by Jerusalem Post Staff
The US State Department called upon all countries to put pressure on Hamas to surrender, disarm, and release all remaining hostages, especially dual Israel-US citizens Itay Chen and Omer Neutra.
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The United States reaffirmed its commitment to freeing the hostages still held in Gaza and ensuring the disarmament of Hamas in a recorded snippet of a statement shared on X/Twitter on Thursday.
“President Donald Trump, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Secretary [of State] Marco Rubio continue to work tirelessly to end the war, release the hostages, including Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, the two Americans still held by Hamas,” the State Department representative said.
Chen, an Israeli-American IDF soldier who was taken hostage by Hamas from his tank on October 7, was later declared to be deceased by the military. Chen’s family, though given permission by the Rabbinate to commemorate the shiva mourning period despite not being able to bury his remains, continue to wait for his return before beginning the Jewish traditions of grief.
Neutra, a lone soldier from New York, served as a tank platoon commander in the Gaza border communities area. He was killed by Hamas on October 7, the IDF confirmed in late November 2024, and his body was taken to the Gaza Strip.
The US is also determined to give Gaza “a future free of Hamas.” Saudia Arabia and France, backed by Egypt, Qatar and the Arab League, have also called for Hamas to disarm, and hand both their weapons and authority over to the Palestinian Authority.
There's an entire emerging body of science that links the microbiome to mental health—what they call the gut-brain connection. pic.twitter.com/3JnLaZMVMN
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) August 7, 2025
US involvement in aid efforts
“Collegues, no one wants to see Palestinian civilians in Gaza go hungry and thirst, the video concluded. “As President Trump has said, the US is going to be even more involved in these efforts.”Witkoff and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution site in Rafah last week to witness the operation themselves in order to provide Trump with a clear understanding of the situation.
“We want to help people,” the US president told Axios last Friday. “We want to help them live. We want to get people fed. It is something that should have happened a long time ago.”
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Reuters contributed to this report.
Jerusalem Post Staff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-863626
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