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An Israeli official said that President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in Israel on Monday and would meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet to discuss nuclear talks with Iran and efforts to free more hostages.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press in line with regulations.
Here is more detail on Edan Alexander, the hostage who is expected to be released today.
Alexander was born in Israel but raised in the US by Israeli parents. He moved to Israel in 2022 after graduating from high school and enlisted in the Israeli military.
His parents and two younger siblings still live in Tenafly, New Jersey.
Alexander was snatched from his military base in southern Israel during Hamas’ attack on 7 October 2023.
His expected release would be the first since Israel shattered an eight-week ceasefire with Hamas in March when it unleashed fierce strikes on Gaza, which have killed hundreds, the Associated Press reports.
Here are some photographs coming to us over the wires of Palestinians inspecting the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip.
The relatives of Israeli hostages have welcomed the announcement that Hamas are to free an American-Israeli hostage – but there is also unease, the Associated Press reports.
Some have said Edan Alexander was singled out for freedom because of his American citizenship.
“Trump is rescuing him. Who will rescue Gali and Ziv?,” Maccabit Mayer, the aunt of sibling hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, told Israeli Army Radio on Monday, referring to US President Trump. She said she was sorry the twin brothers don’t have “the right citizenship.”
The family of Edan Alexander have called on Israel to release all of the remaining hostages “without delay”, in a message relayed by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“No hostage must be left behind,” the family said.
Israeli strike on school used as shelter kills 16, mostly women and children, after Hamas agrees to release last living American hostage in Gaza
An Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the Gaza Strip killed at least 16 people early on Monday, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
At least five children and four women were among those killed in the strike on a school in the Jabaliya area, the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service said. It also said that a number of people were wounded, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
It comes after Hamas announced on Sunday that it would release the last living American hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American soldier who was kidnapped on 7 October 2023, a move that key Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt called an encouraging step towards a return to ceasefire talks.
US president Donald Trump confirmed the news in a social media post, writing that Alexander, 21, “is coming home to his family”. Trump is heading to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week.
In other news:
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Relatives of Israeli hostages welcomed the announcement that an American-Israeli hostage would be freed by Hamas but there remain fears over the fate of the other 23 living and roughly 35 dead captives who remain in Gaza.
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Israel has not agreed to any ceasefire or release of prisoners with Hamas, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, ahead of the expected release of Edan Alexander.
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Netanyahu said Israel had only agreed to allow safe passage for Alexander and its forces would continue recently announced preparations to step up operations there. “The negotiations will continue under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting,” his office said.
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Israel’s blockade on food and other supplies entering Gaza is now in its third month, and hospitals are unable to provide food. Aid groups say malnutrition is on the rise across Gaza. Food distributions have ended and charity kitchens are rapidly closing. Markets are empty of almost everything but canned goods and small amounts of vegetables, and prices have been rising.
[English News]
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