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Courtesy the family/TPS-IL on 2 December, 2024
Israeli-US Hostage Held in Gaza Declared Dead
Jerusalem, 2 December, 2024 (TPS-IL) -- The Israeli military announced the death of a New York-born soldier who was killed on October 7.
Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, 21, commanded a tank at Nahal Oz and was thought to have been taken alive to Gaza.
Although Neutra’s body is still in Gaza, the Military Rabbinate declared Neutra’s death based on new intelligence information.
Neutra was a “lone soldier,” referring to soldiers who do not have any family support in Israel.
The Hostages Families Forum “bows its head in mourning for the loss of American-Israeli hostage Omar Neutra, of blessed memory,” the Forum said in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with the Neutra family and share in their profound grief.”
Neutra is survived by his parents and a brother.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
