Mediators are working urgently to secure the release of Oct. 7 hostage Edan Alexander, who has been disgracefully used by Hamas as a bargaining chip over the past few weeks.

After initially agreeing on Friday to release the 21-year-old along with the bodies of four other American hostages, Hamas issued new demands on Saturday, including that Israel withdraw from the strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt and stop blocking humanitarian aid entry.

Calling it an “exceptional deal,” a senior Hamas official told the Associated Press that talks over the ceasefire’s second phase would need to begin immediately upon Alexander’s release and last no longer than 50 days.

Alexander is believed to be the last living American hostage in Gaza and has now been held captive for 526 days. Though raised in New Jersey, Alexander was born in Israel before his family moved to the U.S. After high school, he chose to join the IDF’s Golani Brigade rather than attend college, and was patrolling near Gaza when Hamas launched its unprovoked Oct. 7 attacks in 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and saw 251 people taken hostage.

After Hamas agreed to release the American hostage without releasing its demands, the Prime Minister’s Office accused the Iranian-backed terror group on Friday of engaging in “manipulation and psychological warfare” for using Alexander as a bargaining chip. U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff blamed Hamas for disingenuously stalling negotiations by making “impractical” demands.

“Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire. Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side,” he said. “It is not. Hamas is well aware of the deadline and should know that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes.”

While specific details of the U.S. proposal weren’t given, it reportedly follows a similar structure to the initial ceasefire deal’s first phase that officially ended on March 1. It would likely include weekly exchanges where a small group of the remaining living hostages would be freed for hundreds of dangerous Arab prisoners.