JERUSALEM — The mother of Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander told NBC News she was both shaken and relieved to see her son in a Hamas-issued propaganda video.
“To get this video it’s a huge relief for me to see that he’s still strong. It was amazing,” Yael Alexander said in a video call Saturday, hours after the video, captioned “time is running out,” was posted on the Telegram channel of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
Edan grew up in New Jersey and had volunteered to serve with Israel’s military. He was stationed outside Gaza when he was among around 250 people taken hostage during Hamas’ terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that also saw 1,200 people killed, according to Israeli tallies. Around 100 people remain in captivity, although a third are believed to be dead.
The 20-year-old, who appears under duress in the Hamas video, calls on President-elect Donald Trump to use his power to negotiate for the freedom of those who remain in captivity in Gaza.
Edan, who at points can be seen covering his face with his hands and crying, adds that he does not want to end up like fellow American Israeli Hersh Goldberg Polin, who was killed while being held by Hamas in August.
“To see him speaking, crying, just to see him — like, I’m still shaking,” Yael Alexander said. “He cried a lot in this video. It was very tough to see Edan like this. It was real. It was tough,” she added.
Yael Alexander said she spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after the video was released.
“He told me that he’s with us, he’s embracing us,” she said, adding that he told her that he was “going to do whatever he can” to secure a deal to free the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after the call that he “feels very much the anguish” of what Edan Alexander and the hostages were going through and assured them that Israel was “working with determination and in every way to return them home, along with all the hostages who are in the hands of the enemy.”
But while a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group appeared to be holding, there have been few signs of progress in talks to secure a release of the remaining hostages or a cessation of fighting with Hamas in Gaza, where more than 44,000 have been killed in 14 months of war, according to local health officials.
Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials to explore ways to reach a deal with Israel that could secure the release of hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.
The visit was the first since the United States announced on Wednesday it would revive efforts in collaboration with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hamas is seeking an agreement that would end the war, while Netanyahu has said the war will only end when Hamas is eradicated.
Calling the video “a cruel reminder of Hamas’s terror against citizens of multiple countries,” Sean Savett, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a statement that it had been in touch with the family.
Echoing what her son said, Yael Alexander urged Trump to “act now” and work with President Joe Biden to secure the release of the hostages.
“This is not an issue for Democrats or Republicans,” she said. This is an issue for everyone to act. This is human life. It’s seven Americans. They need to come back home.”
Hala Gorani reported from Jerusalem and Freddie Clayton from London.