NEW YORK (PIX11) -- A native New Jerseyan who was held as a hostage in Gaza for more than 19 months has announced that he's re-joining the Israeli military next month.

Edan Alexander, 21, joined the Israeli Defense Forces after graduating from high school in Tenafly, New Jersey, in 2022.

He was seized by Hamas in the October 7, 2024, attacks and held in Gaza for 584 days before U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff was able to negotiate Alexander's release last May.

On Wednesday, at a gala in New York for the organization Friends of the IDF, Alexander thanked the Trump administration for securing his release, and then announced that after four months on leave, "Next month, God willing, I will return to Israel."

"I will once again put on the IDF uniform and I will proudly serve alongside

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