Two Years After October 7 Massacre, Trump Welcomes Hamas Hostage Edan Alexander To The White House

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump marked the second anniversary of the Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by spending the afternoon with Edan Alexander, who was held in Hamas captivity for 584 days.

The president hosted the 21-year-old Alexander and his family at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared. The president also met with the family of Omer Neutra, who was killed by Hamas on October 7. Neutra’s body is still in Gaza, but the White House emphasized on Tuesday that Trump is “committed to bringing every hostage home.”

Today, on the second anniversary of the October 7 attack, President Trump welcomed Edan Alexander, who was held hostage by Hamas for 584 days, and the family of Omer Neutra to the Oval Office.

President Trump is committed to bringing every hostage home.???????????? pic.twitter.com/GrvgrUTNkX

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 7, 2025

The Trump administration negotiated Alexander’s release in May 2025. He is an American, who was born in Rockville, Maryland and later moved to New Jersey. In high school, Alexander joined the Israel Defense Forces, and while he was at an outpost near Kibbutz Nir Oz, he was taken captive by Hamas during the October 7 massacre.

The Daily Wire’s Kassy Akiva previously reported that Alexander had been seen in Hamas propaganda videos and is the first male IDF soldier who was abducted during the massacre to be released. While he was held in captivity, his parents were fighting tirelessly for his release by meeting with world leaders, aggressively keeping his name in the news, and speaking at high profile events.

Edan Alexander is welcomed by Israeli forces after Hamas released him in Tel Aviv (Photo by Israeli Defense Forces / IDF/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Hamas killed and kidnapped the body of the 21-year-old Neutra on October 7, 2023, but it was not until December 2024 that his family learned for certain that he had been killed that day. They had been told that he was being held hostage and had held out hope that he would survive.

“Omer Neutra (21) was born and raised in the United States and chose to immigrate to Israel as a lone soldier, enlisting in the Armored Corps after completing a preparatory year with the Tzabar Garin program,”the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement when Neutra’s death was known.

“Omer loved sports, playing soccer, basketball, and volleyball, and served as the captain of his school’s sports teams. Family and friends described him as a warm, optimistic, and caring individual who ‘lights up the room the moment he enters.'”

Edan Alexander reuniting with his family (Photo by Israeli Defense Forces / IDF/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“President Trump recently said it’s time to bring all the hostages home — and time for the war to end,” Neutra’s parents wrote in a Fourth of July op-ed for The Daily Wire. “We agree. Immense strength has been shown over the past 21 months. Incredible military achievements against Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Now, it is time for that strength to deliver peace.”

“But peace cannot begin until every hostage comes home,” they argued. “There is no real end to the fighting in Gaza while 50 hostages remain in underground tunnels, cut off from the world, and while families like ours live in daily anguish. Peace cannot be built on the backs of unresolved suffering.”

“This is not a partisan issue. This is not just an Israeli issue. It is an American issue — and a human issue. Omer is one of our own, but so are the other 49 souls still trapped in darkness. If we mean what we say when we salute the flag or sing the national anthem, we cannot remain silent while any innocent person is held by a U.S.-designated terror group.”