A recent high school graduate from New Jersey serving as a soldier in the Israeli military is missing after Hamas launched a surprise attack on the Jewish nation Saturday, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday.
Edan Alexander, 19, was serving as part of the Israel Defense Forces’ Golani Brigade 51st Division near the Gaza Strip when the Islamic terrorist group launched its attack Saturday, Murphy announced at a candlelight vigil in Hoboken for the victims of the violence.
“Tragically, we now know that there are New Jerseyans among the missing in Israel,” Murphy said, according to NJ.com.
The teenager graduated last year from Tenafly High School, a public school in Bergen County.
Alexander’s family has not heard from him since the horrifying attack began.
“We pray for Edan’s swift, safe return. And we pray for every family in New Jersey — and across the country — with loved ones who are still unaccounted for.”
Officials estimate that at least 14 Americans have been killed in the turmoil. At least 20 other Americans are still unaccounted for.
Another man missing in Israel is a former New Jersey resident. The family of Laor Abramov has not heard from the 20-year-old since he tried to flee the Hamas militants’ bullets inside an Israeli bomb shelter.
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He had been at a party with a half-dozen others when they came under gunfire.
“There was no contact, couldn’t reach his phone,” Yael Abramov, a doctor who now lives in Canada, told The Post. “There was just horror stories of what’s going on there.”
Murphy has condemned the violence, promising at the vigil that his administration is working to increase law enforcement patrols in sensitive areas, including synagogues, schools and daycare centers.
“To every New Jerseyan with friends or loved ones in Israel and the Mideast region, please know that your neighbors—here, and across the nation—stand with you. We will do everything we can to keep you and your families safe,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This was the bloodiest act of antisemitic violence since the days of the Holocaust.”
President Biden made clear that the US stands with Israel but told the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a private phone call to minimize civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip in response to the deadly Hamas terror attacks.
During the call, the commander in chief reportedly said that the White House and other countries were coordinating a plan for the safe passage of civilians out of the warzone.
