Edan Alexander, freed from Hamas captivity, feted on return home

(JTA) — Hundreds of people lined the streets of Tenafly, New Jersey, on Thursday to welcome home native son Edan Alexander, who survived 584 days of captivity in Gaza before being freed in May.

Alexander graduated from Tenafly High School before enlisting in the Israeli army and was serving on a base on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and took him and 250 others hostage. The last remaining living American citizen in captivity, he was freed in a one-off deal negotiated by the Trump administration on May 12.

That day, schools in Tenafly excused students from classes as thousands of peop...