American-Israeli soldier believed to be hostage died during Oct. 7 attack, Israel says
Orna and Ronen Neutra, parents of Omer Neutra; Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Omer Maxim Neutra, an American-Israeli soldier, was among those killed on Oct. 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists poured into southern Israel, officials said on Monday.
Neutra, 21, had been believed to have been taken alive to Gaza as a hostage, but the Israel Defense Forces on Monday said he was instead one of the about 1,200 killed during the surprise attack.
The soldier, who was from New York, had been a tank platoon commander in Israel’s 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion.
“Omer was a man of values, blessed with talents and a Zionist in every aspect of his being,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, which he released with his wife, Sara. “He immigrated to Israel to enlist in the IDF, chose a combat path and was chosen to command and lead.”
Netanyahu said Neutra, who was a captain, had “fought fiercely” as he led Israeli forces “to defend the settlements surrounding Gaza, until he fell.”
In a statement, the Neutra family said it’s “deeply grieving.”
“Our hearts are shattered with this devastating news. The Neutra family is deeply grieving and are requesting the public, who has shown great support throughout this journey, to please respect their privacy until they are formally ready to announce the next steps,” the statement read.
Israel said it had confirmed via intelligence that Neutra had died during the attack and that his body was still being held in Gaza.
Prior to his military service, Neutra had completed a preparatory year with the Tzabar Garin program, where he “loved sports, playing soccer, basketball, and volleyball, and served as the captain of his school’s sports teams,” according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“Family and friends described him as a warm, optimistic, and caring individual who ‘lights up the room the moment he enters,'” the forum said in a statement posted on social media on Monday.
Neutra’s parents, Orna and Ronen, spoke in July at the Republican National Convention. They told the crowd of their grief, not knowing for more than nine months, whether “your son is alive.”
“We need our beautiful son back,” Ronen Neutra said. “And we need your support — your support to end this crisis, and bring all the hostages back home.”
Netanyahu on Monday said he and his wife shared the family’s “heavy” grief.
“We will not rest or be silent until we return him home to the grave of Israel,” he said, “and we will continue to act resolutely and tirelessly until we return all our captives — the living and the dead.”
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who represents the New York Congressional district where Neutra was from, wrote on social media on Monday that he was sending condolences to Neutra’s family.
“I have prayed for Omer and his family, and I ask all of you to join me in holding the Neutra family close as they seek to find peace and meaning in this tragedy,” Suozzi wrote.
Three Americans are still presumed to be alive among the dozens of hostages Hamas is still holding.
“We must fulfill the ultimate imperative: to return Omer, and all our abducted men and women — the living to their families, and the fallen and murdered to be laid to rest,” President Isaac Herzog of Israel said in a statement announcing Neutra’s death.
ABC News’ Dave Brennan, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
(SEOUL and LONDON) — South Korea’s dominant opposition party moved on Wednesday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, submitting a motion a day after his declaration of martial law set off a night of political chaos.
The opposition Democratic Party’s motion to impeach Yoon is expected to make its way through the National Assembly in the coming days, with a vote likely either Friday or Saturday. The measure would require a two-thirds majority to pass, and would then be sent to South Korea’s Constitutional Court, which would have to approve the motion.
Lawmakers and members of South Korea’s main opposition party had earlier on Wednesday gathered in Seoul to call for Yoon’s resignation.
“If President Yoon does not step down immediately, we will immediately begin impeachment proceedings in accordance with the will of the people,” the Democratic Party had said in a statement. “We will fight to the end together with all the people to protect the democracy and constitutional order of the Republic of Korea.”
As he declared martial law in a televised speech late Tuesday, the president said the measure would be necessary due to the actions of the Democratic Party, a liberal coalition that Yoon accused of controlling parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government.
The declaration included banning political activities, including rallies and protests. Yoon also called for a stop to the “dissemination of fake news” and the manipulation of public opinion. All press would have been controlled by the state under the declaration.
The move sparked protests and — just hours after the declaration — the National Assembly voted early Wednesday morning to demand that the president lift the martial law order. A majority of parliament voted to lift the decree requiring that it then be lifted, under the South Korean constitution.
Following the National Assembly’s vote, Yoon said he withdrew the troops that had been deployed to carry out martial law and “will lift martial law as soon as we have a quorum in the cabinet.” The State Council then convened to vote to officially lift it.
Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok and nine other senior presidential secretaries announced their resignations, the South Korean presidential office told reporters Wednesday morning.
A member of the conservative People Power Party, Yoon began his five-year term in May 2022 after wining office by a razor-thin margin.
A political newcomer before his election, Yoon had spent his entire career as a prosecutor, rising to prominence by prosecuting big political players, including President Park Geun Hye, who was impeached and removed from office in 2017.
