A spirited crowd of several thousand convened in Tenafly on Monday morning beginning in the pre-dawn hours, in anticipation of the successfully negotiated hostage release of Edan Alexander, now 21, a Tenafly native, the last known living U.S. citizen held in Gaza. A huge screen and speakers were mounted outside the Angelique Cafe, and local residents and visitors danced, sang, stood or sat picnic-style draped in Israeli and American flags. The energy of the crowd was of emotional anticipation and cautious joy.

Alexander, a Golani soldier, was taken hostage by Hamas during the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023; little was known of his whereabouts or medical condition before Monday. With great trepidation, residents watched the big screen for many hours until his eventual release to the IDF at around noon local time. Seeing him walking unassisted caused cheers and tears to erupt from the crowd. Later, a video of his family greeting him with bear hugs and smiles assured there were no dry eyes.