JTA
Freed hostage Edan Alexander says he’s returning to the IDF next month
Grace Gilson
September 19, 2025

Just months after former hostage Edan Alexander was freed from 584 days in Hamas captivity, the Golani Brigade soldier has announced he will return to service. “Next month, God willing, I will return to Israel. I will once again put on the IDF uniform, and I will proudly serve alongside my brothers,” Alexander said at an FIDF event…His announcement at the FIDF gala marked his first public statements since the Trump administration negotiated his release in May. In July, he met with Trump alongside his parents at the Oval Office. Alexander, 21, joined the IDF after graduating from high school in New Jersey and was captured while serving near the Gaza border during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. READ MORE