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US hostage release move gets mixed reaction in Israel, highlights rift
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US hostage release move gets mixed reaction in Israel, highlights rift
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday said there would be no ceasefire in exchange for Hamas’s release of a U.S.-Israeli hostage in a decision to spark unease in Israel and unveil another sign of the growing rift.
Hamas on May 11 said it would release Edan Alexander, a U.S.-Israeli soldier held in Gaza, ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to the region, and as the group revealed it was engaged in direct talks with Washington towards a ceasefire.
Trump hailed the “monumental news” in a post on social media, describing it as a “good faith gesture.”
“Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict,” he added.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said Alexander’s release was expected and that Israel was not granting any concessions for it.
The statement said Israel did not commit to a ceasefire or to free Palestinian prisoners as part of the release and that it had only agreed to create a “safe corridor” to allow for Alexander to be returned.
The statement said Israel would still carry on with its plans to ramp up its offensive in Gaza despite the expected hostage release. Israel says it won’t launch that plan until after Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week, to allow for a potential new ceasefire deal to emerge.
Israel’s exact involvement in getting the release off the ground wasn’t immediately clear. But it created a backlash against Netanyahu, with critics accusing him of having to rely on a foreign leader to help free the remaining hostages.
Some said Alexander was singled out for freedom because of his American citizenship and said they were worried about the fate of the other 23 living and roughly 35 dead captives who remain in Gaza.
“Trump is rescuing him. Who will rescue Gali and Ziv?” Maccabit Mayer, the aunt of sibling hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, told Israeli Army Radio. She said she was sorry the twin brothers don’t have “the right citizenship.”
Also, some of the relatives accuse Netanyahu of not doing enough to free their loved ones, saying his insistence on continuing the war in Gaza is politically motivated.
Although the decision to release the American soldier was welcomed in Israel, it was also interpreted as yet another sign of the growing rift between Netanyahu and Trump.
The U.S. administration’s move to bypass Israel and engage with Hamas to secure the release of Alexander shows that “Trump and Netanyahu are going in two different directions,” according to Luciano Zaccara, associate professor of Gulf politics at Qatar University.
“They are both following their own interests without consulting each other,” he told Al Jazeera.
Zaccara also pointed out that Washington has been negotiating with the Houthis and Iran, even as Israel keeps attacking the Yemeni rebel group and advocates for a more aggressive posture towards Tehran.
Trump is following his “own policy … his own doctrine,” disregarding some of the wishes of a major ally, he added.
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