An Israeli soldier previously believed to be among the living hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and his body taken by the terrorists, the Israel Defense Forces revealed on Monday.
Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, 21, was a tank platoon commander in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade. His death was pronounced by the Military Rabbinate based on new intelligence information, and his family was notified.
Neutra was born in New York a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, his mother told an American audience at a Republican Party convention in Wisconsin in July, according to Channel 12 News.
"I passed through [the World Trade Center] on my way home on that terrible day, and here we are after more than 23 years and Omer once again is a victim of a violent terrorist attack," she was quoted as saying.
Neutra immigrated to Israel to join the military and settled in Kibbutz Afikim south of the Sea of Galilee.
During Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack, Neutra was deployed near Kibbutz Nir Oz on the Gaza border, according to Hebrew media reports.
There were three other soldiers in the tank with him when the attack began: gunner Nimrod Cohen, 20, loader Oz Daniel, 19, and driver Shaked Dahan, 19.
Around 6:30 a.m., they received alerts of intrusions through the border fence. A second tank nearby headed north, while Neutra's tank moved south. After 20 minutes, the commander of the other tank reported being hit. Neutra turned around, but his tank never made it.
"They must have been hit hard by an RPG [anti-tank missile]," Amir Daniel, Oz's father, told Channel 12 News.
The tank caught fire, he continued, "so they had to get out or die of suffocation inside the tank. They made the decision to open the hatches and go out."
The IDF had previously confirmed the deaths of Dahan, whose body was taken but retrieved by the IDF in September, and Oz, whose body is being held in Gaza. Cohen is still being held hostage in the Palestinian enclave. He was recognized by his family members in a kidnapping footage released by Hamas, according to Channel 12.
Republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate