Father of American hostage in Gaza hopeful he is still alive

Adi Alexander, the father of Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli and Israel Defense Forces soldier taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, attends an interview with Reuters at their home in Tenafly, New Jersey, U.S., December 14, 2024. (REUTERS)
Adi Alexander, the father of Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli and Israel Defense Forces soldier taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, attends an interview with Reuters at their home in Tenafly, New Jersey, U.S., December 14, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 20 April 2025
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Father of American hostage in Gaza hopeful he is still alive

Father of American hostage in Gaza hopeful he is still alive
  • The armed wing of Hamas said on Saturday it did not know the fate of Alexander, after noting that the guard holding him was killed

WASHINGTON: The father of a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza said on Saturday he remains hopeful his 21-year-old son was still alive after Hamas said it could not account for his status.
Adi Alexander, whose son Edan was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured on October 7, 2023, called on the United States to engage in direct talks to free the remaining hostages – dead and alive – abducted during the deadly attack launched by Hamas two years ago in southern Israel. “I think we should engage back with them directly and see what can be done in regards to my son, four American dead hostages and everybody else,” the father said in an interview on Saturday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Father urges US to engage in direct talks for hostages

• Hamas claims uncertainty over Edan Alexander’s fate

• US State Department demands immediate release of hostages

“It seems like the negotiations are stalled, everything is stuck and we are kind of back to a year ago,” he added. “It’s really concerning.” Hamas had previously agreed to release Edan Alexander, believed to be the last surviving American hostage held by the militant Palestinian group, as well as the bodies of four other Americans it captured on October 7, 2023. The armed wing of Hamas said on Saturday it did not know the fate of Alexander, after noting that the guard holding him was killed. Reuters could not verify Hamas’ claim.
Hamas abducted Edan Alexander when he was 19 during its attack that killed nearly 1,200 people and triggered Israel’s ongoing incursion in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas.
Edan, who holds dual nationality, grew up in New Jersey. His father said his son was an “all-American kid, great athlete ..., such a loving, loving boy” who found himself in “the wrong place, wrong time.”
Hamas recently released an undated video, purportedly of Edan. His father Adi said, “He looked very scary to us — just a horrible, horrible video.”
A hostage video is, by definition, made under duress and the statements in it are usually coerced, according to international law groups and human rights experts.
He said if he could speak to his son now, he would tell him, “Just believe. You know, nobody forgot about you. Definitely not your parents, and everybody is fighting for your release on the highest level in the States and I believe also in Israel.”
Fifty-nine hostages remain in Gaza. Fewer than half of them are believed to be still alive.
A US State Department spokesperson had no comment on the status of Alexander but reiterated that Hamas must immediately release him and all remaining hostages, and that Hamas “bears sole responsibility for the war, and for the resumption of hostilities.”

 


Israeli authorities release 9 Gazan detainees 

Israeli authorities release 9 Gazan detainees 
Updated 7 sec ago
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Israeli authorities release 9 Gazan detainees 

Israeli authorities release 9 Gazan detainees 
  • Since October 2023, Israel has arrested more than 10,700 Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and inside Israel
  • The number of those arrested in the Gaza Strip is estimated to be in the thousands

LONDON: Israeli authorities released nine Palestinian detainees from Gaza among the thousands arrested during military actions in the enclave since late 2023.

Israel has arrested more than 10,700 Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and inside Israel since October 2023. The number of those arrested in the Gaza Strip is estimated to be in the thousands, according to the Wafa news agency. However, Israel’s prison authority acknowledged that until April, there were 1,747 prisoners from the Gaza Strip in its jails.

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, two organizations monitoring prisoners’ conditions, have consistently accused Israel of implementing torture practices against Palestinians in detention, including starvation, medical negligence, solitary confinement and abuse.

At least 66 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since the outbreak of the Gaza war in 2023. Among those who died, 40 were from the Gaza Strip.

Since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories in 1967, 303 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody, with 75 bodies still being held by Israel.


17 Palestinian children return to Gaza after medical treatment in Jordan

17 Palestinian children return to Gaza after medical treatment in Jordan
Updated 31 min 39 sec ago
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17 Palestinian children return to Gaza after medical treatment in Jordan

17 Palestinian children return to Gaza after medical treatment in Jordan
  • The nation’s ‘Medical Corridor’ initiative aims to alleviate humanitarian suffering of Palestinians amid war in Gaza
  • 12 other children from Gaza continue to receive medical treatment at Jordanian hospitals

LONDON: Seventeen Palestinian children and their families crossed the King Hussein Bridge on Tuesday on their way back to the Gaza Strip after receiving medical treatment at hospitals in Jordan.

Their care was provided as part of the country’s “Medical Corridor” initiative, which provides urgent medical aid for people from the coastal territory in coordination with the Jordanian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. The children were part of the first group of evacuees brought from Gaza on March 4.

All 17 fully recovered after receiving specialized medical care, the Jordan News Agency reported. Twelve others are still being treated in Jordanian hospitals.

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which began in October 2023. According to a UNICEF report, about 15,000 children have died during the conflict, more than 34,000 have been injured, and nearly 1 million displaced.

The Medical Corridor is one of several Jordanian initiatives that aim to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Others include the deployment of field hospitals, humanitarian convoys carrying medical and food aid, a mobile bakery, and the evacuations of children and the wounded.


