WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on July 4 that he had met in the Oval Office with Mr Edan Alexander, a dual American and Israeli citizen who was held hostage in the Gaza Strip for nearly 600 days.

Mr Alexander, who was released in May

, was accompanied by his parents, Mr Adi and Mrs Yael Alexander, of Tenafly, New Jersey.

He was welcomed at the White House by Mr Trump on July 3, Israeli news media reported.

Mr Trump posted a video on his Truth Social site showing Mr Alexander, 21, being greeted in the Oval Office by officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

In a video posted on the social platform X by one of Mr Trump’s aides, the president, standing beside the first lady, Mrs Melania Trump, tells Mr Alexander and his parents that it was “very important” to the first lady that Mr Alexander returned home safely and the fact that Mr Alexander was an American citizen “had a big impact.”

Mr Alexander was abducted during

the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack

on Israel that touched off the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

He had been serving in the infantry of the Israeli military when Hamas took him from a military outpost near the border with Gaza.

Mr Alexander’s family sobbed as they held him after his release in May.

His parents had advocated relentlessly for his freedom and had travelled from the United States to Israel with Mr Trump administration officials to bring him home.

“We never lost hope,” Mr Alexander’s father told The New York Times in May after his son’s release. “I could not allow myself to think any other way.”

Mr Alexander, who grew up in Tenafly, was a star swimmer in high school.

He was handcuffed, beaten and interrogated during his time in captivity, his father said, and he listened as Israeli bombs shook the tunnels where he was held. He became gaunt, without much access to food.

“His whole body has bedbug bites,” his father said in May. “His skin is in terrible condition.”

The year and a half in captivity has left its mark, but Mr Alexander is recovering, his father said.

“He was this goofy, funny guy” when he joined the army, his father said. “He’s still funny. I don’t think he’s a different person. He is simply tired.”

Mr Trump’s meeting with Mr Alexander came after the president said on July 1 that Israel had agreed to “conditions to finalise” a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas.

He is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week in the United States. NYTIMES

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