Matan Angrest was physically abused by terrorists from the moment they pulled him limp from a tank in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Footage released from October 7 revealed invading terrorists kicking him and testimonies released from captivity have revealed that the abuse Angrest has suffered only increased once he was taken to Gaza.
Angrest was abducted alongside the bodies of Itai Chen, Daniel Peretz, and Tomer Leibovitz, fellow soldiers in his tank unit.
As a man and a soldier, the now-22-year-old was not released in previous deals despite being wounded.
"All the way to Gaza, hundreds of terrorists beat him, kicked him, threw him,” his mother Anat told the Jewish Chronicle.
Angrest suffers from asthma, something worsened by the damp and humid conditions in the tunnels Hamas keeps hostages in. Hostages have recounted how Angrest suffers from shortness of breath after Hamas tortures him during violent interrogation sessions, and only then is he allowed to temporarily leave the tunnels to catch his breath.
During the violent interrogation sessions, Former hostage Ron Krivoi told N12 in April that Angrest was connected to batteries multiple times, including as his captors took him to Gaza.
Keith Siegel, an American-Israeli former hostage, told CNN in May that he was deeply concerned for Angrest’s physical and mental wellbeing. The pair were held together for more than two months.
“We received a sign of life from the returned hostages. He seems to be injured and is being held under difficult conditions,” Angrest’s father, Hagai, told Walla in February.
Hamas also released a video of Angrest in March.
The Angrest family, who approved publication of the video, said via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum that they were “rocked by the footage we have just witnessed, in which our Matan is seen jaded and hopeless.
“Beyond the serious mental state observed in the footage, his right arm no longer functions, his eyes and mouth are asymmetrical, and his nose is broken.”
The health status of Matan Angrest
Matan was said to have suffered from severe, deep burns and now suffers from partial paralysis in his fingers, according to released hostages held with him. His hands are reportedly infected but the conditions of the hostages prevent them from being bound in clean, dry bandaging and he has not received antibiotics.
The infection has left Angrest suffering from high fevers, chills and constant pain. Facial injuries, including a swollen eye and fractured jaw and cheekbones, have also left him at risk of permanent vision loss.
Anat, his mother, told the JC that he is being kept in a cage and left starving, suffering from “physical and psychological torture including choking, binding, hanging by the feet, burns and deliberate starvation.”
The Angrest family have spent the best part of the last two years campaigning for Angrest’s release. Before he was kidnapped, they had been planning a trip to Dubai to celebrate the completion of Angrest’s military service, according to the JC.
The IDF recovered Angrest's bag in early July, his mother confimed on social media..
“Matan's bag was returned to me this week in a black plastic bag. How and when will Matan return?” she wrote on X. “Why do I have to keep receiving items that testify to his condition and not Matan himself?”
"They told me they found a bag belonging to Matan, and it will take two days until it reaches me,” Anat told Ynet. “I didn’t understand what they were talking about. And then this bag came, with Matan’s name in my handwriting.”
He had reportedly owned the bag since he was 14 and used it to transport his sports uniforms.