Orna and Ronen Neutra, parents of an American hostage in Gaza, set aside a seat at their Thanksgiving table for their son and urged President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden to work together to bring him and the other remaining hostages home in a recent social media video and CNN interview.
While Thanksgiving is meant to be a time to share a meal with loved ones, the Neutras will be missing a member of their family—their son Omer, an Israeli-American citizen who remains among the 100 or so hostages that the Palestinian militant group Hamas has held captive since its deadly surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
During the attack, roughly 1,200 people were killed and some 250 were taken hostage. About half of those hostages were freed during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023 and of the roughly 100 hostages that remain in Gaza, at least a third are believed to be dead.
After Hamas' attack, Israel began a military operation in Gaza, which has killed over 44,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, the Associated Press reports. It's been nearly 14 months of ongoing fighting and Israel and Hamas have yet to agree to a permanent ceasefire and hostage release deal, despite families of the hostages desperately urging for one.
"Exactly one year ago, Israel and Hamas brokered a temporary deal to release hostages and pause fighting but that agreement was broken. And here we are once again at Thanksgiving and our tables still have an empty chair," Orna Neutra said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday by conservative commentator Bethany Mandel.
Orna asked in the clip, "When will our children, parents, sisters and brothers come home? We can't allow their chairs at our tables to sit empty forever."
Ronen then said he and his wife urge Trump to work with the current administration to bring the seven American hostages and the 94 other hostages that remain in Gaza home now.
"Our political leaders must work jointly to end this catastrophic humanitarian crisis," Ronen said. "For 419 days, we've endured countless failed negotiations and the possibility that with each passing day, our loved ones may never come back."
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's team and the White House via email for comment Thursday afternoon.
Orna and Ronen have been fierce advocates for their son ever since he was taken hostage, appearing in media interviews and talking with members of Congress. They even addressed the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee in July where Ronen said he and Orna know Trump "stands with the American hostages."
Orna and Ronen Neutra are spending their second Thanksgiving without their son Omer. Omer is an American citizen and is trapped in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/s7rP2nvQgw
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) November 28, 2024In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Orna said, "We have two presidents. We're calling on them to work together," referring to Biden and Trump, who will take office on January 20, 2025.
With an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal reached on Tuesday, there is renewed hope that fighting in Gaza will soon end and the hostages will be released. Tuesday's deal ended the escalated fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that supports Hamas in the war in Gaza.
Biden said in the Rose Garden on Tuesday that the United States, along with "Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others," would try again to get a ceasefire deal in Gaza. Meanwhile, Trump called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war during his election campaign. In a social media post from late October, he said that during his first term in office, "We had peace in the Middle East, and we will have peace again very soon!"
The Neutras welcomed the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal but were disappointed that it did not include the release of the hostages in Gaza.
"We have seen that attention both in Israel and around the world was taken from the war in Gaza to the war in Lebanon in the last four or five months, and that was a concern to us," Ronen told CNN. "But at the same time, we are disappointed that it was not combined with a hostage deal, which is really the most urgent element right now. We consider it a missed opportunity."
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