Three family members of hostages held by Hamas, including the father of American hostage Edan Alexander, took to CPAC’s main stage on Thursday.

In an interview with CPAC senior fellow Mercedes Schlapp, the three told the stories of their loved ones still in captivity.

“Edan is an all-American kid,” Adi Alexander, the father of the last American believed to be alive in Hamas captivity, said. “He decided on a gap year to enlist in the IDF because of his love for both of his countries.”

Edan was born in Rockville, Maryland, before moving to New Jersey. Edan joined the IDF after high school because of “his love for both of his countries,” his father explained. He was at a small outpost by himself near Kibbutz Nir Oz when he was attacked by terrorists and taken hostage. He has been seen in Hamas propaganda videos.

“We consider ourselves lucky that he managed to surrender,” Adi added.

Adi said he has spoken to President Donald Trump several times who was shocked by the fact that 45 Americans were killed on October 7.

“Ever since we met him, he took ownership on this matter, recognizing that Americans are still being held,” he said. “We are very grateful for that but we have to push forward until they are all out.”

Gal Gilboa-Dalal, who is a survivor of the Nova Music Festival, said he went to the festival with his younger brother Guy, who is currently a hostage in Gaza.

“The terrorists started shooting at us, it was a massive round of shooting that came from all around us,” Gal said. “We had to leave our cars and run away and I haven’t seen my brother ever since.”

After 10 hours of fleeing and hiding from terrorists, Gal said he was taken to a police station by IDF where he called his father and found out his brother was taken hostage.

“Hamas already published a hostage video of him three hours before I was able to escape,” Gal said. “I went to watch over him and I went back without him.”

Moshe Lavi, the brother-in-law of Israeli hostage Omri Miran, said Omri and his wife Lishai opened the door to a neighborhood teenager who was being used by terrorists to lure families hiding from their homes on October 7 in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. The teenager, Tomer Arava Eliaz, and his mother Dikla were later found dead.

For hours, Omri and his wife were held captive in their own home with their children, including their two-year-old who had a gun pointed at her by terrorists. They were then grouped with the Idan family whose 18-year-old daughter Maayan was shot and killed in front of her parents. The terrorists accessed Gali Idan’s Facebook account and live-streamed their abuse of the families.

“Around 1:30 p.m. Omri was handcuffed and Lishai told him she loves him and will take care of the girls and asked him not to be a hero,” Lavi said. “He told her he loves her and that was the last time she saw him.”

Omri has been in captivity for 503 days.

“I’m lucky because my sister survived, my parents survived, my other sister and her family survived,” Lavi added. “But being lucky means that you have a hostage in your family that you need to fight for.”

On Thursday, Israel received the bodies of Shiri Bibas, her young children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, an elderly man, after the terror group paraded them on stage in front of large, cheering crowds in a propaganda spectacle.

During the spectacle, Red Cross representatives signed documents on stage to receive the bodies. The coffins were then transported to the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip where they underwent an evaluation by a bomb squad and then were wrapped in Israeli flags.

During their transport to Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv for identification, somber Israelis gathered in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and at the institute to await their arrival.

Hamas also released the names of the final six living hostages set to be released from Gaza on Saturday. The list includes Israeli citizens Omer Shem Tov, 22, Omer Wenkert, 23, Eliya Cohen, 27, and Tal Shoham, 30, all of whom were captured by terrorists on October 7. Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, and Avraham (Avera) Mengisto, 39, who have both been hostages in Gaza for about a decade, will also be released.

So far, 19 of 33 hostages have been released during the first phase of the ceasefire, along with five Thai hostages who were released as part of a separate deal. Seventy-three hostages remain in captivity, all but three of whom were abducted on October 7.

The fate of those not slated for the first phase have yet to be negotiated. According to the ceasefire agreement, negotiations for phase two were set to begin on February 3, the 16th day, but discussions have not yet commenced.

