Itay Chen's death reminds us that the hostages' time is running out - opinion

This week, a family I came to know and admire in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre received the knock on the door that every hostage family dreads. Ruby and Hagit Chen – the parents of American Itay Chen – learned that their son was murdered while serving in a tank on the Gaza border on October 7. Until Monday, they believed their son was alive and that someday their vibrant boy would return to them. Now, they await the return of his body.

Itay was only 19 years old when Hamas terrorists shattered the ceasefire in place, brutally killed Itay and more than a thousand others, dragged hundreds of living people and lifeless bodies to Gaza, and destroyed innocent families like the Chens.

For more than five months, I watched Ruby and Hagit tap into reserves of strength that only a desperate parent could. Their family crossed oceans nearly every week to fight for Itay – meeting with government officials all over the world and speaking to any audience that would listen. Time and again, Ruby appeared on television, clutching an hourglass and warning the world that our time to save the hostages is running out. His son’s death is proof that, as the sand falls, the fate of the hostages only becomes bleaker.

Itay’s murder is a tragic example of what will happen to all the hostages if Hamas does not release them immediately. I know the Biden Administration, our lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the hostage families, and Jewish organizations are doing everything in their power to return the 134 remaining hostages. But it will all be for naught if Hamas does not relinquish these innocent men, women, and children.

During his State of the Union address last week, US President Joe Biden rightfully said, “Hamas could end this conflict today by releasing the hostages, laying down arms, and surrendering those responsible for October 7th.” Today, those words are particularly resonant. Hamas bears sole responsibility for this tragic conflict, and every hostage’s death is a reminder of the barbarity of this terror army. Americans, in particular, would do well to remember that eight of their fellow citizens, several still alive, remain in Hamas’s hands.

The families of the hostages live in agony, bring them home now

Yes, all of them – the living and the dead, the women and men, the soldiers and the civilians must be returned to their loved ones. The families of the remaining hostages live in an endless cycle of agony. They deserve to know if their loved ones are alive or dead. They deserve the chance to embrace the surviving hostages and to grieve the murdered. As Biden wrote following news of Itay’s murder, “No one should have to endure even one day of what [the Chen family has] gone through.”

These are not just names on a list. Itay was a teenager who spent years in the Boy Scouts and loved playing basketball with his brothers, Roy and Alon. His father likes to say Itay inherited a special “New York toughness” that was tempered by his generosity and fun-loving spirit. And he was loved tremendously.

Hamas’s tunnels are filled with people just like Itay. Every day they remain in captivity could be the end of the sand in the hourglass for another hostage.

My last Zoom meeting with Ruby was on Friday – as we wished each other a Shabbat Shalom, I said, God willing, we would celebrate Itay’s release with champagne. Instead of toasting to Itay’s healthy and safe return, we will now make shiva calls and send condolences. Let this be the last of our beloved hostage families to receive that dreaded knock on the door. Bring them home now.

The writer is a Jerusalem Post columnist, and the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the central coordinating body representing the Jewish community on issues of national and international concern. Follow him on X at @daroff.