The father of murdered American hostage Omer Neutra met President Trump early Monday and told him about the ongoing nightmare for those still awaiting the remains of their slain loved ones.
“It’s one of the worst days for us in the last two years,” Ronen Neutra told The Post of still not knowing when his 21-year-old son’s body would be returned.
Neutra and other families met Trump early Monday — before his thunderously well-received speech to Israel’s parliament — to share both joy and ongoing torture while awaiting news.
The families “thanked the president for everything he’s done and the fact that he brought this war to an end,” Neutra said, saying it was “amazing” to see living hostages finally coming home.
“But we also reminded him that it’s not over until the 28 deceased hostages” are released, he said, with only four of those expected to be returned Monday.
“It’s a continual horror for the families,” said the dad, a native of Plainview, Long Island. “The 28 families like us sit on the Knesset benches listening to the glorious speeches, and we don’t know when we’re going to get our son.”
“Will it be today, in two hours, in one week or never? And it’s very difficult to be in that position,” he said.
“And it’s not over. There are 28 families in agony, and that’s our problem. And we’re just hoping that it’s not going to be a celebration of victory until the last hostage is back.”
The group representing the hostages’ families said relatives of the dead “were shocked and dismayed to learn that only 4 deceased hostages will be returned today, out of 28 held by Hamas.”
“This represents a blatant breach of the agreement by Hamas,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote on X.
“We expect Israel’s government and the mediators to take immediate action to rectify this grave injustice,” the statement continued, as the group reiterated that it would not “abandon any hostage.”
The father of fellow Israeli-American hostage Itay Chen also described the pain of Monday’s events, not knowing whether his son will return or even whether he is alive or dead.
Although the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Ruby Chen that his 19-year-old son was killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, they could not provide definitive proof, meaning he is still holding out hopes of a miracle.
Here’s the latest on the Gaza cease-fire deal
- Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump address cheering crowds in Tel Aviv to celebrate peace deal
- 200 US soldiers arrive in Israel, as Witkoff confirms IDF troops completed first phase of withdrawal from Gaza
- Trump set to fly to Israel to mark historic peace deal while preparing public for grim hostage release
- Putin chides Nobel winners who ‘did nothing for peace’ — tries to cozy up to Trump with Gaza deal praise
- American military to oversee initial Gaza peacekeeping force — but ‘no US troops are intended to go into Gaza’
“President Trump reiterated his commitment to the remaining 28 hostages, including the two US citizens,” Brooklyn-born Chen told The Post, describing his earlier Monday meeting with the president.
“My family is still waiting and is very much in anxiety for an update if and when our son will be released,” he said.
