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Hamas has released Edan Alexander, a dual United States-Israeli national and soldier, as it seeks to revive ceasefire negotiations and an end to Israel’s punishing blockade on the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed on Monday evening that it had facilitated the soldier’s transfer. An image was released showing Alexander with Hamas members and a Red Cross official.

Hamas said it had released Alexander as a goodwill gesture towards US President Donald Trump, who is visiting Arab Gulf nations this week.

Fighting briefly stopped to allow for the handover after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would permit safe passage for the release.

“Edan Alexander, American hostage thought dead, to be released by Hamas. Great news!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“The government of Israel warmly welcomes soldier Sergeant Edan Alexander who has been returned from Hamas captivity,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

“The government of Israel is committed to the return of all hostages and missing persons – both the living and the fallen,” the statement added. Families of the captives have accused Netanyahu of putting his own political survival above that of the captives still held in Gaza.

In a statement, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric welcomed Alexander’s release while calling for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

“We are relieved that one more family has been reunited today. This nightmare, however, continues for the remaining hostages, their families, and hundreds of thousands of civilians across Gaza,” Spoljaric said.

Alexander’s mother reportedly arrived in Israel on Monday and was flown to the Re’im military base, where the two were expected to be reunited later in the evening, according to Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera is banned from Israel.

Despite the release, Israel has made no commitment to a broader ceasefire. “There’s nothing in exchange, no release of Palestinian prisoners, no pause in the fighting,” Salhut said. “If there are going to be any sort of negotiations, they’re going to happen under fire,” Salhut added, referring to the Israeli government’s prevailing line.

Akiva Eldar, an Israeli political analyst, said Alexander’s release has spurred joy as well as frustration in Israel. “What we see is that what President Trump can do, Netanyahu is not able – or not willing – to do,” he told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.

The Israeli prime minister has faced widespread calls to end the Gaza war to secure the captives’ release but has said he plans to expand Israel’s offensive.

“Today is a crucial point,” Eldar explained. “Because the Israeli public is aware of the fact that if you want a deal, if you want your sons back at home, you can do it. But for that, you have to be a leader like President Trump and not like Netanyahu.”

Release changes little for devastated Palestinians

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said there seems to be no change forthcoming in Palestinians’ daily suffering: “Palestinians are devastated. They’re exhausted. Palestinian families are unable to feed their children. They’re saying their children are going to bed hungry.”

“The IPC [Integrated Food Security Phase Classification] report issued today said 93 percent of Gaza’s population is living through acute food insecurity. This is because of the blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip,” Khoudary said.

“Palestinians are asking, ‘What’s next? What is this release going to bring? Are there any positive negotiations? Is there any glimpse of hope of a ceasefire?’” she added.

And the bombardment continues, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 15 people on Monday.

Gaza on brink of famine

Humanitarian organisations have warned that Gaza is on the verge of mass starvation. The IPC reported that half a million Palestinians face imminent famine.

According to the IPC, 70 days after Israel blocked entry of essential supplies, “goods indispensable for people’s survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks.”

The head of the UN’s World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, urged immediate international action. “Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border,” she said. “If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people.”

Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF, also issued a stark warning. “The risk of famine does not arrive suddenly,” she said. “It unfolds in places where access to food is blocked, where health systems are decimated, and where children are left without the bare minimum to survive.”

Hunger, she added, has become “a daily reality for children across the Gaza Strip”.

Gaza assault set to continue

Netanyahu and his hardline government remain committed to escalating the military campaign in Gaza.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a key coalition partner, reiterated his position that the war must continue and humanitarian aid should be blocked from entering the territory.

“Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, claiming military pressure had compelled Hamas to release Alexander. Critics have countered that the release came about purely because of direct US contacts with Hamas.

Netanyahu met US figures, including Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Ambassador Mike Huckabee, on Monday. His office described the meeting as a “last-ditch effort” to push forward a captive-release deal before the fighting widens.

Huckabee said Trump and his administration “hope this long-overdue release” of Alexander “marks the beginning of the end to this terrible war”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India “only paused” its military action against Pakistan, in his first speech to the nation since a ceasefire following a fierce military confrontation last week that threatened a fifth all-out war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Speaking on Wednesday, the ultranationalist Hindu leader said in New Delhi that his government will not make a distinction between governments that support “terrorism” and “terrorist groups”. He said India would “retaliate on its own terms” if there is any future “terror” attack on the country.

The Indian military launched multiple missile attacks targeting sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on May 6, claiming it had hit “terrorist infrastructure”.

Pakistan rejected that claim.

Pakistan chose to “attack” India rather than combat terrorism, Modi stated, asserting that his country “will not tolerate nuclear blackmail”.

“We will be monitoring every step of Pakistan,” Modi added, saying that “This is not an era of war, but this is not an era of terrorism, either.”

Turning to the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, Modi said, “Terror and trade cannot go together, water and blood cannot flow together.”

The treaty, brokered by the World Bank, has long survived multiple crises between the two rivals. However, India’s recent decision to stop the flow of water signals a sharp diplomatic shift, using water that Pakistan relies on for agricultural and civilian purposes as leverage.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister said in an interview with the Reuters news agency on Monday that the Indus Waters Treaty, unilaterally suspended by India, “has to be rolled back to where it was”.

 On Monday, United States President Donald Trump claimed that by helping to broker the ceasefire, his administration had prevented “a nuclear conflict”.

New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for a deadly April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir in Pahalgam, during which 26 people were killed – a charge Pakistan strongly denies.

According to their partial counts, the fighting since last week killed around 60 civilians on both sides.

Indian and Pakistani military to review ceasefire

India’s and Pakistan’s top military commanders were expected to revisit a recently brokered ceasefire agreement on Monday evening.

The Indian Army earlier reported a “calm night”, as authorities said the night passed peacefully across disputed Kashmir and the international border, with no new incidents reported.

A senior Indian defence official confirmed that talks, originally scheduled for noon local time, were pushed to later in the day. The discussions, analysts say, will likely focus on technical details to prevent future flare-ups rather than shape long-term policy.

Abdul Basit, a South Asia specialist at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the purpose of the exchange is to establish clear lines and avoid missteps.

“The goal is to avoid any miscalculations, because right now one spark could quickly move towards a nuclear catastrophe,” Basit told the AFP news agency.

The spike in hostilities had marked the most serious confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbours since their last declared conflict in 1999.

As tensions cooled, Indian authorities reopened 32 airports on Monday that had been shut down due to the fighting.

Both sides claim victory

Civilians in Kashmir have suffered the most in the crossfire.

Military leaders in both countries spent Sunday delivering pointed briefings, each asserting they had won while pledging restraint.

“We have delivered the promise we made to our people,” Pakistan’s military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry declared, describing the recent operation as a “success on the battleground”.

Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed added that Pakistan had “re-established deterrence and neutralised key threats”.

India’s Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai insisted that his country had shown “immense restraint,” but warned: “Any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of our citizens will be met with decisive force.”

Both nations remain on high alert despite the temporary calm, as the world watches for signs of lasting de-escalation or a reignition of hostilities.