WORLD NEWS – Hamas says that it is willing to release five American hostages

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

Hamas has announced that it is willing to release the new living Israeli-American hostage and the bodies of the four other dual national Americans who have been held in Gaza since the attacks on October 7th, 2023 in Israel. Hamas put out a statement on its official Telegram channel saying that it is willing to release “Edan Alexander, who holds American citizenship, in addition to the bodies of four other dual nationals.” An official from Hamas said that the bodies of the four other dual nationals would be released as well. This statement came after the U.S. has in recent weeks held talks with Hamas. This was a major shift in U.S. foreign policy seeing that Hamas is classified as a terrorist group. 

Talks surrounding the next phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The first phase of the ceasefire officially ended two weeks ago and both sides have been trying to negotiate a new ceasefire deal. Hamas has demanded that they move to phase two and Israel refuses. This is the first sign of a potential breakthrough in communication that could lead to a deal. Hamas said that it would accept a proposal from mediators to release these five hostages but did not specify when this would happen or what the group is demanding in exchange for this release.