Key Points
- Hamas announced it would release a US-Israeli dual national hostage, as part of efforts toward a ceasefire.
- Hamas said it had engaged in direct talks with the United States, marking a shift in US policy toward the group.
- Hamas still holds 58 hostages from its October 2023 attack on Israel; Israel says 34 of them are dead.
Hamas said it would release a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza as the group revealed it was engaged in direct talks with the United States towards a ceasefire in the war-battered territory.
"Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, a dual US national, will be released as part of efforts towards a ceasefire" and the reopening of aid crossings, the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear when 21-year-old Alexander would be released.
Earlier, two Hamas officials told the AFP news agency talks were ongoing in the Qatari capital of Doha with the US and reported "progress" had been made.
It comes as Israeli strikes continued, with Gaza's civil defence agency reporting at least 12 people were killed over the weekend, including four young children.
One Hamas official, speaking of the talks with the US, said there was "progress made ... notably on the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip" and the potential exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners and those held under administrative detention in Israel.
A second official also reported progress "on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip".
Gaza militants hold 58 hostages seized during Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that led to an escalation of the conflict, including 34, the Israeli military says, are dead.
Israel ended the last ceasefire, which lasted two months, on 18 March, launching a major offensive in Gaza and ramping up its bombardment of the territory.
It has also cut off all aid to Gaza, saying it would pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
Earlier this month, the Israeli government also approved plans to expand its offensive in the Gaza Strip, with officials talking of retaining a long-term presence there.
What about diplomatic efforts to end the war?
Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, have taken place since the early months of the escalation of the conflict without bringing it to an end.
The US had for decades refused publicly to engage directly with Hamas, which it labels a terrorist organisation, before first doing so in March.
Hamas has continued to insist on a deal that ends the war and on 18 April rejected an Israeli proposal for a 45-day truce and hostage-prisoner exchange.
In its statement on Sunday, the group said it was willing to "immediately begin intensive negotiations" that could lead to an agreement to end the war and would result in Gaza under a technocratic and independent administration.
"This will ensure calm and stability for many years, along with reconstruction and the end of the blockade."
