The family of slain American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra was hosted by US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, as was freed hostage Edan Alexander, also a dual American-Israeli citizen, and his family, on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel.
The meeting also coincided with the second day of indirect negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, over Trump’s plan to free the remaining 48 hostages and end the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, Ronen Neutra, Omer’s father, said the family had spoken to Trump not just as individuals, but as representatives of the “28 bereaved families who are among the 48 total hostage families.”
“We reminded him how important it is that the deceased are also returned for burial,” said Neutra, whose son was killed and his body dragged to Gaza from a tank stationed on the border on October 7, 2023.
For close to 14 months following October 7, Israel believed that Neutra had been taken alive, but in December 2024, the IDF concluded, based on new findings, that he had been killed on the Gaza border on the day of the invasion.
In recent weeks, both Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have made remarks that referred only to the 20 living hostages in their pledges to secure the freedom of the remaining captives, omitting the deceased.
Alexander, who was kidnapped from his IDF base near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, was released by Hamas in a US-brokered deal on May 12 this year after 584 days in captivity.
No hostages have been released since, although the IDF has recovered the bodies of two deceased hostages in recent months.
Alexander’s release was characterized at the time by Hamas as a goodwill gesture to Trump in the hope that he would coax Israel into agreeing to a deal to end the war. Some five months later, a deal remains elusive.
Cautious optimism has been voiced in recent days, however, after Trump presented his 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza and received both Israel’s blessing and the blessing of key Muslim and Arab nations, some of which, including Qatar and Turkey, have close ties with Hamas.
The plan calls for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages within 72 hours of the start of the truce, among other conditions.
“We met President Trump to strengthen him and thank him on behalf of the hostage families for the determination and leadership he has been showing… the understanding that the hostages are the key to bringing calm to the Middle East and arriving at a ceasefire and an end to the fighting,” said Omer Neutra in a social media video.
The parents added that they had given Trump a gift with the writing “Am Yisrael Chai” (“The Nation of Israel lives”), which “shows the bravery and cunning of the Jewish people wherever they are, and of the State of Israel.”
Asked by a reporter about whether Trump believes a deal can be reached, Neutra said he believed the president was “hopeful, but he said he should ‘wait and see what happens in the coming days.'”
Citing unnamed sources “with direct knowledge” of the matter, Axios correspondent Barak Ravid reported that Trump told Alexander and his family that the next 48 hours would be “crucial” for reaching an agreement.
Following the meeting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt published images of Trump meeting with the families at his desk in the Oval Office.
“On the 2nd anniversary of October 7th, President Trump met with Edan Alexander and his family, and the family of Omer Neutra, whose body is still in Gaza,” she wrote, followed by a yellow heart emoji — the color used to raise awareness for the hostages.
The official White House account also published photos of the solemn Neutra family and Alexander posing with a smiling Trump.
“President Trump is committed to bringing every hostage home,” the White House post read.