The Dictatorship
Hamas says it released American-Israeli hostage in goodwill gesture toward Trump administration
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas on Monday released an Israeli-American soldier who had been held hostage in Gaza for more than 19 months, offering a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration that could lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire with Israel.
Edan Alexander21, was the first hostage released since Israel shattered an eight-week ceasefire with Hamas in March and unleashed fierce strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds of Palestinians.
This undated photo released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum shows Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum via AP)
This undated photo released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum shows Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum via AP)
He was handed over to the Red Cross and then to Israeli forces before being flown by helicopter to a hospital in Tel Aviv. Israeli authorities released video and photos showing a pale but smiling Alexander in an emotional reunion with his mother and other family members.
Israel has promised to intensify its offensiveincluding by seizing Gaza and displacing much of the territory’s population again. Days before the ceasefire ended, Israel blocked all imports from entering the Palestinian enclave, deepening a humanitarian crisis and sparking warnings about the risk of famine if the blockade isn’t lifted. Israel says the steps are meant to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement on Israel’s terms.
Wearing shirts emblazoned with his name, Alexander’s extended family gathered in Tel Aviv to watch the release. They chanted his name when the military said he was free, while in the city’s Hostage Square, hundreds of people broke out into cheers.
Alexander’s grandmother, Varda Ben Baruch, beamed. She said her grandson looked mostly all right in the first photo of him after nearly 600 days in captivity.
People watch a live broadcast of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander as he is released from Hamas captivity in Gaza, at a plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Monday, May 12, 2025. Alexander was abducted during the Hamas-led attack on his base on October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People watch a live broadcast of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander as he is released from Hamas captivity in Gaza, at a plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Monday, May 12, 2025. Alexander was abducted during the Hamas-led attack on his base on October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
“He seemed like a man. He has really matured,” she said. Reports that Alexander cracked a joke on the phone while speaking to his mother for the first time did not surprise her. “He’s got such a sense of humor,” she said.
Alexander was 19 when he was taken from his military base in southern Israel during Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which set off the war in Gaza.
In his hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, hundreds of supporters packed the streets, holding signs with his image and listening to speakers blasting Israeli music. As they watched the news of his release on a large screen, the crowd hugged and waved Israeli flags. Since he was taken hostage, supporters there gathered every Friday to march for the hostages’ release.
Israel says 58 hostages remain in captivity, with about 23 of them said to be alive. Many of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the 2023 attack were freed in ceasefire deals.
Trump calls expected release ‘hopefully’ a step toward ending war
Hamas announced its intention to release Alexander shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump was set to arrive Tuesday in the Middle East on the first official foreign trip of his second term.
People gathered in Huyler Park celebrate the release of American hostage Edan Alexander from Hamas on Monday, May 12, 2025, in Tenafly, N.J. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
People gathered in Huyler Park celebrate the release of American hostage Edan Alexander from Hamas on Monday, May 12, 2025, in Tenafly, N.J. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Trump on Sunday called the planned release “a step taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones.”
“Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict. I look very much forward to that day of celebration!” Trump said on social media.
Trump, who is traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is not scheduled to stop in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday with the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and discussed efforts to release the remaining hostages, his office said.
Netanyahu “directed that a negotiations team leave for Doha tomorrow,” the prime minister’s office said, adding that Netanyahu “made it clear that the negotiations would only take place under fire.”
Netanyahu said Alexander’s release “was achieved thanks to our military pressure and the diplomatic pressure applied by President Trump. This is a winning combination.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of hostages, welcomed the news that an Israeli delegation was headed to the Qatari capital for talks.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu, the ball is in your court,” the group said in a statement after Alexander was released. It urged the prime minister to announce that he was ready to negotiate a deal for the return of all remaining hostages and end the war.
Red Cross vehicles carrying American-Israeli hostage and soldier Edan Alexander leave the Gaza Strip after he was handed over to the organization, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Red Cross vehicles carrying American-Israeli hostage and soldier Edan Alexander leave the Gaza Strip after he was handed over to the organization, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
“Don’t miss this historic opportunity facing the State of Israel. Prove to the Israeli public and President Trump that you are willing to take a regional initiative that transcends narrow political considerations,” the group said.
