Father of former American-Israeli hostage thanks Palestinian-American mediator for helping free his son

By Jacob Magid

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20 August 2025, 11:30 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Bishara Bahbah, national chairman for Arab Americans for Trump, answers questions during an interview with The Associated Press in Dearborn, Michigan, August 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)

Adi Alexander, father of former American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, spoke on the phone with Palestinian-American mediator Bishara Bahbah earlier today, thanking him for his involvement in the May release of his son, both parties on the call confirm to The Times of Israel.

Bahbah operated a backchannel in the hostage talks over the past several months, passing along messages between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior Hamas officials, and playing a key role in Alexander’s release.

Hamas’s decision to free Alexander was framed as a goodwill gesture to the Trump administration that the group hoped would lead the US to coax Israel into ending the war in Gaza.