Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage in Gaza, was handed over to Israeli forces in Gaza on Monday, ending an 18-month ordeal that began with Hamas\u2019 October 7 attack. <\/p>\n
Hamas announced Sunday night it had agreed to free Alexander, 21, after several days of talks with the United States as part of an effort to reach a ceasefire and resume the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. <\/p>\n
The group handed Alexander to the Red Cross on Monday, who was then transferred to Israeli forces in Gaza shortly later, ahead of a medical assessment and a long-awaited reunion with his family. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said he has spoken with his mother, Yael, over the phone. <\/p>\n
Alexander\u2019s release comes just one day before US President Donald Trump begins a Middle East tour, with stops planned in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. <\/p>\n
Following Alexander\u2019s release, 58 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with at least 20 believed to be alive. Among the deceased hostages are four American citizens, including husband and wife Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein Haggai, as well as soldiers Itay Chen and Omer Neutra. <\/p>\n
Alexander\u2019s family described news of his impending release on Mother\u2019s Day as \u201cthe greatest gift imaginable\u201d and thanked Trump, his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the US administration for their \u201ctireless work to make this happen.\u201d <\/p>\n
Alexander\u2019s mother boarded a flight to Israel on Sunday night to meet her son after his release. A photo posted by US Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler showed Yael Alexander on a commercial flight with the envoy\u2019s team. <\/p>\n
Trump hailed the development as \u201cmonumental news\u201d in a post on Truth Social, where he described Alexander\u2019s release by Hamas as a \u201cstep taken in good faith toward the United States and the efforts of the mediators \u2013 Qatar and Egypt \u2013 to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi told the Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV that the militant group, classified as a terrorist organization by the US and Israel, directly negotiated with the US to free Alexander in exchange for the resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza. <\/p>\n
Alexander was last seen in a proof-of-life video in mid-April in which he appealed directly to Trump for help in securing his release. Just days later, Hamas claimed they had lost contact with the group of militants holding Alexander. <\/p>\n
Gaza is on the brink of famine as Israel\u2019s blockade of humanitarian aid and commercial goods stretches into its second month, depleting food warehouses and soup kitchens, and sending the cost of basic goods skyrocketing. <\/p>\n
Israel says it cut off the entry of humanitarian aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages. But international organizations say its actions violate international law, with some accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war \u2013 a war crime. <\/p>\n
Israel has not said if it will resume humanitarian aid into Gaza. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s office said in a statement on Monday that Israel has not committed to a ceasefire, nor the release of any Palestinian prisoners, only to \u201ca safe corridor that will allow for Edan\u2019s release.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a post on social media Sunday night, Trump said he hoped the release would lead to the \u201cend (of) this brutal conflict.\u201d But the long-time Israeli prime minister has said that \u201cnegotiations will take place under fire.\u201d <\/p>\n
Alexander\u2019s parents fought tirelessly for his release. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a mom I just want to hold him again, and to say \u2018Edan, you\u2019re safe, you\u2019re home.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
This is a developing story and will be updated.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage in Gaza, was handed over to Israeli forces in Gaza on Monday, ending an 18-month ordeal that began with Hamas\u2019 October 7 attack. Hamas announced Sunday night it had agreed to free Alexander, 21, after several days of talks with the United States as part of an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":13211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}