Hamas rejects Netanyahu's claim military pressure helped secure hostage release

GAZA CITY: Hamas on Tuesday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that military pressure had helped secure the release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander from Gaza a day earlier.

“The return of Edan Alexander is the result of serious communications with the US administration and the efforts of mediators, not a consequence of Israeli aggression or the illusion of military pressure,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.

“Netanyahu is misleading his people and has failed to bring back his prisoners through aggression,” Hamas added.

The armed wing of Hamas on Monday released 21-year-old Alexander, who had been held in Gaza since October 2023.

Netanyahu had credited Alexander’s release to a combination of “our military pressure and the political pressure exerted by (US) President (Donald) Trump.”

The Israeli prime minister had thanked Trump “for his assistance in the release”, and also said he had instructed a negotiating team to head to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the release of the remaining captives.

Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on the first leg of a Gulf tour that will also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The release of Alexander — the last living hostage in Gaza with American citizenship — came a day after Hamas revealed it was engaged in direct talks with Washington towards a Gaza ceasefire.

“The return of Edan Alexander confirms that serious negotiations and a prisoner exchange deal are the way to bring back the prisoners and end the war,” the Hamas statement said on Tuesday.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 57 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18, ramping up its bombardment of the territory.