Tenafly family speaks about son held hostage by Hamas: 'It's an unimaginable situation'

Edan Alexander is the type of son who regularly calls his mother.

So when he didn't return her calls after the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, Yael Alexander knew something was terribly wrong.

The 19-year-old was near the Gaza Strip when Hamas attackers stormed the Israeli border.

The Alexander family spoke at a community event in Tenafly on Wednesday night, pleading for the release of the Tenafly High School graduate and thanking the community for its support and love.

Friends praised Alexander for his loyalty, sense of humor and resilience in a touching video they created about him and aired at the event.

The gathering at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades - sponsored by the Israeli-American Council of New Jersey - drew several hundred people who demonstrated their support for the Alexander family and other hostages with matching black T-shirts that said "Bring Them Home," and wall-to-wall posters of the kidnapped.

Alexander volunteered to serve in the Israel army last year following his high school graduation. He was serving near Israel's southern border with Gaza when Hamas attackers stormed into Israel and killed 1,400 people, kidnapped 240 and wounded scores more.

Yael, flanked by her husband, Adi, and their children, Mika and Roi, spoke in Hebrew, saying that she still can't comprehend all that happened. She thanked the Tenafly community for its support.

She recalled her last conversation with Edan, her oldest child. She was in Tel Aviv at the time of the attack and heard that something terrible had happened down south, where she knew Edan was stationed. She reached out to ask him if he was OK.

He tried to reassure her that he was safe despite the fact that he was clearly under attack and there were bombs going off all around him. "He said he was OK and found a shelter," she said. She didn't realize at the time it would be their last conversation since that day.

Whenever she attempted to reach him after that, he didn't answer. For days thereafter, the family didn't know if he was dead or alive.

After a week, Israeli officials informed the Alexanders that Edan had been kidnapped by Hamas and taken into Gaza. Since then, they have asked repeatedly about his whereabouts or well-being, but there's been no news. "We have heard nothing. We are praying that all of the hostages will return home," she said.

Mika, Edan's younger sister, spoke to the crowd in English. "It's an unimaginable situation. When people ask me how I'm doing and I say OK, It's a lie," she said.

"Edan and I were close. It feels like my best friend was taken away from me."

She urged everyone: "Don't stop praying. We are excited to see Edan when he comes back home."

Steve Rogers, the chief executive officer of the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, said that every day as he walks into the JCC, he sees the poster with Alexander's photo on it and it reminds him that he's still a hostage. "Edan is my son. Edan is your son. He's the son of everyone in the nation of Israel. None of us will rest until he's home."

The hostages include people captured by Hamas from Israeli border towns, an outdoor music festival and at military bases. They include civilians of different ages, including elderly, a 9-month-old baby and children. More than half of them are foreigners, from places such as America, Argentina, France and Germany.

Thus far, Hamas has released four hostages − two elderly Israeli women and an American mother and daughter − and the Israeli army rescued one hostage in a special operation.

Sea Itzhaki, a Cresskill High School student who was wearing a sweatshirt that said, "Bring Them Home," said Alexander is a family friend. She described him as "fun and lively" and said "he's a friendly person who is well-liked" by everyone. "He's a good person from a really great family. They don't deserve this. Nobody does."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Tenafly family pleads for release of son held hostage by Hamas