Who is Edan Alexander, the Israeli-American hostage released by Hamas?
JERUSALEM: Edan Alexander was 19 when Hamas militants stormed the Israeli military base where the American-Israeli from New Jersey was a soldier and dragged him into the Gaza Strip.
Hamas released Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, on Monday ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to the region this week. The militant group called it a goodwill gesture aimed at reviving mediated efforts to end the 19-month war.
Alexander was among 251 people taken hostage in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Fifty-eight remain in Gaza. Around a third are believed to be alive. Most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
After Hamas announced on Sunday he would be released, Alexander's family said it 'received the greatest gift imaginable — news that our beautiful son Edan is returning home after 583 days in captivity in Gaza.'
Alexander's parents flew to Israel on Monday. Trump's hostage negotiator, Adam Boehler, posted a picture on social media showing Alexander's mother, Yael, aboard the flight.
A native of Tenafly, a suburb of New York City, Edan Alexander moved to Israel in 2022 after high school and enlisted in the military. Hamas militants seized him from his military base after he volunteered to stay there over the Jewish Sabbath.
In a video Hamas released of Alexander over Thanksgiving weekend in November 2024, he cried and pleaded for help. Though the video was difficult to watch, his family said, it came as a relief to see he was alive.
Hostages freed since then have given the family more news, his father said. Some said Alexander had lost a lot of weight. Others said he'd been an advocate for fellow hostages, standing up for captive Thai workers and telling their captors that the workers weren't involved in the conflict and should be freed.
Alexander, like other male soldiers held in Gaza, was not included among hostages released during a ceasefire earlier this year. Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in January and February in return for nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners. The sight of some emaciated hostages among those freed brought fresh despair to families whose loved ones remained in Gaza.
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