In his speech to Congress on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump is expected to bring up the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
And when he does, in the audience will be the parents of the last American captive thought to still be alive: Edan Alexander.
Alexander, born to Israeli parents and raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, was taken captive in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack at age 19 while serving in the Israeli military on the Gaza border. After graduating from high school, he moved to Israel and enlisted.
Alexander was one of dozens of Americans captured or killed in Hamas’ attack, and was one of seven American hostages — three living and four dead — to still be held in Gaza when the latest ceasefire began in mid-January.
Over the course of that ceasefire, the two other living Americans, Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, were returned to Israel. But Alexander was not included in that hostage deal because he was a soldier — and there is currently no timeline for his release.
In an effort to keep attention on Alexander’s plight, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, along with New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House leader, invited Alexander’s parents Adi and Yael to Trump’s speech. Other family members of American hostages, in addition to rescued hostage Noa Argamani, are also set to attend the speech as guests of lawmakers, and Trump is due to meet with a group of freed hostages this week.
“Their presence ensures that no American forgets their son, 21-year-old Edan, is still being held hostage in Gaza,” Gottheimer, who is Jewish and running for governor, said in a statement. “We must get every hostage home. The United States should never leave any man or woman behind.”
Gottheimer’s district includes Tenafly, home to a sizable Israeli and Jewish community, and he recently traveled to Qatar, where he lobbied the country’s leaders to help free Alexander. Qatar has housed the leaders of Hamas and is party to negotiations over the ceasefire.
Hamas released a video showing Alexander speaking to the camera in November. His parents are holding out hope that they will soon see their son alive, and back in Israel.
“We just holding and hoping and praying that he’s OK,” Yael Alexander told an American Jewish Committee podcast in 2024. “That he’s still strong there, in heart and in mind, in everything … All the time I’m praying, ‘Please, Edan. Please stay strong. Don’t let it break you. Even if you hear the bombing you know people are coming to save you. You’re not alone. We are coming.'”
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