Hostage Edan Alexander's parents share the joy of a long-awaited reunion
Tel Aviv — American-Israeli Edan Alexander was among the first Israeli captives taken into Gaza during the Hamas-orchestrated Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. One week ago, he was reunited with his family in a deal brokered by the Trump administration and led by the White House's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Alexander and his family have credited the Trump team with saving his life, and in a sit-down interview with CBS News, the young soldier's parents told senior foreign correspondent Debora Patta about the remarkable moment they learned Edan would be released, and the moments they've cherished since.
Edan Alexander spent 584 days in Hamas captivity. After a number of false starts and false hope for his release, when the call finally did come from the highest levels of the U.S. government, his father missed it — eight times.
"So, we were all at home in Jersey after the Mother's Day brunch that we had," recalled his mother, Yael.
"I was blowing out some leaves," said his father, Adi. When he put down the leaf blower, he realized he had "missed eight phone calls from Steve Witkoff."
When Adi finally got in touch with the senior White House envoy, "he told us in 10 minutes from now, Hamas will be announcing about your son's release tomorrow."
"I thanked him. Non-stop; 'Thank you, Steve! Thank you so much,'" Yael recalled saying down the phone line. "It's the happiest Mother's Day ever!"
"We were like, yelling, like crazy with the kids," she said. As Yael, Adi and their two other children watched the television, the announcement came that Edan would be released the following day, just as Witkoff had promised. "And we were like, okay, we need to pack! We need to... Get to Israel!"
Finally, the reunion they'd dreamt of for more than a year and a half was taking shape.
Adi booked a flight immediately. Yael had already booked one for later that same day, in a sheer stroke of luck, planning to go and be with family in Israel right after marking Mother's Day.
Neither of the parents got much rest on their flights to Israel.
"I couldn't sleep the whole flight," Yael told CBS News. "Like, you're alert ... I couldn't sit even, you know? I was like in full adrenaline, like, ready, to be there and to get Edan back, you know?"
As soon as they touched down, they were whisked away to an Israeli military base, where Edan soon arrived after being handed over by Hamas.
"Definitely I gave him like, the biggest hug ever," said his mother. "When I came to him, I came in full power! We almost fell, because he was weak, and he was very excited, like he was standing, like shivering, you know, because, wow, it's unbelievable — and I'm screaming, and I am like, you know, holding him. It was — wow."
The parents said Edan remains weak, but doctors cleared him for release from the hospital where he's been treated. He's still getting medical attention for some minor injuries sustained during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, which his mom and dad said, "nobody took care of in those tunnels."
Even getting his freedom back was a harrowing ordeal.
"The day of release was a very busy day for him," father Adi told CBS News. "It took forever. They moved around and crawled under, and it was a very tough day on him. He didn't sleep the whole night before that, because he was excited, he didn't sleep. He was like, super, super tired, so it took like, almost two days after for him to decompress from the day of the release."
Since then, Edan has given them some details about his captivity, but they aren't pushing him.
"He talks a lot about it, but no rush. We're not asking. If you want to say something, you say, and we're not pushing," said his father. "He went through a lot of stuff."
"He's just happy to be home, you know, just to sit with Mika and Roy [his siblings] and just to hang out and just be with us and watch TV yesterday," his parents said.
During his long captivity, Edan saw his parents on the news, pleading for his release.
"I think the fact that he saw us, saw us running and fighting and knocking on every door, kept him hopeful," said his father, along with "the fact that he was held with other hostages all together, and not by himself, kept him hopeful. And he's just a strong kid, you know, strong mentally and physically."
Hamas has held many of its hostages in tunnels under the Gaza Strip, with many, including Alexander, saying they never saw daylight at all.
"I'm so pale," his mother recalled him saying. "I look like a vampire!"
Israel has stepped up its war in Gaza, where the Hamas-run Ministry of Health says more than 53,000 people have now been killed since the fighting began, including more than 500 in the last week alone.
Families of the hostages — 58 of whom are still believed to be held in Gaza, including about 20 thought by Israeli officials to be alive — have taken to the streets regularly, decrying the renewed offensive as putting their loved ones at even greater risk.
"Edan told us, so when they heard the bombing, it was very, very concerning, scary," said Adi. "And at some point, one of the tunnels collapsed."
"He told us sometimes he was afraid to go to sleep. Because maybe they are going to bomb this place that he is specifically inside," added the father. "It was very scary."
Now back together as a family, their thoughts are still very much with the other hostages.
"We are still continuing to speak for all the 58 hostages that are still there," Yael told CBS News. "Whatever Edan told me about hostages [who were] with him, you know, during any time of the captivity, I'm calling their moms and dads, and I'm telling them from the hospital — I've done it already — and I am telling them whatever Edan told me. You know, to give them a little bit hope that their story could end also soon, and with a good ending."
She knows better than most how much power that hope can provide.
"It's very important, you know. For me, every hostage that got released, it was like, 'Oh my God, maybe he saw Edan. Maybe he can tell me something, and I don't care if it's not from two days, you know. Maybe a year ago he was with Edan, but still, to hear something about my boy, you know, it was very crucial to us."
At least one of those previously released hostages came to visit Edan in the hospital last week. Fellow U.S.-Israeli dual national Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was released after 498 days in captivity, said in a statement released Monday by the Hostage Families Forum that he and Edan were together for a while in captivity.
"Our fates became intertwined in the most complex situation one could imagine," Dekel-Chen said in the statement. "It was important for me to come and welcome Edan upon his return. I know what he went through and what he still has ahead of him. I am very happy for him and his family. I hope that soon I will be able to embrace all the other hostages who remain behind as well."
Yael Alexander said "it was unbelievable to see" the two men reunited in freedom. "It was a miracle. This is the victory — to see the hostages together."
Asked what their family wanted the world to know now, as rumors swirl once again of potential progress in ceasefire talks despite the ramped-up Israeli military operations, Adi said the message was simple: Act now.
"The urgency," he told CBS News. "Just the urgency. Our son, he was lucky to get out … Listen, you can't treat agony with more agony. This war needs to end."
For the time being, however, there is no end in sight. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Monday that Israel intends to keep pushing its offensive in Gaza, to seize complete control of the Palestinian territory.
"We're grateful for Steve [Witkoff], for President Trump, and for Adam Boehler," said the relieved father. "Great job. But the job is not done. We still have more to do."
"It's time for them to come home. All of them," said Yael. "Not in small pieces, just, to bring everyone back home."
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