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​[[{“value”:”

Three family members of hostages held by Hamas, including the father of American hostage Edan Alexander, took to CPAC’s main stage on Thursday.

In an interview with CPAC senior fellow Mercedes Schlapp, the three told the stories of their loved ones still in captivity.

“Edan is an all-American kid,” Adi Alexander, the father of the last American believed to be alive in Hamas captivity, said. “He decided on a gap year to enlist in the IDF because of his love for both of his countries.”

Edan was born in Rockville, Maryland, before moving to New Jersey. Edan joined the IDF after high school because of “his love for both of his countries,” his father explained. He was at a small outpost by himself near Kibbutz Nir Oz when he was attacked by terrorists and taken hostage. He has been seen in Hamas propaganda videos.

“We consider ourselves lucky that he managed to surrender,” Adi added.

Adi said he has spoken to President Donald Trump several times who was shocked by the fact that 45 Americans were killed on October 7.

“Ever since we met him, he took ownership on this matter, recognizing that Americans are still being held,” he said. “We are very grateful for that but we have to push forward until they are all out.”

Gal Gilboa-Dalal, who is a survivor of the Nova Music Festival, said he went to the festival with his younger brother Guy, who is currently a hostage in Gaza.

“The terrorists started shooting at us, it was a massive round of shooting that came from all around us,” Gal said. “We had to leave our cars and run away and I haven’t seen my brother ever since.”

After 10 hours of fleeing and hiding from terrorists, Gal said he was taken to a police station by IDF where he called his father and found out his brother was taken hostage.

“Hamas already published a hostage video of him three hours before I was able to escape,” Gal said. “I went to watch over him and I went back without him.”

Moshe Lavi, the brother-in-law of Israeli hostage Omri Miran, said Omri and his wife Lishai opened the door to a neighborhood teenager who was being used by terrorists to lure families hiding from their homes on October 7 in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. The teenager, Tomer Arava Eliaz, and his mother Dikla were later found dead.

For hours, Omri and his wife were held captive in their own home with their children, including their two-year-old who had a gun pointed at her by terrorists. They were then grouped with the Idan family whose 18-year-old daughter Maayan was shot and killed in front of her parents. The terrorists accessed Gali Idan’s Facebook account and live-streamed their abuse of the families.

“Around 1:30 p.m. Omri was handcuffed and Lishai told him she loves him and will take care of the girls and asked him not to be a hero,” Lavi said. “He told her he loves her and that was the last time she saw him.”

Omri has been in captivity for 503 days.

“I’m lucky because my sister survived, my parents survived, my other sister and her family survived,” Lavi added. “But being lucky means that you have a hostage in your family that you need to fight for.”

On Thursday, Israel received the bodies of Shiri Bibas, her young children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, an elderly man, after the terror group paraded them on stage in front of large, cheering crowds in a propaganda spectacle.

During the spectacle, Red Cross representatives signed documents on stage to receive the bodies. The coffins were then transported to the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip where they underwent an evaluation by a bomb squad and then were wrapped in Israeli flags.

During their transport to Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv for identification, somber Israelis gathered in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and at the institute to await their arrival.

Hamas also released the names of the final six living hostages set to be released from Gaza on Saturday. The list includes Israeli citizens Omer Shem Tov, 22, Omer Wenkert, 23, Eliya Cohen, 27, and Tal Shoham, 30, all of whom were captured by terrorists on October 7. Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, and Avraham (Avera) Mengisto, 39, who have both been hostages in Gaza for about a decade, will also be released.

So far, 19 of 33 hostages have been released during the first phase of the ceasefire, along with five Thai hostages who were released as part of a separate deal. Seventy-three hostages remain in captivity, all but three of whom were abducted on October 7.

The fate of those not slated for the first phase have yet to be negotiated. According to the ceasefire agreement, negotiations for phase two were set to begin on February 3, the 16th day, but discussions have not yet commenced.

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