Trump meets with released Hamas hostage Aidan Alexander on the October 7 anniversary
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President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Aidan Alexander, who was released in May from Hamas captivity, on Tuesday — exactly two years after Hamas attacked Israel.
This is the second time Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American who spent nearly 600 days hostage after being kidnapped by Hamas following its initial attack on Israel, has visited the White House since his release from captivity. Alexander previously visited the White House in July.
Alexander grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, and headed to Israel when he was 18 to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces. He was living with his grandparents in Tel Aviv before Hamas took him hostage.
Israel and Hamas meet in Egypt to revive Trump’s peace plan before October. 7th anniversary
Aidan Alexander speaks with his loved ones after his release. (IDF)
Alexander’s appearance at the White House also comes as the Trump administration has put forward a 20-point plan to end the conflict and return the 48 hostages still in captivity. The plan requires the return of all hostages, living and dead, within 72 hours of Hamas signing the deal. The resolution also calls on Israeli forces to withdraw their forces and completely disarm Hamas.
The Trump Justice Department has cracked down on the Palestinian group Hamas, creating a new task force in March aimed at providing justice for the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the group, known as the October 7 Joint Task Force, will focus on identifying, charging and prosecuting those who carried out the 2023 attacks, which killed nearly 1,200 people — including 47 U.S. citizens. Hamas also took more than 250 people hostage that day, including eight American citizens.
The IDF is the national army of Israel. Hamas was the ruling body in Gaza.
The Israeli army will enhance its preparedness for the first phase of Trump’s plan to release the hostages
People waving Israeli and American flags gather in the streets to honor Aidan Alexander, the American who was taken hostage during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and who returned to his hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, on June 19, after being released on May 12 in a deal. (Photo by Lukman Vural Ilibul/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill warned that anti-Semitic attacks are becoming more common in the United States, in the wake of the ongoing conflict. Anti-Semitic violence reached a new high in 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which recorded 9,354 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment, assault and vandalism in the United States in 2024. This represents a 5% increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023 and a 344% increase in the past five years.
“The Hamas-led terror attack on October 7 was not only a horrific attack on innocent civilians in Israel, including many American citizens, but it was also a wake-up call to the threats we face here at home,” Rep. Andrew Garbarino, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement Tuesday to Fox News Digital.
Trump on what it will take to bring Israeli hostages home: Hamas must be ‘confronted and destroyed’
President Donald Trump urged Hamas to move quickly on a US-brokered peace proposal aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza. (Alex Wong/Getty Images; Mahmoud Hames/AFP via Getty Images)
“In the two years since this tragedy, acts of terrorism and anti-Semitic violence have become increasingly common on American soil, with foreign and domestic terrorists inspiring lone operatives,” Garbarino said. He added: “American Jews continue to face intimidation and attacks simply because of their faith. This is unacceptable, and anyone who defends these calls to violence is complicit.”
Trump also met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday amid ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries.
Fox News Channel’s Caitlin McFaul contributed to this report.