The negotiations focused on freeing Edan Alexander, the only American Israeli hostage still believed to be alive, and the bodies of four other U.S.-Israeli dual citizens who were kidnapped and taken to Gaza in the October 2023 attack, officials told The New York Times.

Trump demanded that Hamas "release all of the hostages now, not later," including the remains of dead hostages, "or it is OVER for you".

Israel has introduced what it said was a new U.S. ceasefire plan and is trying to force Hamas to accept it by imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip.