Hamas will release the Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander held in Gaza as a part of efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement and allow humanitarian aid to enter the besieged enclave, a senior Hamas official told Reuters.
In a statement, the exiled Gaza Hamas chief Khalil Al-Hayya said efforts to facilitate the release have been jointly carried out by Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey.
"The movement affirms its readiness to immediately start intensive negotiations and make serious efforts to reach a final agreement to end the war, exchange prisoners in an agreed-upon manner," Mr Hayya added.
"Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, a dual US national, will be released as part efforts towards a ceasefire" in Gaza and the reopening of aid crossings, Hamas said in a statement.
The US told Israel that Hamas' freeing of the Israeli-American hostage would lead to negotiations for the release of more hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
However, Mr Netanyahu said that his country would not stop fighting in Gaza even while negotiations with Hamas take place.
"According to Israel's policy, the negotiations will take place under fire with a commitment to achieving all the objectives of the war," said a statement from his office.
Hamas and US representatives have held direct talks in Doha in recent days, two officials from the Palestinian militant group said, with one saying there had been "progress" towards a truce in Gaza.
"Direct talks have taken place in Doha between the Hamas leadership and the United States regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, a prisoner exchange and the entry of humanitarian aid," said a senior Hamas official, adding that the talks "are still ongoing".
A second official from the Palestinian group said there was "progress made...notably on the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip" and the potential exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, "particular concerning Edan Alexander", a US-Israeli captive held by militants.
The second official also reported progress "on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip".
Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, have taken place from the early months of the war without bringing it to an end.
The US had for decades refused publicly to engage directly with Hamas, which it labels a terrorist organisation, before first doing so in March.
Hamas has continued to insist on a deal that ends the war and on 18 April rejected an Israeli proposal for a 45-day truce and hostage-prisoner exchange.
In its statement, the group said it was willing to "immediately begin intensive negotiations" that could lead to an agreement to end the war and would see Gaza under a technocratic and independent administration.
"This will ensure calm and stability for many years, along with reconstruction and the end of the blockade".
There was no immediate comment from either the United States or Israel.
US President Donald Trump recently repeated a pledge to help get food to Palestinians in Gaza.
A US-backed mechanism for getting aid into Gaza should take effect soon, Washington's envoy to Israel also said on Friday.
The US had previously conducted discussions with the Palestinian militant group on securing the release of US hostages held in Gaza.
Since 2 March, Israel has completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of Gaza, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out.
Gaza rescuers say 12 killed in Israeli strikes
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes have killed at least 12 people, including young children, mostly in the south of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that Israeli fighter jets hit three tents overnight where dozens of displaced people were sheltering in the southern city of Khan Younis.
"Eight people, including four children aged two to five and two women" were killed, Mr Bassal said.
A separate strike on Khan Younis later killed three people, Mr Bassal said.
One person was killed and three others wounded when a group of civilians came under attack in Gaza City, in the north, he added.
Mr Bassal also said the Israeli military destroyed five houses with explosives in the east of Gaza City and fired artillery at the Abassa area east of Khan Younis, without reporting any casualties.
The Israeli military did not comment on specific incidents but said its air force had struck "more than 50 terror targets across the Gaza Strip" since Saturday.
On 18 March, Israel effectively ended the January ceasefire agreement and resumed its offensive in Gaza, triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's 7 October, 2023 attack.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 2,720 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,829.
