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JERUSALEM: 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 two captives during his visit to Israel.
“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 Israeli campaign group, 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.
“Please don’t stop – until the last hostage is released,” it added.
Chen, a dual Israel-US national and a sergeant in the Israeli army, was working at the border with the Gaza Strip when Hamas and its allies attacked on October 7, 2023.
The military announced 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.
Neutra, 21 at the time of the attack and also a US-Israeli national, was a volunteer soldier killed on October 7.
Raised in New York, Neutra came to Israel to experience the country of his parents, his mother Orna Neutra said in November 2023. He later enlisted for military service as most young Israelis do.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on October 10, all 20 living hostages have been freed by Palestinian militants.
Remains of 15 deceased hostages have also been returned to Israel, while the bodies of 13 others remain in Gaza.
In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 prisoners, mostly Palestinians, along with dozens of Palestinian bodies, as part of the deal.
The ceasefire has largely halted hostilities but on Sunday Israel carried out a wave of air strikes that left dozens of Gazans dead, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Israel said its troops came under attack, resulting in the death of two soldiers, after which it launched the strikes. Later, Israel reinforced the ceasefire.

LONDON: The US military is operating surveillance drones over Gaza to monitor the status of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the New York Times reported.

The operation is part of a larger effort to ensure that the two parties abide by the terms of the ceasefire agreement, military officials said.

With Israel’s consent, the drones have been used to monitor ground activity in Gaza, two Israeli military officials and a US defense official told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.

The drone operators are based at the new Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel. The center was launched last week by US Central Command.

The US has previously flown reconnaissance missions over Gaza in order to locate hostages, but the latest mission highlights a desire to attain independence from Israeli operations, the NYT reported.

The Israel-Hamas truce was brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt, and has been strained by recent bouts of violence in Gaza and delays over the exchange of bodies from both sides.

Trump administration officials this week said there are concerns within the US government over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu potentially exiting the deal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio toured the Civil-Military Coordination Center on Friday, saying: “There’s going to be ups and downs and twists and turns, but I think we have a lot of reason for healthy optimism about the progress that’s being made.”

The center pledged to “help facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical and security assistance from international counterparts” into Gaza.

Timothy Hawkins, a captain and spokesman for Central Command, told Israeli channel i24 this week that the center “includes an operations floor that enables us to monitor in real time what is happening on the ground in Gaza.”

Daniel B. Shapiro, former US ambassador to Israel, said: “If there was total transparency and total trust between Israel and the US there wouldn’t be a need for this. But obviously the US wants to eliminate any possibility of misunderstanding.”