The father of an American citizen taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, has spoken of the anticipation and uncertainty that continues to shroud his family while they wait for news on his son.
Ruby Chen told CNN’s Kate Bolduan he holds on to the hope his son, Itay, is still alive but fears for the worst.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier publicly implied for the first time that not all the deceased hostages held captive in Gaza will return. CNN previously reported that the Israeli government has, for months, been aware that Hamas may not know the location of, or is unable to retrieve, the remains of some of the deceased hostages.
More than two years after Hamas and its allies kidnapped 251 people from Israel and took them to Gaza, 47 hostages remain in the enclave, with at least 20 believed to be alive. The remains of another hostage, Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin, have been held there since 2014.
“There is that scenario, some say even a realistic scenario, that Hamas will come back and say, ‘Look, we don’t have 48. We only have a lower number.’ So it might be that there are some families, including mine, that do not have closure,” he said.
Itay, a dual US-Israeli citizen, is presumed dead, but his father has previously said that his son remains a hostage even in death. This, he said, is what he has expressed to US President Donald Trump as well as former President Joe Biden during his administration.
“I would hope to believe that this administration, that speaks so highly about America … will do their best efforts as well … making sure that my son is one of the first that come out,” he added.