According to a report, US hostage Edan Alexander will be released as part of the deal.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
On Saturday, Israel confirmed it received an Egyptian hostage release proposal that Hamas had agreed to. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with a counteroffer.
After discussing the deal with officials on Friday night, Netanyahu came up with the counteroffer “in full coordination with the US,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Hamas agreed to the proposal that would begin on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, set to start Sunday or Monday, and would see the release of five Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a ceasefire until the end of Passover, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The current proposal includes the release of fewer hostages than Israel demanded as part of US Mideast Envoy Steven Witkoff’s plan, which would require Hamas to free 10 or 11 living captives.
An Israeli official told the Israeli Walla news website that it was unlikely that a hostage deal would be approved before or on Eid al-Fitr and that the proposal would also include the release of bodies of deceased hostages.
According to a report, US hostage Edan Alexander will be released as part of the deal.
“The ball is now in the Israeli government and Americans’ court,” an Egyptian official said, and expressed “cautious optimism” that Israel would approve the deal.
In mid-March, Hamas reportedly agreed to a hostage agreement that would free Alexander, the last living American hostage, along with the bodies of four deceased US hostages.
However, Netanyahu said that Hamas’s claim to release Alexander was not in good faith, and the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff blasted Hamas for its “unrealistic demands” in exchange for the American captive.
“Hamas is making a very poor gamble by believing that time is on its side. That is not the case. Hamas is well aware of the deadline and must understand that we will respond accordingly if it passes,” Witkoff cautioned.
“Alexander is very important to us,” Witkoff said. “He is wounded, and he is a top priority.”
