In February Hamas released a hostage video of Matan which only deepened their fears. “His face is no longer symmetric,’ says his mother Anat. “There are a lot of broken bones; his cheeks, his eyes, his mouth. They are not the same. His hand doesn’t seem to be functioning. He is missing fingers.”
He was set to take a family holiday to celebrate the end of his IDF service just months after he was abducted[Missing Credit]
On October 7, 2023 Matan was doing his duty on the border near the Nahal Oz military base. His tank was attacked and three of his friends were killed. Video footage from the day shows him unconscious and badly burned, with broken bones and severe hand trauma. There is footage of him being attacked by terrorists even as he was unconscious.
"All the way to Gaza, hundreds of terrorists beat him, kicked him, threw him,” says Anat.
"We have a video of him, and it seems really bad he was badly injured, and we know that by the time he woke, he was in Gaza and had burns all over his hands and his shoulder.”
Hostages who returned in the last ceasefire had only the most horrific stories to tell. “They said that Matan is still badly injured. He is starving. He is beaten a lot because he is a soldier. And he is kept in a cage in the dark. He doesn’t see the light. It is really, really bad. We know he is being tortured.”
Matan is also asthmatic, but the only time he has been taken out of Hamas’ tunnels was when he was close to death. “He couldn’t breathe and because of the humidity his injuries weren’t healing and he was screaming in pain but he got no treatment. Because he is a soldier he is treated the worst.”
A new report by the Hostages and Missing Family Forum bringing together testimonies from the recently returned hostages reveals the true scope of the horror: “Physical and psychological torture including choking, binding, hanging by the feet, burns and deliberate starvation. Detention in dark tunnels without natural light or air. Male soldiers experienced especially harsh torture including prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation and severe beatings.”
It was always acknowledged that the male soldiers would be the last released. They are not considered “innocents” even under the rules of war governing the release of captives.
In February, when Hamas released the video of Matan, it was clear that his situation is desperate.
And while waiting desperately for his release, Anat travels all around the world to speak to people, to beg them to do more.
“When Hamas released the video, we asked that the world and the Israeli government see it. In the last release, injured hostages came out but knowing that Matan is badly injured but is still there, exposed to violence and torture is really the hardest situation,’ she says.
“We know he will have those injuries for the rest of his life but the Red Cross haven’t even got his asthma medication to him. One of the things we wanted the government to insist on was that the Red Cross sees everyone who is alive.”
The last time she heard from anyone in the government was when his sign of life video was released. She claims she is getting more attention from the Americans: “They care about Matan. They think he has to come out now because of his bad situation.”
Matan is Anat’s oldest son – she has three other children. He is “the son I dreamed of, my best friend” she says. The last time she heard from him was on the morning of October 7 when the sirens started going off. "It will be fine, don’t worry,” he wrote to her. “He was always optimistic,” says Anat.
At one point he was imprisoned with released American hostage Keith Seigel – and he described the family’s holiday plans. “His dream is still to travel with the family,’ says Anat tearily. But first he has to come home. First, he has to be freed.”
