Flanked by the First Lady, President Joe Biden bowed his head as a rabbi sang a prayer in Hebrew for the deceased at the White House on Monday.
The somber ceremony marked one year since Hamas terrorists stormed Israel’s border and carried out the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
President Biden left Monday’s event without saying a word, but his administration issued a statement.
He acknowledged that 46 American citizens were among the 1,200 innocent people killed by Hamas that day, and that 12 others were taken hostage.
As of October 7, 2024, terrorists are believed to still be holding four Americans inside Gaza.
President Biden left Monday’s event without saying a word, but his administration issued a statement.
Three other US citizen hostages are presumed dead. Their bodies have not yet been recovered.
These are the stories of the missing.
Omer Neutra, 22 years old
Omer Neutra’s parents, Orna and Ronen, moved from Israel to the United States in 1999. He was born in New York City, making him a dual American-Israeli citizen.
Growing up in Plainview, Long Island, New York, Omer captained his high school volleyball, soccer, and basketball teams and became an avid fan of the NBA’s New York Knicks.
After graduating from high school and before attending Binghamton University in New York, he decided to spend a gap year in Israel.
But after the COVID pandemic forced him to return home in 2020, he told his parents he wanted to stay and enlist in the Israeli army.
On October 7, Omer, now 22, was serving as a tank commander at a base near the Gaza Strip when he was taken hostage. Grainy footage allegedly recorded that day shows Hamas gunmen pulling him out of a tank.
Omer Neutra, 22, grew up on Long Island, New York, and has dual American-Israeli citizenship. He was a Knicks fan and captain of his high school basketball team.
His parents, Ronen and Orna, were devastated by the kidnapping of their son, who was captured just hours after talking to them about his upcoming birthday.
Neutra’s parents have told how they spoke to their son about his upcoming birthday just hours before his capture.
Now, a year later, his father asks him how and if he will ever return home. ‘Is it in body bags? Is it three years from now? Ronen Neutra said last week.
Edan Alexander, 20 years old
Edan Alexander, 20, grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City.
His parents moved to the United States from Israel when he was a baby. He grew up speaking Hebrew at home and traveled to Israel every summer to visit his family.
Otherwise, he was the typical American boy; Knicks fan and swimming champion on his high school team.
Edan’s parents said they were surprised when he told them during his senior year of high school that he wanted to postpone college to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, but they supported him.
In Israel, he was assigned to a small outpost on the border with Gaza. Edan, then 19, was patrolling a kibbutz on October 7 when he was captured.
He called his mother, Yael, right after the attacks began.
“I told him at the end of the call, ‘Listen to me, Edan. I’m here. I’m with you. I love you. Just protect yourself. Just stay safe,” he said. ‘And that’s it, we hung up. I didn’t know I wouldn’t hear from him again.’
Five days later, Edan’s parents were informed that he had been kidnapped.
Israeli hostages freed by Hamas have said they saw Edan in the tunnels under Gaza.
Edan Alexander, 20, grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. His parents moved to the US from Israel when he was a baby and he grew up speaking Hebrew at home and returning often to visit.
“I told him at the end of the call, ‘Listen to me, Edan. I’m here. I’m with you. I love you. Just protect yourself. Just stay safe,” said Edan’s mother, Yael (above). ‘And that’s it, we hung up. I didn’t know I wouldn’t hear from him again.’
Keith Siegel, 65 years old
Keith Siegel, 65, moved to Israel from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 40 years ago.
There he met and fell in love with his wife Aviva, a kindergarten teacher from South Africa.
They lived in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Gaza border, where Keith worked as an occupational therapist.
They had four children together and are now devoted grandparents to five.
Keith and Aviva were at home when they were taken hostage on October 7 and taken to Gaza, along with their neighbor and her two children.
They were kept in tunnels and apartments and moved constantly, until Aviva was released on November 26 in a deal that saw more than 100 women, children and non-Israeli citizens returned to Israel.
Now Aviva is extremely worried about Keith’s health. He said his ribs were broken when they were captured and he had a gunshot wound to his hand.
In April, Hamas released a video of Keith in captivity, but Aviva dare not watch it.
In April, Hamas released a video of Keith in captivity, but Aviva dare not watch it.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36 years old
Sagui Dekel-Chen turned 36 in captivity in Gaza on August 11.
He was working in his mechanical workshop 200 meters from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 when Hamas terrorists entered the city.
Sagui managed to warn his neighbors via text message and then fled with his pregnant wife Avital and their two young daughters to an air raid shelter.
Then, he went to confront the terrorists.
Sagui is the grandson of Holocaust survivors.
His parents grew up in the United States but moved to Israel, where he was born. In 1997, they returned to the United States and lived in the Boston area, where he completed high school.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, was working in his mechanical workshop 200 meters from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 when Hamas terrorists entered the city.
He and his wife returned to Israel when a charity hired him to be its project coordinator there.
It is believed that Sagui He was captured while trying to defend his home.
In December, Avital gave birth to her third daughter.
SUSPECTED DEAD
Itay Chen, 19 years old
Itay Chen, 19, grew up in the Israeli city of Netanya, but his family often returned to his birthplace, New York City.
He is the second of three children, a former Boy Scout and basketball player, who loves hiking and music.
He was serving on the Gaza border on October 7 when, according to the IDF, he was killed by Hamas terrorists, who took his body to Gaza.
Itay Chen, 19, was serving on the Gaza border on October 7 when he was killed by Hamas terrorists.
Itay’s family, however, refuses to believe that he is gone.
‘With so much misinformation swirling around this conflict, we still don’t know what to believe. We wonder if he survived or not. We are hopeful that Itay is still alive,” his parents wrote. Ruby and Hagit Chen in an October 7, 2024 article for MSNBC.
They have said that they hope that the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Biden to do “everything in his power” to bring his son home.
Judith Weinstein, 70, and Gadi Haggai, 73
Judith Weinstein, 70, is a native of upstate New York who moved to Israel 30 years ago.
Judith Weinstein, 70, and Gadi Haggai, 73, were together on their usual morning walk on October 7 when they were ambushed by armed Hamas militants.
Her husband, Gadi Haggai, 73, is an Israeli-American chef and retired jazz musician.
She taught English to children with special needs and helped mentor young people suffering from anxiety and depression.
The couple were on their daily morning walk at Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, when they were ambushed by Hamas militants.
Both Gadi and Judith are believed to have been shot and there are conflicting reports about where they died before their bodies were taken to Gaza.
Gadi and Judith have four children and seven grandchildren.
In December 2023, Judith’s 95-year-old mother said: ‘I am very scared and worried. I want to know if Judy is alive and if she’s being held hostage. It’s unbearable not to know.