Ruby Chen, the father of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, a slain Israeli-American soldier whose body is being held in Gaza, says the White House is very closely monitoring the Gaza ceasefire to ensure it holds.
“The Americans don’t want anything to happen to the deal and they’re monitoring it very closely,” he tells the Kan public broadcaster’s Reshet Bet radio station.
Chen tells Kan that “[Steve] Witkoff knows my son’s name,” a criticism aimed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he accidentally referred to “Eitan Chen” as one of the hostages whose body is still in Gaza, during a speech to the Knesset this week.
In addition to the visit earlier this week by Witkoff and Jared Kushner, senior advisers to Trump, US Vice President JD Vance is now in Israel and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on the way as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shore up the deal.
Chen was among those who met with Vance yesterday and has repeatedly met with Witkoff as well.
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