EXCLUSIVE — The father of one of the American-Israelis held by Hamas wants to see President Donald Trump get both sides to agree to a more condensed ceasefire deal.
The current deal in place would have Hamas release about a third of the hostages being held over the current six-week ceasefire deal, 33 of about 100, and there is no guarantee for the other two-thirds of the hostages. The living hostages left behind during the first phase would be released in the second phase of the deal, if both sides can come to an extended deal.
Edan Alexander, an IDF soldier raised in New Jersey, is among a group of seven Americans held by Hamas, and he is not expected to be released during the initial phase.
“The message is really simple. You don’t have to drag this deal for three stages and almost three months. Just shrink the process; it’s really simple,” Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, told the Washington Examiner, adding that the current framework is “a very excruciating and long process.”
He believes Trump could condense the deal to get every hostage out within a week.
Hamas is set to release four female Israeli soldiers on Saturday as part of the deal. It’s the second iteration of hostages getting freed under this agreement, where three — Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari — were released last weekend.
As a part of the deal, Israel will release 30 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons in exchange for one Israeli civilian hostage, and 50 for every female IDF soldier, indicating that 200 Palestinians will be released this weekend as a part of the deal. 90 Palestinians were released last weekend as a part of that exchange.
Many details of the second phase of the agreement have yet to be hammered out by mediators. Hamas wants the war to end permanently, which would allow them the opportunity to reconstitute, rearm, and potentially reassert governing control over Gaza, which Israeli officials have said is a non-starter.
The second phase is expected to include Hamas releasing all remaining living hostages in exchange for Israel completely withdrawing its military presence from Gaza. The third phase, if agreed upon, would likely include Hamas giving up the bodies of any remaining hostages in exchange for the beginning of the reconstruction of the enclave.
Mediators have sought to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire for more than a year, but their efforts repeatedly came up short despite several apparent but ultimately unsuccessful breakthroughs. Trump declared ahead of his return to the White House that there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages weren’t released prior to his inauguration.
Hamas carried out its surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of roughly 1,200 people, and they kidnapped roughly 250 others. Hamas released about half of the hostages during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023, but no further deal was made until the current one.
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Israel, in retaliation for the attack, has carried out a significant military campaign in Gaza, destroying much of the enclave’s infrastructure. Israeli forces are believed to have killed more than 45,000 people in total, which includes civilians and combatants. Israeli officials have said the ratio of civilians to combatants killed in the war is roughly 1-1, meaning that more than 20,000 Hamas fighters have been killed, as well as civilians.
A majority of the Gaza population has been displaced, in some cases several times, and they desperately need humanitarian assistance.