Israeli-American hostage released by Hamas in goodwill gesture toward Trump administration

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas on Monday released an Israeli-American soldier who had been held hostage in Gaza for more than 19 months, offering a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration that could lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire with Israel.

The Israeli military confirmed that 21-year-old Edan Alexander was turned over to the Red Cross and then to Israeli forces, and had crossed into Israeli territory.

Wearing shirts emblazoned with his name, Alexander’s extended family gathered in Tel Aviv to watch the release. They chanted his name when the military said he was free. In Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, hundreds of people broke out into cheers.

Alexander’s grandmother, Varda Ben Baruch, beamed. She said her grandson looked pale but mostly OK in the first photo of him after nearly 600 days in captivity.

“He seemed like a man. He has really matured,” she said. Reports that Alexander cracked a joke on the phone while speaking to his mother for the first time did not surprise her. “He’s got such a sense of humor,” she said.

Alexander was 19 when he was taken from his military base in southern Israel during the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which set off the war in Gaza. His release was the first since Israel ended an eight-week ceasefire with Hamas in March, unleashing fierce strikes on Gaza.

Israel has promised to intensify its offensive, including by seizing the territory and displacing much of its population again.

Days before the ceasefire ended, Israel blocked all imports from entering the Palestinian enclave. Israel says the steps are meant to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement on Israel’s terms.

In Alexander’s hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, hundreds of supporters packed the streets, holding signs with his image and listening to speakers blasting Israeli music.

As they watched the news of his release on a large screen, the crowd hugged and waved Israeli flags. Since he was taken hostage, supporters there gathered every Friday to march for the hostages’ release.

Israel says 58 hostages remain in captivity, with about 23 of them said to be alive. Many of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas-led terrorists in the 2023 attack were freed in ceasefire deals.

A step toward ending war

Hamas announced its intention to release Alexander shortly before President Donald Trump is set to arrive Tuesday in the Middle East on the first official foreign trip of his second term.

Trump on Sunday called the planned release “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 social media.

Trump, who is traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is not scheduled to stop in Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday with the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and discussed efforts to release the remaining hostages, his office said.

“To this end, Prime Minister Netanyahu directed that a negotiations team leave for Doha tomorrow,” the prime minister’s office said, adding that Netanyahu had “made it clear that the negotiations would only take place under fire.”

Netanyahu said Alexander’s release “was achieved thanks to our military pressure and the diplomatic pressure applied by President Trump. This is a winning combination.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing relatives of hostages, welcomed the news that an Israeli delegation was headed to Doha for talks, and called on Netanyahu to secure the release of all remaining hostages.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, the ball is in your court,” the group said in a statement after Alexander was released. It urged the prime minister to “announce tonight” that he was ready to negotiate a deal for the return of all remaining hostages and end the war.

“Don’t miss this historic opportunity facing the State of Israel. Prove to the Israeli public and President Trump that you are willing to take a regional initiative that transcends narrow political considerations,” the group said.

Plan to escalate

On Monday, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said Israel did not grant any concessions for Alexander’s release.

The statement said Israel did not commit to a ceasefire or the freeing of 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 carry on with plans to ramp up its offensive in Gaza. Israel says it won’t launch that plan until after Trump’s visit to the Middle East, 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.

Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people in the 2023 attack. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 52,800 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians.

Plan to resume aid

Israel embraced a plan by Trump for a phased resumption of food distribution to Gaza’s civilians that would prevent it being seized by Hamas.

Huckabee went public with the plan on Friday, saying the aim was at first to feed half the enclave’s 2.3 million Palestinians and then the rest, without direct involvement in the handouts of Israeli troops.

Israel “fully endorses” the Trump aid plan, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told a news conference on Sunday.

“It will enable aid to go directly to the people. Hamas must not be allowed to get their hands on it,” he said. “IDF soldiers will not allocate aid. They will secure the perimeter.”

Sa’ar said Israel “would like to cooperate with as many countries and NGOs as possible on the matter” — language that suggested the plan was a work in progress.

Huckabee also said the plan would “require the partnership not only of governments, but of NGOs, charitable organizations, nonprofits from around the world.”

“We are not prepared to name them yet,” he said. “As to when it will start, we all would hope the answer to that is very soon.”

Funding, he said, “will come from every source that we can receive,” adding that donors lined up so far had asked not to be identified.