Hamas said it had agreed to release Edan Alexander and hand over the bodies of four other hostages. But both the White House and Israel said Hamas was not serious, suggesting a deal was not imminent.
The White House has accused Hamas of dragging its feet on the latest US ceasefire proposal in Gaza and demanded the immediate release of Edan Alexander, a US-Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip for more than a year.
Earlier on Friday, Hamas officials said they were willing to negotiate Mr. Alexander's release along with the return of the remains of four other American-Israeli hostages. But Israel immediately cast doubt on the viability of the proposal, saying a deal was not imminent.
The office of Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, said Mr. Witkoff presented Hamas with a new cease-fire proposal on Wednesday evening that would extend the current truce and free more hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
“Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly declaring flexibility and privately making demands that are completely impossible to meet without a permanent ceasefire,” Mr. Witkoff’s office and the National Security Council said in a joint statement.
The statement said the United States would “respond appropriately” if Hamas failed to comply with the agreement within the White House's deadline, but did not specify when that would happen or what the consequences might be.
A senior Hamas official said the group's proposal would see Israel release some Palestinian prisoners, resume aid to Gaza and begin talks on the next phase of a ceasefire in exchange for Mr. Alexander, believed to be the last surviving captive with American citizenship, and the remains of four others.
