NETANYA, Israel (Reuters) – The father of an Israeli soldier killed during the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 said he was going through a living hell a day after learning of the death and called for a hostage deal to ensure his son’s body is returned home.
Itay Chen was serving as a soldier when Hamas carried out its surprise cross-border rampage through southern Israeli towns and military bases, sparking the now five-month-old war in Gaza.
The dual U.S. citizen was believed to be have been held hostage but the military confirmed Itay’s death on Tuesday.
“We know that they were in some sort of a battle and we lost contact with him, or the army lost contact with him, after a few hours,” Itay’s father, Ruby Chen, told Reuters. “The analysis after a couple of days was that he was kidnapped by Hamas. And he is still, as we speak, in Gaza.
“Even though we were given intelligence that provides an understanding that Itay is not alive, we still need a hostage deal, because that’s the basic human requirement that I think any viewer can relate to, is that we want a funeral site,” he said.
Ruby Chen said the family had received a condolence call from U.S. President Joe Biden, who earlier had made his own announcement about the 19-year-old’s death.
“It meant a lot to us to have him talk to us as a human being and talking about understanding pain and losing a loved one,” Chen said of the call. “I do not think we could have found a more friendly, compassionate, sympathetic administration than the Biden administration.”
More than 130 Israeli hostages are still being held in Gaza. Some have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities. Ruby Chen appealed to Hamas to return Itay.
“As a father, as a parent, you want to have your son back and be able to mourn for him,” he said. “And I call to Hamas again – are you humans? Or do you wish to continue to cause suffering, just for the case of suffering?”
(Reporting by Janis Laizans; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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