American-Israeli hostage’s dad calls for direct U.S.-Hamas talks

The father of kidnapped IDF soldier Edan Alexander asks Washington to engage directly with Hamas to save his son.

By World Israel News Staff

The father of an American-Israeli hostage held for more than 18 months by Hamas is urging the Trump administration to engage in direct negotiations with the terror organization, in order to secure his son’s freedom.

Edan Alexander, an Israel-born American citizen who grew up in New Jersey, was kidnapped from his army base near the Gaza border on October 7th, 2023.

“I think we should engage back with [Hamas] directly and see what can be done in regards to my son, four American dead hostages and everybody else,” Alexander’s father Adi told Reuter in a recent interview.

“It seems like the negotiations are stalled, everything is stuck and we are kind of back to a year ago,” he added. “It’s really concerning.”

Alexander said that if he could speak directly to his son, he would tell him “just believe. You know, nobody forgot about you. Definitely not your parents, and everybody is fighting for your release on the highest level in the States and I believe also in Israel.”

Hamas has released several videos of Alexander in captivity, including one clip published last week, in which the soldier was heard begging for his release.

Referring to the “horrible, horrible video,” Alexander said his son’s distraught and pale appearance was “very scary” to the family.

Last week, Hamas claimed that it had lost contact with the captors holding Alexander hostage, alleging that they were targeted by an Israeli air strike.

The veracity of Hamas’ statement about being unsure of Alexander’s whereabouts is unclear, as the terror group regularly lies about the status of Israeli hostages.

On previous occasions, Hamas has murdered captives and falsely claimed that the hostages were killed by Israeli bombing.

In the past, Hamas has announced that an elderly hostage was killed by the IDF. That hostage were later released alive in a ceasefire deal.