Hamas releases US-Israeli prisoner Edan Alexander after direct talks that sidelined Israel — ceasefire next?

Will Trump do the right thing?

Following swift overnight developments, Hamas released Israeli-American prisoner of war Edan Alexander from captivity in Gaza on Monday.

In a statement following Alexander's release, Hamas stated that it had “demonstrated a high degree of positivity and flexibility” and expressed its readiness to “reach a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire agreement.”

Here is Hamas’s statement in full:

Al-Qassam Brigades have just released the Zionist soldier holding American citizenship, Edan Alexander, following communications with the US administration and as part of the efforts by mediators to secure a ceasefire, reopen border crossings, and deliver aid and relief to our people in the Gaza Strip.

This step comes after important contacts during which the Hamas movement showed a high level of positivity and flexibility.

We affirm that serious and responsible negotiations can achieve results in securing the release of prisoners, while continued aggression only prolongs their suffering and may lead to their deaths.

We reaffirm the movement’s readiness to immediately begin negotiations to reach a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire agreement, ensure the withdrawal of the occupation army, lift the blockade, implement a prisoner exchange, and begin the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

We urge President Trump’s administration to continue its efforts to end this brutal war waged by the war criminal Netanyahu against children, women, and unarmed civilians in Gaza.

Trump took to Truth Social to announce the release of the “last living American hostage.”

Alexander, a 21-year-old from New Jersey, has been one of the most talked-about Israeli captives in Gaza due to his dual nationality. Although he has no immediate family in Israel, he felt a strong enough affinity with the illegitimate state to enlist in its military, despite its well-documented human rights abuses and central role in enforcing apartheid in Palestine. He was taken captive by Hamas from inside a Zionist tank on the day of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7. The Trump administration worked toward his release since taking office, with Adam Boehler, Trump’s envoy for hostages, pushing for Alexander’s release as a goodwill gesture towards the president. But the deal collapsed under Israeli pressure, and the self-proclaimed Jewish state resumed its genocidal bombing of Gaza on March 18.

On April 15, Abu Obeida announced that Al-Qassam had lost contact with the fighters in charge of Alexander after an Israeli bombing at the site where he was kept. In a video published the same day, titled “Be prepared, soon your children will return in black coffins,” Hamas insinuated that the captive had likely been killed by the Israelis.

Al-Qassam gave no further updates about Alexander before the latest announcement of his imminent release, although it stated that some of its fighters guarding him had been martyred.

Now that Alexander has been handed over to the Red Cross by Qassam fighters, standing on his own two feet with barely a visible scratch on the exposed parts of his T-shirt-clad body, it may be the case that he either survived the bombing unscathed or that his minor injuries healed in the month since the attack.

Since those days of negotiations, progress appeared to have completely halted, and there seemed to be almost no movement towards a ceasefire until last night’s sudden announcement from Hamas.

Late on Sunday night, the head of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, issued a brief statement announcing Alexander’s imminent release. “The movement has shown a high level of positivity, and the Israeli soldier with dual American citizenship, Edan Alexander, will be released as part of the steps taken towards a ceasefire, opening crossings, and allowing aid and relief to reach our people in the Gaza Strip,” al-Hayya said.

After al-Hayya’s statement, the release became a formality. Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, made the official announcement on Monday that the prisoner’s handover would happen the same day.

Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social account on Monday, writing: “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.”

Interestingly, veering away from the genocidal Israelis, who have shown precisely zero desire to end their campaign of extermination and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, Trump also expressed hope that this would mark the end of “this brutal conflict.” “Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict,” he added. “I look very much forward to that day of celebration!”

Despite Trump’s hopes of ending “this brutal conflict,” the Israelis are treating Alexander’s deal as a one-off deal that won’t lead to an end of their ongoing complete blockade and relentless bombardment of Gaza. As part of the deal, the Israelis had halted their bombings and reconnaissance flights to ensure Alexander’s safe passage out of Gaza. But they have been adamant that the onslaught had only been paused, not stopped.

The events leading up to the announcement of Alexander’s release — and those that followed — have been very interesting, to put it mildly. First, Trump announced a ceasefire with Yemen’s Ansarallah after America’s weeks-long assault under his watch on Yemeni civilians and infrastructure failed to deter them from attacking American warships in their waters. Surprisingly, the American truce deal didn’t cover Israel. Ansarallah has continued attacking Israel, striking Ben Gurion Airport again after Trump announced the ceasefire.

The Israelis had their backs covered by America against Yemen, but Trump’s sudden announcement left them exposed to Yemeni attacks, with no Uncle Sam to watch over them. It was a major snub.

In the same vein, Trump does not have a stop in Tel Aviv during his impending three-day tour of the Middle East, which will see him visit Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. Trump’s Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, cancelled a planned trip to Tel Aviv.

