Tel Aviv — American-Israeli Edan Alexander was among the many first Israeli captives taken into Gaza in the course of the Hamas-orchestrated Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist assault. One week in the past, he was reunited along with his household in a deal brokered by the Trump administration and led by the White Home’s Center East Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Alexander and his household have credited the Trump staff with saving his life, and in a sit-down interview with CBS Information, the younger soldier’s mother and father advised senior international correspondent Debora Patta in regards to the outstanding second they realized Edan can be launched, and the moments they’ve cherished since.
Edan Alexander spent 584 days in Hamas captivity. After a lot of false begins and false hope for his launch, when the decision lastly did come from the best ranges of the U.S. authorities, his father missed it — eight instances.
“So, we were all at home in Jersey after the Mother’s Day brunch that we had,” recalled his mom, Yael.
“I was blowing out some leaves,” stated his father, Adi. When he put down the leaf blower, he realized he had “missed eight phone calls from Steve Witkoff.”
When Adi lastly bought in contact with the senior White Home envoy, “he told us in 10 minutes from now, Hamas will be announcing about your son’s release tomorrow.”
“I thanked him. Continuous; ‘Thank you, Steve! Thank you so much,’” Yael recalled saying down the phone line. “It’s the happiest Mom’s Day ever!”
“We were like, yelling, like crazy with the kids,” she stated. As Yael, Adi and their two different youngsters watched the tv, the announcement got here that Edan can be launched the next day, simply as Witkoff had promised. “And we were like, okay, we need to pack! We need to… Get to Israel!”
Lastly, the reunion they’d dreamt of for greater than a 12 months and a half was taking form.
Adi booked a flight instantly. Yael had already booked one for later that very same day, in a sheer stroke of luck, planning to go and be with household in Israel proper after marking Mom’s Day.
Neither of the mother and father bought a lot relaxation on their flights to Israel.
“I couldn’t sleep the whole flight,” Yael advised CBS Information. “Like, you’re alert … I couldn’t sit even, you know? I was like in full adrenaline, like, ready, to be there and to get Edan back, you know?”
As quickly as they touched down, they have been whisked away to an Israeli army base, the place Edan quickly arrived after being handed over by Hamas.
Israeli Protection Forces/Handout/Anadolu by way of Getty
“Definitely I gave him like, the biggest hug ever,” stated his mom. “When I came to him, I came in full power! We almost fell, because he was weak, and he was very excited, like he was standing, like shivering, you know, because, wow, it’s unbelievable — and I’m screaming, and I am like, you know, holding him. It was — wow.”
The mother and father stated Edan stays weak, however docs cleared him for launch from the hospital the place he’s been handled. He’s nonetheless getting medical consideration for some minor accidents sustained in the course of the Oct. 7 terrorist assault, which his mother and pa stated, “nobody took care of in those tunnels.”
Even getting his freedom again was a harrowing ordeal.
“The day of release was a very busy day for him,” father Adi advised CBS Information. “It took forever. They moved around and crawled under, and it was a very tough day on him. He didn’t sleep the whole night before that, because he was excited, he didn’t sleep. He was like, super, super tired, so it took like, almost two days after for him to decompress from the day of the release.”
Since then, Edan has given them some particulars about his captivity, however they aren’t pushing him.
“He talks a lot about it, but no rush. We’re not asking. If you want to say something, you say, and we’re not pushing,” stated his father. “He went through a lot of stuff.”
“He’s just happy to be home, you know, just to sit with Mika and Roy [his siblings] and just to hang out and just be with us and watch TV yesterday,” his mother and father stated.
Handout/Courtesy of the Alexander household
Throughout his lengthy captivity, Edan noticed his mother and father on the information, pleading for his launch.
“I think the fact that he saw us, saw us running and fighting and knocking on every door, kept him hopeful,” stated his father, together with “the fact that he was held with other hostages all together, and not by himself, kept him hopeful. And he’s just a strong kid, you know, strong mentally and physically.”
Hamas has held a lot of its hostages in tunnels below the Gaza Strip, with many, together with Alexander, saying they by no means noticed daylight in any respect.
“I’m so pale,” his mom recalled him saying. “I look like a vampire!”
Israel has stepped up its warfare in Gaza, the place the Hamas-run Ministry of Well being says greater than 53,000 individuals have now been killed because the combating started, together with greater than 500 within the final week alone.
Households of the hostages — 58 of whom are nonetheless believed to be held in Gaza, together with about 20 thought by Israeli officers to be alive — have taken to the streets recurrently, decrying the renewed offensive as placing their family members at even larger danger.
“Edan told us, so when they heard the bombing, it was very, very concerning, scary,” stated Adi. “And at some point, one of the tunnels collapsed.”
“He told us sometimes he was afraid to go to sleep. Because maybe they are going to bomb this place that he is specifically inside,” added the daddy. “It was very scary.”
Now again collectively as a household, their ideas are nonetheless very a lot with the opposite hostages.
“We are still continuing to speak for all the 58 hostages that are still there,” Yael advised CBS Information. “Whatever Edan told me about hostages [who were] with him, you know, during any time of the captivity, I’m calling their moms and dads, and I’m telling them from the hospital — I’ve done it already — and I am telling them whatever Edan told me. You know, to give them a little bit hope that their story could end also soon, and with a good ending.”
She is aware of higher than most how a lot energy that hope can present.
“It’s very important, you know. For me, every hostage that got released, it was like, ‘Oh my God, maybe he saw Edan. Maybe he can tell me something, and I don’t care if it’s not from two days, you know. Maybe a year ago he was with Edan, but still, to hear something about my boy, you know, it was very crucial to us.”
Not less than a type of beforehand launched hostages came over Edan within the hospital final week. Fellow U.S.-Israeli twin nationwide Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was launched after 498 days in captivity, stated in a press release launched Monday by the Hostage Households Discussion board that he and Edan have been collectively for some time in captivity.
Hostages and Lacking Households Discussion board/Handout
“Our fates became intertwined in the most complex situation one could imagine,” Dekel-Chen stated within the assertion. “It was important for me to come and welcome Edan upon his return. I know what he went through and what he still has ahead of him. I am very happy for him and his family. I hope that soon I will be able to embrace all the other hostages who remain behind as well.”
Yael Alexander stated “it was unbelievable to see” the 2 males reunited in freedom. “It was a miracle. This is the victory — to see the hostages together.”
Requested what their household needed the world to know now, as rumors swirl as soon as once more of potential progress in ceasefire talks regardless of the ramped-up Israeli army operations, Adi stated the message was easy: Act now.
“The urgency,” he advised CBS Information. “Just the urgency. Our son, he was lucky to get out … Listen, you can’t treat agony with more agony. This war needs to end.”
In the meanwhile, nevertheless, there isn’t any finish in sight. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Monday that Israel intends to maintain pushing its offensive in Gaza, to grab full management of the Palestinian territory.
“We’re grateful for Steve [Witkoff], for President Trump, and for Adam Boehler,” stated the relieved father. “Great job. But the job is not done. We still have more to do.”
“It’s time for them to come home. All of them,” stated Yael. “Not in small pieces, just, to bring everyone back home.”
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