Auburn Tigers men's basketball coach Brue Pal has passionately pleaded for the American Edan Alexander to be revived from the prisoners of Hamas in Gaza.
The first-seeded Tigers won an 82-70 victory over No. 9 Clayton on Saturday, with Pearl beginning post-match media availability by talking about Alexander. The 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier is one of the 59 hostages still in Gaza. It is believed that more than half of the hostages detained by Hamas terrorists are dead.
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Former President Donald Trump took a photo of Edan Alexander in New York City on October 7th, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Hamas said that since October 7, 2023, if Israel is recommended to have a ceasefire agreement, he will release the bodies of four hostages held there since the terrorist attack.
“We're often asked how this basketball program has become more competitive over the past eight years,” Pearl said. “But for me, I think it was God's plan to give us this success and to give us success beyond what we deserve. Giving us this platform. We launched this meeting easily and remind the world that Edan Alexander still holds hostages in Gaza. Americans don't know his name.”
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Yael Alexander, the mother of Edan Alexander's hostage, will speak at a rally in New York City on January 14th, 2024, in Central Park, 100 days after the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Pearl was asked why he felt he needed to talk about hostages.
“October 7 was the worst day since the Holocaust for Jews. They say they want to do it again and again. We have an American hostage in Gaza and that's not acceptable,” Pearl said. “And then, President Trump called it and said that if they just released the hostages, the killing would stop. They would release the hostages, the killing would stop, and that's up to Hamas.”
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl screams at players on Saturday, March 22, 2025, in the second round of the NCAA tournament with Creighton in Lexington, Kentucky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
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Pearl has expressed his support for Israel in the past, and has routinely criticised Hamas against anti-Israel instigators who appear to support the actions and groups.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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