Dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander, age 21, was freed by Hamas on Monday after being held for 584 days in captivity in Gaza, during which he suffered from torture and deliberate starvation. He was one of 251 civilians and soldiers who were taken captive by Hamas during its attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. He was also the first male Israeli soldier who had been kidnapped that day to be released by Hamas.
Edan is also the only American-Israeli hostage to have survived for more than a year and a half in Hamas captivity. The dead bodies of four other dual American-Israeli citizens who were also kidnapped on October 7 are still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Israel believes that up to 23 of the October 7 hostages are still alive, but there is also considerable doubt about the fate of three of them, including one Israeli and two foreign workers who were taken captive on October 7, but for whom there has been no sign of life since then.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu had previously acknowledged that even though Israel had not agreed to “any ceasefire [with Hamas] or the release of terrorists, it did arrange for a safe corridor [where Israeli forces would hold their fire] that would allow for Edan’s release.”
A BITTERSWEET MOMENT FOR HOSTAGE FAMILY MEMBERS
Alexander’s return was a bittersweet moment for the family members of the other 58 Israeli hostages, both living and dead, still in Hamas custody, because he represented the strongest motive for Donald Trump and his negotiating team, led by Steve Witkoff, to continue their efforts to bring them all home.
While all Israelis and Jews around the world were happy to see any of the October 7 hostages go free, many were disappointed that the release of an American hostage had been given priority over the freeing of the rest of the Hamas captives.
Former Hamas hostages and the families of hostages remaining in Gaza have become increasingly critical of the previous deals with Hamas that have brought only a few of the captives home at one time, in exchange for temporary ceasefires. The hostage community is now vocally advocating for a much more comprehensive deal that would free all the remaining hostages and release the bodies of all the dead hostages still being held by Hamas in exchange for a declaration by the Israeli government of an end to the war in Gaza, with Hamas still in effective control. That is something that Netanyahu has refused to do, insisting on a decisive defeat of Hamas.
LOSING PATIENCE WITH NETANYAHU
The members of the hostage community fear that Trump, like them, is losing his patience with Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu, who has failed to bring the war in Gaza to a quick and decisive end. They also suspect that Netanyahu’s commitment to the release of the hostages is not as earnest as he claims it to be. Many accuse him of deliberately avoiding an agreement to a hostage deal that would end the war in Gaza because he knows that it would also likely mean the end of his extended tenure as prime minister.
Netanyahu’s critics also say that he is still following the pattern he set many years ago of choosing to delay difficult political decisions for as long as possible. That pattern began during Netanyahu’s first term as Israel’s prime minister, more than 30 years ago, when he seized upon every opportunity to delay the turnover of West Bank territory to the Palestinian Authority, then led by PLO terrorist chief Yasser Arafat, under the terms of the original U.S.-sponsored Oslo Peace Accords.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which advocates for the release of all of the remaining hostages in Gaza, said that Alexander’s release was “a ray of light and hope, but also a stark reminder that 58 men and women remain captive in Gaza. We must not leave a single hostage behind!
“Without bringing everyone home, there can be no true victory, no healing, and no rebuilding as a nation. The return of all hostages is our generation’s most urgent and critical mission. We will bring them back. We will rise again!”
The forum also said that the success of Trump in winning the unconditional release of Edan Alexander “shows that a determined leader is committed to his citizens.” The group then asked Netanyahu, “Prime Minister, what about your commitment to the remaining 58 hostages?”
Recent Israeli public opinion polls indicate that Netanyahu is also losing the support of many Israelis for continuing the war in Gaza until achieving Hamas’ total defeat. Instead, a majority of Israelis now seem to support a permanent end to the war in Gaza in exchange for the release of all of the remaining hostages while leaving Hamas still in place, and undefeated.
Alexander is also the only hostage to have been released from Gaza so far without Hamas demanding that Israel, in turn, release some of the Palestinian security prisoners from its jails, and without at least a temporary ceasefire in Gaza to allow for further negotiations.
HAMAS BYPASSED ISRAEL TO NEGOTIATE DIRECTLY WITH TRUMP
Instead, by negotiating directly with Trump and Witkoff over Alexander’s release, Hamas bypassed the Israeli government completely. It was an apparent effort by the remaining Hamas leadership to improve its standing in Trump’s eyes, and its chances of emerging from the war with at least some of its military organization and its governing authority over Gaza still intact.
Hamas was also careful to avoid the kind of staged display it put on with prior releases of Israeli hostages, to avoid offending Trump.
The release of Alexander was the second deal that Trump has closed with one of Israel’s mortal enemies in recent weeks without Israel’s direct involvement in the negotiations. The first was the ceasefire deal that Trump announced on May 6 with the Houthis in Yemen that only protects American shipping interests and other targets in the region, and did not include any promise by the Houthis to stop their ongoing drone and ballistic missile bombardment of Israel.
