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Matan Angrest

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Matan Angrest
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Angrest a week after his release from captivity by Hamas
Born (2002-11-28) 28 November 2002 (age 23)
Known forthe Gaza war hostage crisis

Matan Shahar Angrest (Hebrew: [1]מתן שחר אנגרסט; born 28 November 2002) is an Israeli soldier who was abducted by Hamas terrorists on 7 October 2023 during the attack on Nahal Oz. Serving as a tank driver in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), he was taken hostage during the events of the October 7 massacre and became one of 251 individuals abducted during the Iron Swords War.[2] He was released from captivity on 13 October 2025 along with 19 other hostages.

Early life

File:Matan Angrest, 2021 (cropped).jpeg
Angrest in 2021 at a ceremony in which he was awarded his military beret

Angrest was born on 28 November 2002 to Anat and Haggai and has three younger siblings.[3] He grew up in Kiryat Bialik and enlisted in the IDF in August 2021, serving as a tank driver in the Armored Corps.[2]

Abduction

On 7 October 2023, during the Hamas attack on southern Israel, Angrest and his tank crew, commanded by Captain Daniel Peretz, were deployed to the Nahal Oz sector to defend communities surrounding Gaza.[2] During the broader assault, the Nahal Oz base itself, located just 850 meters from the Gaza border, was overrun by a large Hamas force that breached the perimeter, killed numerous soldiers, and abducted others as the position rapidly collapsed.[4]

Angrest served as the driver of Peretz's tank, and besides them the crew included sergeant first class Itay Chen (gunner) and sergeant Tomer Leibowitz (loader). After the start of the Hamas attack, the tank fought militants near the border barrier for an hour, before being hit and disabled just outside the Nahal Oz outpost. Peretz, Chen and Leibowitz were killed, and Angrest was wounded and captured; the bodies of Peretz and Chen were also taken to Gaza (they would be returned after more than two years as part of the October 2025 Hamas–Israel agreement).[3][5] On 3 April 2025, video footage of Angrest's abduction was released, showing him being dragged from his tank and violently lynched while unconscious.[5] Additional footage showed him injured, bruised, and interrogated.[6][7]

Captivity

Testimony from fellow hostages indicated that Angrest was held in underground tunnels and subjected to repeated physical abuse and harsh interrogations.

During an episode of the investigative program Uvda, IDF observers abducted from the Nahal Oz outpost who were held with him in a tunnel described severe abuse. Daniella Gilboa recounted that Angrest entered a section of the tunnel he was not supposed to; when Hamas operatives discovered this, they beat him and “showed him no mercy.” Karina Ariev stated, “They beat him until he understood and stopped going to that area. Liri Albag added: “They punish, they abuse. Even when it isn’t physical, and sometimes it is, it’s psychological. ‘You will not return,’ ‘Like Gilad Shalit.’”[8]

Statements provided to his family described additional mistreatment, including episodes in which he was reportedly brought close to suffocation and allowed to surface briefly to breathe just before losing consciousness.[2]

On 25 April, former hostage Roni Krivoi, abducted on October 7 and released in the November 2023 exchange, reported that he had been held in the same tunnel as Angrest and that captors connected Angrest to a car battery and electrocuted him.[9][10][11]

File:Yellow Leaves for the Return of the Kidnapped in Rehovot, January 2025 20.jpg
A leaf bearing the name of Matan Angrest in the “Yellow Leaves” installation for the return of the hostages, located in Hostages Square near the mall in the city of Rehovot, January 2025, during the Iron Swords War.

Despite these conditions, Angrest maintained a prayer routine after his captors granted his request for tefillin, a prayer book, and a Bible.[12]

Efforts to secure his release

In the aforementioned Uvda episode featuring the abducted observers, Angrest’s parents also appeared and spoke with them.[13] On 21 April 2025, members of his family joined a demonstration outside the Begin Gate of the Kirya in Tel Aviv, wearing green clothing and makeup resembling blood, stating: “This is a reminder of the lynching Matan experienced.”[14][15]

Release

Angrest was released on 13 October 2025 as part of a negotiated agreement between Israel and Hamas, along with 19 other hostages.[16][17][18] Upon his return, his family reported that he bore signs of torture, including burn marks, though he was in generally stable medical condition.[19]

Retaliation

Following his release, Angrest disclosed that several locations in which he had been held were targeted in Israeli airstrikes during the war. Although he was not injured in these strikes, the attacks formed part of Israel’s broader military campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas’s infrastructure, including tunnel networks used to hold hostages.[19]

See also

References

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  8. ^ איל גונן, נחטף מחוסר הכרה ומוחזק בכלוב: עדויות התצפיתניות על מצבו הקשה של מתן אנגרסט, באתר מאקו,(in Hebrew), 3 באפריל 2025
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  12. ^ ציוץ של יואלי ברים yoeli brim ברשת החברתית אקס (טוויטר), 15 באוקטובר 2025 (in Hebrew)
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