US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander freed from Hamas captivity

American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander reunited with his parents in Israel on Monday, after being released by Hamas in a gesture of goodwill to the United States, as President Donald Trump was set to embark on a visit to the Middle East. Alexander, the last living hostage with American citizenship, was freed following direct talks between the US and Hamas in Qatar that were aimed at securing his release. The negotiations sidelined Israeli officials, who were updated only after the deal was struck. After arriving in Israel, the 21-year-old lone soldier embraced his teary-eyed parents, Yael and Adi, and his siblings, at an army facility near the Gaza border community of Re’im, following 584 days in Hamas captivity.

We waited all day for this.

Edan Alexander hugs his parents for the first time pic.twitter.com/CQWL1rzT3b

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) May 12, 2025

Hamas handed Alexander over to Red Cross officials in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis at around 6 p.m., without staging a propaganda ceremony, as was typical of the terror group in past hostage releases. According to Channel 12 News, a Red Cross official said Alexander’s “physical condition was poor, but he is smiling,” and that he required assistance getting into the car. Alexander told soldiers who received him in the Strip that Hamas subjected him to harsh torture for weeks on end and kept him in a cage over a long period of time with his hands and feet bound, the Kan public broadcaster reported. He was apparently held in a Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, alongside other hostages.
Alexander, a dual citizen who grew up in New Jersey, was serving in the IDF’s Golani Brigade at the time of his abduction. Hamas kidnapped him from his base near the Gaza border community of Nirim, known as the White House post, during its October 7 onslaught.Hamas took 19 male soldiers hostage — not all of them on duty — and seven female surveillance soldiers, the latter of whom have all since been returned to Israel. Five were released in a deal with Hamas, one was rescued, and the body of one was recovered by troops.