You're safe now, I'm waiting for you, I love you, you're beautiful. The words of a happy and relieved mother speaking to her son after he was finally freed from Hamas captivity. On Friday, Edan was released from hospital.
Yael Alexander was handed a phone by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and could once again hear and speak to her son Edan, an Israeli-American IDF soldier who was taken hostage during the October 7 massacre and held in Gaza for 584 days.
Yael Alexander talks with her son Edan after his release from Hamas captivity
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U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff with Edan Alexander after he was released from captivity
Witkoff was on hand to oversee Alexander's release from captivity, made possible in direct American negotiations with the Hamas terror group that was holding the young captive.
Although frail Alexander walked on his own feet to greet his waiting family at the Re'im base after he was handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza and delivered into the hands of the IDF.
Yael thanked U.S. President Donald Trump and his team for bringing her son home. After he was hospitalized in Israel, she spoke to the press and extended her thanks to the IDF soldiers, security organizations and the medical teams at the Soratzky Medical Center in Tel Aviv. She thanked the Hostages and Missing Families Forum for their continued efforts to release all of the hostages, but did not thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his coalition government, which did not have a role in Edan's release.
קליפ סיכום חזרתו של עידן אלכסנדר משבי החמאס
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The family of released hostage Edan Alexander speaking to reporters
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
That unleashed a barrage of hateful social media attacks on her and her son, including allegations that his captivity was his own fault.
Edan brought with him the latest sign of life from Matan Zangauker, another IDF soldier who was still held hostage. Matan's mother, Einav, who has been vocal in her fight for her son's release, told Ynet that she was excited to know that Matan was alive but was terrified for his safety amid increased IDF attacks on Gaza.
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"There is no certainty whether hostages are there and whether the military pressure was killing them. The only way to bring my son and the other hostages back is in a deal that includes an end to the war. Netanyahu is dragging us into an endless political war," she said.
Alexander and Zangauker had been held together in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza and Einav said her son was now on his own, although he was in poor health. "Netanyahu decided to murder my little boy. He is our personal angel of death."
After his return, Alexander revealed the dire conditions of his long-lasting captivity and that he had been bound in chains and beaten by his captors.