Hamas proposes to free the final American captive; Israel condemns it as ‘psychological warfare’

Hamas said on March 14 that it has agreed to release an American-Israeli dual national believed to be the last living U.S. hostage held in Gaza, after receiving a proposal from mediators to continue negotiations on a deal for a second phase to the cease-fire.

Along with hostage Edan Alexander, an Israel Defense Forces soldier, the terrorist group said it will release the bodies of four other hostages holding dual citizenship, who died or were killed in captivity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cast doubt on the offer, accusing Hamas of “manipulation and psychological warfare” against hostage families and trying to manipulate the cease-fire talks underway in Qatar.

The prime minister’s office criticized Hamas for rejecting a wider proposal by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff that it said Israel had accepted.

The Witkoff proposal, presented during negotiations in Qatar’s capital of Doha this week, would reportedly see 10 living hostages released immediately, a cease-fire through the end of Passover on April 20, and the release of all other hostages if an agreement is reached on ending the war, according to the Times of Israel.

“While Israel accepted the Witkoff framework, Hamas persists in its refusal and continues to wage psychological warfare against hostage families,” the prime minister’s office said.

Netanyahu’s office said he would meet with his ministerial team on Saturday night, March 15, to receive a detailed report from the negotiation team and “decide on steps to free the hostages and achieve all our war objectives.”

Families of the hostages decried the delay in the meeting, with the negotiating team set to return from Doha on Friday but not meeting with the prime minister until Saturday night, after the Jewish Sabbath concludes.

“The families of the hostages apologize for disturbing you on Shabbat, but their loved ones do not have time to wait!” a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said. “Twenty-four hours in captivity is 24 hours of hell, torment, and abuse. It is 24 hours of danger of death and disappearance.

“For the hostages and their families, there is no Shabbat and no holidays.”

Witkoff issued a statement saying, “Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not. Hamas is well aware of the deadline, and should know that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes.”

He criticized Hamas for “publicly claiming flexibility while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent cease-fire.”

Israel has sought to discourage foreign countries from negotiating separately with Hamas to release nationals among the hostages.

The Hamas statement indicated the terrorist group had accepted a proposal discussed in recent weeks during direct talks with U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler.

Those talks infuriated Jerusalem, which hadn’t been kept fully in the loop, didn’t like Boehler discussing Israeli concessions without their knowledge, and feared Washington would abandon remaining Israeli hostages after such a deal was reached, according to the Times of Israel.

Hamas has held out on continuing to the second phase of negotiations, which, according to the initial cease-fire framework, requires hard choices by both sides. Israel would have to agree to a permanent cease-fire and withdrawal from strategic ground, including the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt frontier.

Witkoff’s “bridge proposal” seeks to buy more time for the two sides to agree to a second phase while obtaining the release of more living hostages.

A ‘Lone Soldier’

Alexander, who was born in Tel Aviv and raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, joined the Israeli army after graduating from high school in 2022.

He is what Israelis call a “lone soldier”—one who has emigrated to Israel on his own and joined the army but without a family support network there. Such soldiers are often informally adopted by Israeli communities, which provide them with places to go while on leave or to celebrate Jewish holidays.

He was 19 when, patrolling near the Gaza Strip frontier as part of the Golani infantry brigade on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists.

Hostages released recently had seen him alive. He reportedly was malnourished and had been severely interrogated and tortured.

He was shown in a Hamas propaganda video in November, looking gaunt.

About 24 hostages are believed to be still alive.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.