Israel has conveyed its counteroffer to the Gaza deal mediators in full coordination with the US, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Saturday evening, following reports that Hamas agreed to the Egyptian proposal to release five live hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a series of consultations on Friday following the proposal received from the Gaza deal negotiators.
The five hostages would be released in exchange for renewing the ceasefire in Gaza until after Passover and beginning negotiations on a long-term ceasefire, an Israeli official told Walla earlier in the evening.
Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya later said that the Palestinian terrorist group had agreed to a ceasefire proposal it received two days ago from Egypt and Qatar, key mediators in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Reuters reported.
The terrorist organization had previously voiced its approval of the new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza during Eid al-Fitr, which starts on Sunday, to Egyptian officials, who told UK-based Qatari news organization Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Saturday that Hamas had agreed to release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and four other hostages.
Hamas’s conditions for releasing the select group of hostages have not been revealed, Israeli public broadcaster KAN News noted on Friday, but states that the terrorist organization needs the ceasefire for a few days in order to suppress anti-Hamas protests held by Palestinians in the enclave this week.
The Israeli official said the Egyptian proposal was very similar to the one presented by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff several weeks ago during Doha negotiations, which Hamas had rejected. The official added that the proposal may also include the release of deceased hostages.
This new, brief agreement includes intensive talks between Qatar and the United States, according to the KAN report.
In response to these reports, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement:
“The Hostages and Missing Families Forum would wholeheartedly welcome the return of any hostage – whether for recovery or burial – but we cannot ignore the fact that the reported framework is insufficient and does not offer a comprehensive solution for the return of all the hostages.
“We appeal to the prime minister, [Strategic Affairs] Minister Ron Dermer, and cabinet members: Why only some, when all can be brought home?”
The forum called for the return of all 59 remaining hostages in Gaza in one immediate phase and an end to the fighting.
The KAN report comes only a day after the United States delivered a message to Hamas via Qatari intermediaries in an effort to bring about Alexander's release.
It stated that Qatar had transmitted the message to Hamas as a token to US President Donald Trump.
Earlier reports on Alexander
Israel previously accused Hamas of deviating from the US proposal for a ceasefire extension after the terror organization announced it would release Alexander. A week prior, N12 revealed that released hostages conveyed a sign of life from Alexander, who is being held in an underground tunnel without air or sunlight and is severely malnourished and underweight due to a lack of food. He had reportedly also been tortured.
In late November, Hamas published a propaganda video of Alexander, where he spoke a mix of Hebrew and English. It then switches to footage of the captive covering his face with his hands and crying.
Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, told The Jerusalem Post that less than 24 hours before the video was released, it had been over a year since the family had received any sign of life from their son.
From Tenafly, New Jersey, Alexander moved to Israel and began his IDF service as a lone soldier after graduating high school. He was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, near the Gaza border.
Eid al-Fitr, which begins on Sunday, marks the end of Ramadan.
Amichai Stein, Hannah Sarisohn, and Sarah Moskowitz contributed to this report.