Funeral being held in NY for Israeli American soldier killed during last year’s Oct. 7 Hamas attack

SYOSSET, N.Y. — A Jewish community in the suburbs of New York City is mourning the death of a young Israeli-American soldier, who Israeli authorities believed was taken hostage after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday Omer Neutra at a synagogue on Long Island, where the dual Israeli-American citizen grew up.

The Israeli military announced Monday that it had determined that the 21-year-old was not taken alive by Hamas but was killed during the group’s surprise attack on the Nova Music Festival, which sparked the latest conflict in the Middle East. His body was then transferred to the Palestinian territory of Gaza, where it remains today.

Neutra’s family has expressed hope that the Plainville resident was alive after he was ambushed and pulled from his disabled tank while trying to defend the Israeli border from Hamas forces.

His parents, Ronen and Orna, have been regularly present at protests in the US and Israel.

The couple also addressed the Republican National Convention this year and liaised with the administration of outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden in their crusade to secure their son’s release.

Neutra was born in Manhattan a month after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The grandson of Holocaust survivors, he attended the Schechter School, a conservative Jewish school on Long Island, where he was captain of the basketball, football and volleyball teams.

His parents have said he was offered admission to the State University of New York at Binghamton, but instead deferred, took a gap year and then moved to Israel to enlist in the army.