Following Alexander’s release, the White House issued a statement declaring that it is still actively seeking the release of the bodies of the four dual-citizenship hostages in Hamas custody. They are IDF Captain Omer Neutra, IDF Staff Sergeant Itay Chen, and a married civilian couple, Gaddi Haggai and Judi Weinstein-Haggai, Hy”d.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, May 4, a Houthi ballistic missile supplied by Iran succeeded in penetrating Israel’s missile defenses. The missile’s warhead exploded along the approach road to the main passenger terminal of Ben Gurion airport, shutting down airport operations briefly and lightly wounding half a dozen Israeli civilians. The missile strike prompted many major international airlines to suspend their scheduled flights to Israel. They stranded thousands of Israelis who were traveling abroad and further damaged the important tourist sector of the Israeli economy that was just starting a recover from the October 7 Hamas attack.
TRUMP IS BYPASSING ISRAEL DURING HIS CURRENT MIDDLE EAST VISIT
Furthermore, Alexander’s release came on the same day that Trump flew to the Middle East, where he was scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But he will not be stopping in Israel at a time when the country badly needs fresh reassurance of Trump’s support, and when it appears that Trump’s once-close relationship with Netanyahu may now have, once again, come under strain.
Meanwhile, Reuters has reported that Trump is now prepared to approve a civilian nuclear reactor deal with Saudi Arabia, while no longer requiring as a pre-requisite that Saudi Arabia agree to establish official diplomatic relations with Israel.
However, Trump appears to be standing by the American commitment, dating back to the Biden administration, to continue supplying Israel with the weapons it needs to continue its war of extermination against Hamas in Gaza, and to continue participating in Israel’s defense against another mass missile attack from Iran, as well as the occasional long-range missiles and drones that the Houthis in Yemen continue to launch against Israel 1,200 miles away.
AMBASSADOR HUCKABEE INSISTS U.S.-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP IS STILL STRONG
Meanwhile, America’s ambassador to Israel, former Arkansas Republican governor Mike Huckabee, has strenuously denied that any problem has developed in the special relationship between Israel and the United States. Huckabee told Israel’s Channel 12 that there was no need for any concern because “The United States isn’t required to get permission from Israel to make some type of arrangement that would [prevent] the Houthis from firing on our ships.”
Furthermore, Huckabee insisted in a post on X [Twitter], “It’s reckless and irresponsible for the press to allege that [Trump] and [Netanyahu] are not getting along [because] Bibi has spent more time with Donald Trump than I have in [the] past 3 months and I’m his ambassador! The relationship between the U.S. and Israel remains strong!”
Similarly, James Hewitt, a spokesman for Trump’s White House National Security Council, insisted that, “Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump. We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to ensure remaining hostages in Gaza are freed, Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, and to strengthen regional security in the Middle East.”
ISRAEL CONCERNED OVER CURRENT U.S.-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS
Nevertheless, there is concern in Israel about exactly where the new series of talks between the U.S. and Iranian officials about Iran’s nuclear program might be headed. This is despite the most recent statements by Trump’s chief mediator, Steve Witkoff, which do conform to the Israeli view that Iran must not be permitted to continue in possession of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium nor the advanced infrastructure that it has developed in recent years, in violation of the terms of the JCPOA 2015 nuclear deal, to enrich even more uranium on their own.
While Edan Alexander was born in Israel, he grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, and, after completing high school there, voluntarily returned to Israel to serve in the IDF’s Golani Brigade.
The release of Edan Alexander had always been the highest priority of the American diplomats who had been participating in the ceasefire/Palestinian prisoner release negotiations between Israel and Hamas since the Gaza war started. Obtaining Alexander’s release was also one of the priorities in the negotiations during the Gaza ceasefire that began in January of this year, but which had broken down in March, after the Israeli army resumed its full-scale ground operations in Gaza.
TRUMP TOOK A PERSONAL INTEREST IN ALEXANDER’S RELEASE
Meanwhile, President Trump took a personal interest in obtaining Edan Alexander’s release from Hamas after having met with his American family members. The latest negotiations, which led to his release, had been conducted between the U.S. and Hamas, with no Israeli participation, even though Israel was notified that such talks were taking place.
After his transfer from Hamas custody was confirmed on Monday afternoon, President Trump celebrated by writing on his Truth Social platform: “Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage, is being released. Congratulations to his wonderful parents, family, and friends!”
Earlier Monday, Trump said that he was “very happy to announce that Edan Alexander, an American citizen who, until recently, most thought was no longer living, thought [he] was dead, [but instead he] is going to be released.”
Since the start of Trump’s second presidency, he has emphasized U.S. efforts to release American captives from hostile countries around the world, such as Russia and Afghanistan, so the extra measures that Trump took to arrange for the release of Alexander are not unusual when viewed within that context.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also stated: “I am relieved that American Edan Alexander finally gets to come home.” Huckabee added, “We hope that this long-overdue release marks the beginning of the end to this terrible war. Hamas alone is responsible for the continued death and suffering. We demand the immediate release of all remaining hostages.”
