Former hostage Edan Alexander was expected to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday, almost two months after he was freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza in a US-brokered deal, the White House said.
”The President and First Lady have met with many released hostages from Gaza, and they greatly look forward to meeting Edan Alexander and his family in the Oval Office tomorrow,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, confirming a report by Channel 12 news.
According to the network, the president, along with First Lady Melania Trump, is scheduled to meet with the 21-year-old dual US-Israeli citizen at noon in the White House.
The meeting will come just days before Trump sits down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their third face-to-face meeting in Washington since Trump took office in January. Trump said this week that he will be “very firm” with Netanyahu about the need to end the war in Gaza.
Alexander, who was kidnapped from his IDF base near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, was released by Hamas on May 12 this year after 584 days as a hostage. The former lone soldier, who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, returned home to the US last month.
Alexander was freed outside of any ceasefire framework and without Israel releasing any Palestinian security prisoners in response. Hamas characterized the release as a goodwill gesture to Trump in the hope that he would coax Israel into agreeing to a deal to end the war.
On the day that Alexander was freed from captivity, there were reports that he could fly to Qatar to sit down with Trump there during the latter’s Middle East trip, but the newly released hostage’s family said his health condition upon being freed did not allow for such an immediate trip.
He instead spoke via phone with the US president from the hospital in Tel Aviv, alongside US special envoy Steve Witkoff. “I can’t wait to see you at the White House. The whole nation wants to see you,” Trump told the freed hostage at the time.
When he finally meets Trump in the White House, Alexander is expected to thank the US president for securing his release and to call for the return of the 50 remaining hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, reported Channel 12.
Meanwhile, the mothers of hostages still being held captive in Gaza continued to beg for their release in a vigil outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening.
Idit Ohel, the mother of hostage Alon Ohel, addressed the Shift 101 vigil, telling them that she has not given up hope.
“Alon and the other hostages need us to do everything so that they will be here with us,” said Ohel. “This is a very unsettling time, and it seems like there is some kind of window of opportunity — we have to hold on to that faith and hope. But until we see them at home, it’s not over.”
Also speaking at the vigil, Anat Angrest, the mother of hostage IDF soldier Matan Angrest, lamented the ongoing reports about a partial, 60-day deal being discussed with Hamas.
“Why is it always about a partial deal?” she asked. “This saga can be ended, and everyone can be brought back. How is it that people are still talking about selections? Matan’s grandfather is a Holocaust survivor who is now experiencing a second selection — through his grandson, under the auspices of deals made by the Israeli government.”
Meanwhile, Viki Cohen, the mother of hostage soldier Nimrod Cohen, mourned the news Wednesday of another IDF soldier killed fighting in Gaza.
“We are here to say, enough,” said Cohen. “We are asking to end this nightmare.”
She expressed hope that Trump “will use all his power and all his influence — on both Hamas and our prime minister — to push for a deal that will bring everyone back in one go, not in stages, and not in parts.”
Addressing a rally in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv a day earlier, freed captive Omer Wenkert begged for the return of those captives he left behind when he was released in February.
“They are still living an ongoing nightmare every single moment, experiencing endless and intensifying hell, starving, humiliated, miserable, and crying out to return to freedom,” said Wenkert. “I stand here today, and I am their voice! I cry out their pain and their pleas to come home!”
Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 during their October 7, 2023, assault, amid widely documented atrocities. Israel believes that 50 hostages are still being held by terror groups in Gaza, including 28 confirmed dead by Israeli authorities and another two about whom Israel has expressed severe concern. The 28 bodies include that of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.