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Two men thought to be held hostage by Hamas, one of whom has been identified as 21-year-old Omer Neutra, both graduated from the Schecter School of Long Island in Williston Park, according to reports by ABC 7 and The New York Times.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams met with Ronen and Orna Neutra, Omer’s parents, in an emotional moment shared via the platform X (formerly Twitter).
“The war hits home,” Adams wrote, “We must bring every hostage home.”
Ronen and Orna have been waiting for news regarding Omer since they last spoke to him on Friday, Oct. 6.
While things seemed calm at his post near the Gaza border, Orna told the New York Times, soon “all hell broke loose.”
The second soldier has not been identified by the school for security reasons, according to ABC 7.
Omer had spent a gap year in Israel in 2020, during which he volunteered to help children with special needs, his parents told The Times.
Though he ended up joining the Israeli military in hopes of peace-building his parents said, he had plans to return to the States for college.
Ronen had a simple plea, according to the Times: “We want him back.”
Both soldiers are part of at least 14 Americans who are unaccounted for following the attacks by the Hamas militant group on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Twenty-seven additional US citizens were killed in the attacks, a result of what media outlet Al Jazeera cited as “changing regional dynamics and growing Israeli aggression.”
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