Edan Alexander, the last living U.S. citizen kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and held hostage for more than 19 months, will be released from captivity, Hamas said in a statement Sunday.
“As part of the ongoing efforts by the brotherly mediators to reach a ceasefire, the Hamas Movement has held contacts with the U.S. administration over the past few days,” the statement said. “The movement has demonstrated a high level of positivity, and the Israeli soldier with dual American citizenship, Edan Alexander, will be released as part of the steps taken toward a ceasefire, reopening the crossings, and allowing humanitarian aid and relief to reach our people in the Gaza Strip.”
It was not immediately clear when Alexander would be released. Israeli media reports claim it could be within 48 hours.
Alexander is a 20-year-old Israeli-American soldier who grew up in New Jersey and was a soldier in the Israeli military when Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, 2023. He was abducted from the military base where he was stationed near the Gaza border, along with 250 people taken hostage that day from southern Israel. As fighting escalated at the base that morning, Alexander sent a message to his mother, telling her that he had shrapnel caught in his helmet from surrounding explosions but found a protected area. His family lost contact with him after 7 a.m., the Associated Press reported.
“He told me even though things were already getting dangerous around him. That was the last time I heard my son’s voice. I cannot describe the pain of not knowing where your child is or how is he,” Alexander’s mother, Yael Alexander, told CBS New York in October.
She and his father, Adi Alexander, met with former President Joe Biden and President Trump late last year to push for a deal that would free all of the hostages still being held in Gaza. Mr. Trump said earlier this month that fewer than two dozen hostages were believed to be alive. Alexander was thought to be among them.
As attempts to reach a permanent ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas have drawn on, militants have periodically freed hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Outside of a brief pause in fighting in November 2023, just over a month after the Oct. 7 attack prompted Israel to declare war on Hamas and begin bombarding the Palestinian territory,
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
