Following Release of Propaganda Video, Parents of American Hostage Issue Plea to President Trump

Yael and Adi Alexander say their “hope and trust rest” with President Donald Trump to bring home their son, Edan Alexander, after Hamas released a propaganda video of him.  

“We implore you to use your leadership and negotiation skills to secure a deal that will bring all 59 hostages back to their families—including our son Edan and the other American citizens,” Yael and Adi Alexander said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “Their fate depends on your action,” his parents told Trump.  

On Saturday, as Jewish families around the world gathered to celebrate Passover, Hamas released a propaganda video of Edan Alexander, 21, the last living American Israeli hostage. Alexander has been held hostage in Gaza for over 550 days and is one of 24 hostages still believed to be alive. Hamas is also holding the bodies of an additional 35 hostages.  

“It seems we are not wanted and we have been deserted here,” he said in the video.  

“I am collapsing because of this disgusting world and disgusting Israeli government,” the hostage continued. “Every day, I see that he, [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, controls the country like a dictator. I am collapsing physically and mentally.”  

Edan Alexander was born in Tel Aviv but grew up in New Jersey. He chose to return to Israel to serve in the Israel Defense Forces after high school. Alexander was stationed on the Israel-Gaza border on Oct. 7, 2023, during Hamas’ attack on Israel.  

At the end of March, Hamas announced it would agree to a proposal from mediator states Egypt and Qatar that included the release of five hostages, including Alexander, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a pause in fighting for 50 days, and additional humanitarian aid into Gaza.   

“I heard that three weeks ago, Hamas was ready to release me, however you refused and left me here! Tell me why, why am I here and not at home with my family and friends,” he said in the video.  

Israel has demanded that Hamas release at least 11 living hostages instead of five as negotiations continue, according to the Times of Israel.  

Alexander spoke directly to Trump in the video, telling him, “I believed you would free me alive. Why have you fallen victim to Netanyahu’s lies?”  

“Every day I hear my mother’s voice, my father’s voice, my little brother’s voice. Every day, I see the citizens of Israel demonstrating, they are doing everything in their power [to help us] and the world doesn’t listen to them,” he said. 

After seeing the video, his parents said every “moment grows more unbearable. You can see it in his face—his fear, his desperation.”  

The Alexanders did speak with Netanyahu on Sunday night and the prime minister affirmed his commitment to do everything in his power to bring Edan Alexander home, The Jerusalem Post reports.

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