The mother of Edan Alexander, a 19-year-old who graduated from New Jersey's Tenafly High School just last year, is now pleading for his release after learning her son was taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
"I just hope that they will bring him home and my soul will come back to me," Yael Alexander told NBC News' Zinhle Essamuah during a recent interview.
Edan Alexander had volunteered to serve with the Israeli army after he graduated and was reportedly working at the border near Gaza when the attacks started.
His mother said she spoke to him on the morning of the attacks.
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"He's like telling me, 'Mom, yeah, this, that, it's like, crazy. It's like World War II here," she recalled.
Initially, his family was unsure of his fate, but, officials have said that he is one of at least 210 hostages that Israel has said Hamas is holding.
"When they told me that, I was like, breathing for a second, because I knew, OK, so we have a hope now," Yael Alexander said.
The teen's mother said learning that he is still alive has sparked a hope that he could be returned to the United States, just as American hostages Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie were last week.
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