Yoon was meeting on Wednesday afternoon with South Korea’s top political leaders in his office, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The Democratic Party organized a candlelight vigil in support of Yoon’s impeachment on the steps of the National Assembly on Wednesday night.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Joe Simonetti, Dave Brennan and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect on Sunday morning. Hostages held in the strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will be freed in the first phase of the deal.
Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. Israeli forces also remain active inside the Syrian border region as victorious rebels there build a transitional government.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
At least 21 Palestinians injured in West Bank settler violence
At least 21 Palestinians were injured, 11 severely, after dozens of Israeli civilians, some of whom were masked, arrived at the area of Al Funduq, in the West Bank, and “instigated riots, set property on fire and caused damage,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Three homes were burned down and five cars were torched as well, the IDF said.
The civilians hurled rocks and attacked the security forces dispatched to the scene, according to the IDF.
Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz, despite freeing settlers who committed the same types of crimes, said he condemns the violence.
Over 1,500 aid trucks entered Gaza on day 1 and 2 of ceasefire, UN says
More than 1,500 trucks with humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip in the first two days of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
That includes more than 630 trucks on Sunday and 915 trucks on Monday, according to OCHA. Of the ones that crossed into Gaza on Sunday, OCHA said at least 300 trucks went to the north, which the U.N. has warned is facing imminent famine.
OCHA cited “information received through engagement with Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement.”
“There is no time to lose,” the U.N.’s aid chief, Tom Fletcher, said in a statement Monday. “After 15 months of relentless war, the humanitarian needs are staggering.”
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
IDF says riots in the West Bank have dispersed
Israel Defense Forces and Israel Border Police Forces were dispatched to Al Funduq in the West Bank after reports of rioting in the area, the IDF said on Monday.
The alleged incident occurred shortly after Israel’s defense minister released all settlers being detained under administrative detention orders, though it cannot be certain that any of those settlers were involved in the reported riots. ABC News was able to confirm that fires had ignited in that location.
Shortly thereafter, the IDF confirmed that it had successfully dispersed rioters.
There have been no confirmed reports as to the extent of the damage or any injuries. Israeli officials are expected to conduct a formal inquiry in the area tonight.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
Israeli forces recover body of fallen soldier in Gaza
Israeli forces recovered the body of Oron Shaul, an Israel Defense Forces soldier who was killed in 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF announced Monday.
Shaul was killed during a battle in Gaza on July 30, 2014, and his body had been held by Hamas for the past 10 years, the IDF said.
“The recovery of Staff Sergeant, Oron Shaul’s body, was made possible due to a decade-long ongoing intelligence effort, which intensified during the war,” the IDF wrote in a statement about the operation on Monday.
Netanyahu spoke with Oron Shaul’s mother, Zehava Shaul, after the operation was successfully completed, a statement from his office said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Jordan Miller
Next hostage exchange expected to take place Saturday
Both Israel and Hamas have confirmed the next hostage release will take place on Saturday.
A senior Israeli official confirmed the deal must take place on Jan. 25, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement. Hamas confirmed the date, saying “the second batch of prisoner exchange will take place on the scheduled date.”
Three hostages, all Israeli women, were released on Sunday, while 90 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israel in exchange.
Houthis say attacks on Israeli shipping will continue
Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced that they will limit their attacks in the Red Sea to only Israel-affiliated ships, signaling a temporary easing of their broader assault on commercial vessels.
The decision coincided with the ceasefire and hostage-release deal agreed between Israel and Hamas that went into effect on Sunday.
The announcement was made via an email sent to shipping companies by the Houthi Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, the Associated Press reported.
Attacks on Israeli-linked vessels will end “upon the full implementation of all phases” of the ceasefire, the Houthis said, adding that attacks on U.S.- or U.K.-linked shipping may resume if the two nations continue airstrikes in Yemen.
The Houthis have targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023, significantly affecting global shipping, particularly through Egypt’s Suez Canal.
The Houthis have also attacked American and allied military shipping in the region, plus launched drone and ballistic missile strikes into Israel.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
10,000 bodies may be under Gaza rubble, Civil Defense says
The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said there could be as many as 10,000 bodies buried under rubble all across the strip, as many displaced Gazans try to return to their homes under a nascent ceasefire agreement.
The Civil Defense said in a post to Telegram that 10,000 missing people are believed to be “under the rubble of destroyed homes, buildings and facilities.” They are not counted in the 38,300 fatalities listed by the Civil Defense since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Gaza Ministry of Health — which has separately tracked deaths during the conflict — said on Sunday that 46,913 people had been killed in the Hamas-run territory during the war with Israel.
The Civil Defense said Israeli forces prevented its crews from accessing large areas of the strip during the fighting, “where there are hundreds of bodies” that have not yet been recovered.
The Civil Defense called for the entry of foreign rescue workers “to support us in carrying out our duty to deal with the catastrophic reality left behind by the war, which exceeds the capacity of the civil defense apparatus in the Gaza Strip.”
