The Palestinian group agrees to resume ceasefire talks and free Edan Alexander and hand over four other captives’ remains.

Hamas stated on Friday that its delegation received a proposal from mediators on Thursday to resume ceasefire negotiations and the group replied with its agreement to release the Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, who holds American citizenship, and the remains of four others with dual citizenship.

Hamas official Husam Badran declared the group’s determination to implement the ceasefire agreement in all its phases and warned that the Israeli occupation’s departure from the agreed terms would bring them back to zero.

No immediate response was received from Israel.

On Tuesday, a senior Hamas official announced that a new round of indirect talks through mediators had commenced in the Qatari capital of Doha, with Israel also sending a team of negotiators.

The initial six-week phase of the truce between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip ended on March 1 without agreement on subsequent phases.

During the initial phase, Hamas released 33 captives, including eight deceased ones, in exchange for approximately 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, many held without charges in Israeli prisons.

After the truce ended without a new agreement, Israel implemented a total blockade on the besieged Palestinian territory, leaving 2.3 million people on the verge of mass starvation.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Khan Younis, stated that civilians are facing severe food and medical supply shortages.

Olga Cherevko from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also told Al Jazeera that the residents are experiencing the dire situation on multiple levels.

She stated that the initial hope during the ceasefire is being replaced by fear and concern as supplies are running out, and warned that food availability could deteriorate rapidly without restored supplies.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, shortages have worsened, with 80 percent of residents losing access to food sources due to the closure of land crossings.

Israel has also severed electricity to a crucial water desalination plant, posing a threat to Gaza’s potable water supply.

Cherevko further stated that the destruction of facilities during the months of fighting has already made the water and sanitation situation dire, and now only about 600,000 people have access to drinking water.

Even with the ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out bombardments in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of children in Gaza City and Beit Lahiya.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports that at least 48,524 Palestinians have been killed and 111,955 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza, with the Government Media Office later updating the toll to over 61,700, including those believed to be under the rubble and presumed dead.

At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.