CAIRO — Hamas said Saturday it will release an American Israeli and the bodies of four other hostages only if Israel implements their ceasefire agreement, calling it an “exceptional deal” aimed at getting the truce back on track.
Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, killed nine people whom the military identified as militants, allegations denied by a U.K.-based aid group that said eight of its workers were killed.
A senior Hamas official said long-delayed talks over the ceasefire’s second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days. Israel also would need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt. Israel has said it won’t pull out from the corridor, citing the need to combat weapons smuggling.
Hamas would also demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Edan Alexander, 21, who grew up in New Jersey, was abducted from his military base during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. He is the last living U.S. citizen held in Gaza. Hamas still has 59 hostages, 35 believed to be dead.
Speaking at a protest camp set up last week outside Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, relatives of hostages said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “violating the agreement he signed and abandoning the hostages in Gaza.”
“You want to sacrifice our children for the pleasures of power,” said Itzik Horn, father of hostage Eitan and freed hostage Iair.
Netanyahu late Saturday told negotiators to prepare for the continuation of talks regarding the release of hostages, his office said.
Airstrikes kill nine
Two Israeli airstrikes in the northern town of Beit Lahiya near the border killed at least nine people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Protection Center, a local watchdog, said the dead included three Palestinian journalists who were documenting aid distribution. Local health official Fares Awad identified one as Mahmoud Islim, who was operating a drone.
The Israeli military said it struck two people operating a drone that it said posed a threat to soldiers in the area. It said it launched another strike at a group of people who came to collect the drone equipment, identifying all those targeted as militants.
The army later released the names of six people it said were militants killed in the strikes, including one accused of taking part in the Oct. 7 attack and another who it said had been released as part of the ceasefire. The military said two others, including Islim, were militants posing as journalists.
The U.K.-based Al Khair Foundation said eight of its workers were killed in the strikes. It denied the Israeli military’s allegations that those killed were militants or had connections to Hamas.
In a statement, Hamas called the attack a “serious escalation” showing Israel’s attempts to “sabotage any opportunity” to implement the ceasefire agreement.
Also Saturday, Israel’s military said it removed a platoon of soldiers from Gaza who were seen in a video on social media opening fire during a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Purim. The video shows soldiers shooting, apparently randomly, while another performs the customary reading of the Book of Esther. The military said the soldiers “will face disciplinary measures.”
