised to intensify its offensive, including by seizing
the territory and displacing much of its population again. Before the
ceasefire's demise, Israel blocked all imports from entering the war-ravaged
Palestinian enclave, deepening a humanitarian crisis there and sparking
warnings of a risk of famine if the blockade isn't lifted. Israel says the
steps are meant to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement on Israel's
terms.
Israel says that, including Alexander, 59 hostages remain in captivity,
about 24 who are said to be alive and the remaining are deceased. Many of the
250 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the 2023 attack were freed in
ceasefire deals.
Trump says the expected release is ?hopefully' a step toward ending the war
After announcing on Sunday its intention to release Alexander, Hamas said in
a statement on Monday that the handover would occur later in the day. Israeli
authorities did not respond to requests for comment on the timing of the
release.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is set to arrive in the Middle East on
Tuesday on his first official foreign trip, said Sunday that the planned
release is "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."
"Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this
brutal conflict. I look very much forward to that day of celebration!" Trump
said on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump, who is traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates,
is not scheduled to stop in Israel.
An Israeli official said that Trump envoy Steve Witkoff was expected in
Israel on Monday and would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's security Cabinet to discuss nuclear talks with Iran and efforts to
free more hostages. The official spoke on condition to of anonymity in line
with regulations.
Alexander's family, which is based in the U.S., was on route to Israel,
according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing the
captives' families.
Israel says it still plans to escalate its offensive in Gaza
On Monday, a statement from Netanyahu's office said Alexander's release was
expected, without indicating timing, and that Israel was not granting any
concessions for it.
The statement said Israel did not commit to a ceasefire or to free
Palestinian prisoners as part of the release and that it had only agreed to
create a "safe corridor" to allow for Alexander to be returned.
The statement said Israel would still carry on with its plans to ramp up its
offensive in Gaza despite the expected hostage release. Israel says it won't
launch that plan until after Trump's visit to the Middle East this week, to
allow for a potential new ceasefire deal to emerge.
A statement by the office on Sunday said the U.S. had told Israel that
Alexander's release could lead to a new deal with Hamas to free more hostages.
Netanyahu faces criticism for not freeing all the hostages
Israel's exact involvement in getting the release off the ground wasn't
immediately clear. But it created a backlash against Netanyahu, with critics
accusing him of having to rely on a foreign leader to help free the remaining
hostages.
At the opening of his trial for alleged corruption, where he is giving
testimony, a woman in the courtroom asked whether he was "ashamed that the
president of the United States is saving his citizens and he is leaving them to
die there in captivity?"
Critics accuse Netanyahu of not doing enough to free the hostages, saying
his insistence on keeping up the war in Gaza is politically motivated.
Netanyahu says he aims to achieve Israel's twin war goals, freeing the hostages
and dismantling
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 captive in the 2023
attack.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of
them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not
say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. It obliterated vast
swaths of Gaza's urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often
multiple times.
|
|
