NY-area families of kidnapped IDF troops heartbroken as Gaza hostage deal stalls: ‘Our kids are living in hell’
The parents of two IDF troops who grew up in New York and New Jersey and were kidnapped by Hamas are heartbroken and frustrated over the lack of a hostage exchange deal as their sons have spent six months “living in hell.”
Omer Neutra, 22, of Plainview, NY, and Edan Alexander, 19, of Tenafly, NJ, were both Americans who joined the IDF and were stationed near the Gazan border when Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, kidnapping them to Gaza, where they are among the 134 hostages still waiting to be freed months later.
Sunday marks 6 months since Israel declared war on Hamas, after the terrorist group killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped about 250 others in a violent cross-border attack.
“All we can do is put pressure on the [Israeli] prime minister and the US administration to push Hamas to accept a deal and get our children back,” father Ronen Neutra told The Post. “We can’t handle this going on for another six months.”
Israeli officials visited Egypt earlier this week in a renewed effort to try and secure a deal, however, a Palestinian official close to mediation efforts said there had been no sign of a breakthrough.
“We are committed to our demands: the permanent ceasefire, comprehensive and complete withdrawal of the enemy out of the Gaza Strip, the return of all displaced people to their homes, allowing all aid needed for our people in Gaza, rebuilding the Strip, lifting the blockade and achieving an honorable prisoner exchange deal,” Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised speech Wednesday of the conditions.
Israel, meanwhile, had said it was interested only in a temporary truce to free hostages.
In a half-hour call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, President Biden warned the leader “that an immediate cease-fire is essential” and that the US would reconsider its support for Israel’s war against Hamas if stronger protections aren’t put in place for civilians in Gaza.
The call caused outrage among some, who were troubled that the conversation focused on concessions, rather than the hostages.
“Any conversation between these two leaders, first and foremost it needs to open with the discussion of the hostages and the ceasefire deal. The ceasefire deal is on the table. Hamas walked away twice from the ceasefire deal. And now I see that they rejected the proposal one more time,” Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, said of the talks.
“The humanitarian issue is very, very important, but the hostage issue has been a humanitarian issue since the beginning of the war.”
The Neutras and Alexanders are among a small but close-knit group of American families who have connected over the tragedy that befell their loved ones, with the clans constantly traveling to meetings and rallies in New York City, Israel and Washington, DC, to speak up for their children.
Yael Alexander, Edan’s mother, said that the group was hopeful when the first round of hostage exchanges began in November, but that optimism has been slowly chipped away after every single proposal for a second wave of exchanges has fallen apart just as they appeared to be ratified.
Coming back from her latest trip to Israel last week with a hostage deal still not secured, Yael said it was hard not feeling like she’s letting down her son.
“I’m coming back home and I’m feeling – not like a failure, but every time that I’m going there, I have a hope that something is going to happen and maybe we can see him back home, but it’s tough,” she said. “It’s the feeling that you’re not doing enough.”
Orna Neutra, Omer’s mother, said that their group has garnered a lot of sympathy, but they want those feelings extended to their children and the other remaining hostages.
“People tell us, ‘You must be living in hell,'” she said. “No, our kids are living in hell.”
Although sharing some concerns about their sons’ wish to enlist, both the Neutra and Alexander parents gave their respective blessings when Omer and Edan said they wanted to serve in the IDF.
Omer, who had foregone his acceptance to Binghamton University, had joined out of a responsibility not just to Israel, but to the friends he made while attending a military prep program.
“Unlike his friends, Omer was an American citizen and had the choice to just go back home,” Ronen said. “But he felt he couldn’t leave those friends behind.”
“He thought it would be unfair for them to serve while he goes back to college and enjoys going out to grab drinks with his other friends.”
Omer went on to join the IDF as a tank commander stationed near the Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Edan joined as a member of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion stationed near Kibbutz Kissufim.
The young men had spoken to their parents just hours before the massacre, with both soldiers commenting to their mothers about how quiet and uneventful things were along the border.
Unbeknownst to them, Hamas was preparing to launch an unprecedented invasion into Israel that resulted in their kidnapping.
While little information has been relayed about what happened to Omer and Edan, Orna said her son’s kidnapping was captured on footage by Hamas terrorists.
The footage, which took the parents months to watch, shows the terrorists setting Omer’s tank on fire, with the commander and one of his troops taken alive while two other soldiers were murdered.
Despite the silence from Hamas on the conditions of their loved ones after 180 days in captivity, the Alexanders and Neutras are advocating with the hope that their sons are still alive.
Adi stressed that it has been Hamas who continues to walk away from the negotiating table, making bigger and loftier demands while the parents wait in agony.
The frustrated parents said it was clear that the war cannot end without Hamas first freeing the hostages.
“I don’t think that anybody imagines, even after the UN resolution, that there will be some kind of cease-fire without the release of the hostages,” Adi said. “It won’t happen otherwise.”
Stuck in a nightmare, the parents added that their advocacy and support from other families have allowed them to keep moving forward, all with the hope that they can be reunited with their sons.
But after six months, they fear there is no longer a sense of urgency to save their children.
“We want to see the war over and the release of the hostages, now,” Yael said. “We don’t want to wait anymore.”
