By James Mackenzie
JERUSALEM, May 12 (Reuters) – Hamas will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander from Gaza on Monday, the Palestinian militant group said, although Israel’s prime minister said there would be no ceasefire and plans for an intensified military campaign would continue.
Fighting will pause to allow for Alexander’s safe passage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, and three Palestinians in Gaza told Reuters early on Monday afternoon that there had been calm since midday, with no sound of drones or warplanes.
Israel was told on Sunday of Hamas’ decision to free the last surviving U.S. hostage in Gaza as a goodwill gesture to President Donald Trump.
The release, after four-way talks between Hamas, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, could open the way to freeing the remaining 59 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, 19 months after Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
But Netanyahu said Israel had agreed only to allow safe passage for Alexander, and its forces would continue recently announced preparations to step up operations there.
“Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind,” his office said, adding that military pressure had forced Hamas into the release. “The negotiations will continue under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting.”
Israeli jets continued to pound Gaza before the expected release, killing at least 15 people sheltering in a school housing displaced families in Jabalia in the north of the enclave, local health authorities said.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
On Sunday, Hamas said it had been talking to the U.S. and had agreed to release Alexander. Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt called it an encouraging step towards a return to ceasefire talks.
Trump is due to visit Gulf states on a trip that does not include a stop in Israel but special envoy Steve Witkoff, who helped arrange the release, is expected in Israel on Monday, two Israeli officials said.
Alexander’s family thanked Trump and Witkoff, saying in a statement that they hoped the decision would open the way for the release of the other remaining hostages.
“We urge the Israeli government and the negotiating teams: please don’t stop,” they added.
CRITICISM
U.S. officials have tried to calm fears in Israel of a growing distance between Israel and Trump, who last week announced an end to U.S. bombing of Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who have continued to fire missiles at Israel.
But Israel’s government has faced criticism over a deal which laid bare the priority given to hostages able to rely on the support of a foreign government.
EXCLUSIVE: Iran-Backed Hamas Has Added Up to 15,000 Fighters Since Start of War, US Figures Show
Raanan Shaked, a columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, said the deal “is exactly what total failure looks like: a hostage who is an American citizen is being freed directly by President Trump and the Israeli government isn’t involved.”
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is among 21 hostages still believed to be alive, said Netanyahu was choosing his political survival over ending the war.
Addressing Trump in a statement she read with other hostage families, she said: “The Israeli people are behind you. End this war. Bring them all home”.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said that while Trump wants all hostages freed, his “primary responsibility” as president is to secure the release of the Americans.
Families of the hostages and their supporters in Israel want a deal to secure the release of those still held in Gaza, have lobbied hard in the U.S. and have met Trump several times.
But Netanyahu, who is due to testify on Monday in the latest session of his trial on corruption charges that he denies, has also faced heavy pressure from hardliners in his cabinet not to end the war. Last week, he announced plans to step up the operation in Gaza, which officials said could be seized entirely by Israeli forces.
Following a ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in Gaza for two months and allowed the exchange of 38 hostages for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails, Israel resumed its operation in the enclave in March.
Since then, it has extended its control of the territory, clearing around a third as what it has described as a “security zone” and blocked off the entry of aid into Gaza, leaving the 2 million population increasingly short of food.
Huckabee last week outlined plans for a new system of aid deliveries by private contractors that would not be run by Israel but many details are unclear, including on funding.
Israeli forces invaded Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led assault on Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed, Palestinian health authorities say, and the fighting and bombardments have destroyed large swathes of the enclave.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie, Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Jamie Freed, Clarence Fernandez and Timothy Heritage)
