Overview
- Israeli authorities identified the body as 19-year-old Itay Chen, who the army says was killed on October 7, 2023 in Nahal Oz and taken into Gaza.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross delivered the remains to the Israeli army on Tuesday before forensic identification in Israel.
- German officials, including ambassador Steffen Seibert and Chancellor Friedrich Merz, offered condolences, and reports note Chen also held U.S. citizenship.
- Under the U.S.-brokered framework, all living hostages were freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and Hamas has handed over 21 of 28 reported bodies, with seven still believed to be in Gaza.
- Israel rejects Hamas’s claim that some bodies cannot be recovered from rubble, while Gaza health authorities report difficulty identifying Palestinians’ remains returned by Israel, with 15 additional bodies received at Nasser Hospital.