Hostage’s father to PM: How do you plan to free the last captive without ending the war?
Adi Alexander wonders whether Trump, who campaigned on ending the Gaza war, will lose patience as the conflict drags on without the release of additional hostages
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
The father of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander speculated on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump might lose patience as the war in Gaza drags on without the release of additional hostages.
Asked for a message to Israeli and American leaders amid the latest standstill in hostage negotiations, Adi Alexander, the father of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander told NewsNation’s “Morning in America,” “I wonder when President [Donald] Trump will lose patience with the situation. He gave a lot of credit to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to restart this war.”
“And to [the] prime minister, the question still remains, the same one: How do you plan to get the last hostage out without ending this war and without committing to the second phase of this deal?” Adi Alexander said.
Trump, who campaigned on ending the war in Gaza, helped finalize a phased ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January. His Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff leaned hard on Netanyahu to accept the framework, officials from multiple involved countries told The Times of Israel at the time.
That deal fell apart after two months. Israel wanted to rework the terms and extend phase one, rather than transitioning to the second phase, which envisioned the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a permanent end to the war. Hamas insisted on sticking to the original terms of the deal, leading Israel to resume intensive military operations on March 18.
Hamas has since indicated some willingness to enter another interim deal, but is still insisting on guarantees that any agreement will lead to a permanent end to the war, which Netanyahu says he won’t accept until the terror group’s governing and military capabilities are dismantled. Hamas officials have said the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal — which is said to see the release of 10 hostages, including Edan Alexander — requires the terror group to give up its weapons and does not lead to a permanent ceasefire.
While Hamas officials have indicated a willingness to give up governing control of Gaza, handing over its weapons has been a red line for the terror group, apparently making the latest Israeli proposal a nonstarter. An official from one of the mediating countries told The Times of Israel on Tuesday that talks remain at an impasse.
Netanyahu is seeking to secure the release of as many hostages as possible without committing to end the war. Hamas officials have said they’re prepared to release all of the hostages at once if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire.
Polls have indicated that a majority of Israelis would support such a deal, but a plurality of coalition voters feel differently and several of Netanyahu’s ministers have threatened to collapse the government if he agrees to end the war before Hamas has been fully defeated. There are currently 59 hostages still in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
Hamas released a video of Alexander on the eve of the Passover holiday on Saturday. His father called the clip a “sign of life” but added that “it’s really tough to see your child begging to be released.”
He characterized the latest Israeli hostage deal proposal as “really serious” and expressed hope that the “parties will be able to bridge those gaps and finally seal this deal.”
‘Lost contact’
Later Monday, Hamas claimed to have lost contact with the operatives holding Alexander in Gaza.
“We announce that we have lost contact with the team guarding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct Israeli bombardment targeting their location. We are still trying to reach them,” said Hudhaifa Kahlout — known by the nom de guerre Abu Obeida — the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
“It seems that the occupation army is deliberately trying to kill him and hence relieve themselves from the pressure caused by the dual-citizen prisoners in order to continue its genocide against our people,” Abu Obeida charged.
Alexander, a dual US-Israeli citizen, is a soldier who was stationed near the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7 when he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists.
The terror group has lied about the condition of hostages before, though some of them have been killed by Israeli strikes.
The IDF says it does not carry out strikes in areas where it suspects hostages may be held by Hamas. Military officials have repeatedly said that every strike and ground operation in Gaza is carefully planned out in order not to endanger Israeli hostages.
The Times of Israel Community.