From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
TV report: Freed hostage Edan Alexander meets Gallant, tells him he slept on Gazan street and nobody noticed
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Freed hostage Edan Alexander describes the difficult conditions of his captivity to former defense minister Yoav Gallant, including sleeping on Gaza’s street, in quotes reported by Channel 12 news.
Asked by the former Likud lawmaker how he held onto hope in captivity, Alexander reportedly answered: “I knew that my friends from Golani were fighting above for me and I had a duty to survive for them.”
“My captivity was difficult. We moved between dozens of places, we slept in apartments, mosques, and even on the street. One of the times we didn’t stop moving from place to place, and then we slept on Basmata Street — without anyone noticing. And now we must do everything to release everyone,” he said, Channel 12 reports.
Channel 12 also says that Alexander was held alongside senior Hamas officials, including its former leader and October 7, 2023, massacre mastermind, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by IDF troops in October.
According to Alexander’s reported testimony, food cans would explode in the tunnels due to the intense summer heat.
Separately, Channel 12 reports on a meeting between Alexander and the family of hostage Nimrod Cohen, with whom he was held in captivity.
Alexander reportedly told them Cohen supported him during their time together, but was very depressed and traumatized due to his experiences of the October 7 massacre, when he saw his friends murdered.
The Times of Israel Community.