![\"Hagit,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5co-ruby-chen-intervi-wcbsdf33-hi-res-still.jpg#.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nFamilies across the Tri-State Area and around the world are remembering loved ones killed three years after Hamas launched attacks on southern Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than 1,200 people were killed during the deadliest single-day attack in Israeli history. Families gathered at intersections, bomb shelters and at a music festival site in Israel to mourn.<\/p>\n
For residents in the New York and New Jersey area, the years since have been a relentless fight for their loved ones.<\/p>\n
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(L to R)\u00a0 Hagit, Itay and Ruby Chen<\/p>\n
Photo provided<\/p>\n
Staff sergeant Itay Chen, whose family has ties to Brooklyn, was killed defending the Gaza border at 19 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Long Island native Omer Neutra was killed while serving as a tank platoon commander at the time of the attacks.<\/p>\n
![\"gusoff-12p-vo-omer-neut-wcbscazj-hi-res-still.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gusoff-12p-vo-omer-neut-wcbscazj-hi-res-still.jpg#.jpeg\")
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Omer Neutra was an Israel Defense Forces soldier from Plainview, Long Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Neutra Family<\/p>\n
Both men’s remains have since been returned by Hamas.<\/p>\n
Amid the heartbreak, there has also been hope. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edan Alexander<\/a>, from New Jersey, was abducted from his base during the attacks.<\/p>\n He survived 584 days in captivity until his release in May 2025, where the town of Tenafly welcomed him home. Later, a street was renamed<\/a>\u00a0in his honor.<\/p>\n Edan Alexander speaks at a Manhattan gala supporting the Israel Defense Forces in 2025 after he spent more than a year in Hamas custody.<\/p>\n Friends of the IDF<\/p>\n For Palestinians, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has devastated Gaza, displaced around 90% of its population, and killed tens of thousands of people.<\/p>\n Israel’s military still holds more than half the territory, and despite a ceasefire reached nearly a year ago, strikes continue almost daily.<\/p>\n The rising death toll has fueled protests<\/a>\u00a0in New York, from college encampments to marches.<\/p>\n Demonstrations, organized by celebrities and activists, have repeatedly shut down streets in Manhattan and across the country.<\/p>\n The ongoing war also ignited a feud<\/a> between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n It took root on the campaign trail, when Mamdani pledged to honor an International Criminal Court arrest warrant<\/a>\u00a0for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes.<\/p>\n Their conflict escalated in September at the U.N. General Assembly, with Netanyahu condemning<\/a> Mamdani, but the mayor refused to back down from his criticism.<\/p>\n Israel’s Consul General in New York has invited the mayor to attend a screening documenting the Oct. 7 attacks. While Mamdani has not responded to that invitation, he will be attending a vigil in remembrance of the victims at 7 p.m. Wednesday. After, he plans to meet with Palestinian New Yorkers.<\/p>\n![\"reid-6p-pkg-edan-alexan-wcbsf5fa-hi-res-still.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/reid-6p-pkg-edan-alexan-wcbsf5fa-hi-res-still.jpg#.jpeg\")
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