Freed hostage Edan Alexander to finally return home to NJ more than 600 days after his capture
Freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander is finally returning home to New Jersey on Thursday, more than 600 days after he was taken hostage by Hamas.
The 21-year-old is flying back to the US and will arrive home in Tenafly this afternoon, when well-wishers are expected to line the streets in welcome, his father told CBS News New York.
'I want to tell you, Edan, we love you and we are so happy you're back,' the Alexander family's rabbi, Yitzchak Gershovitz, told the outlet.
4 Edan Alexander is returning to his New Jersey hometown today.
Instagram/@edan_alexander1
'This is our brother. Our son returns home and our hearts are full of joy and happiness. There's only one word, it's a miracle of God,' he said.
Alexander, believed to be the last living US citizen held in Gaza, was raised in the Garden State and graduated from Tenafly High School before moving to Israel, where he served in the country's military.
He was on duty on Oct. 7, 2023, when he was abducted in the Hamas attack, which triggered the conflict in Gaza.
4 Thousands of Tenafly, New Jersey residents celebrate the release of neighbor Edan Alexander.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
Alexander was finally freed on May 12 after 584 days in captivity as part of a deal brokered by President Trump.
4 Edan Alexander reunites with family members at Ichilov Hospital.
Kobi Gideon/GPO
4 Hamas transferred Alexander over to the Red Cross after almost 600 days in captivity.
Al Jazeera
Hundreds of friends, relatives and supporters gathered at Tenafly's Huyler Park to watch a live stream of his release.
Alexander's return to New Jersey comes as the US Embassy in Israel is dispatching evacuation flights and cruise ships to get American citizens out of the country amid the escalating conflict with Iran.
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USA Today
31 minutes ago
- USA Today
Israel-Iran live updates: Trump to decide on US role in conflict within 2 weeks
Israel-Iran live updates: Trump to decide on US role in conflict within 2 weeks Trump said he would decide within two weeks whether to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump to make decision on Iran within two weeks President Donald Trump says he will make a decision on striking Iran within two weeks as he waits on possible negotiations, the White House says. At least 240 people have been killed in Iran since Israel began airstrikes on June 13. Israel has reported 24 deaths from Iranian attacks. Iran's foreign minister said an Israeli hospital was damaged in a missile attack on Israeli military targets. Israel military targets were nearby. WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump said there was a "substantial chance" of U.S. negotiations with Iran and that he would decide within two weeks whether diplomacy keeps America out of the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict. The statement took down the temperature as the world waited for news of whether he would commit U.S. forces to Israel's campaign against Tehran's nuclear program. "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, quoting Trump. More: 40,000 reasons to worry: U.S. troops in Middle East could face Iran blowback Iran has said it won't negotiate under duress, raising the question of whether Israel and the U.S. will support a ceasefire in the seven-day conflict. Earlier on June 18, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge after a hospital was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile. "This morning, Iran's terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the center of the country," Netanyahu said in a statement. "We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran." Iran's foreign minister said its forces "will continue to pummel the criminals who target our people until they cease and pay for their criminal aggression." The conflict has killed at least 240 Iranians and 24 Israelis since June 13. Israeli warplanes struck three nuclear sites in Iran on June 18. Follow along with USA TODAY for live updates. Iran launched a missile at Israel on June 19 that scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties, the Israeli military and its Washington embassy said, the first reported use of cluster munitions in the seven-day-old war. Cluster bombs are controversial because they indiscriminately scatter submunitions, some of which can fail to explode and kill or injure long after a conflict ends. The Israeli military released a graphic as a public warning of the dangers of unexploded ordnance. 'The terror regime seeks to harm civilians and even used weapons with wide dispersal in order to maximize the scope of the damage,' Israel's military spokesperson, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, told a briefing. Reuters reported on June 19 that Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes on June 13, citing three diplomats. Araqchi told Witkoff nuclear negotiations could not resume until the attacks halted. At a press briefing the White House confirmed conversations were taking place with the Iranians and suggested that at least some of them were direct. 'I can confirm that correspondence has continued,' Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. She declined to provide further details. Iranian missile attack strikes Israeli hospital An early morning Iranian missile attack hit an Israeli hospital and several other densely populated civilian locations. Araqchi will meet in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday with European nations. Witkoff was not expected to attend. -Francesca Chambers The White House said Iran is 'close' to developing a nuclear weapon and could do so within weeks. 'It is a fact, and the United States government maintains this fact, that Iran has never been closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon,' Leavitt told reporters, without citing specific intelligence. Pressed later to explain, Leavitt said Iran is close to having enough enriched uranium to start building a weapon. 'Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that. And it would take a couple weeks to complete the production of that weapon,' she said. -Francesca Chambers Just three months ago, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, testified before Congress that the U.S. intelligence community had assessed that Iran 'is not building a nuclear weapon.' In her prepared testimony before the House and Senate Intelligence committees on March 25, Gabbard provided an overview of all threats to U.S. national security, including Iran. She was unequivocal in the assessment provided by the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies she oversees, including the CIA and the National Security Agency. 