The body of the last U.S. citizen kidnapped by Hamas, 19-year-old Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, was returned from Gaza for burial on Monday.
“Following the completion of the identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, in cooperation with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the family that Itay had been returned for burial,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
“The remains of Itay Chen, a young American taken hostage by Hamas at just 19 years old, have finally returned home. We honor his life, mourn his loss, and stand with his family,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.
The IDF said Chen will be given a funeral with full military honors later this week.
Chen was a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, born in New York and raised in the Mediterranean resort city of Netanya, Israel. His family described him as fun-loving and energetic, an enthusiastic singer, dancer, athlete, and videogamer. He also worked as an instructor in youth programs. He was the middle of three brothers.
Chen enlisted in the IDF, joined the armored corps, and was part of a tank crew in the IDF’s 7th Brigade stationed near Kibbutz Nahal Oz when Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023. Chen was not scheduled to be on duty that morning, but he switched shifts with another soldier, so he would be able to attend his brother’s bar mitzvah the following week.
Kibbutz Nahal Oz was one of the primary targets for the savage Hamas attack. The Palestinian militants used cell phones stolen from the residents to film their atrocities and post the videos to social media. Fifteen of the residents were murdered on October 7, and eight more were taken to Gaza as hostages. Some of the former residents said on Monday they were so traumatized by memories of the attack that they could not return to their homes.
Staff Sgt. Itay was killed when his tank was hit by enemy fire while defending the kibbutz. Hamas dragged his body back to Gaza as a prize, but refused to confirm whether he was alive or dead.
“Itay and his squad fought against Hamas for a number of hours, protecting Israeli civilians from being raped, burned and murdered. Eventually, after no backup arrived to support them, their tank was neutralized by Hamas and three of the four tank members were taken hostage to Gaza,” his father Ruby Chen recalled.
Ruby and his wife Hagit joined a group of other hostage families and became tireless activists for the release of prisoners and their remains, frequently communicating with both the Biden and Trump administrations.
“Hamas has inflicted on us the lowest type of psychological terrorism by not acknowledging A) that he is in their possession and B) what his physical status is, so we are still in the dark when it comes to that,” Ruby Chen said in October.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of slow-walking the return of hostages and their remains, while Hamas claims some of the bodies were difficult to locate in the rubble of bombed-out Gaza buildings. Hamas representatives claim they found Chen’s body on Tuesday while excavating ruined buildings in Gaza City.
The IDF initially thought Itay Chen might have been taken alive, but officially concluded in March 2024 that he was killed in battle along with two other members of his crew, tank commander Capt. Daniel Perez and Sgt. Timer Leibovitz.
The fourth member of the crew, Sgt. First Class Matan Angrest, was taken alive by Hamas and returned to Israel last month as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. When he came home, he was holding a handmade poster honoring his three fallen comrades as “the kings of the lions.”
“I never stopped thinking about you. You finally came home, my brother,” Angrest wrote on social media after Chen’s body was returned.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum honored Itay Chen on Tuesday as “an outstanding young man” and “the very best of our youth.”
“The Hostages and Missing Families Forum bows its head in sorrow and shares in the profound grief of the Chen family. There are no words to express the depth of this pain. The hostages have no time. We must bring them all home, Now!” the group said.
Hamas is reportedly still holding the remains of seven hostages, including five Israelis.
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