The parents of two hostages, whom Hamas killed on Oct. 7 and whose bodies it took hostage in Gaza, will be among those in the House chamber on Tuesday night, when U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress.
Orna Neutra, the mother of Omer Neutra, and Ruby Chen, the father of Itay Chen, will be guests of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Both Omer Neutra and Itay Chen were Israeli-Americans. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Neutra’s death on Dec. 2 on Itay Chen’s on March 11.
“I spoke to Itay’s dad, and I spoke to Orna numerous times between Oct. 7 and when they were notified their children had been murdered,” Schumer said on Monday on the Senate floor. “It was vicious cruelty of Hamas, whose viciousness seems to be part of their way, not to let the families know what had happened.”
Schumer said he was standing with the two parents to push for the release of all of the remaining hostages, dead or alive.
“What Omer and Itay’s family have endured is beyond comprehension,” he said. “But I am inspired by their perseverance, by their resolve to keep calling for the safe return of the remaining hostages and for the return of the bodies of their loved ones.”
“We must bring all the hostages home now,” he said.
