Live, Gaza War: Hamas Announces It Will Release Israeli-American Hostage Edan Alexander

"The government's decision to dissolve a collective defending Palestinian rights, in the midst of a genocide in the Gaza Strip, would be a very serious act," said Anne Savinel-Barras, president of Amnesty International France, in a statement, following the procedure to dissolve the group Urgence Palestine initiated by the French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau.

This procedure, which should only be used as a "last resort" , illustrates "the continuing deterioration of freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly in France" , the NGO believes.

Urgence Palestine claims to bring together "citizens, organizations and associative, trade union and political movements mobilized for the self-determination of the Palestinian people" , and regularly organizes demonstrations, sometimes banned by the authorities – something Amnesty International has also denounced.

"French law on the dissolution of associations is not in line with international human rights law because it allows dissolution on the basis of vague grounds, such as "incitement to hatred", "incitement to armed demonstrations" or "apology for terrorism", and without prior judicial review," accuses Amnesty.

The organization is concerned about the "alarming signal" that this dissolution constitutes, denouncing the "disproportionate restrictions" in several European countries and in the United States "on the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly of defenders of Palestinian rights."

"I am grateful to those who helped make this monumental news happen," Donald Trump said in a message on his Truth Social network after Hamas announced the release of Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage held in the Gaza Strip, following talks with US officials.

The US president also said he hoped for the release of all other hostages, and that this would be "the first of the last steps necessary to end this brutal conflict" which has pitted Israel against Hamas since October 7, 2023.

In a joint statement, the two countries, which are mediating talks between Hamas and Israel, called the announcement "a gesture of goodwill and an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of prisoners and detainees, and ensure the safe and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid" into the Palestinian enclave.

The United States has informed Israel of Hamas's intention to release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, and that negotiations are expected to follow for the release of other hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.

"According to Israeli policy, the negotiations will take place under fire with a commitment to achieving all the war's objectives," Netanyahu's office added.

"The family [of Edan Alexander] confirms that they have been informed of Hamas's announcement and are in constant contact with the US administration regarding Edan's possible release in the coming days," the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement, adding that "no hostage should be forgotten."

"Edan Alexander will be released as part of efforts to secure a ceasefire, open crossings, and allow aid and relief to enter our people" in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Islamist movement said in a statement Sunday evening, without giving further details.

Edan Alexander, 21, was captured by Hamas during the bloody attack of October 7, 2023, while serving in an elite Israeli unit near the Gaza Strip. He is the only living hostage with American citizenship still being held in Gaza.

The announcement comes ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East, which he is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13 to 16.

Hamas confirmed shortly beforehand that it had been in contact with the US administration, which had been announced earlier by two Hamas officials who spoke to Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity. One of them had reported "progress made," notably on a "prisoner exchange involving Edan Alexander."

On April 15, Hamas claimed to have lost contact with the group holding the hostage in Gaza following an Israeli strike. Of the 251 people kidnapped in Israel on October 7, 2023, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli military.

"Due to the use of seaports by the Houthi terrorist regime for terrorist activities, we call on all those present in these ports to evacuate and move away from them, for your safety, until further notice," wrote the Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, on the social network X, citing the Yemeni ports of Ras Issa, Hodeida and Salif.

On Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz promised that his country would respond "vigorously" to a new Houthi missile launch, which the Israeli military intercepted the same day. On May 4, another missile fired by the Houthis hit the perimeter of Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, a first.

Since the start of the Gaza war, Yemeni rebels have carried out dozens of missile and drone attacks against Israel, claiming to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinians. Attacks on Israeli airports and ships "will continue until the aggression against Gaza ceases and the siege is lifted," a Yemeni rebel spokesman said Friday.

"Direct talks took place in Doha between the Hamas leadership and the United States regarding a ceasefire, a prisoner exchange [Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners] and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza," two officials from the Palestinian Islamist movement announced to Agence France-Presse on Sunday. They assured that "the discussions are still ongoing."

A second Hamas official said that "progress has been made (...), including on the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, ongoing negotiations on a prisoner exchange, particularly regarding [Israeli-American hostage] Edan Alexander, as well as on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."

Negotiations to end the fighting, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, have so far been unsuccessful.

Demanding a "comprehensive agreement" that would end the war, Hamas on April 18 rejected an Israeli proposal for a truce of at least 45 days that included the exchange of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and permission to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Israel, for its part, is demanding the return of all hostages still being held and the demilitarization of the enclave.

The Palestinian Civil Defense reported Sunday that 12 people, including young children, had been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the beginning of the day, most of them in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. A previous death toll had been eight .

Early in the day, Israeli warplanes targeted three tents housing dozens of displaced people, killing "eight people, including four children aged between two and five years old and two women," a spokesman for the Gaza civil defense, Mahmoud Bassal, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). AFP footage showed rescuers, in the dark, evacuating bodies by ambulance, one in a white plastic bag and the other in a blanket, as well as an injured baby.

A new Israeli strike against a "civilian vehicle" in western Khan Younis left three dead this afternoon, Bassal said. One person was also killed and three others were injured in an Israeli bombardment on a "group of civilians" in Gaza City, he said.

