(NewsNation) — “Sometimes it feels like the world turned a blind eye.”
Those are the words of Adi Alexander, the father of one of three American hostages believed to still be alive in Gaza.
Edan Alexander, 21, was kidnapped by Hamas, a terrorist organization, on Oct. 7, 2023, when he was 19 years old. He has spent two birthdays in captivity.
“He’s a child. He didn’t start his life,” his mother, Yael Alexander, said to NewsNation Sunday morning on “Morning in America with Hena Doba.”
Possible signs of progress have taken shape since a Trump envoy initiated negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday.
An estimated seven Americans remain hostages in the war in Gaza, according to the American Jewish Council as of December last year. According to reporting by The Washington Post, three are believed to be alive, while four bodies are stuck there.
President-elect Donald Trump has sent delegations to the Middle East to work with Israeli leadership on negotiating a ceasefire and hostage deal before he takes office on Jan. 20.
The Alexanders describe Edan as an “all-American kid,” a swimmer and Boy Scout, and a friendly, caring person.
“He’s a great son, a great brother,” Edan said. “We just miss him. You know, it’s unreal, like I’m seeing all this video, and I want to cry because it’s my baby. It’s very tough.”
Yael, his mother, said she flies to Israel every three weeks, recently going for Thanksgiving – Edan’s favorite holiday.
“We want our family back. We want him back. We want him alive and well back to (New) Jersey,” she said.
Hopeful for a ceasefire
Trump recently said “all hell will break out” if a deal isn’t reached by the time he takes office.
“I think all parties should use this Jan. 20 as a deadline and just to pass it over the finish line,” said Ali, Edan’s father. “We’ve been so close before six months ago, and it slipped away. I hope this time they will be successful in sealing this deal.”
His parents recently saw a video Hamas released of their son.
“It was the first time that I saw it on, I heard it on, and I was so worried because we didn’t know nothing before it,” Yael said. “We didn’t have a sign of life to see him and to hear him, and it was the first time that we saw him.”
Edan was taken under the tunnels of Gaza and was seen by some of the hostages released in November last year, according to his father.
“This video was an actual sign of life. It was a first sign of life, and we are grateful in regards of the negotiation that taking place,” Adi said.
The family is hopeful Trump will secure a deal at long last.
His mother has a message for her son, 463 days since his taking.
“Edan, you’re a hero. You are strong. You survived till now. Please survive more,” Yael said. “And we love you, and you will come back home.”
The American hostage families became a family of their own, Adi said. “The hope is mandatory, and he will come back to us … We won’t stop.”
