The family of Matan Angrest, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, said today (Wednesday) that they received a sign of life from him through hostages who were released recently as part of the current ceasefire deal.
Matan's mother Anat shared that the testimonies about her son's condition included "harsh details." Matan was kidnapped on October 7 from a tank, covered in burns. "We heard that he was being held there in difficult conditions because he is a soldier," she told Channel 12 News.
Hagi, Matan's father, said, "We heard from the returnees a sign of life regarding our dear son Matan. It moved us very, very much. It is time to return him as soon as possible along with everyone else. Return our Matan to us along with the other hostages immediately. Their situation is difficult there, it is time to return them."
He added in an interview with Ynet, "We woke up last Saturday all excited, waiting to see life coming out of hell. When we saw the images we were shocked. We know these hostages from everything, and we didn't recognize them," he said of the images from the release of Or Levy, Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, who were badly malnourished when they were returned to Israel.
He continued: "Hamas is responsible for the crime against humanity, but our Prime Minister Netanyahu and the government are responsible for ending this hell, this Holocaust. These pictures are the same as the pictures of my grandmother who was released from Auschwitz and the one who can prevent this is the Prime Minister. His job is to advance the second phase of the deal and shorten the time, to quickly return our Matan and the other hostages as soon as possible."