Netanyahu says there is ‘no way’ Israel halts the war in Gaza until Hamas is defeated

Netanyahu says there is ‘no way’ Israel halts the war in Gaza until Hamas is defeated
Updated 44 min 9 sec ago
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Netanyahu says there is ‘no way’ Israel halts the war in Gaza until Hamas is defeated

Netanyahu says there is ‘no way’ Israel halts the war in Gaza until Hamas is defeated
  • Netanyahu said Israeli forces were just days away from a promised escalation of force
  • “There will be no way we will stop the war,” Netanyahu said

TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is “no way” Israel will halt its war in Gaza, even if a deal is reached to release more hostages.

His comments are likely to complicate talks on a new ceasefire that had seemed to gain momentum after Hamas released the last living American hostage on Monday in a gesture to US President Donald Trump, who is visiting the region but skipping Israel.

They pointed to a potentially widening rift between Netanyahu and Trump, who had expressed hope that Monday’s release of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander would be a step toward ending the 19-month war.

In comments released by his office Tuesday from a visit to wounded soldiers the previous day, Netanyahu said Israeli forces were just days away from a promised escalation of force and would enter Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission. ... It means destroying Hamas.”

Any ceasefire deal reached would be temporary, the prime minister said. If Hamas were to say they would release more hostages, “we’ll take them, and then we’ll go in. But there will be no way we will stop the war,” Netanyahu said. “We can make a ceasefire for a certain period of time, but we’re going to the end.”

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The dispute over whether to end the conflict has been the main obstacle in negotiations going back more than a year.

Israel says 58 hostages remain in captivity, with as many as 23 of them said to be alive, although authorities have expressed concern about the condition of three of them. Many of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that started the war were freed in ceasefire deals.


Trump to ease sanctions on Syria, restore relations with new leader after discussions with Saudi crown prince

Trump to ease sanctions on Syria, restore relations with new leader after discussions with Saudi crown prince
Updated 54 min 3 sec ago
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Trump to ease sanctions on Syria, restore relations with new leader after discussions with Saudi crown prince

Trump to ease sanctions on Syria, restore relations with new leader after discussions with Saudi crown prince
  • Decision to lift sanctions came following discussions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

RIYADH: President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will move to normalize relations and lift sanctions on Syria’s new government to give the country “a chance at peace.”

Trump was set to meet Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa.

“There is a new government that will hopefully succeed,” Trump said of Syria, adding, “I say good luck, Syria. Show us something special.”

Speaking at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, he said the effort toward rapprochement came following discussions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Trump received a standing ovation after his announcement, and added: “Oh, what I do for the crown prince.”

Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham or HTS that stormed Damascus ending the 54-year rule of the Assad family.

The US has been weighing how to handle Al-Sharaa since he took power in December. Gulf leaders, have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and will want Trump to follow.

Then-President Joe Biden left the decision to Trump, whose administration has yet to formally recognize the new Syrian government. Sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad also remain in place.

“The President agreed to say hello to the Syrian President while in Saudi Arabia tomorrow,” the White House said before Trump’s remarks.

* With AP


Hamas rejects Netanyahu’s claim military pressure helped secure hostage release

Hamas rejects Netanyahu’s claim military pressure helped secure hostage release
Updated 13 May 2025
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Hamas rejects Netanyahu’s claim military pressure helped secure hostage release

Hamas rejects Netanyahu’s claim military pressure helped secure hostage release
  • “The return of Edan Alexander is the result of serious communications with the US administration,” Hamas said
  • “Netanyahu is misleading his people and has failed to bring back his prisoners through aggression”

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas on Tuesday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that military pressure had helped secure the release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander from Gaza a day earlier.

“The return of Edan Alexander is the result of serious communications with the US administration and the efforts of mediators, not a consequence of Israeli aggression or the illusion of military pressure,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.

“Netanyahu is misleading his people and has failed to bring back his prisoners through aggression,” Hamas added.

The armed wing of Hamas on Monday released 21-year-old Alexander, who had been held in Gaza since the group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

Netanyahu had credited Alexander’s release to a combination of “our military pressure and the political pressure exerted by (US) President (Donald) Trump.”

The Israeli prime minister had thanked Trump “for his assistance in the release,” and also said he had instructed a negotiating team to head to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the release of the remaining captives.

Netanyahu on Tuesday spoke on the phone with Alexander and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who was meeting the former hostage in hospital during a visit to Israel.

“The entire nation of Israel is overjoyed,” Netanyahu said on the call, according to a video released by his office.

“We are grateful for American support and deeply appreciate the (Israeli) soldiers who are prepared to act by any means necessary if the remaining hostages are not released,” he added.

When asked by Netanyahu how he was feeling, Alexander replied: “It’s crazy, unbelievable. I’m okay. Weak, but slowly I’ll get back to how I was before. It’s just a matter of time.”

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog spoke with Alexander’s family, telling them “you are made of steel,” and assured the former captive that “the most important thing is that you are home.”

The release of Alexander — the last living hostage in Gaza with US citizenship — came a day after Hamas revealed it was engaged in direct talks with Washington toward a ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on the first leg of a Gulf tour that will also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“The return of Edan Alexander confirms that serious negotiations and a prisoner exchange deal are the way to bring back the prisoners and end the war,” the Hamas statement said on Tuesday.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 57 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18, ramping up its bombardment of the territory.