Ruby Chen longs to recover the remains of his 19-year-old son, Itay Chen, an Israeli-American soldier who Israeli intelligence says was killed in the Oct. 7 attack, and he told Newsmax on Saturday that he is cautiously optimistic that President Donald Trump's plan for peace in Gaza will bring that to pass.
The plan calls for all hostilities to immediately end. Within 72 hours, Hamas would release all hostages it still holds, living or dead. The militants still hold 48 hostages — 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive.
In return, Israel would free 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in its prisons as well as 1,700 people detained from Gaza since the war began, including all women and children. Israel would also hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for each body of a hostage handed over.
"Cautious optimism I think sums it up," Chen told "Wake Up America Weekend" on Saturday. "I think the president, together with Mr. Steve Witkoff [special envoy] and Mr. Jared Kushner [adviser], have put a full-court press on the Hamas people via Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt.
"And it seems like they have said a partial yes. Let's just be accurate.
"And I know for a fact that Mr. Witkoff, he would not get on a plane to the Middle East if he did not think that there was a good possibility of getting this into the end zone," he said.
Asked to describe how he's feeling, Chen said the ordeal has tempered his emotions.
"So to be honest, after two years, I think the most appropriate adjective to define our feelings is 'numb,' because we've had so many highs and then have been disappointed again and again," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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