Israel says soldier thought to have been taken hostage now presumed dead

An Israeli-American soldier who was believed to have been captured alive by Hamas in its October 7 attack was killed that day and his body taken into the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said.

Omer Neutra, 21, was a New York native who enlisted in the Israeli military and was captured when Hamas attacked southern Israel.

Mr Neutra’s parents, Ronen and Orna, led a public campaign while he was thought to be alive for their son’s freedom.

They spoke at protests in the US and Israel, addressed the Republican National Convention this year and kept up ties with the Biden administration in their crusade to secure their son’s release.

In a statement announcing the death, the military did not say how it came to the conclusion over Mr Neutra’s fate. He was one of seven American Israelis still held in Gaza, four of whom are now said to be dead.

Hamas released a video of one, Edan Alexander, over the weekend, indicating he was still alive.

In late summer, Hamas killed Hersh Goldberg-Polin, another prominent Israeli American hostage, along with five other captives, whose bodies the Israeli military recovered.

Hamas is still holding around 100 hostages inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The Biden administration says it is making another push for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, after nearly a year of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas repeatedly stalled.

Diplomats see a potential opening after last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, an ally of Hamas that began launching rocket attacks and trading fire with Israel the day after the October 2023 attack.

The fragile ceasefire has held despite repeated Israeli strikes that have angered Lebanese officials but not yet triggered a response from Hezbollah. Israel says it has acted to thwart potential attacks.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage. More than 100 hostages were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023.

Israel’s ongoing retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,429 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants.

Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.