US envoy says Hamas misrepresented release of hostage

U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said a Hamas statement issued Friday announcing it had agreed to release an American-Israeli soldier was, in reality, a condition of a "bridge" ceasefire proposal offered by U.S. officials earlier this week. Early Friday, the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas issued a statement saying it had agreed to release Edan Alexander, believed to be the last living American hostage held in Gaza, as well as the bodies of four other hostages after receiving a proposal from mediators to resume negotiations on the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal. The statement said the proposal had been offered by unnamed mediators as part of the work in Qatar to restart ceasefire negotiations. The United States, Egypt and host Qatar have been mediating the ceasefire talks. Hamas expressed its "complete readiness to begin negotiations and reach a comprehensive agreement on the issues of the second phase." Later Friday, in a joint statement issued along with the National Security Council, Witkoff's office explained he and National Security Council Senior Middle East Director Eric Trager had presented the bridge proposal to extend the current ceasefire beyond Ramadan and Passover and allow time to negotiate a framework for a permanent ceasefire. In the statement, Witkoff said that under the proposal, Hamas would release additional living hostages in exchange for prisoners, and that the extension of the phase-one ceasefire would allow more time for humanitarian aid to resume into Gaza. He said the U.S. had its Qatari and Egyptian mediating partners convey to Hamas "in no uncertain terms" that the new proposal would have to be implemented soon and Edan Alexander would have to be released immediately. "Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility," Witkoff said in the statement, "while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire." In a statement released on the X social media platform, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that while Israel had accepted "the Witkoff framework," Hamas "continues to wage psychological warfare against hostage families." The statement went on to say that the prime minister would convene his ministerial team Saturday evening for a detailed briefing from the negotiating team and "decide on steps to free the hostages and achieve all our war objectives." Hamas is believed to be holding 24 living hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered its war with Israel. The group also is holding the bodies of 34 others who were either killed in the initial attack or in captivity, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in 2014. In comments to FOX Business news Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she was wary of taking Hamas statements at face value but emphasized that U.S. President Donald Trump was working "diligently" to bring hostages home. Witkoff told reporters at the White House early in March that gaining the release of Alexander was a "top priority." A ceasefire has been in place since January. During the first phase of the three-phase ceasefire, Hamas exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israel has been pressing Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase, which ended March 2. Hamas had said it wanted to move to the second phase of the agreement, which would involve the release of more hostages and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.