NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A group of protesters demanding the immediate release of Hamas-held hostages—including American Israeli hostages from the Tri-State area—gathered in Central Park on Sunday.
In attendance was the father of Edan Alexander, a 20-year-old Israeli American hostage from Tenafly, New Jersey, who moved to Israel after graduating high school in 2022 to volunteer with the Israel Defense Forces.
Edan Alexander was shown in a Hamas-released video on Saturday, after being in captivity for over 420 days, since he was abducted during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in southern Israel.
While Saturday’s video provided hope to his family that he is alive, his father Adi Alexander said that seeing his son speak under duress made the situation seem all the more dire.
“I stand here after seeing my son alive for the first time in over a year. While it gave us a sliver of hope, it also reignited the urgency of our plea: time is running out,” he said. “President Biden, President-elect Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu—I call on all of you to act. This is not a moment for politics or hesitation. This is a moment for courage, collaboration, and decisive action.”
In the video, Edan Alexander addresses his family, Trump and Netanyahu. He can be heard saying “Every day here feels like an eternity,” words that Adi Alexander said haunt him.
“No father should hear their child plead for their life like that,” he said. “He believes in the strength of the United States. So do I. But strength means nothing if it is not paired with action.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy stood with the Alexander family in a statement after the release of the hostage video, urging both the Biden and incoming Trump administrations to “do everything possible to quickly facilitate an agreement that brings him home safe.”
In response to the video, the White House sent forward a statement from National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett. Savett called the video “a cruel reminder of Hamas’s terror against citizens of multiple countries, including our own,” and said that the council has been in touch with Edan Alexander’s family.
“The war in Gaza would stop tomorrow and the suffering of Gazans would end immediately—and would have ended months ago—if Hamas agreed to release the hostages,” Savett said. “It has refused to do so, but as the President said last week, we have a critical opportunity to conclude the deal to release the hostages, stop the war, and surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza. This deal is on the table now.”
Savett noted that Biden and the U.S. will “continue to work around the clock” to secure a release of the hostages through diplomatic efforts, including sanctions, law enforcement actions and other measures.
“On behalf of the Alexanders and all the families of the hostages still being held by Hamas, we will never cease in our efforts to secure their immediate release,” he concluded.
Joining Adi Alexander and other protesters at Central Park on Sunday were Orna and Ronen Neutra, the parents of 23-year-old Omer Neutra, who is from Plainview on Long Island.
Omer Neutra was also taken hostage during the Oct. 7 attack, and his parents have taken a vocal role in the #BringThemHome movement.
“The 101 hostages must come home. We appreciate President Biden’s commitment and urge Biden and Trump to seize this moment before January,” they said. “Omer and Edan made the ultimate sacrifice for the country they love. They deserve to come home.”
The organizer of the weekly rally, march and run in Central Park in support of the release of the hostages, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, promoted Sunday morning’s gathering on social media, emphasizing the “Bring Them Home” slogan by writing “BRING THEM HOME NOW BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.”
“As time runs out, we urge both current and incoming U.S. administrations to exhaust every possible option and leverage every form of pressure—the hostages' lives hang by a thread,” the group said.
The organization has committed to holding the “NYC March to Bring Them Home” every Sunday in Central Park until all of the Hamas-held hostages are released.
Showing his support on Sunday was Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who also directed his remarks to the nation’s highest-ranking officials.
“This is a moment that can unite us all,” Levine said. “We must demand our leaders act now to bring the hostages back.”