Edan Alexander’s father says son was held with bag over his head, was beaten and interrogated

The father of US-Israeli Edan Alexander details the harsh conditions his son was held in while hostage in Gaza, saying the soldier was beaten and given meager rations.

Adi Alexander tells The New York Times that at the start of his son’s captivity, he was held with a bag over his head and was handcuffed, beaten and interrogated about his military service, which he had begun some 10 months earlier.

“There was nothing to interrogate him about,” Alexander says. “They knew about the arrangement of the IDF much better than he did.”

He tells the newspaper that at one point a tunnel collapsed around his son, injuring his shoulder, and that he had lost weight due to the meager rations of pita bread, rice, brown beans and black coffee he was given.

“His whole body has bedbug bites,” Alexander says. “His skin is in terrible condition.”

Alexander says his son was moved to a tunnel with better conditions after the election of US President Donald Trump, and received better food around the time of the January ceasefire.

The freed hostage’s father says that while the tunnels were crowded at first, there was more space as hostages died or were freed.

“We never lost hope,” Alexander tells the newspaper. “I could not allow myself to think any other way.”