By Emily Crane | New York Post
Hamas hostage Edan Alexander’s grandmother praised President Trump as a “messenger for God” on Monday — just hours before the American 21-year-old was released by the terror group.
“Trump made all the efforts and he is a good messenger of the Holy One, blessed be he,” Varda Ben Baruch told Ynet of the US president’s efforts to secure her grandson’s release.
“Thank God that the government cared about him.”
“Thank God, today we get to welcome him, it’s the day he was born again,” she added.
Alexander, an Israeli-American citizen from New Jersey, was freed just after 7:30 p.m. local time (12:30 p.m. ET), officials confirmed.
His release was agreed on as part of a goodwill gesture to the Trump administration, Hamas had said Sunday.
After being handed over to the Red Cross, Alexander is expected to be taken to an Israeli defense facility for medical checks in Re’im, officials said.
He is expected to be reunited with relatives there before being airlifted to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital to undergo additional treatment.
“We don’t know how he will be. I hope he is safe and well physically and mentally,” his anxious grandmother said before he was finally handed over.
His mother, Yael Alexander, was spotted boarding an Israeli Air Force helicopter earlier Monday en route to meet her son pending his release.
Meanwhile, his grandmother signaled the young soldier as expected to meet with Trump at some point during the commander-in-chief’s Middle East visit.
“I am very happy that he will meet the US president,” Ben Baruch said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paused the fighting to allow for Alexander’s safe return but insisted there would be no cease-fire and that plans for an intensified military campaign would continue.
“Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind,” his office said, adding that military pressure had forced Hamas into the release.
“The negotiations will continue under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting.”
