Hamas to free U.S.-Israeli hostage, Israel says no ceasefire

Hamas says it will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander from Gaza on Monday – although Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no ceasefire and plans for an intensified military campaign would continue.

Fighting will pause to allow for Alexander's safe passage, Netanyahu said. Palestinians in Gaza reported early on Monday afternoon that there had been calm since midday, with no sound of drones or warplanes.

Israel was told on Sunday of Hamas' decision to free the last surviving U.S. hostage in Gaza as a goodwill gesture to President Donald Trump.

"Edan Alexander, American hostage thought dead, to be released by Hamas. Great news!" Trump wrote in capital letters on his social media platform on Monday.

The release, after four-way talks between Hamas, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, could open the way to freeing the remaining 59 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, 19 months after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Netanyahu said Israel had agreed only to allow safe passage for Alexander, and its forces would continue recently announced preparations to step up operations there.

"Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind," his office said, adding that military pressure had forced Hamas into the release. "The negotiations will continue under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting."

Hamas said it had been talking to the U.S. and had agreed to release Alexander. Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt called it an encouraging step towards a return to ceasefire talks.

Trump is due to visit Gulf states on a trip that does not include a stop in Israel but special envoy Steve Witkoff, who helped arrange the release, is expected in Israel on Monday, two Israeli officials said.

Alexander's family thanked Trump and Witkoff, saying in a statement that they hoped the decision would open the way for the release of the other remaining hostages.

"We urge the Israeli government and the negotiating teams: please don't stop," they said.

Israeli government criticized

U.S. officials have tried to calm fears in Israel of a growing distance between Israel and Trump, who last week announced an end to U.S. bombing of Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who have continued to fire missiles at Israel.

Israel's government has faced criticism over a deal which laid bare the priority given to hostages able to rely on the support of a foreign government.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is among 21 hostages still believed to be alive, said Netanyahu was choosing his political survival over ending the war.

Addressing Trump in a statement she read with other hostage families, she said: "The Israeli people are behind you. End this war. Bring them all home."

Netanyahu, who is due to testify on Monday in the latest session of his trial on corruption charges that he denies, has faced pressure from hardliners in his cabinet not to end the war. Last week, he announced plans to step up the operation in Gaza, which officials said could be seized entirely by Israeli forces.

Following a ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in Gaza for two months, Israel resumed its operation in the enclave in March. 

Since then, it has extended its control of the territory, clearing around a third as what it has described as a "security zone" and blocked off the entry of aid into Gaza, leaving the 2 million population increasingly short of food.

Entire Gaza population features 'critical risk of famine' – NGO

The entire population of Gaza faces a critical risk of famine, with half a million of them facing starvation, a global hunger monitor said on Monday, calling this a major deterioration since its last report in October.

The latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysed a period from April 1 to May 10 this year and projected the situation until the end of September, according to a summary of its key findings.

The analysis found that 1.95 million people, or 93 percent of the population in the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave, are living through high levels of acute food insecurity.

Of those, 244,000 are experiencing the most severe, or "catastrophic", levels – up from 133,000 in the October analysis.

IPC projected that 470,000 people, or 22 percent of the population, would fall into the catastrophic category by the end of September, with over a million more at "emergency" levels.

"Urgent action is needed to save lives and avert further starvation, further deaths and a descent into famine," it said.

Israeli officials have said they do not believe Gaza faces a hunger crisis, that enough aid has entered to sustain the enclave's population, and that they want to stop supplies coming under the control of Hamas.

The IPC, in a brief accompanying its latest analysis, said a plan announced on May 5 by Israeli authorities for delivering aid was "estimated to be highly insufficient to meet the population's essential needs".

"The proposed distribution mechanisms are likely to create significant access barriers for large segments of the population," it added.

IPC analyses are produced with contributions from UN agencies and NGOs.