Astonishingly, it was reported in the Zionist press that Trump “will issue a declaration regarding the State of Palestine and American recognition of it.” He is also reported to be willing to offer the Saudis a civil nuclear deal without requiring normalisation of ties with Israel in return.

Much to Israel’s chagrin, the US–Iran nuclear talks have now had four successful rounds. Far from a nuclear deal, the Israelis want a complete dismantling of Iranian nuclear enrichment capabilities, and Netanyahu has openly spoken about a Libya model for Iran. Once Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gave up his country’s nuclear capabilities, it was invaded by the West, he was sodomised to death, and his countrymen were traded in open-air slave markets, while Hillary Clinton shamelessly chuckled, “We came, we saw, he died.”

That preferred Israeli outcome in Iran seems to be slipping away quickly.

“Respected” Western media outlets, which have loudly cheered on the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza over the past 19 months, are now changing their tune, and urging a stop to the Palestinian extermination and ethnic cleansing campaign that has potentially devoured hundreds of thousands of defenceless people, a large majority of whom are women and children.

Gareth Icke has speculated that, with the Western press now exposed for its malice and total subservience to the Zionist narrative, this shift may simply be a ploy to regain credibility — if that’s even possible at this point.

It’s a reasonable take.

Despite the mainstream Western press’s renowned duplicity, there appears to be a clear divide among conservatives in America, with a tussle between Israeli stooges and those highly sceptical of the Zionist influence on American foreign policy. “In MAGA, we are not Bibi fans,” The Washington Post quoted one Trump adviser as saying. “Trump is adamant: He wants people to put the guns down.” Many top conservative commentators, including Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and more recently, Matt Walsh, have loudly voiced their opposition to America’s tendency to do Israel’s bidding in the Middle East.

“We want to bring the hostages home, but Israel is not prepared to end the war,” Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who played a leading role in the January ceasefire deal with Hamas, is reported to have recently said in a meeting with the families of the Israeli prisoners of war in Gaza. He added that the Israeli government is “prolonging the war, even though we do not see where further progress can be made.”

This shifting tide in the US after the deranged leadership of Joe Biden appears to have caught the Israelis by surprise. “I think we’ll have to detox from US security assistance,” quipped Netanyahu. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee attempted to brush off reports of a growing rift between Netanyahu and Trump. The Israeli war criminal leader also attempted to take credit for Alexander’s release despite trying his best to kill him and the remaining 20 odd living prisoners in Gaza. “This was achieved thanks to our military pressure and the diplomatic pressure applied by President Trump,” Netanyahu said in a video statement on Monday night. “I spoke with President Trump today. He told me, ‘I am committed to Israel. I am committed to continuing to work with you in close cooperation in order to achieve all of our objectives: releasing all of our hostages and defeating Hamas.’”

Notably, Hamas has not secured the release of any of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners enduring horrendous conditions in the Israeli torture chambers, where 66 detainees have been murdered so far since October 7, 2023. Food, water, fuel, medical supplies, and other essential supplies have also not entered Gaza in exchange for Alexander.

In its statement following Alexander’s release, Hamas expressed its “readiness to immediately begin negotiations to reach a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire agreement, ensure the withdrawal of the occupation army, lift the blockade, implement a prisoner exchange, and begin the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip” — its longstanding demands. But there have been no developments on that front yet. Despite the brief pause to facilitate Alexander’s safe transfer, the Israelis still managed to slaughter nearly three dozen Palestinians on Monday alone.

However, the Israelis have agreed to send a negotiating team to Doha — a significant change from their recent stance, which saw them reject any chance of a ceasefire and expand their military assault in Gaza with increased troop presence. Israel has already mobilised troops from Syria and the West Bank to northern Gaza.

Nevertheless, a senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera on Sunday that talks with the US regarding a ceasefire are in an advanced stage. “Advanced direct negotiations are underway between the Hamas movement and the US administration regarding a ceasefire in Gaza,” said the unnamed official. “Negotiations have been ongoing for days, focusing on the delivery of aid and a ceasefire.”

Many unexpected and rapid developments have taken place over the past few days. As is the nature of the Trump presidency, nothing is set in stone, and things can change drastically with a single Trump statement. Israeli criminality would not last a day without American support. Historically, American presidents have halted Israeli assaults on defenceless civilians with a mere phone call. Reagan’s call to Begin in 1982 stopped barbaric Israeli bombing in Lebanon. Even the uniquely depraved Biden ended the 2021 Israeli assault on Gaza with a phone call to Netanyahu.

Trump holds significant leverage: the Israel-sceptic faction of his MAGA base, even the Western media now pushing for a ceasefire, and the slight he felt upon discovering his NSA, Mike Waltz, colluding with Netanyahu to undermine him. There’s also the small matter of the $400 million luxury aircraft he just accepted as a “gift” from the Qataris — who, notably, host Hamas leadership.

He may just do the right thing.

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