Body of Itay Chen, last American hostage, returned to Israel

US officials mourn fallen soldier as Israel continues push to recover remains of others held in Gaza.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The body of St. Sgt. Itay Chen was positively identified Tuesday night after Hamas forces found it during searches in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City and transferred it to Israel.

He was the last American being held hostage by the terrorist organization, and was mourned by several top US officials.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X, “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.”

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote that he had been in contact with the Chen family “almost daily” during their two-year ordeal.

“Wonderful people,” he said, “whose uncompromising determination to bring Itay home expressed the tireless love of the family.”

“For Itay — may his memory be blessed… and indeed it is,” said the evangelical Christian ambassador.

Born in the United States, Chen grew up in Netanya with his two brothers and enlisted in the 77th Battalion of the Armored Corps after high school.

When the Hamas-led invasion began on Oct. 7, 2023, he and his tank crew went out to repel the attack at the Nahal Oz IDF outpost.

While the body of Sgt. Tomer Leibowitz was found in the tank afterward, the other three were kidnapped to Gaza: Sgt. Matan Angrest was taken alive, along with the bodies of Capt. Daniel Perez and Chen.

Perez’s body was returned on Oct. 13, and Angrest was one of the 20 live hostages released three weeks ago as part of the American cease-fire plan.

When news of Chen’s return broke, Angrest captioned a picture on Instagram of the two of them together with a broken heart emoji and the words, “I haven’t stopped thinking about you. You finally came back, my brother.”

Although his family had clung to the hope to the very end that Itay was alive, the IDF informed them in March 2024 that, according to intelligence information it had received, the young soldier had been killed in his final battle.

Chen’s father, Ruby, wrote a simple post on X in the early hours of Wednesday morning: “Day 760. Itay is back home.”

He will be buried with full military honors later this week.

There are still seven dead hostages in the Gaza Strip — five Israelis and two foreign nationals.

Although one of the Israelis, Lt. Hadar Goldin, was killed and his body abducted over 11 years ago in Operation Protective Edge, Israel has always counted him among the hostages must be returned for the war to end.

The army has seemingly prioritized his release, with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir saying Tuesday that the only way he would be willing to give safe passage to 200 Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels in Rafah, which is controlled by the IDF, is if Hamas gives up Goldin’s body, which is believed to be buried somewhere in the city.

The American administration has been pressing Israel to give in to the Hamas demand, but after saying he would consider it if they left without their weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nixed the idea following outrage from his nationalist coalition partners.

Critics have pointed out that Hamas had already agreed to return all the dead hostages in a 3-to-1 exchange of dead Gazans, and it would signal dangerous weakness to make any additional concessions to the terrorists if there were no overwhelming reason to do so.