Hamas agrees to release American Edan Alexander and the bodies of four deceased hostages

Hamas announced Friday that it has accepted the proposal by the United States and Egyptian and Qatari mediators to free American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and the bodies of four other deceased hostages, Israeli media reported.

It should be noted that Alexander is the last living American hostage.

The terrorist organization also stated that it is ready to start talks to reach a comprehensive ceasefire, including the second phase of the treaty, the first phase of which ended last March 1. It further demanded Israel to "fully comply with its commitments."

A senior Hamas official told Saudi newspaper Ashraq that different criteria were agreed upon than in the first phase of the agreement, so this involves increasing the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for each Israeli hostage.

Israeli newspaper Ynet noted that according to sources close to the matter, Hamas is taking up a proposal previously discussed with Adam Boehler when he served as U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for hostage affairs, who maintained direct contacts with the terrorist organization but was subsequently let go.

This proposal had been ruled out, and Hamas is apparently using it as a strategy to avoid appearing intransigent, the Israeli media outlet added.

Witkoff's proposal

Recently, Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, along with mediators, proposed a plan that calls for the release of three to five live hostages and some dead hostages in exchange for 50 days of ceasefire, during which time negotiations would continue to extend the agreement.

Israel has accepted the proposal, but demands the release of more live hostages.

It is not yet clear how many terrorists imprisoned in Israel would be released in exchange for each hostage.

In Gaza, 59 hostages remain, of whom 24 are officially classified as alive.