A year after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, 4 Americans are still being held hostage

Four Americans are among the dozens of hostages still believed to be alive after being kidnapped a year ago in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

More than 250 people were kidnapped from Israeli communities and a music festival last year, when Hamas rushed across the Israel-Gaza border in a surprise attack Oct. 7.

Among the American hostages are young Israeli soldiers, an occupational therapist, and a builder, all with families begging for their return.

Edan Alexander: seen in Gaza tunnels, 'skinny,' but 'in a good mood'

Edan Alexander, a 20-year-old Israeli soldier, was stationed in southern Israel near the border with Gaza when Hamas broke through on Oct. 7. In calls to his mother, Yael Alexander, early that morning, he told her he heard lots of shooting, but tried to reassure of his safety. Those were his last exchanged words before he was taken hostage.

A native of Tenafly, New Jersey, Alexander graduated from the Tenafly High School in 2022 and decided to delay college to enlist with Israel's military, his parents said. He swam on his high school's swim team and loved the New York Knicks.

"He's such a great kid," his father, Adi Alexander, told NorthJersey.com. "He's a better version of me."

Alexander was born in Israel and moved to the U.S. with his parents as a baby – first to Maryland, before the family relocated to New Jersey in 2008. Alexander celebrated his bar mitzvah in Israel and traveled back often as a kid to visit his grandparents.

In Tenafly, people gather every Friday at a local café to run or walk in his name, and two hostage posters with his face are in the town's center. Weeks after he was kidnapped, residents of the town laid out an empty Shabbat table with 220 seats for Tenafly and the other Israelis held hostage.

At the one-year anniversary of his kidnapping, the Alexanders are pushing for a deal that would secure their son's release. The death last month of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, another young American who was kidnapped, racked them with fear for their son.

But they are holding hope alive. Several hostages who were released last year said they saw Alexander in Gaza's tunnels, "skinny," but "in a good mood," Adi Alexander said. Their message to him now: "Stay strong. Survive. Mom and Dad are coming for you."

Omer Neutra

Omer Neutra, an Israeli soldier and a native of Plainview, on New York's Long Island, was captured Oct. 7 as his tank unit tried to repel Hamas' surprise attack. They were among the first to respond to the attack, his family wrote in a GoFundMe post.

An "avid sports fan" with a love of traveling, hiking, and playing sports, Neutra, 22, was the captain on his high school's basketball, volleyball, and soccer teams, his parents, Ronen and Orna Neutra, told the Republican National Convention in July. Neutra deferred his studies at the University of Binghamton to enlist as an Israeli soldier, according to the fundraiser, which has raised more than $182,000, as of Friday.

Plainview held a rally for the release of Neutra and the other hostages on Wednesday, according to ABC-7. In addition to their Republican National Convention address, Neutra's parents have spoken to President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to beg them to help find a way toward their son's release.

"We need our beautiful son to come back. And we need your support," Ronen Neutra told the Convention.

Sagui Dekel-Chen

Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the Israeli border communities hardest hit in the Oct. 7 attack.

A beloved husband and father of three daughters, Dekel-Chen had been held hostage for two months when his youngest was born, his father told NBC.

On the morning of Oct. 7, he was in his machine shop, hard at work on converting two old buses into usable classrooms. He was the first to alert that the kibbutz was under attack on the morning of Oct. 7, according to reports.

Dekel-Chen's last sign of life came last November, when other released hostages testified that they saw him alive and wounded, his father told NPR.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen told Slate the family escaped the Holocaust to Connecticut before he moved to Israel, where Sagui grew up. His "end game," he said, is for Sagui to walk into a room and "his two little girls will leap into his arms, and he will meet his infant daughter."

"I’m willing to do anything and demand everything for that to happen," he said.

Keith Siegel

Keith Siegel, 64, and his wife, Aviva, 62, were both kidnapped on Oct. 7 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, among the Israeli towns most impacted by the attack, the Times of Israel reported. His wife was released as part of the first temporary cease-fire deal in November.

Siegel, an occupational therapist, moved to Israel 40 years ago, according to the American Jewish Committee. Once there, he met and married Aviva, a kindergarten teacher.

On Oct. 7, Siegel suffered broken ribs and was shot in the head, according to the Times of Israel. They were driven to Gaza in their own car.

In April, Siegel appeared in a propaganda video released by Hamas – the first video of him since he was taken hostage. In the video, Siegel spoke to his family, saying that he loves them and thinks back to memories of the Passover they celebrated the past year. It is unknown when the video was filmed.

Aviva Siegel now uses the trauma and pain of her experience as a hostage to push for her husband's release. She has met with Biden, Netanyahu, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"The hostages, they are being left to die,'' she told reporters. "To die slowly. How can I handle that? I just don’t know how to handle it anymore."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hamas hostages in Gaza: 4 Americans are still there. Who are they?