The Israeli army, which resumed its offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip on March 18 after a two-month truce, has not commented on these developments.

Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state will lead Israel to take "unilateral measures," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned on Sunday, responding to ongoing discussions on the issue.

"Any unilateral attempt (at recognition) (...) will only harm the future prospects of a bilateral process and will push us to take unilateral measures in response," Mr. Saar said after a meeting with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, in Jerusalem.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sunday during a press conference with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, that his country "fully" supports the American initiative to distribute humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, which does not involve direct Israeli participation.

At war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Israel has since March 2 blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, where it is vital for the 2.4 million inhabitants.

From the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Leo XIV called on the "great leaders of the world" to stop the war before a crowd of tens of thousands. He also called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages in this short speech following the Regina Caeli prayer, his first Sunday prayer as pontiff.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that a "special operation" conducted by the Mossad, the foreign intelligence service, and the army had led to the repatriation of the body of Sergeant Zvi Feldman, an Israeli soldier killed during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon in June 1982.

A separate statement from the Mossad and the Israeli army said the body was "located in the heart of Syria and repatriated to Israel (…) . The return [of the body] of Sergeant Feldman was made possible by a complex and clandestine operation, made possible by precise intelligence and the use of operational capabilities demonstrating ingenuity and courage," they added. No information was provided on the date of this operation.

Zvi Feldman was formally identified through genetic testing and his family has been notified, the military said.

"Eight people, including four children aged between two and five and two women," were killed in an Israeli airstrike on tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for the civil defense force in the Palestinian enclave, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The Israeli army has not yet commented on the incident.

Footage filmed by AFP shows rescuers, in the dark, evacuating bodies by ambulance, one in a white plastic bag, the other in a blanket, as well as an injured baby.

According to Mr. Bassal, Israeli fighter jets targeted three tents sheltering dozens of displaced people in Khan Younis on Saturday night and destroyed five houses in the east of Gaza City with explosives. They also fired artillery at the town of Abassa, east of Khan Younis, without any injuries being reported.

After Hamas's military wing released a new video earlier Saturday of two Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip , the Hostage Families Forum, the largest association of hostage relatives in Israel, confirmed the identities of the two men in the video. They are Yosef-Haim Ohana, 24, and Elkana Bohbot, 36, who were kidnapped in the Hamas terror attack in Israel on October 7, 2023. Their families have authorized the media's publication of the video.

The two men are filmed in a small, confined space: Yossef-Haïm Ohana, with his shaved head and tattooed arm, sits cross-legged and speaks by waving his hands, while Elkana Bohbot, visibly weakened and lying under a blanket, remains silent.

Speaking under duress, like all the hostages appearing in the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades videos, Yossef-Haim Ohana explains that Elkana Bohbot is in poor physical and mental health, and calls on Israeli leaders to end the war in the Gaza Strip.

"That they are still there is a shame," the Bohbot family said in a statement, adding: "Elkana and Yosef are crying out for help. While the entire people of Israel hear their pleas, a handful of decision-makers refuse to listen."

"Fifteen deaths as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since dawn," a civil defense official in Gaza, Mohammed Al-Moughayir, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday. The Israeli army, which resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave on March 18 after a two-month truce, has not commented on the announcement at this stage.

The deadliest attack – five dead, according to Mughayir – occurred on a tent housing displaced people in Gaza City, in the northern Palestinian territory. AFP footage from the scene showed people paying their respects in front of five white shrouds of varying sizes.

Among the ten other victims counted on Saturday, Mr. Mughayir mentioned four people killed in a bombing in Deir Al-Balah (Center), a child killed by a shot from Israeli naval forces on the coast of Rafah (South), and another person who was killed in an attack on a solidarity kitchen in Gaza City.

Abdel Kareem Hana / AP

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has reached a peak with Israel's blockade of aid deliveries since March 2, could worsen further if the Jewish state implements the plan approved by its security cabinet during the week of May 5. On the military front, the plan involves launching a major offensive to seize the entire enclave and then occupying it for an indefinite period. On the humanitarian front, the objective is to take control of aid distribution, which the government believes is being diverted by Hamas, by bypassing the mechanisms established by the international community, and, first and foremost, the United Nations.

The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement released a video on Saturday of two Israeli hostages alive in Gaza.

Israeli media identified the two men in the video, which lasts just over three minutes, as Yosef-Haim Ohana, 24, and Elkana Bohbot, 36, who were kidnapped in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. Agence France-Presse was unable to determine the date of the recording.

The two men are filmed in a confined space, one sitting cross-legged with a shaved head; the other lying under a blanket, visibly weakened and remaining silent. Speaking under duress, like all the hostages appearing in the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades videos, the man with the shaved head explains that his companion is in a very difficult physical and mental state and calls on Israeli leaders to end the war in Gaza.

Yossef-Haim Ohana and Elkana Bohbot had already appeared in videos released by Hamas since their kidnapping.

During the October 7 attack, 251 people were kidnapped. Fifty-eight hostages are still being held in Gaza, 24 of whom are still alive, according to the Israeli military. Hamas is also holding the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in a previous war in Gaza in 2014.