Gaza City, Gaza - Hamas said it will release a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza as the group revealed it was engaged in direct talks with the Trump administration aiming a ceasefire.

"Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, a dual US national, will be released as part of efforts towards a ceasefire" and the reopening of aid crossings, the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear when 21-year-old Alexander would be released.

Earlier, two Hamas officials told AFP that talks were ongoing in the Qatari capital of Doha with the US and reported "progress" had been made.

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Israeli strikes meanwhile continued, with Gaza's civil defense agency reporting that at least 12 people were killed on Sunday, including four young children.

One Hamas official, speaking of the talks with the US, said there was "progress made... notably on the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip" and the potential exchange of hostages with Israel.

A second official also reported progress "on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."

Gaza militants hold 58 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel in March resumed what experts have determined is a full-blown genocide by unilaterally shredding a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It has cut off all aid to Gaza, causing starvation and the spread of diseases among a population decimated by months-long atrocities.

In its statement on Sunday, Hamas said it was willing to "immediately begin intensive negotiations" that could lead to an agreement to end the war and would see Gaza under a technocratic and independent administration.

"This will ensure calm and stability for many years, along with reconstruction and the end of the blockade".

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There was no immediate comment from either the US or Israel.

Earlier this month, the Israeli government approved plans to expand its offensive to full conquest of Gaza.

The messaging out of the White House – which has backed Israel's mass killing to the tune of tens of billions of dollars – has been contradictory, with President Donald Trump previously floating the idea of ethnically cleansing the strip and turning it into a seaside resort.

On Friday, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee outlined a plan in which a new foundation would lead the distribution of aid in Gaza, backed by Israeli military and private security.

The plan has drawn hefty international criticism for sidelining the UN and existing aid organizations, with the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, saying it was "impossible" to replace it in Gaza.