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US-Israeli Officer Believed to Be Alive in Gaza Was Killed on Oct. 7, IDF Says
The Israeli military revealed on Dec. 2, 2024, that Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, 21, who was born in New York, was killed during Hamas’s deadly massacre on Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: Screenshot
JNS.org — 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’s 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 am, 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.
“Omer was a man of values, blessed with talents and a Zionist in every inch of his limbs,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, extending his condolences to Neutra’s family.
“He made aliyah to Israel to enlist in the IDF, chose a fighter’s track, and was selected to command and lead. This is what he did at the outbreak of the war on the seventh of October, 2023, when he fought ferociously at the head of his soldiers to defend the Gaza Envelope communities, until he fell,” the premier added.
“We will not rest or be silent until we return him home to be buried in Israel, and we will continue to act resolutely and tirelessly until we return all of our hostages — alive and deceased. May his memory be blessed.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Monday, “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, and his body abducted by terrorists into Gaza.”
“Over the past year, we had the privilege of meeting his parents, Ronen and Orna, and his brother Daniel — a strong family with extraordinary resilience, who have dedicated their lives since Oct. 7 to doing everything in their power to bring Omer home.”
“I extend my warmest embrace to them and to all the families of the hostages enduring this horrific ordeal.”
The post US-Israeli Officer Believed to Be Alive in Gaza Was Killed on Oct. 7, IDF Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove spotlights a menorah designed in the early years of the State of Israel
This laurel branch Hanukkah menorah, designed by artist Maurice Ascalon (1913-2003), won first prize at the 1950 Tel Aviv Design Competition. Between 2,000 and 4,000 of these were made by the Pal-Bell factory in Israel, and they were sold not only in Israel but in select department stores around the world, including Macy’s in New York and Harrods in London.
The shape of the oil containers resembles ancient Roman lamps, while the large pitcher is a reference to the single jug of oil that lasted for eight days that is at the heart of the Hanukkah story.
These hanukkiyot were manufactured out of cast bronze with a green patina that was created using reactive chemicals, a process developed by Ascalon, resulting in an antique verdigris look.
Ascalon, who was born in Hungary and originally named Moshe Klein, immigrated to Palestine in 1934 after training in Brussels and Milan. He started the Pal-Bell Company in the late 1930s for the production of ritual and secular decorative items. “Pal” is short for Palestine and “Bell” is short for bellezza, Italian for beauty and an allusion to his time in Milan where the artist learned and perfected his sculpting skills. During Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, Ascalon designed munitions for the Israeli army and, at the request of the Israeli government, retrofitted his factory to produce arms for the war effort.
Ascalon closed Pal-Bell and moved to the United States in 1956, where he taught sculpture at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and opened Ascalon Studios, which produces large-scale sculptures for public spaces and houses of worship.
The studio, which is now run by Ascalon’s son David and his grandson Eric, was retooled during the COVID pandemic to manufacture safety boxes that allowed health-care workers to assist a patient on a ventilator while minimizing exposure.
Treasure Trove wishes you a happy Hanukkah , which starts on Dec. 25. This year, as Peter, Paul and Mary sang, “Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice, justice and freedom demand. Don’t let the light go out!”
The post Treasure Trove spotlights a menorah designed in the early years of the State of Israel appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.