‘IDF pressure worked,’ says official on upcoming hostage release

IDF pressure, not Trump’s diplomacy, forced Hamas to free American-Israeli solider, says Israeli official.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

An Israeli official said that Hamas agreed to release an Israeli-American soldier held hostage for more than 18 months due to the terror group’s fear of the IDF expanding the war in the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday evening, the Trump administration announced that Edan Alexander, the last living captive with American citizenship, would be released at noon on Monday.

According to Washington, the deal did not require any concessions on the part of Israel, such as withdrawing troops from Gaza or freeing Palestinian prisoners.

In a statement to Hebrew-language media outlets, a senior Israeli official said that the IDF’s threat to escalate the fighting in Gaza – which included calling up some 60,000 reservists – was the reason for Hamas agreeing to Alexander’s release.

“Hamas understood it must make a gesture to the Americans because this is the only way for it to try to prevent the expansion of the war,” the official claimed.

The official also maintained that Alexander’s American citizenship was not the main reason for his release.

“Thanks to the military pressure, Hamas agreed thus far to release most of our hostages, regardless of foreign passports. We will continue to do everything to return all of our hostages,” the official added.

A senior Hamas official appeared to contradict the narrative that the terror group had agreed to release Alexander purely as a goodwill gesture to Trump.

Speaking to AP, the official said that negotiators urged Hamas to “give a gift to Trump,” promising that they would then “receive a bigger gift” from the American president in the near future.

Notably, the release of Alexander comes amid what appears to be a split between Israel and the Trump administration regarding a hostage deal and an end to the war in Gaza.

Washington has clearly expressed interest in securing an Israel-Hamas ceasefire as quickly as possible.

The Netanyahu coalition has repeatedly stated that it will not agree to a longstanding truce, which would see a total IDF withdrawal from Gaza and a commitment to stop fighting for years, until Hamas is ousted from power – even if such a deal would include the release of the remaining hostages.