After 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas, one American hostage is still alive, and his father said he is “hopeful” his release will come soon.
Israeli American and Tenafly native Edan Alexander was taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023, as a member of the Israeli military at just 19 years old. Now aged 21, the Tenafly High School graduate is at the center of negotiations between U.S. and Middle East officials over the next phase of the ceasefire deal, which remains in a fragile state.
“We have to remain hopeful, the hope is mandatory,” said Edan’s father, Adi Alexander, in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “It’s really up to our new negotiating team to reshuffle the cards and get negotiations for the second phase started.”
To help with negotiations, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5th) this weekend made an unannounced trip to Qatar, meeting with the prime minister along with other lead Qatari negotiators and officials and the American Embassy teams. Gottheimer told NJ Spotlight News that he had one primary goal in mind: securing the release of Edan and all remaining hostages being held by Hamas.
“The bottom line is we have to keep the process going,” Gottheimer said. “We will leave no American behind. Edan is the last American who’s there, and we have to bring him home. Frankly there should be nothing stopping us from working this every hour of every day until that happens.”
The Alexander family lives in Gottheimer’s district and has forged a close relationship with the lawmaker. Hamas on Saturday released six more living hostages. The last captives are expected to be freed under the first phase of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which is set to end later this week.
Hamas officials have said they won’t release the remaining 60 or so captives without a lasting ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel has also delayed the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, as both sides accuse the other of breaking the terms of the current deal.
“Let’s get everybody out in one shot, once and for all, and let’s end this war,” said Alexander. “I’m hopeful that we are not on the verge of sabotaging the deal and collapsing this deal again.”
