The Israeli military said Monday an Israeli American soldier who was believed to have been taken hostage alive on Oct. 7, 2023, is now presumed to have been killed during Hamas’ attack and his body taken into Gaza.
Omer Neutra, 21, was a New York native who enlisted in the Israeli military and was captured when Hamas attacked southern Israel. Neutra’s parents, Ronen and Orna, led a public campaign while he was thought to be alive for their son’s freedom. They spoke at protests in the U.S. and Israel, addressed the Republican National Convention this year and kept up ties with the Biden administration in their crusade to secure their son’s release.
In a statement announcing the death, the military did not say how it came to the conclusion over Neutra’s fate. He was one of seven American Israelis still held in Gaza, four of whom are now said to be dead. Hamas released a video of one, Edan Alexander, over the weekend, indicating he was still alive.
Neutra's family released a statement on Monday, saying they spent the last 423 living through an "unimaginable nightmare."
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"We are grateful that Omer embraced and lived his life in line with the values on which we raised him — protecting the sanctity of life and an understanding of our commitment to one another — but we never imagined in our worst nightmares that we would find ourselves spending this time continuing to fight for him in this way."
As recently as Sunday, Neutra's parents had been urging world leaders to win the hostages’ release, including at a rally in Central Park.
Days earlier, Hamas released a hostage video of Edan Alexander, who was serving in the Israeli military when he was taken by Hamas to Gaza. Filmed under apparent duress, Alexander called on Trump to work to negotiate for his freedom and that of the remaining Hamas hostages.
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Services for Neutra were scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Temple Chaverim in Syosset.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered flags lowered to half-mast on the day of Neutra's funeral. The governor expressed grief and outrage on Monday, saying "as a parent, I can't imagine what they're going through today."
Hamas is still holding around 100 hostages inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. The Biden administration says it is making another last-ditch push for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, after nearly a year of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas repeatedly stalled.
Diplomats see a potential opening after last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, an ally of Hamas that began launching rocket attacks and trading fire with Israel the day after the Oct. 2023 attack.
The fragile ceasefire has held despite repeated Israeli strikes that have angered Lebanese officials but not yet triggered a response from Hezbollah. Israel says it has acted to thwart potential attacks.
In late summer, Hamas killed Hersh Goldberg-Polin, another prominent Israeli American hostage, along with five other captives, whose bodies the Israeli military recovered.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Some 100 captives are still held inside Gaza, around two-thirds believed to be alive.
In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump called for Palestinian militants to free all of the roughly 100 Israeli hostages still held inside Gaza, around two-thirds of whom are believed to be alive.
If not, Trump said, “Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Trump allies have said he hopes there will be a ceasefire and hostage release deal before he returns to office early next year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on Trump's post though President Isaac Herzog welcomed it.
"Thank you and bless you Mr. President-elect @realDonaldTrump," he wrote on X. "We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home!"
Israel’s ongoing retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,429 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
