Families of the hostages were torn Monday between joy at the announced coming release of US-Israeli Edan Alexander from captivity in the Gaza Strip and anxiety over the continued plight of their own loved ones still held by terror groups in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli government was also widely panned for being sidelined in the talks to secure Alexander’s release.

The US and Hamas both confirmed late Sunday that the terror group would release Alexander in what was described as a goodwill gesture to US President Donald Trump ahead of his visit to the region this week.

Israel, which sources said was not involved in talks for the release, claimed Monday the development was the result of its military pressure on Hamas, while opposition lawmakers and families of hostages panned the government for not having been a party to talks, for not pursuing a broad deal to bring all of the remaining hostages home, and for allowing negotiations to take place that apparently favored hostages with dual citizenship.

Alexander, a dual citizen who grew up in New Jersey, was serving in the Israel Defense Forces at the time of his abduction. He was kidnapped from his base during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught that started the war in Gaza. It was not immediately clear when he would be released, but some reports suggested it could be as early as Monday.

Alexander’s parents flew to Israel with US hostage envoy Adam Boehler on Sunday night in order to arrive in time for their son’s release.

A statement on behalf of the Alexanders said that they are in constant contact with the US government and that “no hostage should be left behind.”

The family of hostage Alon Ohel on Monday criticized the planned release of Alexander while leaving the rest of the hostages behind, noting that their son is continuing to suffer in captivity.

“The deal leaves Alon behind while he is injured and in pain,” the family said in a statement carried by Hebrew media. “We are in a nightmare and frightened.”

The comments reflected a sense of unease among some hostages’ families that the arrangement securing Alexander’s release, which the US says is part of an effort to end the war and free all hostages, differentiates between those in Gaza based on what passports they hold. Ohel’s mother Idit has been particularly vocal against what she terms a form of selection between hostages during previous rounds of releases.

According to the family, relying on information from freed hostages, Ohel has been kept bound in chains and received no medical attention for shrapnel in his eye and shoulder from wounds suffered on October 7, 2023.

“With a broken heart,” the family’s statement offered good wishes to the Alexander family on their son’s impending freedom and urged Israel’s government to reach a deal securing the release of the rest of the hostages.

“Alon and the rest of the injured hostages are being left behind in the tunnels with no medical attention or help,” the family said. “There is no date for the end of our nightmare.”

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said in a statement that her son was held with Alexander.

“The two of them are in a dark tunnel without any other hostages. If Matan is left alone in the tunnel, Netanyahu is deciding to murder my boy; instead of releasing all of the hostages, he has become my private angel of death.”

Zangauker, whose combative criticism of the government has made her a prominent activist on behalf of the hostages, vowed to “hunt down the prime minister” for the suffering caused to her son.

The family of Itay Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen whose body is held in Gaza, said in a statement, “These are moments of mixed feelings. We rejoice in the joy of Yael and Adi Alexander, who will soon get to hug their son. Every hostage that comes home warms the hearts of the families of hostages. On the other hand, our hearts cannot bear the deep grief. It is possible, and necessary, to bring everyone back.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing hostage families, said in a statement Sunday that the release of Alexander “must be the start of a single agreement that will return all 59 [remaining] hostages.”

“There is only one moral, proper, and necessary agreement: the immediate return of all the hostages and the end of the war,” said the forum, which has long been calling for the government to agree to a deal that will return all the remaining hostages at once, rather than in phases.

“Now is the time to bring about a breakthrough in negotiations. The responsibility lies with the Israeli government,” it added. “Nobody can be left behind.”

On Monday, the forum announced a rally to be held at noon in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv in anticipation of Alexander’s release.

In a post to X, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that Alexander’s release “must lead to a broad hostage deal that will return home all the hostages. They have no time.”

He further said that reports of direct contact between the US and Hamas to reach the agreement “are a disgraceful failure of diplomacy by the Israeli government and the person who heads it. The hostages are ours, and the responsibility to return them is of the government.”

Opposition MK Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity Party, posted that “the heart swells at the apparent return of Edan — the stomach turns to see how the Israeli government is absent from every initiative to take responsibility.”

“The time has come for the prime minister to exercise that responsibility,” he wrote.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel has committed to facilitating a safe corridor for the return of Alexander.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said Jerusalem has, however, made no further promise for a ceasefire or for the release of Palestinian security prisoners, who have been exchanged for hostages in previous deals.

“The expected release of IDF soldier Edan Alexander [by Hamas] without getting anything in return, will be possible thanks to the determined policy we led, with the backing of [US] President [Donald] Trump, and thanks to IDF troops’ military pressure in the Gaza Strip,” the PMO said.

“We are in critical days in which Hamas is facing a deal that would enable our hostages’ release,” it added. “Negotiations will continue under fire and amidst preparations for the intensification of the fighting.”

Earlier, the PMO confirmed that the US informed Israel that Hamas will release hostage Alexander “without any compensation or conditions” as a gesture of goodwill to the US.

An Israeli official claimed in an anonymous statement to reporters that Alexander’s imminent release was secured thanks to Israel’s military pressure on Hamas.

“Hamas understood it must make a gesture to the Americans because this is the only way for it to try to prevent the expansion of the war,” the official said.

Appearing to respond to criticism from hostage families and the opposition that Alexander was being freed solely due to his American nationality, the official added: “Thanks to the military pressure, Hamas agreed thus far to release most of our hostages, regardless of foreign passports. We will continue to do everything to return all of our hostages.”

The official said Israel will facilitate a safe corridor to get Alexander out of Gaza — presumably meaning halting fighting and reconnaissance flights in certain areas — but stressed that there is no ceasefire and that Hamas isn’t getting anything in return for the release. If Hamas agrees to an Israel-accepted proposal for a wider hostage deal, the expansion of the war will be postponed, the official added.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF. The Hamas attack also killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Hamas released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of eight slain Israeli captives during a ceasefire between January and March. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war. In exchange, Israel has freed some 2,000 jailed Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gazan terror suspects detained during the war.

Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive, and the bodies of 41 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.

The body of another soldier killed in 2014, Lt. Hadar Goldin, is still being held by Hamas, and is counted among the 59 hostages.