Israeli hostages returning home need space to adjust, father says

(NewsNation) — The father of Edan Alexander, an American-Israeli hostage released by Hamas in the spring, says the hostages now returning home should be given some time to adjust back to living normal lives.

"In regards for the families, people need to realize that the hostages that we know so well for two years are not a public property," Adi Alexander told "CUOMO" in an appearance on Monday's show.

Monday marked the completion of the first stage of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas as the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza were released by Hamas.

The release came after Hamas agreed to the terms of a ceasefire in exchange for Palestinian prisoners last week in an agreement brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump. Israeli officials said Hamas retains many of the 28 bodies of hostages who were killed in captivity or during the Oct. 7 attack.

"They need to be left alone, at least at the beginning,' Alexander said of the returning hostages. "They were in the tunnels, in the dark. And just let them be. Just let them be. Be mindful. Kind of no selfies. Just let them be for a couple of weeks. And I guess everything will be fine now."

Returning hostages have resources they need to resume normalcy: Father

Alexander added that he thinks the returned hostages and their families will have all the resources they need for any help.

He told Chris Cuomo when Edan was released, he and the family were given "the whole floor in a huge hospital for ourselves for a whole week."

"And it was all empty, only for us, with the psychologists, with the professionals," Alexander said.

"Not so many IDF members, only a hospital staff. And it went tremendously well the first couple of days, up until Edan was released from the hospital."

Israel exiling most released Palestinian prisoners with life sentences

Israel is releasing hundreds of detained Palestinians as part of the ceasfire, but most of the 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences will not be returning home and instead will be exiled to outside countries. 

At least 154 prisoners — most of whom have been convicted for attacks on Israelis — will be deported, according to authorities. It is still unclear where these prisoners will be sent.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice did not immediately return NewsNation’s request for a deportation plan.