The family of Edan Alexander, an American held captive in Gaza, protests for his release in December 2024 in New York City. (Alon Kaplun)

(JTA) — President Donald Trump and Hamas have announced that Edan Alexander, the only U.S. citizen among the living hostages remaining in Gaza, will go free after the Trump administration negotiated his release.

“I am grateful to all those involved in making this monumental news happen,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social late Sunday. “This was a step taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones. Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict. I look very much forward to that day of celebration!”

A New Jersey native, Alexander, 21, joined the Israel Defense Forces after graduating from high school and was captured while serving near the Gaza border. His parents attended Trump’s first address to Congress in January.

The surprise announcement represents a relief for Alexander’s parents and a blow for the other hostage families, as it means the United States will soon have less of a concrete stake in the plight of the Israelis seized by Hamas when it attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Einav Zangauker said in a video that her son Matan, who was captured from his home on Oct. 7, was being held with Alexander. If Matan is left alone, she said, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have “transformed into the Angel of Death” for his refusal to make a deal with Hamas to free the hostages.

The father of Nimrod Cohen, another soldier abducted while serving near the Gaza border, said that while he was relieved to hear that Alexander would go free, the news of a U.S. deal constituted a “ringing slap in the face.” His family had never sought a second citizenship and now felt abandoned by their government, he reportedly said.

The announcement about Alexander was first made Sunday night by Khalil al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, who said the release was a signal that the group is ready to “immediately start intensive negotiations” toward an end to the Israel-Hamas war. He said Hamas had been in direct contact with U.S. negotiators.

Al-Hayyah did not offer a timeline, but the Trump administration reportedly believes Alexander could be released on Monday. Alexander’s parents, Adi and Yael, were on their way to Israel Sunday night after being surprised by the news by Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy. Adam Boehler, Trump’s hostage negotiator, was accompanying them, the Times of Israel reported.

The direct negotiations with Hamas, first revealed in early March, represented the first in a growing string of indications that the United States and Israel are not moving in lockstep. Those signs have grown in advance of Trump’s Middle East trip, which does not include Israel, though his ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, this weekend batted down concerns that Trump was sidelining Netanyahu or Israel.

Netanyahu released a terse statement in response to the announcement, which Israeli media said he had not been briefed about before it was made.

“The US has informed Israel of Hamas’s intention to release soldier Edan Alexander as a gesture to the Americans, without conditions or anything in exchange,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “The US has conveyed to Israel that this is expected to lead to negotiations for the release of hostages according to the original Witkoff framework, which Israel has already accepted.”

He added, “Israel is preparing for the possibility that this effort will be implemented. In accordance with Israel’s policy, the negotiations will be held under fire, based on the commitment to achieve all of the objectives of the war.”

Netanyahu has recently said that returning the hostages, of whom 59 remain from 251 taken Oct. 7, is not the primary goal of the war. Instead, he says, removing Hamas from power is.

Witkoff reportedly told hostage families this week that the United States believes Israel is prolonging the war despite a U.S. assessment that additional progress is unlikely, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.

If Alexander is indeed freed, there would be at most 21 living hostages remaining in Gaza. There are four U.S. citizens among the 35 hostages Israel says are dead. Trump said this week that three more hostages are thought to be dead — corresponding to the number of hostages that have not been confirmed dead but for whom there have been no signs of life since Oct. 7.

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