Former Hamas captive Sagui Dekel-Chen visited fellow freed hostage Edan Alexander in the hospital in recent days. “Edan and I were held together for part of our captivity. Our fates were tied in the most complex situation imaginable,” Dekel-Chen said of their meeting.
“It was important for me to welcome him back. I know what he went through—and what he still has ahead.” Dekel-Chen added, “I’m incredibly happy for Edan and his family. I hope I can soon embrace all the other hostages who were left behind.”
Edan Alexander, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was released last week after 584 days in Hamas captivity, following direct talks between the U.S. and the terror group ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East. Born and raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, Alexander immigrated to Israel at age 18 and volunteered for service in the IDF’s Golani Brigade.
He was held in tunnels beneath Gaza’s Zeitoun neighborhood. In an interview with The New York Times four days ago, his father, Adi, revealed that Edan was handcuffed, beaten and interrogated. “But the interrogations were useless,” he said. “Edan had only been a soldier for 10 months when he was kidnapped. They knew far more about the IDF’s order of battle than he did.”
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“At one point, a tunnel collapsed on him and injured his shoulder,” his father said. He described his son’s physical condition: “He was very thin. He survived mainly on pita, rice, beans and black coffee. His skin turned pale from the lack of sunlight, covered in red sores. His whole body was scratched from bedbug bites. His skin is in terrible shape.”
In the early days of his captivity, Hamas captors covered Alexander’s head with a sack. As his family previously stated, he spoke of the terror caused by the sounds of war: “The airstrikes shook the tunnels like earthquakes.”
Edan Alexander meeting his family after his release
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
“The tunnels were cramped at first,” his father added, “but as other hostages around him were freed or died, Edan had more space.” After Trump’s inauguration, conditions improved slightly. “He was moved to another tunnel with access to a TV and shower and after the January ceasefire, he was even given meat,” his father said.
Dekel-Chen, 36, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was released in February as part of a hostage deal, after 498 days in captivity. He was abducted from the kibbutz during Hamas’s October 7 assault. His wife Avital was pregnant at the time with their daughter Shahar, who was born while he was still held hostage.
Like Alexander, Dekel-Chen is also a U.S. citizen and his family campaigned heavily with American officials for his release. After his return, his family revealed he had suffered severe abuse in captivity.
Upon his release, Dekel-Chen shared signs of life from other hostages still being held in Gaza with their families. “He didn’t know anything — not about the situation in Israel, not about his own family — neither underground nor above ground,” his family said after his return.