Hamas’ military wing released a propaganda video on Saturday showing an Israeli-American hostage.
It was the first video of its kind shared in months.
The undated video, posted on the secure messaging service Telegram, shows 20-year-old Edan Alexander. The message indicates that Alexander was detained Hamas captive for more than 420 days. If true, the video would have been taken last week.
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In the video – speaking in a mixture of Hebrew and English – Alexander addresses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him “you have neglected us”.
He also addressed President-elect Donald Trump, asking him to use “his influence and the full power of the United States to negotiate our freedom.”
In a statement via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters, Alexander’s mother, Yael Alexander, said that her son “represents all the living hostages who cannot make their voices heard, and this voice must resonate and shake everyone!”
Alexander grew up in New Jersey and was a soldier in the Israeli army when Hamas militants attacked on the morning of October 7, 2023. The then 19-year-old was able to send a quick message to his mother amid intense fighting around his base near the Gaza border. .
He explained to her that despite the shrapnel embedded in his helmet following the explosions, he had managed to get to a protected area. After 7 a.m., his family lost contact, the Associated Press reported.
“He told me even though things were already getting dangerous around him. It was the last time I heard my son’s voice. I can’t describe the pain of not knowing where your child is nor how he’s doing,” Yael Alexander said. CBS New York in October.
When a one-week ceasefire last November brought the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners, some of the freed hostages reported seeing Alexander in captivity. Varda Ben Baruch, his grandmother, told the AP that the hostages told her that Alexander was keeping his cool, encouraging them that everyone would be released soon.
Maya Alleruzzo / AP
Alexander’s father, Adi Alexander, said “CBS Mornings” in September that they push Israeli and American leaders to conclude a ceasefire agreement.
“We hope he holds up and we’ll come and get him,” Adi Alexander said. “He needs to survive.”
Adi and Yael Alexander met with Presidents Biden and Trump in Washington earlier this month and pleaded with them to work together to bring all the hostages home in one deal, according to the AP.
More than 250 people were kidnapped and 1,200 killed when Hamas militants crossed the border and carried out a bloody attack on communities in southern Israel. Israel’s subsequent war against Hamas has since killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
Maya Alleruzzo / AP
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Saturday that he had spoken with Alexander’s family after the release of the “brutal psychological warfare video.”
“The Prime Minister said during the conversation that he deeply felt the agony of Edan, the hostages and their families, and promised that Israel would work with determination and by all means to bring them home , as well as all hostages who are in enemy custody,” the statement said.
US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said the White House was in contact with the Alexander family. He said in a statement Saturday that the propaganda video is “a cruel reminder of Hamas’ terror against the citizens of several countries, including ours.”
“The war in Gaza would end tomorrow and the suffering of Gazans would end immediately – and would have ended months ago – if Hamas agreed to release the hostages,” Savett said. “He refused to do so, but as the president said last week, we have a crucial opportunity to reach a deal to free the hostages, stop the war and increase humanitarian aid to Gaza. This deal is on the table now.”
The headquarters of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that the video is “definitive proof that despite all the rumors, there are hostages alive and suffering greatly.”
“One year after the first and only agreement, it is clear to everyone: the return of the hostages is only possible through an agreement,” the group said. “After more than 420 days of continued abuse, starvation and darkness, the urgency of repatriating the 101 hostages cannot be overstated.”
