The family of Edan Alexander approved on Sunday the publication of a Hamas propaganda video released a day earlier, which showed signs of life from the US-Israeli hostage soldier who has been held by the terror group since he was kidnapped on October 7, 2023.
The three-minute-long video was released by Hamas on Saturday. While the clip is not dated, Alexander stated in it that he has been held for 551 days, indicating it was filmed in the past week.
Israeli media outlets typically do not publish videos or images of hostages in captivity without the permission of their families.
In a statement almost certainly dictated by his captors in the Gaza Strip, a gaunt Alexander says in the video that he heard Hamas was ready to release him three weeks ago and that the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “refused and left me here.”
“Tell me why, why am I not home with my friends, with my family?” Alexander asks in the video.
“President Trump, I really believed you would succeed in getting me out of here alive. Why did you fall for Netanyahu’s lies?” he adds in the propaganda clip released by Hamas. “Why am I still here?” he screams.
Alexander hails Israeli citizens’ protests for his release, and asks of Israel’s leaders: “Why don’t you stop the war?”
“I really want to believe that this clip won’t be the last time that you see me alive. I really want to get back to the people of Israel healthy and intact. Please continue to demonstrate,” he urges. “Continue to do everything in your power… Time is running out. Friends, time is really running out.”
The captive soldier says that “every day, we hear the bombs coming closer to our heads. It’s really hard. We really think we’re going to come home dead. … We’re losing hope.”
Last month Hamas claimed it was willing to release Alexander along with the bodies of four other dual US-Israeli citizens, an offer which Israel slammed as “manipulation and psychological warfare,” and said it would not agree to a deal that only saw Americans freed.
Saturday’s video was the second of Alexander published by Hamas, after the terror group also released a clip in November in which the captive soldier also urged Trump to push for a deal.
Born in Tel Aviv, Alexander grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. He returned to Israel to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces after graduating from high school in 2022.
After the release of the video, Netanyahu spoke with Alexander’s parents, Yael and Adi, on Saturday. The couple also spoke to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who emphasized in their conversation that “in every action the IDF takes, the hostages are before the eyes of IDF commanders and all its soldiers,” the military said.
Yael and Adi Alexander released a statement on Sunday saying: “Our son Edan left everything, his friends, the [university] studies he could have started, the comfortable life he had in the US, and us — his immediate family — to move alone to the land of Israel to enlist in [the Golani Brigade] in order to defend the country he loves and its residents.”
They added that on October 7, Edan was “left alone on a base and tried to defend the communities of [the Gaza] envelope from Hamas terrorists. Now the State of Israel is leaving him and all the hostages alone, alone in the tunnels, alone in the hands of the enemy.”
“Five hundred and fifty-five days, already more than a year and a half, and the State of Israel and its leaders can celebrate Passover, the holiday of freedom and exodus from Egypt, and our son is still there,” they continued. “It’s inconceivable that our country is not doing everything to return our Edan, a young man with ethics and love for the country and people.”
They also appealed directly to Netanyahu, Zamir and chief hostage negotiator Ron Dermer: “You are responsible for Edan’s security, and it’s your responsibility to bring him back. Edan did everything for Israel, now Israel needs to do everything for him.”
Protesters gathered near Dermer’s home on Sunday imploring him to negotiate a deal for the hostages’ release. Iris Schwartz, Alexander’s aunt, said at the demonstration that the family could not celebrate the Seder on Saturday night because of the video.
“There was no celebration. There was only his wail… We saw him underground, scared, injured, desperate, but sharp and clear in his message. He called out to us, to our people, to our leaders, to the American administration. He pleaded: Release me.”
Schwartz said: “What is freedom when he is kept underground? Edan and the others can be brought home, but our government has other considerations. Everyone knows they can be brought home, but anyone who says so is quieted and distanced,” she said.
She added that the family has only met once with Netanyahu since Edan was kidnapped more than 18 months ago, and has not received a response to requests for a meeting with Dermer, who is considered a top confidant of the premier.
Joining the protest on Sunday, Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, accused Dermer of working to thwart a ceasefire deal for the release of the captives.
“You were appointed to head the negotiation team for the return of all the hostages. But we know, Minister Dermer, that that’s not the truth. You came in to run the negotiation in order to derail it. Your mission is to distance my son Matan from me,” she said.
On Friday, an official with knowledge of the talks told The Times of Israel that Qatar is frustrated with the pace of Israel’s ongoing hostage negotiations under the leadership of Dermer, who took over the role in February.
Outside the minister’s home on Sunday, Zangauker declared that time is running out for the hostages, adding that they have no food and drink water from the toilet.
“These could be their last moments; you want to bury the hostages under warfare!” she said, shouting toward Dermer: “You should quit!” drawing a supportive response from the crowd.
There are 59 hostages held captive in Gaza, including 58 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of 35 confirmed dead by Israeli authorities.