The Israeli military confirmed that Edan Alexander had been turned over to the Red Cross and was being brought to Israeli forces. Israeli authorities did not provide details.
Wearing shirts emblazoned with his name, Alexander's extended family gathered in Tel Aviv to watch the release. They cheered and chanted his name when the military said he was free. His grandmother, Varda Ben Baruch, beamed. In Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, hundreds of people broke out into cheers.
Alexander was 19 when he was taken from his military base in southern Israel during the Hamas massacre of more than 1200 Israeli men, women and children in October 2023, which set off the war in Gaza. The terrorists also took more than 200 hostages during their brutal attack.
Israel says 58 hostages remain in captivity, with about 23 of them said to be alive. Many of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the 2023 attack were freed in ceasefire deals.
Television footage showed Alexander’s mother, Yael Alexander, arriving at the Reim military base in southern Israel, where her son was expected to be taken first.
