Less than a day after a video was released showing Edan Alexander held hostage by Hamas terrorists, President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal met this morning, Sunday, with his family.

During the meeting, the President spoke with the Alexander family about Edan, who has been held captive in Gaza for 422 days along with over 100 other hostages. The President stressed the immediate need to bring them all home.

President Isaac Herzog: “I repeat my call: now, with an agreement reached regarding the northern border with Lebanon, it is time to finalize a deal and bring the hostages home. We are negotiating with a bitter and cruel enemy whose sole purpose in releasing this video was to try to break our spirit. On the contrary—I believe this video has strengthened us.“

“My call to the entire world, to Israel’s leadership, and to all mediators is this: the time is now. We want Edan home. We want everyone home urgently. We cry out for this every single day—now is the time to act.“

“This video is like a message from hell—harsh and heartbreaking. When I saw it, I wept, but I also felt a glimmer of hope.“

“There are negotiations taking place behind the scenes, and it can be done. Now is the opportunity to bring about a mea“ningful change that will lead to a deal to free the hostages.”

Yael Alexander, Edan’s mother, added: “This has been a sleepless night. Edan—his voice and the video replaying endlessly. You can see in the video that Edan is going through hell. His eyes are crying out, full of sorrow, but it gave me so much strength—Edan strengthened us with his call to us.“

“We released this video so that everyone can see—Edan is alive, and many other hostages are alive. It’s time to act and free them.”