Hamas ‘will only release American-Israeli hostage if ceasefire is implemented’

Hamas said it would only release an American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel implements the existing ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, calling it an “exceptional deal” aimed at getting the truce back on track.

A senior Hamas official said long-delayed talks over the ceasefire’s second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days.

Israel would also need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Edan Alexander, 21, who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, was abducted from his military base during Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023 that ignited the war and is the last living American citizen held in Gaza.

Two Israeli airstrikes in the northern town of Beit Lahiya near the border killed at least nine people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Fares Awad, a local health official, identified one of the dead as local reporter Mahmoud Islim, who was operating a drone.

The Israeli military said it struck two people operating a drone that it said posed a threat to soldiers in the area.

It said it launched another strike at a group of people who came to collect the drone equipment. The army identified all of those targeted as suspected militants without providing evidence.

There has been no major fighting since the ceasefire took hold on January 19, but Israeli strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military said had entered unauthorised areas, engaged in militant activities or otherwise violated the truce.

There was no immediate comment on Hamas’s offer from Israel, where government offices were closed for the weekly Sabbath.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Friday accused Hamas of “manipulation and psychological warfare” when the offer was initially made, before Hamas spelled out the conditions.

The United States said it presented on Wednesday a proposal to extend the ceasefire for a few more weeks as the sides negotiate a permanent truce.

It said Hamas was claiming flexibility in public while privately making “entirely impractical” demands.

Egypt and Qatar served as key mediators with Hamas in reaching the ceasefire and have continued to host talks aimed at getting it back on track.

There was no immediate comment from the mediators.

Under the ceasefire agreement reached in January, Israel and Hamas were to begin negotiations over a second phase — in which Hamas would release all of the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting truce — in early February, but so far, only preparatory talks have been held.

After the first phase ended at the beginning of this month, Israel said it had agreed to a new US proposal in which Hamas would release half of the remaining hostages in return for a vague commitment to negotiate a lasting ceasefire.

Hamas rejected that offer, accusing Israel of backtracking on the signed agreement and trying to sabotage the truce.

Israel has barred the delivery of food, fuel and other supplies to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians and cut electricity to the territory to pressure Hamas to accept the new proposal.

Ahmed al-Sufi, head of the Rafah municipality, said fuel shortages caused by the Israeli siege have forced the municipality to “suspend essential services, threatening the lives of thousands and exacerbating the health and environmental crisis”.

The first phase of the truce, which took hold on January 19, saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli forces pulled back to a buffer zone along Gaza’s border and allowed a surge of humanitarian aid.

An Israeli official said last month that Israel will not withdraw from the so-called Philadelphi corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border, as called for in the ceasefire agreement.

They have cited the need to combat weapons smuggling.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants.

Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced most of the population and left nearly everyone dependent on international aid to survive.