Hamas was set to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander after over 580 days in captivity, with the Palestinian terror group reaching a deal with the United States on Sunday following days of direct negotiations that Israel wasn’t privy to.

Alexander’s release would take place on Monday, a senior US official told The Times of Israel. Alexander’s parents were traveling to Israel from the US along with the Trump administration’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler in order to arrive in time for their son’s release, according to a US official.

“The entire family is now on the way to Israel,” Edan’s father, Adi, told the Ynet news site. “We were completely surprised to receive the call from Witkoff. We knew about the negotiations but not about such a dramatic development.”

Boehler himself said the news of Alexander’s release was a positive step forward, adding: “We would also ask that Hamas release the bodies of four other Americans that were taken.”

The major development came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s trip to the region this week, and was meant as a goodwill gesture in the hope that Washington would then coax Israel to end the war in Gaza, a source involved in the mediation effort told The Times of Israel.

The source said Hamas has received assurances from the US through mediators that Alexander’s release “would go a long way” with Trump, who wants to see the remaining hostages released and for the war in Gaza to end.

Certain security measures need to be taken in order for the release to move forward, such as Israel halting military operations and drone surveillance of parts of the Strip, as it has had to do in previous releases, a source involved in the process told The Times of Israel.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff was also set to travel to Israel on Monday to facilitate the process, Hebrew media reports said. He was in Oman on Sunday night after mediating nuclear talks between the US and Iran.

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.

In a statement, Hamas said the decision to release Alexander came after recent talks with US officials and “intensified efforts to achieve a ceasefire, open border crossings, and allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.”

It did not say when Alexander would be released.

The Palestinian terror group also said that it was prepared to enter intensified negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement to end the war, establish a mutually “agreed prisoner exchange, and enable Gaza to be administered by an independent professional authority.”

Hamas uses the term “prisoner exchange” to refer to the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners, including terrorists convicted of murdering Israelis.

“This was 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,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday evening. “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!”

Qatar and Egypt welcomed the news in a joint statement, calling it “a gesture of goodwill and an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of prisoners and detainees, and ensure the safe and unhindered flow of aid to address the tragic conditions in the Strip.”

The US did not brief Israel on the effort to release Alexander until after the deal with Hamas was reached, a source familiar with the details told The Times of Israel.

Israel was generally aware that efforts were ongoing, but only knew about them from its own intelligence operations. On Sunday evening, Witkoff updated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer about the finalized deal, Walla reported.

Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the US had informed Israel that Hamas would release Alexander “without any compensation or conditions,” and as a gesture of goodwill to the US.

“The US conveyed to Israel that this move is expected to lead to negotiations for the release of additional hostages, based on the original Witkoff proposal — which Israel has already accepted,” said the PMO in a statement, referring to a framework that sources have told The Times of Israel was in fact proposed by Israel, under which around half the living hostages would go free in exchange for an extended truce, with the rest being later freed in exchange for an end to the war.

Israel was making preparations for the potential release, the PMO continued, adding that “according to Israeli policy, the negotiation will take place under fire, with a firm commitment to achieving all the objectives of the war.”

Earlier Sunday, multiple reports quoted Netanyahu as telling the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hamas could release Alexander during Trump’s visit, and welcomed the possibility, adding: “These are very critical days.”

Witkoff negotiated with top Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya through an intermediary to secure Alexander’s release, a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.

Hamas was being pushed by mediators to release the hostage unconditionally as a show of goodwill to Trump, an Arab official familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel before Hamas made its announcement.

Mediators were telling Hamas that releasing Alexander would go a long way with the the Trump administration, which would “put all issues on the table,” as far as Washington is concerned, including pushing Israel to agree to end the war in Gaza — something Jerusalem has refused to do, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement Sunday that the release of Alexander “must be the start of a single agreement that will return all 59 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.”

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.

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.

Agencies contributed to this report.