Freed hostage Ilana Gritzewsky: ‘No one will break me until my Matan is home’
Kidnapped with her partner from Kibbutz Nir Oz, she sends a message to those still held in Gaza: ‘Everyone is just waiting for you'
Ilana Gritzewsky, one of the Israeli hostages freed in the first deal with Hamas, gave an emotional address at Hostages’ Square in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, pledging never to stop fighting for the return of her partner and the 59 captives still held in Gaza.
Speaking to a large crowd in the square, which has become the symbolic heart of the hostage crisis, Gritzewsky shared her resolve to be the voice of those left behind. “I will not give up on the promise I made to my friends in the tunnel – that I will be their voice until they are brought home,” she said.
Her partner, Matan Zangauker, remains in captivity. The couple were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October, but only Gritzewsky was released during the November 2023 exchange.
“If Matan hears me, I know he is strong,” she told the crowd. “If he’s watching me, then he also sees all the people here… He has a lioness of a mother who won’t stop until he’s back home.”
Gritzewsky, who was held for 55 days in Gaza, has become a prominent speaker at public rallies, often using her platform to push for international pressure and continued attention. “We are not giving up. They cannot take away our hope, our spirit or our faith,” she said. “That’s what gives us strength to continue.”
Her remarks were met with prolonged applause from the crowd, many of whom held signs with hostages’ names and photos. Yellow ribbons, now synonymous with the campaign to bring them home, lined the square.
She ended with a message to the remaining hostages: “This is also a message to every hostage who might be watching us now: the entire nation is here. Everyone is just waiting for you.”
Hostages’ Square, located outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, has hosted weekly rallies since the attack, becoming a powerful space for families of captives to speak out. Gritzewsky’s return to the stage marked another emotional moment in a campaign that has entered its seventh month.
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