An Israeli-American hostage was released by Hamas and returned to Israel during a brief halt in Gaza fighting, but Israeli officials confirmed no agreement had been reached on a wider ceasefire or additional hostage exchanges.
Meanwhile, aid agencies warn that Gaza remains on the brink of famine amid ongoing conflict and devastation.
Israel’s military said it had received Edan Alexander, 21, after the International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated his transfer from 19 months of captivity. An Israeli Air Force helicopter was taking him to a hospital where he will receive treatment and reunite with family members.
Alexander was the last living American held by Hamas and Israel’s Channel 12 said his condition was “low”, without citing a source.
Al Jazeera television showed a photograph of him standing next to masked fighters and a Red Cross official. Unlike in previous hostage releases, he was wearing civilian clothes.
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Fighting halted at midday in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would pause its operations to allow for the hostage release.
Witnesses reported Israeli tank shelling on eastern Gaza City after the handover. Local health authorities said a woman was killed and several other people wounded when tank shells hit a school housing displaced families in the Tuffah neighborhood.
Hamas said it freed Alexander as a goodwill gesture to U.S. President Donald Trump, who is visiting the region this week.
“Edan Alexander, American hostage thought dead, to be released by Hamas. Great news!” Trump wrote on social media earlier on Monday.
Netanyahu said Alexander’s release came thanks to Israel’s military pressure in Gaza and political pressure by Trump.
The Israeli leader said he spoke with Trump on Monday and the U.S. president expressed commitment to Israel, according to a statement by Netanyahu’s office.
Netanyahu has said there will be no ceasefire and that plans to intensify military action in Gaza continued.
After growing up in New Jersey, Alexander, who has dual citizenship, moved to Israel and was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured in Hamas’ 2023 attack.
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Social media video on Monday showed people dancing in the square of his hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, after word of his release.
The release, after four-way talks between Hamas, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, could open the way to freeing the remaining 58 hostages in the Gaza Strip, 19 months after Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Qatar and Egypt said Alexander’s release was an encouraging step towards new truce talks. Israel will send a delegation to Qatar on Thursday to discuss a new proposal aimed at securing further hostage releases, Netanyahu’s office said.
Netanyahu has insisted that Israel’s planning for an expanded military campaign in Gaza will continue, as one of his far-right coalition partners, national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said the war on Islamist militant Hamas must not end and aid should not be let into the Palestinian enclave.
“Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that military pressure had forced Hamas into the release.
Before Alexander’s release, Gaza health authorities said an Israeli strike killed at least 15 people sheltering at a school on Monday. Israel’s military said it targeted Hamas fighters there who were preparing an attack.
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The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global hunger monitor, reported on Monday that half a million people in the Gaza Strip face starvation and there is a critical risk of famine by September.
Trump is due to visit Gulf states on a trip that does not include Israel but special envoy Steve Witkoff, who helped arrange the release, was expected in Israel on Monday.
Alexander’s family thanked Trump and Witkoff, saying they hoped the release would open the way for the freeing of the remaining hostages.
“We urge the Israeli government and the negotiating teams: please don’t stop,” they said.
Israel’s government has drawn criticism over the deal to free Alexander, which laid bare the priority given to hostages able to rely on the support of a foreign government.