'The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamanei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003,' Gabbard said. 'We continue to monitor closely if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program.' Over the past year, Gabbard said, U.S. spies, intelligence analysts and specialized satellites have 'seen an erosion of a decades long taboo in Iran on discussing nuclear weapons in public, likely emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran's decision-making apparatus.' 'Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons,' Gabbard said. 'Iran will likely continue efforts to counter Israel and press for U.S. military withdrawal from the region by aiding, arming, and helping to reconstitute its loose consortium of like-minded terrorists, actors, which it refers to as its 'Axis of Resistance.'' -Josh Meyer White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran would have to agree to stop all uranium enrichment for Trump to find an agreement acceptable. 'Iran is absolutely not able to achieve a nuclear weapon,' she added. 'The president has been very clear about that.' Leavitt said a deal that the U.S. proposed through special envoy Steve Wiktoff prior to the Israeli strikes was 'realistic and acceptable.' She did not provide specifics on what was in it. -Francesca Chambers President Trump joined an 11:30 am meeting with members of his national security team in the White House Situation Room. In the afternoon, he'll hold a private, swearing-in ceremony for his ambassador to Ireland, Edward Walsh, a businessman from New Jersey. Trump has no public events on his schedule – but he posted on Truth Social throughout the morning about various topics − including his extension of the deadline for a deal to save TikTok. He's given no public clue on which way he's leaning over a possible U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear program. June 19 is a federal holiday, but the White House is treating it like a regular work day, as Trump contemplates his options on Iran. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will hold an on-camera briefing at 1pm. -Francesca Chambers The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem was working to evacuate Americans from Israel by commercial flights and on cruise ships after Israeli air and seaports were reopened. Foreigners are trying to flee both Israel and Iran in the face of a deepening crisis. Here's who's leaving: AUSTRALIA: The Australian government evacuated by land a small group of the 1,200 Australians on June 18, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. Around 1,500 Australians in Iran have registered for assistance. AUSTRIA: Forty-eight Austrians have left Israel or neighboring Jordan, the Foreign Ministry said. Around 100 Austrians have requested to leave Iran. Forty-four Austrian and EU citizens have been evacuated towards Turkey and Armenia, it added. CHINA: China has evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and hundreds more from Israel, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said June 19. Several thousand Chinese nationals are thought to reside in Iran, according to state media reports. CZECH REPUBLIC: A flight with 66 people evacuated from Israel had landed near Prague, Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said. FRANCE: France will arrange a convoy by the end of the week from Iran to the Turkish or Armenian borders, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. French citizens in Israel can board buses starting the morning of June 20 from the Jordanian border. GERMANY: 345 German citizens have left the Middle-East region on charger flights, the foreign ministry said. INDIA: India said had launched "Operation Sindhu" to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran. 110 Indian students were earlier evacuated from northern Iran to Armenia. ITALY: Italy is organizing a charter flight from Egypt on June 22 to allow its citizens to leave Israel. Some 500 Italians are leaving Iran. JAPAN: Japan's government said it would send two Self-Defense Forces transport aircraft to Djibouti in preparation for the evacuation of Japanese nationals from Iran and Israel. -Reuters The president took aim at a report in the Wall Street Journal that he had green-lighted plans for U.S. forces to attack Iran's nuclear program. Citing three people familiar with the deliberations, the Journal reported on June 18 that Trump had approved a strike plan but had not issued an order to proceed with it, as he waited to see if Tehran would agree to give up its nuclear enrichment program. On June 19, Trump disparaged the report. "The Wall Street Journal has No Idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran!" he wrote in a single-line post on Truth Social. -Francesca Chambers Iran is maintaining crude oil supply by loading tankers one at a time on the Persian Gulf and moving its seabound floating oil storage much closer to China, two vessel tracking firms told Reuters, as the country seeks to keep a key source of revenue while under attack from Israel. The conflict between Iran and Israel poses a fresh hurdle for Iran, which uses a shadow fleet of tankers to conceal their origin and skirt U.S. sanctions reinstated in 2018 over its nuclear program. Crude exports from Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer, mainly head to China. Iran has loaded 2.2 million barrels per day of crude oil so far this week, marking a five-week high, analytics firm Kpler said. Energy infrastructure in both countries has been targeted in missile exchanges, including the Haifa oil refinery in Israel and Iran's South Pars gas field, though Iran's major crude exporting facility at Kharg island has so far been spared. Iran has moved part of its 40 million barrel floating storage fleet, which sits on 36 different vessels, much closer to China to minimize the impact of any disrupions on buyers, ship tracking firm Vortexa told Reuters. -Reuters Separatist and jihadist militants on the Pakistan-Iran border could take advantage of any collapse of authority in Iran, fears that Pakistan's army chief pressed in a meeting this week with the President Donald Trump. Anti-Iranian and anti-Pakistan outfits operate on both sides of the 