The release of any remaining hostages being held by Hamas must take priority over other issues being discussed, including Iran's status or the potential for the United States to take over Gaza after the war is over, Ruby Chen, the father of Itay Chen, a U.S.-Israeli soldier with the Israel Defense Forces, told Newsmax Sunday.
Chen's son, 19, was reportedly killed on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas assault on Israel. The family has held out hope, however, that he was not killed but is being held hostage.
"I've been to the White House multiple times, and I know that President Trump puts the hostages at a very high priority for his team," Chen said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend." "Mr. Steve Witkoff, God bless him, he has been flying over the Middle East and doing whatever he can to make this deal continue."
But, Chen said, "We can't couple this negotiation of the hostages with bigger issues, such as the day after in Gaza, or if Iran has or does not have nuclear capabilities. We need to remember the urgency that is in front of us."
Saturday, armed militants led three emaciated hostages, Israeli civilians Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami, to a stage before a crowd of hundreds where they were made to speak out before they were handed over to the Red Cross. The men, all civilians, were among the 250 people seized as hostages during the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Chen said Sunday that the images of the hostages and their physical condition is a reminder that the release negotiations must take precedence.
"The Jewish people immediately think about the Holocaust, of people that were held in starvation," Chen said. "It just goes again to the point that we do not have time."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to stay in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, and negotiations or discussions inside the Israel cabinet about phase two of the hostage/ceasefire agreement have been delayed, Chen said.
"What the families are expecting is that the prime minister, after seeing those pictures, should as soon as possible guide the negotiation team to intensify talks that will enable the release of the last hostage," he said. "We are less concerned about how the next hostage comes out. We want to understand how the last hostage comes out. Even it might be a deceased hostage, but that hostage also needs to come out as well."
Chen said he had just returned from a meeting in the White House but saw Netanyahu "speaking about other topics, such as the future of Gaza, Iran, Saudi, and we, the hostage families, need one thing, and that's getting all the hostages out, including my son."
He added that it's "unfortunate to say" that the Biden administration did not put an emphasis on the U.S. citizens being held, and "even today we have six U.S. citizens being held hostage."
"When I come into Washington, I ask a very simple question," Chen said. "How is the United States, well I'm also a taxpayer, able to get my son out?"
And until now, the answer was that a deal would be negotiated, he said.
"Well, the prime minister is in no rush, as we've been doing this for 500 days and [he is] coming into Washington and talking about the future of Gaza," said Chen. "You also hear [Trump] saying, Well, no rush. So who is in a rush? When is this tragedy going to end? And those are the types of questions that I ask each time that I come into Washington."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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