{"id":23761,"date":"2025-05-20T22:00:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?p=23761"},"modified":"2025-05-20T20:41:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:41:21","slug":"freed-hostage-shares-story-of-life-underground-with-hamas-commanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/freed-hostage-shares-story-of-life-underground-with-hamas-commanders\/","title":{"rendered":"Through Fire and Stone: Edan Alexander\u2019s Story of Survival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with hostage survivor Edan Alexander, who was released about two weeks ago, and listened to his harrowing account of the conditions he endured while in captivity. The meeting was reported Tuesday by N12 News.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWe slept in an alley\u2014without anyone noticing\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\nEdan said he stayed strong knowing that his comrades from the Golani Brigade were out there fighting to bring him home. He also spoke with the family of kidnapped soldier Nimrod Cohen and shared details about their time together in captivity.<\/p>\n<p>He recounted how, during his time in Gaza, he was constantly moved between dozens of hideouts\u2014apartments, mosques, and even out on the streets. \u201cOnce we didn\u2019t manage to get from one place to another in time,\u201d he said, \u201cso we slept in an alley\u2014without anyone noticing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Held alongside Hamas leaders in Gaza\u2019s tunnels<\/strong><br \/>\nEdan spoke about his extended captivity in Hamas\u2019s tunnel network, where he was held alongside senior Hamas officials, including Yahya Sinwar. He described the unbearable heat during the summer, saying that cans of food would explode repeatedly due to the extreme temperatures. He recalled being forced to drink seawater and eat filthy bread. Over the course of his captivity, he lost about 20 kilograms (44 pounds).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_23764\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23764\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23764 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-137-1024x682.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-137-1024x682.webp 1024w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-137-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-137-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-137-1536x1023.webp 1536w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-137.webp 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-23764\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The moment of Edan Alexander\u2019s release | Photo: IDF Spokesperson\u2019s Unit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\u201cWe must do everything to bring them all home\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\nEdan shared that he was held together with kidnapped soldier Matan Zangauker, from whom he received a sign of life during their time in captivity. He also described how he occasionally received news through the terrorists\u2014one of whom showed him a photo of his parents meeting with then-U.S. President Donald Trump. That moment made him realize his family was fighting for his release across the world.<\/p>\n<p>Edan called on the public and authorities to continue pushing for the return of the hostages. \u201cNow we must do everything to bring them all home,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with freed hostage Edan Alexander, who described surviving in the Gaza tunnels, being transferred between dozens of hideouts, and living alongside senior Hamas figures. \u201cWe must do everything to bring them all home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":23763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,2276,85,6],"tags":[3200,1476,5844,1477,5845,2595,1705,4572,2493,2031],"class_list":["post-23761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-idf","category-people","category-positive-moment","category-security","tag-edan-alexander","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-tunnels","tag-hamas","tag-hostage-rescue-efforts","tag-hostage-return","tag-israeli-hostages","tag-october-7-attacks","tag-yahya-sinwar","tag-yoav-gallant"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.7 (Yoast SEO v24.7) - 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