Freed hostage Edan Alexander says he’s returning to the IDF next month

Alexander, who returned to his family in Tenafly, New Jersey, following his release, was the only remaining U.S. citizen among the living hostages held in Gaza.

By Grace Gilson, JTA

Just months after former hostage Edan Alexander was freed from 584 days in Hamas captivity, the Golani Brigade soldier has announced he will return to service.

“Next month, God willing, I will return to Israel. I will once again put on the IDF uniform, and I will proudly serve alongside my brothers,” Alexander said at a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces event Wednesday night in New York. “My story does not end with survival – it continues with service.”

His announcement at the FIDF gala marked his first public statement since the Trump administration negotiated his release in May.

In July, he met with Trump alongside his parents at the Oval Office.

Alexander, 21, joined the IDF after graduating from high school in New Jersey and was captured while serving near the Gaza border during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Alexander, who returned to his family in Tenafly, New Jersey, following his release, was the only remaining U.S. citizen among the living hostages held in Gaza.

There are now 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza, of which 20 are presumed to be alive.

In his remarks Wednesday, Alexander also called for the release of the remaining hostages, telling the crowd:

“Their nightmare continues. Their families still wait. We cannot forget them. We cannot stop until they are all home.”

At least one other Israeli soldier taken hostage on Oct. 7 has returned to service.

Ori Megidish, who was rescued by Israeli forces three weeks after her abduction, rejoined the military several months later and was assigned to an intelligence unit.