560-mile long border. As Israel bombs Iran's nuclear program, its officials have repeatedly indicated that they are seeking to destabilize the Iranian government or see it toppled. As well as worrying about chaos spilling over from Iran, Pakistan is concerned about the precedent set by Israel of attacking the nuclear installations of another country. Nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India fought a four-day conflict in May. Following a June 18 lunch at the White House with Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, Trump said: 'They're not happy about anything,' referring to Pakistan's views on the Israel-Iran conflict. -Reuters Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had been instructed to intensify strikes on strategic-related targets in Tehran to eliminate the threat to Israel and destabilise what he called the "Ayatollah regime." Who is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader? As President Donald Trump and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei trade threats, here's what to know about the Iranian official. He called Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "the modern Hitler" and said "this man should not continue to exist." Netanyahu has said Israel's military attacks could result in the toppling of Iran's leaders, and Israel would do whatever is necessary to remove the "existential threat" posed by Tehran. But Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said regime change was not an official goal, "for the time being." More: Who is Iran's Supreme Leader? Like Trump, he controls a real-estate empire "The matter of changing the regime or the fall of this regime is first and foremost a matter for the Iranian people," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told public broadcaster Kan late on June 19. "There is no substitute for this." President Trump has focused on ending Iran's nuclear program, but on June 17 he mused about the possiblity of killing Khamenei, calling him an "easy target." The Trump administration has at least 40,000 reasons to worry about the aftermath of a potential attack on Iran. Susan Page: The risks for Trump of 'regime change' in Iran: Just ask George W. Bush That's the rough number of U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East, in bases from Bahrain to Syria and points in between. Not to mention U.S. citizens who live and work in the region. They would be vulnerable to counterattacks that could involve Iranian ballistic missiles, drones or terrorism should the United States join Israel in its ongoing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Iran can strike 'all of them,' a U.S. Defense official said. -Tom Vanden Brook and Cybele Mayes-Osterman More: 40,000 reasons to worry: U.S. troops in Middle East could face Iran blowback Iran's foreign minister said that the Soroka hospital in Beersheba, Israel, was damaged in an attack on a nearby military command center, which Israel denied. "Earlier today, our powerful Armed Forces accurately eliminated an Israeli Military Command, Control & Intelligence HQ and another vital target," Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi said on X. "The blast wave caused superficial damage to a small section" of the Soroka hospital. Araqchi pointed out Israel's repeated attacks on hospital facilities in Gaza. 'The claim of an attack on an intelligence base or the presence of military equipment under the hospital is another lie. We are not so despicable as to endanger civilians,' the IDF said in a Persian-language statement, the Times of Israel reported. 'Attacking hospitals is a crime. Fabricating a reason does not justify it.' No deaths were reported in the attack. Six people were seriously injured, emergency workers said. Like thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza, Hind Al-Nawajha takes a dangerous, miles-long journey every day to try to get some food for her family, hoping she makes it back alive. The mother-of-four had to duck down and hide behind a pile of rubble on the side of the road as gunshots echoed nearby. "You either come back carrying (food) for your children and they will be happy, or you come back in a shroud, or you go back upset (without food) and your children will cry," said Nawajha, 38, a resident of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. "This is life, we are being slaughtered, we can't do it anymore." In the past two days, dozens of Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave by the United Nations and international relief agencies, Gaza medics said. More: Trump-backed Gaza aid sites temporarily close after dozens killed in shootings On June 19, medics said at least 40 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, the latest in near-daily reports of killings of people seeking food. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the incident. In recent days, the Israeli military said its forces had opened fire and fired warning shots to disperse people who approached areas where troops were operating, posing a threat. It said it was reviewing reports of casualties among civilians. -Reuters The 'vast majority' of President Donald Trump's MAGA movement 'will get on board' with strikes on Iran, if he goes ahead with military action, his former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon says. Should he decide there's no diplomatic solution to be had, Trump will need to walk the American people and MAGA through his thinking, Bannon told reporters at a June 18 breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. But Trump is also likely to win ove most of his naysaying supporters. 'There will be some, but the vast majority of the MAGA movement will go, 'look, we trust your judgement, you've walked us through this, we don't like it, in fact maybe we hate it, but we'll get on board,'' Bannon said. -Francesca Chambers Contributing: Reuters
39 minutes ago
Israel-Iran live updates: Trump's 2-week window is chance at diplomacy, official says
Aerial attacks between Israel and Iran continued overnight into Thursday, marking a seventh day of strikes following Israel's Friday attack. That surprise operation hit at the heart of Iran's nuclear program, striking key facilities and killing several nuclear scientists as well as high-ranking military leaders, according to Israeli officials. The U.S. did not provide any military assistance or have any involvement in Israel's Friday strike, a U.S. official told ABC News. President Donald Trump told ABC News on Sunday, "It's possible we could get involved."
