October 7 · Personal story
Itay Chen
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nahal Oz
Current outcome
Returned for burial · November 4, 2025
His remains were returned to Israel on November 4, 2025.
01
Life before
Itay grew up in Netanya as the son of Ruby and Hagit Chen and brother to Roy and Alon. Family and friends remembered him as energetic and attentive to people around him: he tried to cheer up anyone who seemed sad. He loved basketball, was part of the Scouts and studied human biology. He also liked climbing walls and traveling around Israel. In the summer before enlistment, he worked as a camp counselor; as a teenager he became a senior guide in the Ministry of Education’s field, nation and society program. When an injury interrupted his work as a guide, he insisted on continuing rather than stepping away.
02
Service and October 7
Itay wanted a meaningful combat role and enlisted in the IDF’s Armored Corps, serving in the 7th Armored Brigade. After the injury he sustained while working as a guide, he still pushed to enlist as a tank fighter. His family described him as a person who needed to feel useful and significant in every setting. In the early hours of October 7, Itay and his tank crew were stationed near Nahal Oz. When Hamas attacked, the crew went into battle to defend the base and surrounding community. His cousin Brit Israeli later said that the crew fought for hours and that the family had no contact with them during the battle. Itay died that day, aged 19.
03
His body held in Gaza
After the battle, Itay’s body was taken to Gaza. His family did not initially know whether he had been killed, was missing or might still be found. The IDF informed the family in March 2024 that he had died in the fighting on October 7 and that his body was held in Gaza. From then on, Ruby and Hagit Chen and their sons Roy and Alon campaigned for Itay’s remains to be returned. In interviews, relatives described the wait as a painful absence without a grave to visit.
04
Return
Itay’s remains were returned to Israel on November 4, 2025, 760 days after he was taken to Gaza. His father Ruby marked the return with a short message: “Day 760. Itay is back home.” Itay returned in his tank crew’s overalls, with a young guides’ T-shirt underneath bearing a message from the campers he had loved working with. On November 5, 2025, he was laid to rest at Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv. His parents and two brothers could finally bury him after their long campaign to bring him home.
05
Aftermath
The T-shirt his campers had given him read, “Itay said to have fun and a half.” The gift linked his return to the young people he had encouraged before the war. His relatives placed words on his gravestone remembering his gaze, smile and the heart that had touched them all, calling him their “Lion King forever.” Itay is also commemorated at Yad La-Shiryon in Latrun. The memorials preserve the memory of the young guide and basketball player alongside his service as a tank fighter.