People hold a picture and a sign with a picture of the Israeli-American hostage, Edan Alexander, who was kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack, in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

An Israeli-American hostage crossed into Israel on Monday after his release by Hamas as fighting paused in Gaza, the Israeli military said, but there was no deal on a wider truce or hostage release.

Israel‘s military said it had received Alexander after the International Committee of the Red Cross said it had facilitated his safe transfer from 19 months of captivity to Israeli authorities.

Alexander was the last living American held by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and Israel‘s Channel 12 said his condition was “low” without citing a source.

Al Jazeera television showed a photograph of him standing next to masked fighters and a Red Cross official. Unlike in previous hostage releases, he was wearing civilian clothes.

As Israel prepared for the release of Alexander, hundreds gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where they waited anxiously for sight of the Israel-American dual national. Many of Alexander’s friends were present, as they stood, arms interlinked, with posters of the now-21-year-old in the air. As the first images of Red Cross vehicles receiving Alexander were broadcast in the public square many began to weep.

Supporters also gathered in Alexander’s hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, to watch his release from captivity.

People watch a screen on the day Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, who was kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, is released from captivity by Hamas in Gaza, in Alexander’s hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, US, May 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Fighting halted at midday in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would pause its operations to allow safe passage for the hostage release.

Hamas said it was freeing Alexander as a goodwill gesture to US President Donald Trump, who is visiting the region this week.

“Edan Alexander, American hostage thought dead, to be released by Hamas. Great news!” Trump wrote in capital letters on his social media platform earlier in the day.

Netanyahu said Alexander’s release came thanks to his country’s military pressure in Gaza and political pressure exerted by Trump.

The Israeli leader said he spoke with Trump on Monday where the US president expressed commitment to Israel, according to a statement by Netanyahu’s office.

Netanyahu has said there will be no ceasefire and that plans to intensify military action in Gaza continue.

The release, after four-way talks between Hamas, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, could open the way to freeing the remaining 58 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, 19 months after Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Qatar and Egypt said Alexander’s release was an encouraging step towards new truce talks. Israel will send a delegation to Qatar on Thursday to discuss a new proposal aimed at securing further hostage releases, Netanyahu’s office said.

Netanyahu has insisted that Israel‘s planning for an expanded military campaign in Gaza will continue.

“Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that military pressure had forced Hamas into the release.

Trump is due to visit Gulf states on a trip that does not include a stop in Israel but special envoy Steve Witkoff, who helped arrange the release, was expected in Israel on Monday, two Israeli officials said.

Alexander’s family thanked Trump and Witkoff, saying in a statement that they hoped the decision would open the way for the release of the other remaining hostages.

“We urge the Israeli government and the negotiating teams: please don’t stop,” they said.

US officials have tried to calm fears in Israel of a growing distance between Israel and Trump, who last week announced an end to US bombing of Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who have continued to fire missiles at Israel.

Israel‘s government has drawn criticism over the deal to release Alexander, which laid bare the priority given to hostages able to rely on the support of a foreign government.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is among 21 hostages still believed to be alive, said Netanyahu was choosing his political survival over ending the war.

Addressing Trump in a statement she read with other hostage families, she said: “The Israeli people are behind you. End this war. Bring them all home.”

Netanyahu, who was due to testify in the latest session of his trial on corruption charges that he denies, has faced pressure from hardliners in his cabinet not to end the war.

Following a ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in Gaza for two months and allowed the exchange of 38 hostages for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails, Israel resumed its military campaign in the enclave in March.

Since then, it has extended its control of the territory, clearing around a third of what it has described as a “security zone” and blocked off the entry of aid into Gaza, leaving the 2 million population increasingly short of food.

Experts and Israeli officials have long said that Hamas steals much of the aid to fuel its terrorist operations and sells some of the remainder to Gaza’s civilian population at an increased price. Jerusalem has also said that aid distribution cannot be left to international organizations, which it accuses of allowing Hamas to seize supplies intended for the civilian population.

Last week, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee outlined plans for a new system of aid deliveries by private contractors, but many details are unclear, including on funding.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday that humanitarian aid in Gaza needed to resume immediately. Herzog said the new aid mechanism would reach civilians, not Hamas, and urged the international community to help implement it.

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their assault on Israel in October 2023. Israe responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas, which has ruled neighboring Gaza since 2007.