Hamas releases propaganda video showing US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander
Clip is second sign of life from lone soldier since he was taken captive on Oct. 7; his parents say Passover ‘not a holiday of freedom’ until he and the other captives come home
Hamas on Saturday evening published a propaganda video showing signs of life from hostage soldier Edan Alexander, as Jews gathered in Israel and across the globe to mark the Passover holiday and its theme of freedom.
The three-minute-long video is not dated, though Alexander states that he has been held for 551 days, indicating it was filmed very recently.
Alexander, a 21-year-old US citizen, is a lone soldier who was stationed near the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7, 2023, when he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists along with 250 other hostages. Hamas killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during that attack, which sparked the ongoing war that the Israeli military is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.
It is the second video Hamas published of Alexander. In November, Hamas released the first video of the hostage soldier.
Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.
Alexander’s family asked Israeli media not to share the latest video but authorized the publication of a still image.
“As we begin the holiday evening in the USA, our family in Israel is preparing to sit around the Seder table,” Alexander’s relatives said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “Our Edan, a lone soldier who immigrated to Israel and enlisted in the Golani Brigade to defend the country and its citizens, is still being held captive by Hamas.”
“So when you sit down to mark Passover, remember that this is not a holiday of freedom as long as Edan and the other 58 hostages are not home.”
Born in Tel Aviv, Alexander grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. He returned to Israel to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces after graduating from high school in 2022.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the premier phoned Alexander’s parents Yael and Adi after “the cruel propaganda video” of their son was published.
“The prime minister told the family he empathizes with their pain and updated that currently tremendous efforts are taking place to return Edan and the rest of the hostages,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
The release of the video came after a recent US push to secure Alexander’s release, including both unprecedented direct talks with Hamas and indirect negotiations by mediators, failed to bear fruit. Israel has since resumed fighting in Gaza, ending the de facto truce that prevailed after the end of the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal that was signed in January.
The direct talks with Hamas angered Israel, and news of them was leaked the same day US President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress. According to a report this week in The New York Times, the administration was hoping to reach a deal to free Alexander before Trump’s speech.
Beyond the problematic aspect of breaking with the established American policy of not dealing directly with Hamas, which the US proscribes as a terror group, the notion of hostages with a specific dual nationality receiving preferential treatment would be highly problematic in Israel.
Egypt, which along with Qatar and the US is serving as a mediator, is now pushing a new proposal that would see eight living hostages released as part of a restored ceasefire.
Including Alexander, there are believed to be 24 living hostages still in Gaza, as well as 35 confirmed by Israel to be dead.
A week-long ceasefire in November 2023 saw the release of over 100 hostages, mostly women and children.
In January 2025, another ceasefire was agreed upon, and during the ensuing weeks, dozens of hostages, alive and dead, were returned in small batches in return for boosted humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
The sides had agreed to hold talks on a second and third phase that would include the return of all hostages, end the war, and ensure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. However, the truce collapsed after the first stage when Israel refused to enter negotiations on the terms of the subsequent phases, and Hamas refused to extend the first phase, leading Jerusalem to resume military operations in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.