Trump to meet at White House with American hostage freed from Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will meet at the White House on Thursday with Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, who was released in May.

“The President and First Lady have met with many released hostages from Gaza, and they greatly look forward to meeting Edan Alexander and his family in the Oval Office tomorrow,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Alexander, now 21, is an American-Israeli from New Jersey. The soldier was 19 when militants stormed his base in Israel and dragged him into the Gaza Strip. Alexander moved to Israel in 2022 after finishing high school and enlisted in the military.

He was released on May 12 by the militant group Hamas after 584 days in captivity. Alexander had been in Israel since he was freed until he traveled last month home to New Jersey, where his family still lives.

He was among 251 people taken hostage by Hamas in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that led to the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump in early March met at the White House with a group of eight former hostages who had been released by Hamas: Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher and Noa Argamani.

Thursday’s meeting comes ahead of a planned visit on Monday to the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Trump pushes the Israeli government and Hamas to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage agreement and end the war in Gaza.