“It was a deal,” said Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, in an interview with Drop Site. He said the promise came from Witkoff himself. “They didn’t violate the deal. They threw it in the trash.”
Alexander, a dual U.S.-Israeli settler, was captured by Palestinian resistance fighters from an Israeli tank on October 7, 2023. He used to serve in the Israeli military. His release this week marked the first time Hamas freed a male Israeli soldier since the genocide began. Hamas said the move was a gesture of goodwill toward Trump and based on promises of immediate humanitarian relief for Gaza, which has been facing a starvation campaign by Israel for over two months.
But instead of aid, Israel intensified its attacks. One day after Alexander’s release, Israeli forces bombed the European Hospital in Khan Younis, killing 28 people. Israel claimed that the strike targeted Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’s current armed wing commander. Neither Israel nor Hamas has confirmed his death.
Trump, while touring Gulf nations, acknowledged the famine in Gaza. “A lot of people are starving. A lot of people. There’s a lot of bad things going on,” he said during a visit to the UAE. But Naim dismissed the comment. “We are looking for actions,” he said. “The humanitarian disaster has to end immediately.”
Trump had proposed turning Gaza into a “freedom zone” and a U.S.-controlled “Middle East Riviera.” In February, he stood with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and floated the idea of seizing the territory.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Israeli officials have pushed an aid plan that bypasses Hamas and restricts access based on security vetting. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by Trump, is expected to start operating by the end of May. Aid would be distributed in southern Gaza, far from displaced communities in the north.
International aid agencies and the UN have condemned the plan. They warn it weaponizes food and ignores the need for a ceasefire. Israeli officials have confirmed that troops would "secure the area", despite not directly handing out aid.
Hamas says only a full ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal will justify releasing more Israeli soldier prisoners. Naim stated that Israel uses temporary truces to secure prisoner releases and then returning to war and blockade. “We will be in the same position as today,” he said. “They want to take the prisoners and then go back to bombing and starvation.”
This week, Israeli airstrikes killed over 90 Palestinians and wounded 200 more. Northern Gaza saw mass evacuation orders. Paramedics reported intense air raids on residential areas. Bodies were left on hospital floors, and ambulance crews were targeted.
Hamas insists that talks have stalled. “Zero progress,” said Naim. “They went back to the old Israeli plan, as if the release of Alexander never happened.”
Israeli media reported that Witkoff “gave up” during recent talks in Doha and told mediators the U.S. would no longer pressure Israel to end the genocide. The “Witkoff draft” proposal, leaked in April, removed key terms from a January agreement that had outlined a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal.
Instead, the new proposal calls for partial Israeli pullbacks, continued military presence inside Gaza, and complete disarmament of Hamas — all non-starters for the group.
Naim said the Trump administration keeps changing positions. “It’s like the stock market,” he said. “Morning, noon, and night — different moods.”
Unless Washington forces Israel’s hand, Naim warned, the genocide will continue. “As long as Israel behaves like a rogue state with no consequences,” he said, “these negotiations are pointless.”
