‘Finally home’: Parents of Omer Neutra express relief after son’s body returned to Israel

Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of slain soldier Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, express relief after their son’s body was returned to Israel by Hamas last night, but say the struggle is still not over.

“For 758 days, we lived between hope and heartbreak,” says Orna, speaking in English. “Today, that long nightmare ends with the knowledge that Omer is finally home. We can begin the process of bringing Omer to his final resting place in the land he loved and fought to protect.”

They note the relief they feel alongside the pain of their loss. The Neutras remember their son — who was killed while battling Hamas on October 7 and his body taken captive — as a leader, a good person who saw the best in people: “He loved life and lived it to the fullest,” says Orna.

The Neutras say that their son believed in purpose, and saw himself, the son of Israelis, born in the US and who came to Israel as a lone soldier to enlist in the IDF, as a bridge between Israel and the Jewish world.

“He understood that our people are one — in Israel and in the Diaspora — and that Israel’s strength depends on that connection,” says Ronen.

The couple thank US President Donald Trump, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and their teams for bringing back 20 hostages alive and 20 bodies so far for burial. They thank the IDF soldiers, intelligence units and “all those who never stopped searching.”

“Almost two years of unity gatherings in the square, of faith, of hope, of calling on the people of Israel to stand together,” they say. “You turned immense pain into meaning — and created a place of true togetherness.”

The Neutras note that their son’s return home marks the end of their family’s long war, but that they will continue to fight until every hostage is home, when “every family can find the comfort we are only just beginning to feel.”