A senior Hamas official has told AFP that the group expects the United States to pressure Israel into lifting its aid blockade of Gaza after the group released a US-Israeli hostage this week.

“Hamas is awaiting and expecting the US administration to exert further pressure on the Netanyahu government to open the crossings and allow the immediate entry of humanitarian aid — food, medicine and fuel — to the hospitals in the Gaza Strip,” Taher al-Nunu said, adding that aid entry was part of an understanding with US envoys in exchange for Edan Alexander’s release.