New York Post
43 minutes ago
- New York Post
JD Vance is right — don't trust the left's 'experts'
The 'experts' holding sway over our public policy have failed America for what may be the last time — and they're not happy about it. Boundless trust has been placed in the hands of people who have leaned into their biases, ignored rigorous study and scientific inquiry and led trusting Americans straight off cliffs of financial, medical and social ruin. But in recent years, we've seen again and again that the 'experts' in everything from climate change to COVID are not as adept as they make themselves out to be — and on Wednesday, the Supreme Court expressly rejected expert claims in a landmark case. Advertisement In a 6-3 ruling, the court found that Tennessee has the right to ban the barbaric practice of child sex changes, as can 26 other states that have passed similarly sensible restrictions. Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurrence to Chief Justice John Roberts' majority opinion, called out the attorneys who wanted the court to 'defer to the so-called expert consensus' regarding these inhumane procedures. Advertisement 'There are particularly good reasons to question the expert class here,' Thomas wrote. 'Leading voices in this area have relied on questionable evidence, and have allowed ideology to influence their medical guidance.' Indeed, experts in mental health, medical science and LGBTQ advocacy, led by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, peddled non-science-backed lies that medical sex changes for children are both reversible and life-saving, neither of which has turned out to be true. 'This case,' Thomas noted, 'serves as useful reminder that the American people and their representatives are entitled to disagree with those who hold themselves out as experts.' Advertisement Yet the left is refusing to accept that their experts can be argued with. Vice President JD Vance proved that when he launched a Bluesky account to have a 'common sense' conversation on the high court's ruling — only to be first banned, then shouted at by leftists who couldn't deal with the notion of respectful dissent. 'Hello Bluesky,' the veep posted, 'I found Justice Thomas' concurrence on medical care for transgender youth quite illuminating.' 'He argues that many of our so-called 'experts' have used bad arguments and substandard science to push experimental therapies on our youth,' Vance continued. 'Many of those scientists are receiving substantial resources from big pharma to push these medicines on kids . . . What do you think?' Advertisement 'I think you're an a–hole, and I think you don't actually give a f–k what actual scientists say about actual research,' responded one unhinged pro-butchery Bluesky user. 'I think you're a disingenuous bigot and I think you lack basic human empathy and anything resembling a soul.' 'There's certainly more scientific evidence to support transgender care than supports your belief in sky fairies,' another responded. The 'experts' themselves, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, got their panties in a bunch over the court's ruling — which simply upheld the right of states to determine if sex-change drugs and surgeries should be legal for minors within their borders. 'The Supreme Court's decision today does not change the science,' the AAP railed. 'Gender-affirming care remains evidence-based, medically necessary care that improves the health and well-being of transgender youth.' The group refused to back down from its position that permanently preventing children from growing up healthy and whole is the right thing to do. And it didn't admit that these kids are doomed to become lifelong medical patients, or that boys given puberty blockers and hormones can never experience normal sexual function, or that the denial of sex-change procedures does not in fact lead to suicide. These are all facts that attorney Chase Strangio, who argued the case for the American Civil Liberties Union, was forced to admit before the court. Advertisement 'This is a heartbreaking ruling, making it more difficult for transgender youth to escape the danger and trauma of being denied their ability to live and thrive,' wept Lambda Legal. The ACLU, which brings endless cases to defend such offenses as men in women's prisons and males in women's sports, slammed the ruling for telling 'transgender youth and their families that they cannot access healthcare that is vitally important for a successful life.' Talk about cope. Advertisement Thomas and Vance are right: Too much power and trust has been given to people who claim to have expertise, but are really just making things up as they go along. The left refuses to realize its own folly, which has cost the health of thousands of American children in service to lies. With 'experts' like theirs, we're all better off relying on people who lean into common sense and decency. Libby Emmons is the editor-in-chief at the Post Millennial.
