Parents of Hamas hostage anguished by anti-Israel protests on Oct. 7: How can people 'cheer for this?'

Thousands of anti-Israel protesters raged in NYC on the somber anniversary of Oct. 7

Parents of hostage held in Gaza speak out: 'Our family is totally broken'

Yael and Adi Alexander, whose son is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss their meeting with former President Trump and what life is like one year after he was taken against his will.

The parents of a Hamas hostage held in Gaza spoke out against the anti-Israel protests on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, questioning how anyone can cheer for the terror group after the barbaric assault on the Jewish State. 

Yael and Adi Alexander, whose son Edan is still being held in the Gaza Strip, joined "Fox & Friends" to discuss the protests, their meeting with former President Trump on the somber anniversary and the state of negotiations to secure Edan's release. 

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"This is very difficult for me to see. I still… cannot see the footage from October 7th, all the footage [Hamas] took with GoPro cameras, how they kidnapped people, how they came to the Nova Festival and did all these terrifying things," Yael told Brian Kilmeade on Tuesday. 

Edan Alexander

Edan Alexander, born in Tel Aviv and raised in New Jersey, is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.  (Hostage Family Forum)

"[I] start crying every time that I'm just hearing this... sounds, and it was it's very scary.."

"I don't get it. How people don't understand that this is a terrorist group. They terror[ize] Israel," she continued. "On October 6th, everything was quiet. It was peaceful in Israel… I was speaking with Edan October 6th at night, and we… Facetime[d] each other and everything was quiet, and suddenly October 7th happened."

Thousands of anti-Israel protesters descended on the streets in New York City on Monday, exactly one year after Hamas slaughtered 1,200 innocent Israelis over the border. 

The protests spanned across the city and on Columbia University's campus with demonstrators shouting, "NYPD, KKK, IDF, they're all the same!"

"Free, free Palestine!" others shouted, while waving the Palestinian flag. 

Yael and Adi, who live in New Jersey, met with Trump while he was in the Big Apple to pay tribute to the somber anniversary of the terror attack. 

"I just told him about Edan, what kind of a Jersey boy he is. I told the president that people that [were] rescue[d] in mid-November, saw Edan inside the tunnels, and they told me that he was speaking with them, tell[ing] everyone that he's an American citizen," Yael recalled.

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"He tried to calm everyone down and to say, 'Listen, you're all civilians. You will be out soon, very fast. Don't worry about it.' It gave us a lot of strength to know that Edan was strong on October 7th, and he was comforting others," she continued. 

Alexander touted the American government for its effort to secure the release of American hostages, and urged the Israeli government to do the same. 

"We have a great amount of access to the highest level of the government, and we are really grateful," he explained. "And it was a result back in November, but we don't see any movement since then. We know that the diplomacy never works till it works, and we hope it will work this time, and it should, and really fast."

Edan is one of four Americans still being held in Gaza. Hamas is also holding the bodies of three Americans. 

The pair praised their son for his dedication to both the United States and Israel, explaining that he chose to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) after he graduated from high school. He was taken hostage by Hamas as terrorists surged across the Israeli border 

"It was a very difficult year. Our family is totally broken," Yael said. 

"There is not a second in the day that we are not thinking about Edan. We are doing everything that we can. We are meeting with all the government here in the U.S. and also in Israel. We are traveling a lot, and we are doing whatever we can to free Edan and the 100 hostages that are still in Gaza."

Bailee Hill is an associate editor with Fox News Digital. Story ideas can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Authored by Bailee Hill via FoxNews October 8th 2024