Today, May 12, Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander is set to be released from Hamas captivity after 584 days. On the morning of October 7th, 2023, he was kidnapped from his military base in the Gaza Envelope during Hamas’ brutal attack and has been held hostage ever since.
He is one of five dual Israeli–American citizens held in Gaza, but the only one believed to still be alive. However, the media have forgotten about the remaining four American citizens – Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai, and Judi Weinstein Haggai – whose bodies are being held by terrorist organizations.
The New York Times was quick to reprint Hamas’ statement. Perhaps they were too quick that they overlooked the bodies of four American hostages being held by terrorist organizations in Gaza:
No, @nytimes, Edan Alexander is the last American hostage *confirmed to be alive* in Gaza.
We won’t forget Israeli-U.S. citizens Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai, Judi Weinstein Haggai, and Omer Neutra, whose bodies are still being held by Hamas and other terrorist groups. pic.twitter.com/ZEM84k7lWR
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 12, 2025
The return of all hostages is of equal importance, regardless of their status. Yet, the Wall Street Journal referred to Edan as the “last U.S. hostage,” rather than the last living U.S. hostage being held by Hamas.
Why has @WSJ forgotten about the four other U.S. hostages still being held in Gaza? pic.twitter.com/TlO6s3k5HQ
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 12, 2025
At the very least, UPI could have acknowledged Edan’s imminent release with a photo of him, humanizing him. Instead, they used an unrelated photo of a tank, and, of course, did not mention the four other American hostages held in Gaza:
No surprise that the ever-unprofessional @UPI would make the same error.
And using a photo of an Israeli tank instead of Edan Alexander?! 😲 pic.twitter.com/HMJsvyKPe7
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 12, 2025
MSNBC remembered the other four American hostages being held in Gaza in its broadcast. But when it came to uploading the piece to the website, the headline got it wrong, with Edan referred to as the “last American hostage”:
.@MSNBC got it right on its broadcast, with both its caption and correspondent correctly referring to Alexander as the last living American hostage.
But the MSNBC website’s headline? ❌ pic.twitter.com/3qkTNJEBEQ
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 12, 2025
To ABC Australia, Edan was merely “captured in Israel.” He wasn’t simply “captured” – he was abducted during a coordinated terrorist attack and has endured 584 days in captivity. But somehow, the perpetrators get off clean. No accountability or context for the Hamas terrorists who took him and 251 other hostages captive on October 7th. Just lazy journalism at best—or willful erasure at worst:
Edan Alexander is an Israeli-American hostage. Hamas kidnapped him on Oct. 7.
Somehow, Australia’s @abcnews believes this is an appropriate headline. 🤦 pic.twitter.com/VILq8Kw8Sw
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 12, 2025
While some media have moved on and forgotten about the 59 remaining hostages in Gaza, we have not. Nor will we allow them to be erased from the record. The media and the world must not forget about them.
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