Former Hamas hostages have been reunited in hospital after enduring months of underground captivity, in an emotional meeting that underscored the ongoing toll of 7 October and renewed pleas for the release of those still held in Gaza.
Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old US-Israeli soldier released last week after 584 days in captivity, was visited by fellow freed hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, who was freed in February as part of a separate hostage deal.
“Edan and I were held together for part of our captivity. Our fates were tied in the most complex situation imaginable,” Dekel-Chen said. “It was important for me to welcome him back. I know what he went through – and what he still has ahead.”
Edan Alexander and Sagui Dekel-Chen embrace after months in Hamas captivity. Photo Credit: X
Alexander, a Golani Brigade soldier originally from Tenafly, New Jersey, was kidnapped on 7 October and held in Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza’s Zeitoun neighbourhood. According to his father, Adi, he was starved, beaten, handcuffed, and subjected to futile interrogations. “Edan had only been a soldier for 10 months when he was kidnapped,” his father said. “They knew far more about the IDF’s order of battle than he did.”
At one point, a tunnel reportedly collapsed on Alexander, injuring his shoulder. His diet consisted mainly of pita, rice, beans and black coffee. He emerged pale, severely underweight, and covered in red sores and bedbug bites. “His skin is in terrible shape,” his father added.
In early captivity, Hamas captors covered Alexander’s head with a sack. He later described the disorienting fear of nearby airstrikes shaking the tunnels “like earthquakes”.
The first image released from Gaza of Edan Alexander, who was released from Hamas captivity on 12 May, 2025. (Screenshot)
Conditions reportedly improved only after the January ceasefire and President Donald Trump’s Middle East visit. Alexander was moved to another tunnel with access to a television, shower and occasional meat.
Dekel-Chen, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Or during the 7 October assault, had become a symbol of the hostage crisis after his wife gave birth to their daughter Shahar while he remained in captivity. Like Alexander, he is a US citizen, and his family campaigned heavily for his release.
Upon returning home, Dekel-Chen was able to deliver signs of life from other hostages to their families. “He didn’t know anything – not about the situation in Israel, not about his own family,” his relatives said at the time.
The Israeli hostages Iair Horn, , Sagui Dekel-Chen and Sasha Troufanov are handed over in Khan Younis, Gaza.
As the two survivors reconnect, their families and advocates continue to call for international pressure to secure the release of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza.
“I’m incredibly happy for Edan and his family,” Dekel-Chen said. “I hope I can soon embrace all the others who were left behind.”
