Hamas said it “lost contact” with a group holding Edan Alexander, the last living U.S. citizen held hostage in Gaza.
“We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement Tuesday. “We are still trying to reach them.”
Alexander, who was born in Tel Aviv and grew up in New Jersey, was doing voluntary service with the Israel Defense Forces when he was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, along with around 250 others. Israeli officials say 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas attack. The event has sparked a monthslong war in Gaza, with an estimated 51,000 Palestinians having died as a result.
Alexander is one of at least 59 hostages remaining in Gaza. Israel officials believe only 24 are still alive.
He was part of an Israeli proposal for a 45-day ceasefire that would involve “the release of half of the hostages in the first week of the agreement,” according to a Hamas official. The group rejected Israel’s proposal for a renewed ceasefire.
The year began with a two-month ceasefire in which Hamas released 33 hostages in return for the release of 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and aid and goods entering the Gaza Strip.
TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY PICKS: LOYALTY, AMERICA FIRST, AND PRO-ISRAEL
Hamas released a video of Alexander on Sunday, prompting his father, Adi Alexander, to express fears for his son.
“It was very tough to observe, very tough to see our son in this situation,” he told NewsNation.