After 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas, five Americans are still being held hostage in Gaza, but only one of them is alive. Israeli American Edan Alexander, who hails from Tenafly, New Jersey, is the last living American hostage in Gaza.
Though he spent most of his life in New Jersey, Alexander was born in Israel a few months before his parents moved to the U.S., according to the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
In many ways, Alexander grew up like many American kids. He went to Tenafly High School, was a swimmer and loved the New York Knicks. All that separated him from most American teenagers was his frequent trips to Israel to visit family and the fact that he spoke Hebrew at home.
After graduating from high school, Alexander decided he would enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) rather than enroll in college.
On Oct. 7, Alexander, who was serving in the IDF’s Golani Brigade, an infantry unit, was patrolling near Gaza when Hamas’ attacks on Israel began. The attacks ended with 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 hostages taken, including Alexander.
Yael Alexander, Edan’s mother, recounted the day he was taken hostage in a recent interview with AJC’s ‘People of the Pod.’ Yael was in Israel in early October 2023, visiting her family and hoping to see Edan. On the morning of Oct. 7, she spoke with Edan, who said that he was seeing ‘terrible stuff,’ but he assured her that he was safe. Then he was taken hostage.
Yael says she spent days on the phone and visiting hospitals, trying to figure out what happened to her son after their brief Oct. 7 phone call. Then the IDF informed her her son had been taken hostage.
On Nov. 30, 2024, more than a year after Alexander was captured, Hamas released a video of him speaking in Hebrew and Arabic. Alexander, like other hostages forced to make propaganda videos, delivered messages about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President-elect Donald Trump.
A few days after the video’s release, Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, spoke with ‘Fox & Friends First,’ calling the film ‘very emotional’ and ‘disturbing.’ He said it was the first time they had seen a sign of life from their son since he was taken hostage.
Lawmakers in Israel and the United States have been fighting for his release over the last 16 months, but Alexander was not included in the list of people to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., met with Alexander’s parents, who are his constituents, just a few weeks after the Tenafly High School graduate was taken hostage.
‘No family should ever have to experience this unfathomable pain, and I will do everything I can to reunite Edan with his family safely,’ Gottheimer said in a statement about the meeting.
On Alexander’s 300th day in captivity, Gov. Phil Murphy, D-N.J., said, ‘We must see Edan reunited with his family and community as soon as possible.’
In addition to Alexander, Hamas is holding the bodies of four dead American hostages. Hamas released six more hostages Saturday in exchange for more than 600 Palestinian prisoners as part of its ongoing ceasefire deal with Israel. This is still the first phase of the ceasefire, and the second phase is expected to be negotiated soon.