Edan Alexander spent 584 days in Gaza. He celebrated two birthdays under Hamas captivity. And today, the Israeli-American lone soldier is finally back in the country he loved so much he left his parents and two young siblings behind to immigrate there.
Alexander, part of the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade, came to Israel as part of Garin Tzabar. He spent his time between his adoptive kibbutz, Kibbutz Hatzor, and his grandparents’ home in Tel Aviv. But for almost 600 days, he didn’t get to lay down that head of dark curls in the cozy room his grandparents always had made up for him. Instead, a Torah scroll rested by the plush bed, where his tallis also lay in its case on the covers, his grandmother Varda’s prayer filling the room. Now, Varda will finally be able to cook him the Bukharian dishes he loves: oshi pyozi (stuffed onions, his favorite), bichak (meat filled baked dumplings), and other savory treats, and he will finally get to spend a Shabbat meal with his loving family.
Alexander came home on Monday, May 12, thanks to direct negotiations between the United States and Hamas — negotiations that, for the first time, excluded Israel. Alexander is also the first male soldier to be released from Hamas captivity. Kan reports that he was repeatedly tortured by Hamas and dubbed by his captors “The American.”
“I’m very happy to announce that Edan Alexander, an American citizen who until recently most thought was no longer living, thought was dead, is going to be released in about two hours,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a press conference Monday morning. “He’s coming home to his parents, which is great news.”
Alexander wasn’t supposed to be at his base by the Gaza border on October 7. His mother was there, on a visit from the States and as a lone soldier, he would’ve been excused to spend time with her. But he didn’t want to burden his fellow soldiers so he decided to stay at the base, FaceTiming his family instead in their sukkah. In the early morning hours he went up on guard duty. As sirens went off all over the country, he and his family, at first, stayed in touch.
“Mommy, don’t ask what’s going on here. I’m seeing terrible things, like World War II. I got a bullet fragment in my helmet, but I’m OK,” he told his mother Yael in their final call that day. And then, silence. The now 21-year-old, who looks oh-so-young in pictures, was captured. His family took on a painful, tireless effort to get him back. His grandmother and his parents, along with other loved ones, all went everywhere, wherever they could, talked to whoever they could. There was a time when they felt hope, when they got promises from former U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but Alexander still didn’t come home. His father Adi, tired of the negotiations with Israel, also pushed Trump to deal directly with Hamas. He hoped that this tactic would get his son Edan, the last living American hostage, back home — and hoped it would also lead to the return of the other hostages, both dead and alive, who remain.
In speeches from hostage square, Yael talked about her regret in letting her son join the army. “I would tell you go, to college, don’t join the army,” she said, “because everything we believed in this country belongs in the past.”
On the evening of Monday, May 12 in Israel, Yael finally got another phone call from her son. This time, finally, safe. She called him “neshama sheli,” the Hebrew endearment which means “my soul,” over and over, her voice filled with joy. “You’re out, you’re strong, we’re meeting soon,” she said in Hebrew and then in English: “They just released a photo of you and you look unbelievable.”
His father too, admired how handsome his son looked in a first photo of Alexander with the Red Cross, finally, finally free. His grandmother and other loved ones watched the release together, all wearing shirts with his name on them along with the yellow ribbon for the hostages. He’s “beseder” they noted with relief, the Hebrew word for “OK.” Edan apparently often told people “yihiye beseder,” it will be OK — and now it finally is for his family.
At that first checkpoint, Edan Alexander finally got to see his mother. She screams with joy. “How strong you are, we were so worried,” she tells him in Hebrew. Edan smiles, as everyone starts weeping. When he sees his brother, Roy, he yells and jokes with him: “How huge is this boy? What is this? Who is this?”
עידן אלכסנדר עם משפחתו במתחם הקליטה ברעים אחרי 584 ימים בשבי חמאס בעזה.
צילום: דובר צה"ל pic.twitter.com/EZpBtBWZ17
— Heedo Abu Laban • חידו אבו לבן (@HeedoAbuLaban) May 12, 2025
He kisses his head then beckons his sister, “Mika come here,” and loudly kisses her head. Mika wrote an op-ed calling for her brother’s return back in Febuary of 2024.
Edan and his mother immediately flew together on the chopper to Ichilov hospital, where he will spend his first days in Israel recovering. He held up a sign thanking President Trump, and sending love to his Golani Battalion. “Am Israel Chai!!” it also read.
עידן אלכסנדר מודה לנשיא ארה"ב טראמפ על שחרורו. אני לא רואה קרדיט לממשלת ישראל שאמורה להיות האחראית הראשית על ביטחונו של עידן pic.twitter.com/Ssu3BlqOXC
— Heedo Abu Laban • חידו אבו לבן (@HeedoAbuLaban) May 12, 2025
In a first picture from the hospital, Alexander, pale but smiling, wraps his arms around his mother and father, his younger sister and brother with him along with other family members. Yael’s smile is infectious. And in Edan’s hand in that first released pictures, discerning eyes will notice, is a box filled with incredibly appetizing pastries — made by Varda, of course.
הלב מתפוצץ מאושר: רגע המפגש של הלוחם עידן אלכסנדר עם משפחתו אחרי 584 יום בשבי חמאס ועם המאפים של סבתו!!
המבזק החברתי: https://t.co/3ChEFVCyJl pic.twitter.com/Fk4yQw6JQ8
— המבזק החברתי (@MivzakHervrati) May 12, 2025
Across the ocean in Tenafly, the New Jersey town full of Israeli expats where the Alexander family settled after Adi moved to the U.S. for his job when Edan, his oldest, was just a toddler, dozens gathered to celebrate the event. Crowds with Israeli flags and music were there with the break of dawn, at 5 a.m., to watch his journey across the border.
“We almost, like, created a Hostages Square here in Tenafly,” Orly Chen, a local community member, told JTA. “And when, God willing, he’s going to come back to Tenafly, there’ll be a really nice and warm welcome here.”
For the parents of the remaining hostages, the situation remains dire. They are worried as Netanyahu announces extended fighting, fighting that we know could put hostages in danger, as hostages like the late Hersh Goldberg-Polin have been killed due to approaching forces. Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, who was captured from his home in Nir Oz on October 7, shared her anguish about her son — who was reportedly being held in captivity with Alexander — remaining behind, alone. A former Netanyahu supporter who is now one of his fiercest critic, she called the Israeli prime minister her personal angel of death, and promised to haunt him for the rest of her life. She begged her son, who turned 25 in captivity, to hold on. Other parents shared their mixed joy and grief, at seeing the return of Alexander while their loved ones stay behind. 58 hostages remain in Gaza; over 20 are believed to still be alive.
The community of Nir Oz shared their joy at Alexander’s release, calling his release a “great light.” In an official statement, the kibbutz said: “On the other hand, it’s hard to ignore the difficult message that Israeli citizen are getting today, and that the whole world sees too: our lives are worth less. An American hostage gets precedence, while the 58 others are left behind — 14 of which are from the Nir Oz Community, and the anxiety over their fate grows larger than ever.”
Alexander’s family, too, stressed that their fight isn’t over, not until every last hostage makes it back home.
