The remains handed over today were identified as remains of IDF soldier Itay Chen
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) November 4, 2025
May his memory be a blessing https://t.co/sQq5s3yqrZ pic.twitter.com/52NAXKNPyn
Chen, 19, was last remaining hostage with US citizenship; 7 slain captives remain in Strip; army said to believe all can be found; army chief said to demand Hadar Goldin’s body in exchange for cut-off Hamas fighters
The body of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen was returned from Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
to Israel on Tuesday night by IDF troops after Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...handed over the casket with his remains to the Red Thingy.
Chen, 19, was on active duty with his tank unit at the Nahal Oz IDF base when he was killed and kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas bully boyz on October 7, 2023. He was the last remaining slain hostage held in the Gaza Strip with American citizenship.
After receiving the body from the Red Thingy, the IDF inspected the casket, draped it in an Israeli flag and held a short ceremony led by a military rabbi.
After reaching IDF hands, Chen’s body was escorted by police to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification. Hamas has, in the past, transferred remains that did not belong to a hostage.
Itay was killed alongside fellow tank crew members, Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz and Cpt. Daniel Perez, and his body was kidnapped together with Perez’s. Perez was returned last month and laid to rest.
The crew’s fourth member, Matan Angrest, was kidnapped alive and also released last month. Speaking at Perez’s funeral, Angrest promised to keep fighting for Itay’s return and even said he was "ready to go into Gaza right now and bring him back."
The family of Chen, a US national, has been among the most outspoken proponents for the families of hostages and decided not to sit shiva for him until he was returned and laid to rest.
"[After] 760 days, Itay is back home," his father Ruby Chen wrote on X.
The transfer of Chen’s remains occurred after the terror group handed over the bodies of three deceased hostages to Israel on Sunday. On Monday morning, their identities were confirmed as IDF soldiers Col. Asaf Hamami, Cpt. Omer Neutra and Staff Sgt. Oz Daniel.
’WONDERFUL SON’ LAST HEARD FROM AT 6.40 A.M. ON OCT. 7
Chen, 19, was on active duty, part of a tank unit at the Nahal Oz army base that included three other soldiers, when Hamas-led bully boyz attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The dual US-Israeli citizen was last heard from at 6:40 a.m., when the bully boyz invaded the Gaza border communities, including the area where Chen was stationed.
One week later, Chen’s younger brother, Alon, celebrated his bar mitzvah in a small ceremony in Netanya. Thousands of neighborhood residents came out to support the family and Chen’s parents, US-born Ruby and Hagit, and to pray with them for news about Chen.
The Brooklyn-born Ruby Chen said his son had stayed at the base during the Simchat Torah holiday weekend so that he could return home for his younger brother’s bar mitzvah the following weekend.
Ruby Chen said the last he heard from his "wonderful" son was that his base was under heavy bombardment.
Under the terms of the ceasefire that took effect last month, Hamas is obligated to return all hostages in its possession and provide all the information it has regarding where the bodies of hostages can be found. Families of the dear departed captives have stressed the importance of returning them to Israel for burial.
Since the ceasefire began — the first stage of a 20-point peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
— Hamas has released the last 20 surviving hostages, and the bodies of 21 deceased hostages, with seven now remaining in the Strip. The process of finding the bodies has been painstaking and has drawn in international assistance.
But Israel has assessed that Hamas can return most of the dear departed hostages. According to a report on Channel 12 on Tuesday, Israel believes that it will be possible to return all the bodies of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, with "strenuous work and cooperation" with Hamas and other parties over time.
The report said Israel knows the locations of at least four of the dead hostages. The network cites three defense officials as saying that the remaining three can also be returned, though it will take time. The tally apparently does not include the body being returned on Tuesday night, which has not yet been identified.
"This can take time, and there are further moves that need to be carried out on the ground, but in the end, it will be possible to return them all for burial in Israel," a defense official is quoted by Channel 12 as saying.
The seven slain hostages still in Gaza include six who were kidnapped in the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, 2023, and the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed fighting Hamas in Gaza in 2014 and whose body has been held in the Strip since then.
The IDF may press for the return of Goldin’s body by offering safe passage to an estimated 200 Hamas operatives hiding in tunnels in southern Gaza, under the Israeli-held side of the Strip, if the terror group agrees to transfer Goldin’s remains. The operatives would then be allowed into the Hamas-run side of the Strip.
According to a report on Channel 12 on Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir recommended the exchange to political officials.
"No terrorist will leave Rafah alive. I am willing to consider the release of bully boyz [from Rafah] on one condition — returning Hadar Goldin. Otherwise, no terrorist will leave Rafah alive," the network quoted Zamir as saying.
The report said Israel believes Goldin’s body is buried in the Rafah area in southern Gaza.
Israel hands over bodies of 45 Palestinians after Hamas returns remains of 3 hostages
[IsraelTimes] Israel handed over the bodies of 45 Palestinians yesterday, the Red Cross says, a day after Hamas returned the remains of three hostages. Israeli officials identified the three as soldiers who were killed in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza.
The exchange marked another step forward for the tenuous, US-brokered ceasefire. For each deceased Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians.
The Red Cross says it facilitated the transfer of 45 Palestinian bodies to Gaza on Monday morning. Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesperson at the Gaza Health Ministry, told The Associated Press that Nasser Hospital received the bodies around noon.
Only 78 of the bodies returned so far have been identified, the ministry says. Forensic work is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits in Gaza, it adds. The ministry posts photos of the remains online, in the hope that families will recognize them.
Related:
Itay Chen 10/28/2025 Hamas says it handed over one hostage’s remains to Red Cross; Israel working to ID body UPDATE: partial remains of hostage corpse IDF recovered in 2023, Israel furious about Hamas games
Itay Chen 10/17/2025 Matan Angrest, who was freed from Hamas captivity only two days prior, spoke at the funeral of his IDF commander Daniel Perez
Itay Chen 08/31/2025 For IDF’s 7th Brigade, return to Gaza City is personal: Six of its crew are held hostage
Itay Chen 10/28/2025 Hamas says it handed over one hostage’s remains to Red Cross; Israel working to ID body UPDATE: partial remains of hostage corpse IDF recovered in 2023, Israel furious about Hamas games
Itay Chen 10/17/2025 Matan Angrest, who was freed from Hamas captivity only two days prior, spoke at the funeral of his IDF commander Daniel Perez
Itay Chen 08/31/2025 For IDF’s 7th Brigade, return to Gaza City is personal: Six of its crew are held hostage