Israel says it still plans to escalate its offensive
On Monday, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said Israel did not make any concessions for Alexander’s release and had only agreed to create a “safe corridor” to allow Alexander to be returned.
It said Israel would carry on with plans to ramp up its offensive in Gaza. Israel says it won’t launch that plan until after Trump’s visit to the Middle East, to allow for a potential new ceasefire deal to emerge.
Amy Lieberman from Hillsdale, New Jersey, foreground, joins Israelis waving flags as the convoy carrying freed Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander arrives after his release from Hamas captivity in Gaza to an army base in Reim, near the Gaza border, southern Israel, Monday, May 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Amy Lieberman from Hillsdale, New Jersey, foreground, joins Israelis waving flags as the convoy carrying freed Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander arrives after his release from Hamas captivity in Gaza to an army base in Reim, near the Gaza border, southern Israel, Monday, May 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Early Tuesday, an Israeli strike hit the surgery department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Officials at the hospital said two people were killed and 10 wounded. They had initially reported three deaths but later amended their tally.
The Israeli military said it had precisely struck Hamas militants operating from within a command and control center at the hospital.
Netanyahu faces criticism for not freeing all hostages
Alexander’s release created a backlash against Netanyahu, whom critics accuse of having to rely on a foreign leader to help free the remaining hostages.
At the opening of his trial on corruption allegations, where he is giving testimony, a woman in the courtroom asked whether he was “ashamed that the president of the United States is saving his citizens, and he is leaving them to die there in captivity.”
Critics assert that Netanyahu’s insistence on keeping up the war in Gaza is politically motivated. Netanyahu says he aims to achieve Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in the 2023 attack. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians.
Israel’s offensive has obliterated vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often multiple times.
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Magdy reported from Cairo and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination, a spokesperson said late Wednesday, as two retiring Republicans on the panel dug in over President Donald Trump’s personal “anti-weaponization” deal with the government he runs.
Sen. Chuck Grassley’s decision to delay the committee vote that had been set for Thursday marks a setback for one of Trump’s highest-profile Cabinet nominees, at the hands of Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a pair of Republicans set to leave the chamber next year.
“Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure. Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement,” the committee spokesperson said.
Blanche’s nomination to permanently head the Department of Justice needs the support of either Cornyn or Tillis to make it out of the committee to a vote by the full Senate, assuming all Democrats remain opposed.
“Why don’t you call over the Department of Justice and tell them they have one hour and 50 minutes to get me what I asked for,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday afternoon amid the hardening standoff over his demand that Blanche and the DOJ put in writing a commitment never to pursue the president’s prized “anti-weaponization” fund, and to clarify the terms of Trump’s personal deal with the Internal Revenue Service.
Tillis told MS NOW that the conversations were complicated by the need for the Justice Department to get “several parties” to agree on the language of the statement Cornyn and Tillis are seeking.
“What I’ve advised the chair, and I would assume Senator Cornyn said something similar, is that we’re not prepared to vote yes yet,” he added.
“The Department has been in regular communication with Committee members for weeks, and we look forward to continuing to work productively with Senators to address any concerns,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in response to the decision to postpone the committee vote.
Cornyn was set to meet with Blanche on Wednesday morning, but the meeting was called off after Blanche failed to meet the senator’s demand for written proposals to modify the controversial settlement agreement he brokered between Trump and the IRS. The Republican senator is set to leave Congress when his term ends in January after a bruising May primary loss to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Trump’s chosen candidate.
“Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him,” Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office. “I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t heard that there’s a problem. I heard (Blanche) is going through quite nicely.”
Cornyn made clear to Blanche during his confirmation hearing that he will not get his support until he agrees to reopen and modify the settlement. Due to the committee’s narrow Republican majority, one GOP “no” vote is enough to sink Blanche’s nomination.
The senator has asked Blanche to provide proof that the proposed nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund established as part of the deal between Trump and the IRS is formally dead, and he has also demanded Blanche narrow the tax audit immunity provisions the settlement afforded to Trump and his family.
Blanche has publicly stated that his department has dropped the fund, but he and the DOJ have dodged requests from Cornyn and a federal judge to put that in writing.
