Hamas says ready to free Israeli-US hostage, four bodies

Hamas said on Friday it was ready to free an Israeli-American hostage and the remains of four others, after the Palestinian militants and Israel resumed indirect Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

Israel, however, said Hamas had “not budged” following a proposal from US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

After more than 15 months of war, the first phase of a truce between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip ended on March 1 without agreement on the next steps. A senior Hamas official said on Tuesday fresh talks had begun in Doha, with Israel also sending negotiators.

“Yesterday, a Hamas leadership delegation received a proposal from the brotherly mediators to resume negotiations,” the Islamist movement said in a statement.

It said its reply “included its agreement to release the Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, who holds American citizenship, along with the remains of four others holding dual citizenship”.

Hamas official Taher al-Nounou told AFP that all five are Israeli-Americans.

Witkoff was in Qatar this week. According to Israel, he earlier proposed an extension of the truce’s first phase through to mid-April.

The extension would see half of the hostages still in Gaza released on the day the deal comes into effect, with the rest to be released at the end if agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, Israel said.

Hamas has insisted on talks for the second phase of the deal brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

– ‘Witkoff framework’ –

“While Israel accepted the Witkoff framework, Hamas remains firm in its refusal and has not budged a millimetre,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, accusing Hamas of resorting to “manipulation and psychological warfare”.

During the initial six-week phase of the ceasefire, militants released 33 hostages, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.

A source close to Hamas told AFP that “new criteria have been agreed” and include “an increase in the number of detained Palestinians” to be freed.

Netanyahu’s office said he will meet later Saturday with several cabinet ministers “to receive a detailed report from the negotiation team and decide next steps towards freeing the hostages”.

Despite the expiry of the first phase, the ceasefire has largely held.

Israel’s military said on Thursday it carried out an air strike targeting militants who were planting explosives in central Gaza, the latest such strike.

Israel halted aid deliveries into Gaza 13 days ago over the truce deadlock. At the weekend, it also cut off the electricity supply, which largely halted output from Gaza’s main water desalination plant.

The G7 group, which includes the United States, called Friday for the resumption of “unhindered” humanitarian aid for Gaza, marking a possible shift in position by the administration of President Donald Trump, which had not previously criticised Israel for blocking aid.

In a joint statement by its foreign ministers in Canada, the group “reaffirmed their support for the resumption of unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza and for a permanent ceasefire.”-

‘Asking for meat’ –

The closing of border crossings into Gaza has left residents complaining of a lack of meat during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

“Our children are asking for meat to eat. They want to eat and they became thin,” said Abu Ahmed, in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.

On Thursday, Hamas renewed a demand for Israeli troops to withdraw from south Gaza, accusing Israel of seeking to breach the ceasefire in talks on the next phase of the accord.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP that Israeli forces should have pulled out of the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border, under the first phase.

Israel has insisted it needs to maintain control of the corridor to prevent weapons smuggling into the Palestinian territory from Egypt.

Former US president Joe Biden had outlined a second phase involving the release of remaining living hostages, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces left in Gaza and establishment of a lasting ceasefire.

“Meetings are continuing with mediators in Doha. We adhere to what was agreed upon and to entering into the second phase,” Qassem said.

He added that Israel “has not implemented the humanitarian protocol of the Gaza agreement”.

Israeli media said on Thursday that the government had called for several living and dead hostages — from the 58 still in Gaza — to be handed over in exchange for a 50-day extension to the ceasefire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the reports “fake news”.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, while Israel’s military retaliation in Gaza killed more than 48,500, according to figures from the two sides.