Hamas says it will release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander as part of ceasefire efforts today
Hamas has said it will release Edan Alexander, an Israeli soldier who holds American citizenship.
The group announced on Sunday that the 21-year-old, who is believed to be the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of ongoing efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire with Israel.
Hamas, the militant group with which Israel has been at war since 7 October 2023, said Mr Alexander would be released on Monday.
The group said in a statement: “Hamas has been in contact with the US administration over the past few days.
“The movement has expressed a high degree of positivity, and the release of Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, a dual US citizen, will be part of the steps being taken to achieve a ceasefire, open the crossings, and allow aid and relief to reach our people in the Gaza Strip.”
Donald Trump posing for photos with family members of Edan Alexander in New York last year. File pic: AP
Mr Alexander, who is from the US state of New Jersey, was 19 when he was taken from his base on the border with Gaza in southern Israel during the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023.
His expected release has been described as a “gesture of goodwill” by Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, who has been heavily involved in peace talks between Hamas and Israel.
He confirmed to Sky News’ US partner network NBC News that he is travelling to Israel to secure Mr Alexander’s release.
“We are picking him up probably tomorrow,” Mr Witkoff said. “There was a long negotiation with lots of people to thank.”
The Hostages Families Forum said it is “embracing and supporting” Mr Alexander’s family. It said his release should “mark the beginning of a comprehensive agreement that will secure the freedom of all remaining hostages”.
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From 7 May: Israeli military strikes kill dozens in Gaza
US special envoy Adam Boehler described the announcement as a “positive step forward” adding that the US would encourage Hamas to also “release the bodies of four other Americans that were taken”.
The announcement was made hours after a senior Palestinian official told Reuters that the US administration was involved in wider talks with Hamas alongside Egypt and Qatar in a “pursuit of an agreement”.
Mr Trump is also set to travel to the Middle East later this week, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The four-day trip is expected to focus heavily on business deals and new investments.
‘A goodwill gesture’
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was told by the US that Mr Alexander’s release was “a goodwill gesture toward the Americans without compensation or conditions”.
It said the US told Israel the move is expected to lead to negotiations for the release of hostages, according to the original “Witkoff framework” – which Israel has already accepted.
The “Witkoff framework” was proposed in March. It involves Hamas releasing half of its remaining hostages – the militant group’s main bargaining chip – in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
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Hamas has always refused to accept the deal. It said it is willing to free all remaining hostages and agree to a permanent ceasefire if Israel pulls out completely from Gaza.
Around 59 hostages are still inside Gaza, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Jurors in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs have reached a verdict on four of the five counts against him – but the hip-hop mogul will have to wait to learn his fate.
In tense scenes towards the end of the court day on Tuesday, jurors sent a note to say they had reached verdicts on two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation for prostitution, but had been unable to reach a unanimous decision on the charge of racketeering conspiracy.
Combs‘s lawyers surrounded him at the defence table after the note was sent to the court, and at one point he held his head in his hands.
After discussions with prosecution and defence lawyers, Judge Arun Subramanian told jurors to continue deliberating on Wednesday rather than deliver a partial verdict.
Combs and one of his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, earlier in the day. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
The jury has testimony from more than 30 witnesses to consider – including Combs’s former long-term partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another former girlfriend called “Jane”, who testified under a pseudonym to protect her identity.
Prosecutors allege the 55-year-old rapper used his fame and power to force Cassie and “Jane” into drug-fuelled sex sessions with male sex workers, which were referred to as “freak-offs”, “wild king nights”, or “hotel nights”.
He was also physically violent and blackmailed them with footage, jurors were told.
They also heard from “Mia”, a former employee who alleged she was sexually assaulted by the rapper on several occasions during her career. She also testified using a pseudonym.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges and his defence team has argued that prosecutors are attempting to criminalise what they say was a consensual “swingers lifestyle”.
The rapper chose not to testify and his lawyers did not call any witnesses, building their arguments instead through lengthy cross-examinations of the witnesses called by the prosecution.
What is racketeering conspiracy?
Racketeering conspiracy, which is count one on the verdict sheet, is the most complicated of the charges against Combs.
Jurors need to decide not only whether the rapper created a “racketeering enterprise”, but also if he was involved in various offences as part of this, including kidnapping, arson and bribery.
The charge falls under the US’s RICO laws (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act), which is best known for being used in relation to organised crime and drug cartel cases.
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After closing arguments last week, jurors began deliberation on Monday and had spent about 13 hours discussing in total by the time they sent their note.
Before reaching the verdict on the four counts, they had requested to review crucial testimony from Cassie about her account of an assault in a hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Captured on CCTV, the footage was played in court several times – showing Combs, wearing only a towel and socks, beating, kicking and dragging Cassie in a hallway.
His defence team admitted in their opening statement that this was domestic violence, and said the music star regretted these actions – but that they did not amount to any of the federal charges against him.
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What we learned from Cassie’s testimony
As well as Cassie’s evidence on that assault, they asked to see her testimony on an incident at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 – when she said Combs accused her of taking drugs from him and kicked her off of his yacht.
On their way back to the US, she told the court, he threatened to release explicit videos of her having sex with an escort.
Jurors also wanted to review testimony given by a male sex worker at the start of the trial.
Combs could face 15 years to life in prison if he is convicted of all charges.
Jurors will continue deliberating on the racketeering conspiracy charge on Wednesday.
Elon Musk has stepped up his attacks on Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill – weeks after a spectacular fallout between the world’s richest man and the US president.
Following weeks of relative silence after clashing with Mr Trump over his “big beautiful bill”, the billionaire vowed to unseat politicians who support it.
In a post on X, Musk said those who had campaigned on cutting spending but then backed the bill “should hang their heads in shame”.
He added: “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
Musk also threatened to put their faces on a poster which said “liar” and “voted to increase America’s debt” by $5trn (£3.6trn).
The posts attracted a swift reply from Mr Trump, who claimed the billionaire “may get more subsidy than any human being in history” for his electric car business.
“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
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Elon’s dad on the Musk-Trump bust-up
Musk spent at least $250m (£182m) supporting Mr Trump in his presidential campaign and then led the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sacked about 120,000 federal employees.
He has argued the legislation would greatly increase the US national debt and wipe out the savings he claimed he achieved through DOGE.
As the Senate discussed the package, Musk called it “utterly insane and destructive”.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said the bill’s massive spending indicated “we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!”
“Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,” he wrote.
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Musk previously said some of his social media posts during his dramatic fallout with Mr Trump “went too far”.
He had shared a series of posts on X, including one that described Mr Trump’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”.
He also claimed, in a since-deleted post, that the president appeared in files relating to the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
But Musk later wrote: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”
In response, the president told the New York Post: “I thought it was very nice that he did that.”
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