The organization called on Gazans to assist rescuers “with all necessary capabilities, including rescue, firefighting, and ambulance vehicles and equipment, as well as heavy machinery and equipment that will help us retrieve the bodies of martyrs from under the rubble of thousands of destroyed buildings and homes.”
Freed hostage is ‘happiest girl in the world,’ mother says Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily Damari — who was among the three Israeli captives freed from Gaza on Sunday — released a statement thanking all those involved in her daughter’s release “from the bottom of my heart.”
“Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,” Mandy said in a statement shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters.
“I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated,” she added.
“In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back,” Mandy said.
“In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain,” she added. “The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families.”
-ABC News’ Anna Burd
Red Cross details ‘complex’ hostage release operation
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that Sunday’s operation to collect three freed Israeli hostages from Gaza “was complex, requiring rigorous security measures to minimize the risks to those involved.”
“Navigating large crowds and heightened emotions posed challenges during the transfers and in Gaza, ICRC teams had to manage the dangers posed by unexploded ordnances and destroyed infrastructure,” the ICRC said in a Monday statement.
“More families are waiting anxiously for their loved ones to come home,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said. “We call on all parties to continue to adhere to their commitments to ensure the next operations can take place safely.”
The ICRC also stressed that “urgently needed humanitarian assistance must enter Gaza, where civilians have struggled for months to access food, drinkable water and shelter.”
Released Palestinian prisoners arrive in the West Bank amid high tensions
Tensions were high as people waited in Beitunia, in the West Bank, for the arrival of the 90 Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israeli custody just after 1 a.m. local time.
Israeli forces used cars and tear gas to attempt to clear the roads, ABC News reporters on the scene said.
ABC News’ team saw flash bangs where people were gathered waiting for the prisoners’ release.
Israeli Police did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the matter.
The prisoners were released from Ofer Prison in Ramallah, West Bank, as a part of the hostage exchange and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
People were seen on top of the buses waving flags and chanting as the prisoners arrived in Beitunia at approximately 1:42 a.m.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, as well as Tom Soufi Burridge and Hugo Leenhardt in the West Bank
Photos show 3 Israeli former hostages reunited with their mothers
Photos were released by Israeli officials on Sunday showing the three released hostages hugging their mothers as they were reunited.
The images showed former hostages Romi Gonen, 24; Emily Damari, 28; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, all sharing emotional embraces with their mothers.
(WASHINGTON) — China has nearly tripled its nuclear warhead arsenal since 2020, according to the Pentagon’s latest China military power report released Wednesday.
“DOD estimates the PRC has surpassed 600 operational nuclear warheads as of mid-2024,” a senior U.S. defense official told reporters this week.
In 2020, the Pentagon estimated China’s nuclear stockpile was in the low 200s.
“The PLA continues its rapid nuclear build up,” the official said, using an acronym for the People’s Liberation Army, adding that China is expected to exceed 1,000 warheads by 2030.
China is also diversifying the kinds of nuclear weapons it’s building, the official said.
“When you look at what they’re trying to build here, it’s a diversified nuclear force that would be comprised of systems ranging from low-yield precision strike missiles all the way up to ICBMs, with different options at basically every rung on the escalation ladder, which is a lot different than what they’ve relied on traditionally,” the official said.
China’s budding nuclear arsenal, still dwarfed by those of the U.S. and Russia, is just one part of a broader strategy to build its influence on the global stage, the official said.
“The PRC seeks to amass national power to achieve what Xi Jinping has referred to as the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation by 2049 and to revise the international order in support of the PRC system of governments and its national interests,” the official said.
Despite economic and corruption-related setbacks, China’s military is making steady progress in modernizing its non-nuclear capabilities as well, according to the official.
“They also are showing some interest in developing a new conventional ICBM that could strike Hawaii, Alaska and the continental United States. And I think this is in part to address what they’ve seen as a long-standing asymmetry in the U.S.’s ability to conduct conventional strikes against the PRC, and for many decades, their inability to reach out and strike the U.S. territory with anything other than nuclear and ballistic missiles,” the official said.
Beijing has become ever more willing to use military coercion to help achieve its aims, according to the DOD report.
“Throughout 2023, the PRC escalated tensions with the Philippines in the South China Sea by ramming and boarding vessels en route to supply Second Thomas Shoal. The PRC also amplified its diplomatic, political and military pressure against Taiwan in 2023 and into this year,” the senior defense official said.
But the People’s Liberation Army has identified some of its own shortcomings, including with the strength of its leaders, according to the report.
“The PLA to continues to highlight what they refer to as the ‘five incapables,’ which is a PLA slogan asserting that some PLA commanders are incapable of judging situations, understanding higher authorities’ intentions, making operational decisions, deploying forces or managing unexpected situations,” the defense official said.
Despite several soft spots, the U.S. lists China as the Defense Department’s No. 1 “pacing challenge.”
“Our National Security Strategy identifies the PRC as the only competitor with the intent, and increasingly, the capability, to reshape the international order,” the official said.
