American Thought to Be Hostage Is Dead: Israeli Defense Forces

Omer Neutra, a dual U.S.–Israeli citizen and an Israeli army soldier, in a 2015 file photo. Neutra family via AP

An American who was an Israeli military member is dead, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Dec. 2.

Omer Neutra “was killed in battle on Oct. 7 and his body has been held hostage in Gaza since,” the IDF stated on social media platform X.

Neutra had served as a platoon commander in Israel’s Armored Corps.

The IDF said it confirmed the death through unspecified intelligence.

Members of Neutra’s family had called for his release. They met, along with relatives of other Americans thought to be held hostage by the Hamas terrorist group, with U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in July.

Netanyahu said on Dec. 2 that he and his wife were sending their condolences to the family of Neutra, whom he described as a hero.

“Omer was a man of values, blessed with talents and a Zionist in every inch of his limbs,” Netanyahu said on X. “He immigrated to Israel to enlist in the IDF, chose a combat path and was chosen to command and lead.”

The prime minister promised not to rest until all of the hostages held in Gaza—the living and the dead—are returned to Israel.

Neutra’s death occurred on the day that members of Hamas and other terrorists invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,100 people and taking hundreds of others hostage.

Some hostages have been recovered, and others have been released in exchanges between Israel and Hamas. Others remain held.

Neutra is from New York state. According to his family, he deferred admission to Binghamton University to serve in the IDF.

Neutra’s parents told a U.S. House of Representatives committee in 2023 that the events of Oct. 7, 2023, were unimaginable but that they took comfort in their son being taken hostage rather than being murdered on that day.

Ronan Neutra, Omer Neutra’s father, said after another White House meeting in November that the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump can work with the outgoing administration to achieve families’ most urgent goal: bringing the hostages home.

“It’s really urgent to make sure that they are all coming back while there is still, as we believe, at least 50 that are alive, and we need to recover them all—both the living and also the remains,” Ronan Neutra said.