A senior Hamas official also addresses whether Hamas - which has been in power since it won the 2006 Palestinian elections - could step down from government in order to secure peace in Gaza.

JERUSALEM, May 7 (Reuters) - An Israeli official said on Wednesday that 24 hostages ... said in a post on X that the Palestinian militant group Hamas was holding 59 hostages of whom 24 were alive and 35 dead - figures unchanged since before Trump spoke.

CAIRO (Reuters) - 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 on Sunday.