Hamas says it will release a U.S.-Israel hostage and four bodies, but Israel expresses doubt

Hamas said Friday it had accepted a mediator’s proposal to release a living U.S. Israel hostage and the bodies of four binationals who were imprisoned and dead. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has expressed doubts about the proposal, accusing the United States and Israel-designated terrorist groups of attempting to negotiate in Qatar in the next phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

They did not immediately designate when the release of soldier Edan Alexander would occur and four bodies would occur – or expect to be rewarded.

Alexander Hamas terrorist attack The war was inspired on October 7, 2023.

It is not clear which mediators have proposed release to Hamas. The United States, led by Steve Witkoff, a hostage envoy for the Trump administration, has been working to make a proposal that would expand the truce and see a limited number of hostages on prisoners’ exchanges.

Following Hamas’ statement, Netanyahu’s office said Israel “accepted the Vikov outline and showed flexibility” but said “Hamas is rejecting and will not get out of his position.”

The government wrote a letter to the hostage family.

It added that Israel’s negotiating team will return from Doha, the capital of Katari, on Friday. Netanyahu said he plans to call his team of ministers on Saturday night to hear from negotiators and decide on the next step.

The first phase of the ceasefire ended two weeks ago, but the pause in the battle remained – if it existed temporarily.

The White House issued a surprise announcement last week that said U.S. officials had “ongoing negotiations and discussions” with Hamas officials, away from a long-standing policy of not directly interacting with radical groups. This triggered a brief response from Netanyahu’s office.

It is unclear whether the negotiations are related to Hamas’ announcement on Friday about the U.S. hostages.

In another statement, Hamas official Husam Badran reiterated what he said was Hamas’ commitment to fully implement the ceasefire agreement at all stages, warning that any Israeli deviation from the clause would bring negotiations back to the first square.

The first phase allowed the return of 25 living hostages and the remains of eight more people in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Since the early days of the war, Israeli forces have withdrawn from buffer zones in Gaza, with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians returning to Northern Gaza, Gaza, for the first time, with hundreds of aid trucks entering every day until Israel suspends supplies.

Israel has been urging Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in exchange for an extension of the first phase and promises to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas is believed to have 24 hostages and 35 bodies.

A group representing most of the captive families said Friday it welcomed plans to post anything, but the focus must be kept on returning to everyone.

“Without a full deal, we risk blocking the fate of all remaining hostages,” the Hostage Family Forum said in a statement.

Two weeks ago Israel cuts off all supplies from Gaza When it forced Hamas to agree, it exceeded 2 million people. Hamas said the move would also affect the rest of the hostages.

Hamas claims that with support for Gaza, about 80% of the population lost access to food sources, aid distribution stopped, markets exhausted supplies, and 90% did not have access to clean drinking water.

Hamas wants to start negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire, which will allow Gaza to release the remaining hostages, the evacuation of Israeli forces and lasting peace.

These developments were made in memory of the holy month of Ramadan when the Jews began to celebrate the Phum holiday. According to the Islamic Trust, about 80,000 Muslim worshippers were prayed on Friday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. Israel is strictly controlling the opportunity for prayer, with only men over 55 and women over 50 entering from the occupied territory.

“The situation is very difficult,” Palestinian Yousef Badreen said. “We hope they can open it forever. ”

Hamas accused Israel of escalating “religious war” against the Palestinians, imposing al-AQSA restrictions as “a systematic goal of Muslim religious practices.” The Israeli government did not respond immediately.