After 16 months of conflict between Israel and Hamas, 5 Individuals are nonetheless being held hostage in Gaza, however solely one in all them is alive. Israeli American Edan Alexander, who hails from Tenafly, New Jersey, is the final residing American hostage in Gaza.
Although he spent most of his life in New Jersey, Alexander was born in Israel a number of months earlier than his dad and mom moved to the U.S., in keeping with the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
In some ways, Alexander grew up like many American youngsters. He went to Tenafly Excessive Faculty, was a swimmer and cherished the New York Knicks. All that separated him from most American youngsters was his frequent journeys to Israel to go to household and the truth that he spoke Hebrew at residence.
After graduating from highschool, Alexander determined he would enlist within the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) moderately than enroll in faculty.
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Edan Alexander, born in Tel Aviv and raised in New Jersey, is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. (Hostage Household Discussion board)
On Oct. 7, Alexander, who was serving within the IDF’s Golani Brigade, an infantry unit, was patrolling close to Gaza when Hamas’ assaults on Israel started. The assaults ended with 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 hostages taken, together with Alexander.
Yael Alexander, Edan’s mom, recounted the day he was taken hostage in a current interview with AJC’s “Folks of the Pod.” Yael was in Israel in early October 2023, visiting her household and hoping to see Edan. On the morning of Oct. 7, she spoke with Edan, who mentioned that he was seeing “horrible stuff,” however he assured her that he was protected. Then he was taken hostage.
Yael says she spent days on the telephone and visiting hospitals, making an attempt to determine what occurred to her son after their temporary Oct. 7 telephone name. Then the IDF knowledgeable her her son had been taken hostage.
On Nov. 30, 2024, greater than a 12 months after Alexander was captured, Hamas launched a video of him talking in Hebrew and Arabic. Alexander, like different hostages pressured to make propaganda movies, delivered messages about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President-elect Donald Trump.
A couple of days after the video’s launch, Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, spoke with “Fox & Associates First,” calling the movie “very emotional” and “disturbing.” He mentioned it was the primary time that they had seen an indication of life from their son since he was taken hostage.
Yael, Adi and Mika Alexander, the household of Edan Alexander, the American Israeli and Israel Protection Forces soldier taken hostage throughout the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel by Hamas, pose for {a photograph} throughout an interview with Reuters on the Alexanders’ residence in Tenafly, N.J., Dec. 14, 2024. (Reuters/Stephani Spindel)
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Lawmakers in Israel and the USA have been combating for his launch during the last 16 months, however Alexander was not included within the checklist of individuals to be freed within the first section of the ceasefire deal.
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., met with Alexander’s dad and mom, who’re his constituents, only a few weeks after the Tenafly Excessive Faculty graduate was taken hostage.
“No household ought to ever need to expertise this unfathomable ache, and I’ll do every part I can to reunite Edan along with his household safely,” Gottheimer mentioned in a statement about the meeting.
A girl holds a picture of hostage Edan Alexander throughout the International Day of Unity and Prayer with Israel’s Hostages and Lacking Households Discussion board, which represents the relations of these taken captive by Palestinian Hamas militants throughout the Oct. 7 assault. (Yuri Cortez/AFP through Getty Photographs)
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On Alexander’s three hundredth day in captivity, Gov. Phil Murphy, D-N.J., mentioned, “We should see Edan reunited along with his household and neighborhood as quickly as attainable.”
Along with Alexander, Hamas is holding the our bodies of 4 useless American hostages. Hamas launched six extra hostages Saturday in trade for greater than 600 Palestinian prisoners as a part of its ongoing ceasefire cope with Israel. That is nonetheless the primary section of the ceasefire, and the second section is predicted to be negotiated quickly.
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