WASHINGTON () President Donald Trump welcomed Edan Alexander, an American held hostage by Hamas militants for 584 days in Gaza, to the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon. Trump who played an instrumental role in securing Alexander’s release has vowed to keep significant pressure on Hamas to release all the hostages.
The White House, in a post on X, said Trump kept his promise to bring Alexander home.
“We’re very proud to have helped you,” Trump told Alexander during the 30-minute meeting, adding that, at one point, the U.S. feared he might have been killed.
Alexander, a 21-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, and was serving in the Israel Defense Forces near Gaza at the time of his capture Oct. 7. He was released by Hamas in May in a gesture of goodwill to the Trump administration.
“I came to thank the person who is responsible for saving my life,” Alexander said in a statement following his meeting with Trump. “I was deeply moved to be in the White House the same place where my parents had been many times during their fight for my release, but this time together with them.”
Alexander added: “I told the most powerful man in the world what I went through, what my friends there are going through, and asked him to continue doing everything in his power. … I hope he can achieve another historic breakthrough a comprehensive deal to free them all, all 50 hostages.”
First lady Melania Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff were among those who greeted Alexander alongside the president in the Oval Office.
Now, as the dust settles on a U.S.-brokered armistice between Israel and Iran, Trump is making a fresh push for peace in Gaza. Trump said on Truth Social Tuesday that Israel “has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza. The president, without providing details, said he hopes Hamas will also accept the deal for the “good of the Middle East.”
The militant group has so far given no definitive response to the purported deal.
It’s been 635 days since Hamas launched its Oct. 7 surprise attack, which left about 1,200 people dead. A further 250, mostly civilians, were taken hostage by the militant group. Since then, Israel’s 21 months of fierce retaliation have killed at least 57,000 people in the enclave, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.
The entire population of Gaza is on the brink of famine, the United Nations warned in May.
Trump is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, in what will be the Israeli leader’s third visit to Washington in less than six months.
