Edan Alexander, a Golani Brigade soldier who was freed from Hamas captivity just over a month ago, returned home Thursday night to Tenafly, New Jersey. Hundreds of residents lined the streets waving Israeli flags and yellow ribbons, cheering as he arrived home.
Edan Alexander returns to his home in New Jersey
Alexander, who grew up in the United States, immigrated to Israel at age 18 to volunteer for military service in the Golani Brigade. In Israel, he lived with his grandparents in Tel Aviv and later at Kibbutz Hazor, which hosted the group of lone soldiers he joined. He was kidnapped during the Hamas massacre on October 7, during a weekend that he wasn’t required to stay on base.
That morning, Alexander was granted leave because his mother, Yael, was visiting from the U.S., and as a lone soldier, he was eligible for special time off. However, he chose to stay on base to avoid leaving the burden of guard duty on his fellow soldiers. When the Hamas attack began, he managed to speak with his mother, telling her a piece of shrapnel had hit his helmet but that he was okay.
Alexander and his mother returned to the U.S. on a special diplomatic rescue flight from Israel. Major American news networks broadcast his homecoming preparations and arrival live. Police and FBI agents secured the street leading to the family’s home.
Rabbi Yitzchak Gershovitz, the Chabad emissary in Tenafly and the family’s rabbi, told Ynet: “For our community, for American Jews, this is a moment we’ll never forget. From October 7 until today—it’s been a journey that never stopped. For the Alexander family, it’s been one long day that finally ended. Thank God—the nightmare ended in this moment.”
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Hundreds of residents lined the streets waving Israeli flags and yellow ribbons, cheering as he arrived home
During his captivity, Alexander survived an airstrike on the site over the tunnel where he was held. Part of the tunnel shaft collapsed, and he suffered injuries to his shoulder and arms as he tried to dig himself out. “I thought that was it, that I was going to die,” he recalled. “I had somehow survived a year and a half, but now I thought I was going to suffocate in the tunnel.”
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Edan Alexander in the hospital after his release from captivity in Gaza
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
In one of many transfers between locations—homes, mosques, tents and tunnels—his captors disguised him to avoid detection. On one occasion, one of them dressed as a woman and led him out of a tunnel. Alexander, unshaven and dressed in local clothing, was given a cap to hide his identity. They emerged to find a cart hitched to a donkey. To avoid suspicion, Alexander was handed the reins to appear as if he, not the "woman," was in charge.
Hamas reportedly released Alexander as a “gesture” to President Donald Trump, hoping to revive negotiations and end the war. For now, however, talks between Israel and Hamas remain stalled as the broader conflict with Iran unfolds.