Hamas says it will issue another American hostage

Hamas, the Palestinian Armed Group, said on Sunday night that it will liberate the last American neighborhood citizen in Gaza, just a few days before President Trump is expected to reach the area for a major foreign tour during his second term.

Khalil Al -Hayya, the main Hamas negotiator, said in a statement that Hamas agreed to liberate the hostage, Adan Alexander, 21, after talks with the United States. He did not say when Mr. Alexander will be released or what Hamas is expected to get in return.

He grew up in TENAFly, New Jersey, Mr. Alexander, an American -Israeli dual citizen who moved to Israel to work in the army after high school. During Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped him from the military position where he was stationed.

This announcement comes in a pivotal moment in the Middle East, where Mr. Trump is scheduled to land on Tuesday in a diplomatic round. Mr. Trump is expected to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the wake of disputes with Israel on talks with Iran on its nuclear program.

The war in Gaza will be suspended by visiting Mr. Trump, although he does not visit Israel. The Israeli government threatens a major military attack that would replace most people in Gaza unless Hamas surrenders and hand over its remaining hostages. Israel was already blocking food and other aid to Gaza for more than two months, deepening the humanitarian enclosure crisis.

Hamas has widely refused to liberate more prisoners, saying that Israel must first adhere to a way to end the war. But in a possible attempt to gain preference with Mr. Trump, Hamas agreed to liberate Mr. Alexander as a gesture of goodwill, according to the American official and another diplomat that was briefed on the talks, which spoke unknown to discuss sensitive negotiations.

The exact timing and the mechanism of launching Mr. Alexander remains unclear. The US official said the Trump administration hoped to be released after Monday. Mahmoud Mardwe, Hamas official, said the issue will happen the next day or two.

During the talks, the United States pledged to make “great efforts” to end the war in Gaza, said Mr. Mardawi.

“We were asked to release Alexander and we complied with the request,” he said in an interview on the phone. He said that the Americans were transferred to Hamas that “the war turned its course” and “no longer has any justification.”

Mr. Alexander was one of about 250 people, as they gave hostility during the October 7 attack, which ignited the war in Gaza. The hostages were moved to Gaza for use as bargaining chips in future negotiations with Israel. After more than 18 months, 59 of them remain in the pocket. Dozens of them, including four American citizens, are supposed to be dead.

The parents of Mr. Alexander, Uday and Will Alexander, carried out a tireless campaign to release him, meet the officials and speak in the gatherings. “We live this day over and over,” Adeynender said in an interview with him in February 7, referring to the October 7 attacks.

Mr. Bouhler said in a phone call that Mr. Alexander travels to Israel on Sunday night with Adam Bouhler, the special envoy of Mr. Trump to respond to the hostage. He said that Steve Whittov, the envoy of Mr. Trump in the Middle East, and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio were effective in securing the release of Mr. Alexander.

In a statement, Mr. Alexander’s family described his return as “the greatest imagination gift” and urged the Israeli government to negotiate the launch of the remaining prisoners. “It should not leave any hostage behind it,” they said.

Mr. Trump called on Mr. Alexander’s fashik’s publication, “a step taken in good faith towards the United States.” He said“We hope this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal struggle.”

This year, the Trump administration erupted with a long -term American policy of Hamas province, which the United States has identified as a terrorist group. Mr. Bohler held direct talks with Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, in an attempt to secure the freedom of Mr. Alexander, as well as the dead bodies of the four American. But they are I was connected Amid Israeli objections.

In the previous rounds of negotiations, Hamas has set a clear price to liberate more hostages: Israel must ultimately end the war, withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip and launch large numbers of Palestinian prisoners.

During a two -month ceasefire, Hamas handed over more than 30 hostages and the bodies of eight others, while Israel liberated more than 1500 Palestinians held in its prisons. Israel ended the armistice in mid -March, saying that the talks to secure the next steps in the agreement were blocked.

On Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Washington has officially informed Israel that the release of Mr. Alexander would be a “gesture to the Americans” without any “compensation or conditions”. The American and diplomat said that Hamas agreed to release Mr. Alexander without specific demands in return.

However, Mr. Netanyahu’s office suggested that the release of Mr. Alexander will not lead Israel to stop his military campaign in Gaza, at least at the present time. His office said: “In light of the Israeli policy, negotiations will take place as the fighting continues.”

The announcement that the United States has obtained a marine promise to Mr. Alexander to pay hope in Israel. But it also prompted some Israelis to express frustration with their government, which failed to obtain the freedom of the remaining hostages.

Critics of Mr. Netanyahu called for an immediate agreement to end the war with Hamas and liberate the rest of the hostages. Mr. Netanyahu, arguing that saving the prisoners is less important than “victory over our enemies.”

“The responsibility takes place with the Israeli government,” said a hostile family forum, a group of advocacy calling for an agreement with Hamas. “No one should leave behind.”

Isabel Kirchner and Fatima Abdul Karahah The reports contributed.