A Hamas political bureau member, speaking anonymously, told AFP the proposal to release 21-year-old soldier Edan Alexander – abducted during Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack – and return the bodies of four other Israeli-American hostages was part of a “unique agreement”.
In exchange, Israel would free Palestinian prisoners, with the number still under negotiation, the official said.
The official said the proposed exchange was conditioned with simultaneously starting negotiations for the implementation of the truce’s second phase, with the talks ending within a 50-day period, he said.
The proposal also called for the immediate opening of all border crossings to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Philadelphi corridor, he added.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday accused Hamas of resorting to “manipulation and psychological warfare”.
