Hamas agreed to release American hostage soldier Edan Alexander, who was on duty near Gaza on October 7, when he was captured. Additionally, the Palestinian organization agreed to return four bodies of slain Israeli-American nationals, without revealing their identities.
The group reaffirmed in an official statement "its complete readiness to initiate negotiations and reach a comprehensive agreement on the issues of the second phase while calling for the occupation [Israel] to fully implement its obligations."
The day before, Axios reported that United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff presented to Israel and Hamas a new proposal for extending the Gaza ceasefire deal by several weeks under which Hamas would be required to release additional hostages and Israel would have to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza
