An Israeli-American soldier held hostage for more than 19 months in Gaza has been released by Hamas in what the militant group is calling a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration that could lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire with Israel.
The Israeli military confirmed that Edan Alexander had been turned over to the Red Cross and was being brought to Israeli forces.
Alexander was taken from his military base in southern Israel during the Hamas-led incursion into Israel on 7 October 2023 which started the war in Gaza.
His release is the first since Israel shattered an eight-week ceasefire with Hamas in March, unleashing more air strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds.
Israel has promised to intensify its military offensive, including by seizing the territory and displacing much of its population again.
Days before the ceasefire ended, Israel blocked all imports from entering the Palestinian enclave, deepening a humanitarian crisis and sparking warnings of imminent famine.
Israel says the steps are meant to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement on Israel’s terms.
Israel says 59 hostages including Alexander remain in captivity, with about 24 of them believed to be alive.
Many of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the 2023 attack were freed in ceasefire deals.
Television footage showed Alexander’s mother, Yael Alexander, arriving at the Reim military base in southern Israel, where her son was expected to be taken.
Alexander’s grandmother, Varda Ben Baruch, said she had barely been able to sleep and had baked Edan’s favourite foods, some of which she sent to the military base.
Who is Edan Alexander?
Edan Alexander was 19 when Hamas militants stormed the Israeli military base where the American-Israeli from New Jersey was a soldier and dragged him into the Gaza Strip.
A native of Tenafly, a suburb of New York City, Edan Alexander moved to Israel in 2022 after high school and enlisted in the military.
Hamas militants seized him from his military base after he volunteered to stay there over the Jewish Sabbath.
In a video Hamas released of Alexander over Thanksgiving weekend in November 2024, he cried and pleaded for help.
Though the video was difficult to watch, his family said, it came as a relief to see he was alive.
Hostages freed since then have given the family more news, his father said.
Some said Alexander had lost a lot of weight. Others said he’d been an advocate for fellow hostages, standing up for captive Thai workers and telling their captors that the workers weren’t involved in the conflict and should be freed.
Alexander, like other male soldiers held in Gaza, was not included among hostages released during a ceasefire earlier this year.
Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in January and February in return for nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners.
The sight of some emaciated hostages among those freed brought fresh despair to families whose loved ones remained in Gaza.
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, along with the release of more Palestinian prisoners.
Israel has rejected those terms, saying it will continue the war until all the hostages are freed and Hamas is defeated.
Hamas said in March it would release Alexander and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel recommitted to the stalled ceasefire agreement.
Alexander’s father, Adi, said at the time he was speaking with Trump’s hostage negotiators almost daily, pressing for his son’s release.
Days later, Israel shattered the truce with a surprise bombardment that killed hundreds of Palestinians.
Israel called the renewed bombardment a tactic to pressure Hamas to negotiate different ceasefire terms. Hamas said the offensive puts the remaining hostages at risk.
In April, Hamas published another video of Alexander in which he spoke from a dark room. His family believes he has been held in Hamas’ vast tunnel network.
Days later, Hamas said it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after an Israeli airstrike targeted their location. Israeli officials have not commented on the claim.
The Alexander family urged the Israeli government on Monday to continue efforts to free all the hostages, a plea that other families have echoed since the Hamas announcement on Sunday.
“Please don’t stop,” Alexander’s family said. “We hope our son’s release begins negotiations for all 58 remaining hostages, ending this nightmare for them and their families.”