Forward of the primary anniversary of the Oct. 7 assaults in Israel, Ruby Chen, the daddy of 19-year-old IDF soldier and American hostage Itay Chen, spoke with Rhiannon Ally on ABC Information Reside in an emotional interview.
“We do not know who’s alive or not, together with my son. And we simply must get this to an finish,” Chen stated.
An Israeli soldier visits an set up honoring those that had been killed and kidnapped within the Supernova music pageant through the October 7 assaults by Palestinian militants, on the website of the pageant close to Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel, Oct. 6, 2024.
Menahem Kahana/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Chen, who’s initially from New York Metropolis, describes his son as “a fun-loving child” who joined the IDF on the age of 18. Itay and his workforce had been ambushed whereas defending a kibbutz on Oct. 7, and he has not heard from him since, Chen stated.
He additionally shared that he lately spoke with the White Home to advocate for imposing financial and diplomatic sanctions on Iran, which lately launched a missile assault towards Israel.
After watching negotiations between Israel and Hamas fail for months, Chen stated he and different family members of the hostages ought to have a voice within the discussions.
“The unhappy half about it’s that there is no such thing as a accountability for the failed negotiations. As soon as that failed negotiation occurs, we do not see any accountability on any facet, not from the mediators of Egypt, not on Israel, not on Hamas,” Chen stated.
“We must also be allowed to that equation as nicely,” he stated.
