Today, Hamas went back on its promise to release Edan Alexander, a New Jersey native, marking yet another act of “manipulation and psychological warfare” by the terrorist group, according to Israel.
The terror organization had agreed the previous day to release the 21-year-old, who is the last living American hostage, along with the remains of four other deceased captives. However, it presented a list of “entirely impractical” conditions, complicating ongoing ceasefire negotiations, US officials explained.
“Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire,” a statement from President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the US National Security Council stated.
“Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side,” it continued. “It is not.”
A senior Hamas official told the Associated Press today that Israel must fulfill a series of demands: release more Palestinian prisoners, allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, withdraw from a key corridor near the Egyptian border, and begin talks on the next phase of the ceasefire on the same day hostages are freed.
Witkoff and Eric Trager, senior director for the Middle East at the National Security Council, proposed an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire in Qatar this week. They suggested extending it until mid-April, allowing both sides time to develop a plan to end the conflict.
Israel has rejected the idea of beginning the second phase of talks and supports a US proposal, which includes releasing five more living hostages and several dead captives, as well as allowing aid into Gaza in an extension of the current ceasefire phase.
Hamas has insisted that additional hostages will only be freed in the second phase.
Israel has yet to respond to Hamas’s latest demands, as government offices are closed for the Sabbath. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has claimed that Hamas “has not budged a millimeter” and criticized its offer to release Alexander as a form of “manipulation and psychological warfare.”
Witkoff suggested that Hamas has been given a deadline to comply with the proposal, though the exact date is still unclear, and added that Trump has promised to make them “pay a severe price” for failing to release hostages “immediately.”
Currently, Hamas holds 59 hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead.
Edan Alexander, who hails from Tenafly, NJ, was captured on October 7, 2023, while serving as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. As of today, he has been held for 526 days.
Reports indicate that he is injured and has been “severely interrogated and tortured,” though his family remains optimistic that a deal will eventually bring him home.
“He seems to be OK,” his father, Edi Alexander, told NorthJersey.com this week, based on information from recently freed hostages. “He’s in very tough conditions.”
Earlier this month, Witkoff reiterated that securing Alexander’s release is a “top priority” for the Trump administration.
The four additional bodies expected to be released belong to unidentified dual nationals who died in captivity.
According to reports, Netanyahu plans to meet with Israeli officials returning from Doha tonight to discuss the next steps.
Meanwhile, Hamas is accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire after Israeli airstrikes early today in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, reportedly killed nine people. The IDF stated that it had targeted two terrorists operating a drone who were deemed to be a “threat” to Israeli forces.
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