Israeli Protection Forces (IDF) introduced the demise of Cap. Omar Maxim Neutra from Lengthy Island Monday. The tank commander was 21.
Neutra was killed in the course of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas assault on Israel, in keeping with the IDF. He was posthumously promoted from the rank of lieutenant to captain.
Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed in a press release Monday he was “barbarically murdered” by Hamas.
The Occasions 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 close to Nir Oz earlier than his physique was taken over the Gaza border from Israel.
“The IDF shares in the family’s grief,” Israeli officers mentioned in a press release.
A Barclays Heart crowd hoped for Neutra’s protected return throughout an occasion in October 2023, the place his picture appeared on a Jumbotron. His household got here into Brooklyn from Lengthy Island a day after what would’ve been his twenty second birthday. They believed he was being held captive with two different People.
“We pray that his body can be returned to his family, who have been speaking out for him & all hostages since that horrific day,” Gov. Hochul’s workplace mentioned.
His mom, Orna Neutra, advised that outlet in October of this yr that it was “devastating” and “unfathomable” to suppose her son had spent the previous yr being held hostage within the Hamas-controlled tunnels underneath Gaza.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand expressed sympathy for Neutra’s family members:
Israeli President Isaac Herzog additionally mourned Neura’s demise and known as for the return of each sufferer of the Hamas assault on Israel — residing or useless.
Greater than 250 Israelis had been kidnapped throughout that incursion, which left 1,200 individuals useless together with 46 People. A dozen People had been taken hostage, in keeping with the U.S. Division of State.
No different particulars about Neutra’s demise had been made out there. His household couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Initially Printed: December 2, 2024 at 9:51 AM EST
