Rubio meets families of slain US hostages, vows remaining captives will be returned

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Saturday to secure the return of all 13 deceased hostages still held in Gaza as he met with the families of US-Israeli citizens Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, slain hostages whose bodies are held by Hamas in Gaza.

“We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in the captivity of Hamas,” Rubio said on X.

“Today I met with the families of American citizens Itay Chen and Omer Neutra. We will not rest until their — and all — remains are returned,” he said, hours before wrapping up his three-day visit to Israel.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomed Rubio’s remarks.

“Thirteen hostages need to come home. Thirteen families need closure,” the group said on X, thanking the US secretary of state.

“Please don’t stop — until the last hostage is released,” it added.

Families of US Citizen hostages Itay Chen & Omer Neutra met w/ ⁦@SecRubio⁩ & me today in Jerusalem before Sec leaves for Asia. Visit by ⁦@SecRubio⁩ very productive in moving forward w/ ⁦@POTUS⁩ Gaza Plan. But b4 plan can work, ALL hostages must be released! pic.twitter.com/hIJmA6xUxb

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) October 25, 2025

The meeting was held before Rubio departed Israel for Qatar — a mediator of the ceasefire-hostage release deal and longtime backer of Hamas — where he joined a meeting between US President Donald Trump and the Qatari emir and prime minister.

During the flight to Qatar, Rubio told reporters that US officials were getting input on a possible UN resolution or international agreement to authorize a multinational peacekeeping force in Gaza after the war and would discuss the issue in Qatar on Sunday.

“Many of the countries that have expressed an interest in participating at some level, whether it be monetary or personnel or both, are going to need that (a UN resolution or international agreement) because their domestic laws require it,” he said.

“So we have a whole team working on that outline of it.”

Chen, a dual Israeli-US citizen and sergeant, was killed and abducted by Hamas from the Nahal Oz army base where he was on active duty, part of a tank unit, during the Hamas-led invasion on October 7, 2023.

The IDF confirmed his death five months later in March 2024. It said Chen, 19 at the time of the attack, died in combat, and his body was taken to Gaza.

Neutra, 21 at the time of the attack and also a US-Israeli national, was a tank platoon commander posthumously promoted to captain. He was killed on October 7 while battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel, and his body was taken captive.

Raised in New York, Neutra came to Israel to experience the country of his parents, his mother Orna Neutra told AFP in November 2023. He later enlisted for military service, as most young Israelis do.

Additionally, Rubio spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said, adding that they discussed “our collective effort to implement President Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Conflict in Gaza,” and “affirmed the strategic relationship between the US and Israel.”

According to the Israeli readout of the call, Netanyahu and Rubio discussed the American diplomat’s trip to Israel, and the premier thanked Rubio for his support and commitment to the US-Israel relationship and invited him to return.

According to Netanyahu’s office, they both stressed their commitment to continue “close cooperation in promoting the common interests and values that unite the United States and Israel — first and foremost, the return of the fallen hostages, as well as the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.”

Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the terror organization released the last 20 living hostages on October 13. All were young men abducted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

Hamas has released the remains of 15 deceased hostages, while the bodies of 13 others remain held in Gaza.

In exchange, Israel released nearly 2,000 prisoners, including 250 security prisoners, most of them serving one or more life terms for deadly attacks on Israelis, and dozens of bodies of Hamas fighters.

The ceasefire has largely halted hostilities, but on October 19, the military launched a wave of intense attacks targeting Hamas in response to an attack by Palestinian terror operatives in Rafah that killed two soldiers. The strikes left dozens of Gazans dead, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry. On Saturday, the IDF said it struck in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, targeting a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative who was planning an “imminent attack” against troops.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.