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American Believed to Have Been Held Hostage by Hamas Was Killed on 10/7, IDF Says

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  December 02, 2024 11:30 AM

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Monday that American-Israeli Omer Neutra was killed on October 7, 2023 during battle. 

Neutra, who had been fighting in the Israeli military at the time, was believed to have been held hostage by Hamas. The statement said the 21-year-old’s body was being held by the terror group.

“Omer Neutra, a 21-year-old American-Israeli, served as a platoon commander in the Armored Corps,” the IDF said on X. “Today we can confirm, based on intelligence, that he was killed in battle on Oct. 7 and his body has been held hostage in Gaza since. May his memory be a blessing.”

Mr. Neutra’s parents, Orna and Ronen, have been high-profile public campaigners for the release of their son and the roughly 100 other hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, about half of whom are believed to remain alive.

“We are private and not very political, and yet we find ourselves caught up in the middle of the most controversial geopolitical war in decades,” Orna Neutra, his mother, wrote in an opinion essay for The New York Post in August. “Our life as we knew it, is gone.”

Since their son’s capture, Mr. Neutra’s parents have addressed the Republican National Convention, met at the White House with President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and visited the Pentagon and the House of Representatives.

They have also criticized Mr. Netanyahu, writing in The Post that they “questioned his sincerity and sense of urgency” in pursuing the release of the hostages. On Monday, the prime minister praised their son as “a hero of the Israeli army.”

“Omer was a man of values, blessed with talents and a Zionist in every aspect of his being,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement. “He immigrated to Israel to enlist in the I.D.F., chose a combat path and was chosen to command and lead,” he said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. (The New York Times)