After announcing his meeting with Blanche would not take place Wednesday morning, Cornyn told reporters that changes from Blanche “in a modified release form” would be acceptable, but that “for some reason … they simply refuse to do it,” referring to the DOJ.
Shortly after the meeting was called off, a Justice Department official told MS NOW that the department “provided a written proposal to Senator Cornyn’s staff yesterday following ongoing discussion with both the Committee and the Senator’s office.”
Cornyn said that proposal was “not responsive” to his demands because it did not address the tax audit immunity provisions in the settlement, one of his key demands.
In May, Blanche signed an addendum as part of the deal that granted Trump, his family and his businesses immunity from pending IRS tax audits. That agreement, which has been decried by former IRS officials and legal experts as unlawful self-dealing, is being contested in federal court.
Cornyn noted that Blanche testified under oath that he could meet the request during his confirmation hearing.
“Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or you know, go along, but they’re mistaken,” Cornyn said when asked why he thinks the DOJ could be slow-walking his request.
Kevin Frey contributed to this report.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived this week for his tour of Washington, he may have had a mission in mind.
Netanyahu needed to overcome his newly diminished stature and waning influence over his once close friend President Donald Trump as both leaders grapple with the unpopularity of a war they started together and is escaping their control.
His meeting at the White House with Trump on Tuesday, which was closed to the press, was the first face-to-face encounter between the two allies since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack against Iran on Feb. 28.
Trump gave him a muted welcome and afterwards simply described the meeting as “very good.” “Obviously, many important subjects were discussed,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Rather than an intimate one-on-one setting, the Oval Office was full of top U.S. officials — Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
But Netanyahu continued the full court press on the Trump administration.
Over the course of two days, in addition to seeing Trump and attending Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral at the Capitol, Netanyahu also met separately with Vance, Hegseth, and Rubio, White House and Israeli officials confirmed to MS NOW.
The Israeli prime minister’s slate of meetings with key U.S. national security officials comes at a pivotal moment in the Iran conflict as tensions escalate in the region and Americans increasingly sour on the war. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows 60% of American voters opposing U.S. military action against Iran and 74% against sending U.S. ground troops into Iran.
Not only does Trump face pressure as Republicans face an uphill battle to retain congressional control in this fall’s midterms, Netanyahu’s fate as prime minister is at stake in Israel’s upcoming September elections – and he can’t afford to lose Trump’s favor.
The talks largely focused on what to do next as Iran continues to menace shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and retaliate against American bases in the region and launch attacks on Gulf allies.
According to a senior Israeli official who was granted anonymity to describe the closed-door meeting, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not come to a final decision after discussing three paths forward: get a “good deal” focused on Iran’s nuclear program and enriched material, have no deal and instead continue the blockade and economic pressure, or take escalated military action.
But Netanyahu did not tell Trump what he should do – nor did he express a preference.
The senior Israeli official noted Netanyahu has not ruled out diplomacy – as long as it is coupled with “very strong pressures,” calling the push to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program “a contest of will and a contest of force.”
“There are ways of squeezing them and squeezing them and squeezing them and negotiating at the same time,” the official said.
Netanyahu did not present President Trump with new intelligence regarding the underground Iranian nuclear facility Pickaxe Mountain, per the senior Israeli official, noting the U.S. and Israel already are constantly sharing intelligence – and know where Iran’s highly enriched material is. “We don’t think it’s moved, and I think we have a pretty good grasp on that,” the official said.
During their meeting on Tuesday, Trump and Netanyahu discussed ways Israel and the U.S. can work together to stop Iran’s nuclear program and get the Strait of Hormuz open to maritime trade, the senior Israeli official said.
The two leaders also discussed a third goal: to continue to undermine the Iranian regime and “possibly create future conditions for a change in that area.” U.S. officials have backed away from pursuing paths that would overthrow the current leadership, but Netanyahu still believes that could happen.
“The chasm that has been created between the people and the regime is not about to be closed,” the senior Israeli official said of Netanyahu’s thinking.
Netanyahu advised Trump in February that Israeli intelligence indicated launching strikes against Iran would lead to the toppling of the Islamic Republic’s regime – and five months later, the slain ayatollah’s son retains power with a close circle of hardliners, calling into question the accuracy of Israel’s intelligence apparatus.
