Ruby and Hagit Chen express relief after their son’s body is returned from Gaza, but call for answers and accountability over Hamas’s October 7 attack The post ‘There is peace for the soul’: Parents of slain ex-hostage Itay Chen now ready to grieve appeared first on The Times of Israel.

The set of remains handed over to Israel on Tuesday were those of Itay Chen, the final remaining American Israeli hostage, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Our personal journey may have reached its conclusion, but not the hostage families’ collective journey - we will NOT rest, will NOT stop, until the last hostage returns home”

Ruby and Hagit Chen, the parents of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, whose body was returned for burial to Israel last night, say they spoke to both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

A member of the IDF’s Battalion 77, Sa'ar Golan Division, Chen fell in battle and was abducted into Gaza on the morning of October 7th.