‘I endured hell’: Freed hostage Matan Zangauker reveals horrors of Hamas captivity
In his first interview since returning home, former hostage recounts beatings, starvation and the fight that kept him alive
Freed Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker has described in chilling detail his 738 days in Hamas captivity – from his violent abduction at Kibbutz Nir Oz to the suffocating underground tunnels of Gaza – saying he “endured hell” before finally being freed.
Speaking to Israel’s N12 TV channel in his first public interview since his release, the 22-year-old recalled being dragged from his home on 7 October, 2023, beaten by crowds, and forced across the border. “I saw black. I was almost fainting,” he said. “Inside a tunnel, I saw the body of a dead Israeli soldier.”
Held mainly underground, Zangauker said he was moved between tunnels and safe houses, often denied food and beaten by guards who assumed he was a soldier. “We were in a small cage, two mattresses. One tiny blanket,” he recounted.
At one point, he said, captors disguised him among civilians and forced him to walk on foot to Rafah, near the coast. “The IDF was nearby. We could hear the waves,” he said, recalling nights spent in a mosque and later a tent by the sea.
Zangauker described being filmed repeatedly for Hamas propaganda and intervening to protect another hostage who was being whipped. “I had to step in. I took the blows instead.”
A turning point came when a tunnel commander recognised him, telling him: “Your mother is leading demonstrations; she’s turning the whole country upside down.” Zangauker said seeing his mother Einav’s speeches on television gave him strength. “It made me very happy. It helped me,” he said.
As ceasefire deals freed others, his hope faded. “Then I really stayed alone,” he said. “It started to sink in that I wouldn’t get out. I’m going to die here.” Twice, nearby airstrikes filled the tunnel with gas, leaving him struggling to breathe.
He said he didn’t believe he was free until placed in a Red Cross vehicle headed for Israel. “It was crazy. A moment that doesn’t sink in,” he said, recalling saluting IDF soldiers before reuniting with his family.
Since his return, Zangauker has dismissed online rumours suggesting hostages were treated well. “Completely stupid,” he said. “I endured hell.”
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