Hamas’ announcement the previous night that it would free Alexander was the result of talks led by Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Hamas said that his release was “part of the steps being taken to achieve a truce, open the [Gaza border] crossings, and allow aid and relief to reach our people in Gaza.”
THE TASK OF BRINGING HOME LOST ISRAELIS, DEAD OR ALIVE
Earlier that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that non-Israeli agents of the Mossad security services had succeeded in locating the remains of IDF soldier Zvi Feldman. They were found in the middle of Syria and returned to Israel. He had been listed as missing in action in a battle with the Syrian army in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley at Sultan Yacoub during the First Lebanon War in 1982.
Netanyahu then promised to return the more recent Israeli hostages and missing soldiers, including all those, alive and dead, who were seized during Hamas’ October 7 attack.
“It isn’t just lip service,” the prime minister insisted in the face of his many critics among the family members of the remaining October 7 hostages. “It’s a massive effort by all Israeli security and intelligence agencies” to free them from Hamas custody and return them to their families and loved ones.
U.S. AND ISRAEL MAKING ONE MORE EFFORT TO MAKE PEACE IN GAZA
Just ahead of Alexander’s release Monday night, Netanyahu met with Witkoff and Huckabee. They discussed making one last-ditch effort to implement an agreement to secure the release of the remaining hostages before the IDF steps up its current offensive to reoccupy the Gaza Strip. As a result, Netanyahu instructed that a new delegation of Israeli negotiators be sent to Doha, Qatar, this week to resume indirect talks with Hamas, but stressed that the Israeli offensive in Gaza would continue while those talks take place.
Then the Israeli prime minister spoke by phone with President Trump, whom he thanked for securing Edan’s return.
Netanyahu said that Trump responded by saying, “I am committed to Israel. I am committed to continuing to work in close cooperation with you to achieve all of our war goals in Gaza, including the freeing of all the remaining hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”
Meanwhile, at the handover, Alexander was strong enough to walk with some help from a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Upon his initial Israeli evaluation, Alexander’s physical condition was described as “poor.”
“After being turned over to a representative of the Red Cross near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, Alexander was escorted by IDF special forces during his return to Israeli territory,” the IDF said in a statement. “The commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces salute and embrace the returning hostage as he makes his way home to Israel,” and urged the general public to respect the privacy of Alexander and his family.
A JOYOUS FAMILY REUNION
He was first transferred to the Israeli army base near Re’im, which is the headquarters of the IDF’s Gaza Division. That was where, after receiving an initial physical and mental exam, Alexander was joyfully reunited with his parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, and his siblings, Mika and Roy, who also brought him a special gift, homemade pastries baked by his grandmother. His family members had just arrived in Israel from their home in New Jersey, accompanied by American government officials. They had just learned the day before that Edan’s long-anticipated release by Hamas would finally be taking place. He was then airlifted by helicopter to the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv (also known as Ichilov Hospital).
A video of Alexander’s release was watched by a crowd of well-wishers who had gathered at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, and by another crowd gathered in his hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, who waved Israeli and American flags as they celebrated his freedom.
From his hospital bed, the morning after his release, Alexander, accompanied by negotiator Witkoff, spoke over the phone with President Trump, who said that the U.S. remains “committed to bringing every last hostage home.” Witkoff declared, “I was honored to meet Edan Alexander today and welcome him home. After months in captivity, the world is inspired by his courage and resilience. His return gives hope to so many.”
ALEXANDER’S ORDEAL AS HAMAS’ HOSTAGE IN GAZA
According to a report by Israel’s Kan public radio station, Alexander has revealed since his release that while in captivity, he underwent severe torture during lengthy interrogations by his Hamas captors, who referred to him as “the American,” and was confined to tunnels with no access to daylight. He was also locked in a cage while being shackled hand and foot, and deprived of adequate food, which is why he was extremely weak and struggled to walk on his own since his release.
Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s office also issued a welcome home statement saying the government “embraces IDF Staff-Sgt. Edan Alexander, who has been returned from being held hostage by Hamas. Together with all elements of the security establishment, the Israeli government will assist in his readjustment.”
The statement from Netanyahu’s office then declared that “the Israeli government is committed to the return of all of the hostages and missing, living and deceased. We will continue to act relentlessly until all of them have returned home,” and then cited the relevant posuk from Tehillim (31:16): “Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and pursuers.”
NETANYAHU TRIES TO CLAIM CREDIT FOR ALEXANDER’S RELEASE
“This is a very emotional moment,” the prime minister’s statement then added. “We embrace him [Edan] and we embrace his family.” But the statement then tried to credit the release to the recent increase in IDF military pressure in Gaza while also acknowledging the key factor in Alexander’s release, which was “the diplomatic pressure exerted by President Trump,” in which the Israeli government did not play any role.
The circumstances surrounding Alexander’s release seem to indicate that the Israeli government and Prime Minister Netanyahu may have missed a golden opportunity to solidify Israel’s unique relationship with President Donald Trump by failing to promptly finish off the war against Hamas in Gaza after Trump gave him the green light, the U.S. armaments, and every opportunity to do so.
