DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas says Edan Alexander, the final residing American hostage in Gaza, will probably be launched as a part of efforts to determine a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the supply of support.
The Hamas assertion Sunday evening doesn’t say when the discharge will occur.
The announcement 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 throughout the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault that ignited the struggle in Gaza.
Khalil al-Hayyah, a Hamas chief in Gaza, mentioned the group has been involved with the U.S. administration over the previous few days.
He mentioned in a press release Hamas is able to “instantly begin intensive negotiations” to achieve a remaining deal for a long-term truce which incorporates an finish to the struggle, the alternate of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of energy in Gaza to an unbiased physique of technocrats.
Alexander’s dad and mom didn’t instantly return requests for remark, and there was no fast response from the workplace of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump has steadily talked about Alexander, now 21, by identify prior to now few months.
“Each time they are saying Edan’s identify, it’s like they didn’t neglect. They didn’t neglect he’s American, and so they’re engaged on it,” Edan’s mom, Yael Alexander, instructed The Related Press in February.
Bombardment continues
Israeli strikes in a single day and into Sunday killed 15 folks in the Gaza Strip, principally girls and youngsters, in accordance with native well being officers.
Two of the strikes hit tents within the southern metropolis of Khan Younis, every killing two kids and their dad and mom, in accordance with Nasser Hospital, which obtained the our bodies. One other seven folks had been killed in strikes elsewhere, together with a person and his baby in a Gaza Metropolis neighborhood, in accordance with 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 fast Israeli touch upon the newest strikes.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, together with meals, medication 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 working low and starvation is widespread.
Kids 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 pressured to drink salty water, I’ve no alternative,” mentioned Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal illness, and there’s no medication 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. Help teams say the humanitarian disaster is worse than at any time within the 19-month struggle.
Trump to go to the area
Trump, whose administration has voiced full help for Israel’s actions, is ready to go to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour that won’t embrace Israel.
The struggle started when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 folks, principally civilians, and taking 251 hostage. Fifty-nine hostages are nonetheless inside Gaza, round a 3rd of them believed to be alive, after many of the relaxation had been launched in ceasefire agreements or different offers.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, principally girls and youngsters, in accordance with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t say how most of the useless had 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 categorised as lacking for greater than 4 many years.
The restoration of Sgt. 1st Class Tzvi Feldman’s stays introduced extra closure to a case that has plagued Israel for years. The Israeli navy mentioned his stays had been recovered from deep inside Syria, with out offering additional particulars.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Feldman’s surviving siblings on Sunday 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 international intelligence company, to collect further intelligence and ultimately find and retrieve the physique, in accordance with 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 lacking troopers had been returned alive to Israel in prisoner exchanges with Syria. The stays of one other soldier had been returned in 2019, after Russia mentioned it had helped find them in Syria, whereas the destiny of the opposite two remained unknown.
Instances of troopers lacking for many years have a strong emotional and political resonance in Israel, the place navy service is obligatory for many Jewish males.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Related Press author Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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Comply with AP’s struggle protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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