New Yorker whose family believed he was being held hostage was killed in Oct. 7 attack, IDF says

Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News on Dec 2, 2024

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The Israeli Defense Forces announced Monday the death of Capt. Omer Maxim Neutra, who was from Long Island, New York. The tank commander was 21.

Neutra was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, according to the IDF. He was posthumously promoted from the rank of lieutenant to captain.

He deferred enrolling at the State University of New York at Binghamton to join the Israeli Defense Forces after high school, according to CBS News.

Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed in a statement Monday that he was “barbarically murdered” by Hamas.

The Times of Israel reported that it had been believed Neutra was alive and being held hostage in Gaza. It’s now thought he was killed in battle near Nir Oz, a kibbutz, before his body was taken over the Gaza border from Israel.

“The (IDF) shares in the family’s grief,” Israeli officials said in a statement.

A Barclays Center crowd hoped for Neutra’s safe return during an event in October 2023, where his image appeared on a Jumbotron. His family came into Brooklyn from Long Island a day after what would’ve been his 22nd birthday. They believed he was being held captive with two other Americans.

“We pray that his body can be returned to his family, who have been speaking out for him and all hostages since that horrific day,” Hochul’s office said.

Neutra was the captain of his basketball team at the Schechter School of Long Island. He was a Knicks fan who wore the No. 24 in honor of NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant, according to PIX11 News.

His mother, Orna Neutra, told that outlet in October of this year that it was “devastating” and “unfathomable” to think her son had spent the past year being held hostage in the Hamas-controlled tunnels under Gaza.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., expressed sympathy for Neutra’s loved ones.

“My heart breaks for them and their entire family as they face this unbearable loss. But I am also filled with pride in the life that Omer lived,” she said in a statement provided to the New York Daily News. “His heroism and sacrifice will never be forgotten, and I will not rest until his body is returned home. May his memory be a blessing.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was “devastated and heartbroken” to learn of Neutra’s death.

“I won’t stop fighting to bring Omer’s remains and the 101 hostages home,” he said.

More than 250 Israelis were abducted during that incursion, which left 1,200 people dead including 46 Americans. A dozen Americans were thought to have been taken hostage, according to the State Department. The deaths of multiple captives have since been confirmed.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog mourned Neutra’s death and called for the return of every victim of the Hamas attack on Israel — living or dead.

“Our hearts are with the Neutra family this morning, who, after more than a year of a determined, traumatic and worldwide struggle, received the devastating news confirming the death of their beloved son, Captain Omer Maxim Neutra, who fell on Oct. 7 ... his body abducted by terrorists into Gaza,” he wrote in a statement.

No other details about Neutra’s death were made available. His family couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.