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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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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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