Chen, 19, from Netanya, served in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 75th Battalion and fell in the defense of Nahal Oz.
Israel has completed the forensic identification of the fallen hostage returned today; authorities have notified the family that the remains are those of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, whose body was abducted to Gaza on October 7 after he was killed in combat. The return followed a handover via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to IDF and police forces, who escorted the casket to the National Center of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir for final confirmation.
Chen, 19, from Netanya, served in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 75th Battalion and fell in the defense of Nahal Oz. He had long been recognized by the IDF as a fallen soldier whose body was held by Hamas; his name has been enshrined in Israel’s official remembrance records. The family’s campaign to bring him home became emblematic of the fight to repatriate every fallen hostage.
The transfer and identification cap days of doubt around earlier Hamas claims and deliveries. In recent exchanges, the ICRC moved caskets from Gaza to Israeli custody while Israeli authorities made clear that some “remains” Hamas handed over were not those of hostages at all—fueling anger in Jerusalem and deepening families’ anguish until forensic teams could verify each case. Tonight’s confirmation ends that uncertainty for the Chen family, even as Israel insists Hamas must still return every fallen hostage.
The return unfolded under the U.S.-backed framework that obligates Hamas to hand over the bodies of murdered hostages alongside ongoing efforts to recover living captives. Israel’s process is clinical and unflinching: a chain-of-custody transfer in the field, a military-rabbinic ceremony, and forensic work at Abu Kabir—CT, DNA, dental, and battlefield evidence—before next-of-kin notification. It’s designed to deliver certainty to families who have been forced to live with weaponized ambiguity.
Chen’s story carries particular resonance: an Israeli-American who loved basketball, a 75th Battalion tanker whose crew became a symbol of the war’s first day. His father, Ruby, refused to sit shiva until his son was brought home for burial—“He is a hero of Israel, and he deserves a grave in Israel.” That promise can finally be kept.
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