Itay Chen, last remaining American hostage in Gaza, returned to Israel
The IDF soldier was one of 46 U.S. nationals killed on Oct. 7 and six who were held in Gaza
A woman sits with a sign identifying Itay Chen, an Israeli soldier missing since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants and confirmed dead by the Israeli army, during a demonstration by the families of the hostages calling for their release, near Kibbutz Nirim in southern Israel by the border with Gaza on August 29, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images) Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
By Louis Keene November 4, 2025
Israel announced Tuesday it had received the remains of IDF soldier Itay Chen, the youngest and last of six American citizens held hostage in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
Staff Sgt. Chen, 19, was serving in a tank unit Oct. 7 when he was killed at the Nahal Oz military base. Hamas militants then took his body to Gaza, along with Matan Angrest and the remains of Capt. Daniel Perez and Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz. Chen was one of 53 IDF soldiers killed and 10 captured at Nahal Oz that day, and one of two American-Israeli soldiers killed that day.
Angrest was returned in an exchange as part of last month’s ceasefire agreement. The remains of the other American-Israeli soldier, Omer Neutra, were returned to Israel earlier this week.
For months after Oct. 7, Chen’s family held out hope he had been taken alive to Gaza, and his parents, Ruby and Hagit Chen, were among the most outspoken members of the hostage families — and became prominent critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the war dragged on.
Ruby walked out of Netanyahu’s Sept. 2025 speech to the U.N. after the prime minister, listing the hostages by name, only recited the ones still alive.
“Is he subtly admitting that he is no longer focused on bringing everyone home?” Ruby Chen wrote later in a blog post. “Is he saying that each individual hostage is no longer important?”
Itay Chen was born in New York and grew up in Netanya.
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