US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Saturday to secure the return of all 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.
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“Please don’t stop — until the last hostage is released,” it added.
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 will join a meeting between US President Donald Trump and the Qatari emir and prime minister.
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
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.
Ruby Chen, father of slain Israeli hostage Itay Chen, attends a protest calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, outside the US Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv, July 4, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
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.
US President Donald Trump, sitting, hosts the family of slain Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra on the second anniversary of his kidnapping by Hamas, at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, October 7, 2025. (White House)
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 Sunday, 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.
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