But the senior Israeli official said at the time, Netanyahu did not promise the Iranian people would take fate into their own hands following a coordinated attack. Rather, he chose his words carefully and said that an attack could create conditions to “advance the probability or the possibility that that would happen.”
The conditions needed for the Iranian regime to fall, “did not materialize,” the official told MS NOW, adding, “not for lack of insight, but for either operational failure or decisions that were made.”
Despite Netanyahu insisting Israel and the U.S. are on the same page, differences still remain: the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and the Saudi nuclear arrangement did not come up during Wednesday’s White House meeting, according to a second Israeli official granted anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.
Meanwhile, the conflict continues to spread, with an Iranian drone attacking a U.S. gas storage tanker off the coast of Egypt on Wednesday.
Trump indicated he would not let Iran’s latest action slide, telling reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. would retaliate against Iran even as he leaves room for diplomatic talks to resume.
“It’s our turn, and we’ll see if we get there with an agreement at some point,” Trump said. “But we’re going to hit them very hard.”
As for what it would take for Israel to join the U.S. strikes, the senior Israeli official said that if Israel is attacked by Iran, “We will respond very, very forcefully and very quickly. And I think Iran would make a great mistake.”
Julia Jester covers politics for MS NOW and is based in Washington, D.C.
International rage over FIFA’s close ties to President Donald Trump has reached a fever pitch after soccer’s governing body announced a plan to sell a significant stake to an investor group led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.
The president and his family have all but turned the White House into their personal piggy bank. And FIFA — which has its own sordid history of corruption — seems to have made itself a party to Trump’s self-enrichment under Gianni Infantino’s leadership, such as by paying for space inside Trump Tower in New York. (The organization has defended the office rental as a World Cup outpost.)
Soccer is seen by many as a unifying game. But Trump’s incorporation of FIFA into his political dynasty is threatening that idea.
FIFA has announced plans to sell a large minority stake in a new company that will run its main events, including the World Cup and Club World Cup, as part of a plan to triple the amount of development money it dishes out to its 211 member associations.
Under the proposals — which are subject to approval by a majority of those national associations and FIFA’s 37-member council — a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE) will take over all commercial operations, while FIFA remains the game’s global governing body and retains a majority stake in FFE.
A press release from FIFA confirmed the plans and said Thrive Eternal, which was launched by Joshua Kushner, is expected to lead the investment group that would control FIFA Forward Enterprise. FIFA did not clarify why Thrive Eternal was selected, and Kushner was already dabbling in sports.
But Trump basically has already given son-in-law Jared Kushner carte blanche to dictate U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East while simultaneously hatching business plans in the region. (Jared Kushner has denied any conflicts of interest.)
Joshua Kushner reportedly has been a major donor to Democrats. But, predictably, the idea of another Kushner becoming financially entwined with the World Cup — the world’s most popular sporting event — and basically being dropped into a position of global significance isn’t going over well. Several other soccer governing bodies have expressed concerns, including Europe’s UEFA.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said in a statement about The Athletic’s report, adding: “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee also rebuked the plan, writing on X: “Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough — now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal with Jared Kushner’s brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors.”
FIFA, Donald Trump’s favorite corrupt racketeering enterprise in world sports, is now going directly into business with the Trump family!
Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough—now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a… https://t.co/knSZibuMea
— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) July 28, 2026
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has already launched an investigation into the FIFA leader’s relationship with the Trump administration, while dozens of European lawmakers — citing concerns about “potential breaches of political neutrality” — have called for the FIFA Ethics Committee to investigate Infantino. This new proposal seems unlikely to assuage those concerns.
But what it does seem likely to do is fuel global anger toward the U.S. — the kind that has been growing since Trump retook office.
And when you consider that, it’s truly remarkable how the same MAGA movement whose members whined for years about politics mixing with sports is now in lockstep with a president who seems dead-set on casting his shadow over every sports event he can.
This post on X basically sums up the foul stench around FIFA’s latest proposal.
Sepp Blatter was Infantino’s predecessor as FIFA president and oversaw the organization amid some of its many scandals. When heof all people, is warning about how Trump and Infantino’s relationship is “deeply damaging” soccer, it’s a sign of how far FIFA has descended into the gutter.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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