Einav Zangauker received a handwritten note penned by her hostage son Matan, which was found by IDF troops in a tunnel in Gaza in November 2024, she told Hebrew media on Monday.
The note has Matan’s name written in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, and in Arabic details his medical condition at the time as “good” and describes him as a “farmer,” according to an image of the note published by the Haaretz daily.
The report said that Matan Zangauker, 24, knew how to write in the three languages before he was captured, and that his mother identified the handwriting as his.
Soldiers reportedly found the note, along with bottles of urine with his DNA, in a tunnel where hostages were murdered, without specifying which hostages had been there.
“For almost 600 days, I have sounded the alarm that military pressure kills hostages. Matan was miraculously saved, but we can’t play with luck anymore,” she told Haaretz.
On Friday, Zangauker said she received proof that her son was still alive from US-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, who was freed by Hamas last week after 584 days in captivity, in what the terrorist organization said was a gesture toward the Trump administration.
“Since Edan’s return, I see the bombing in the Gaza Strip, and I can’t close my eyes. I am worried for the life of my son,” she told the Ynet news site Monday, adding that there is no clear information on where the hostages are.
“The military pressure kills hostages. The only way to bring back my Matan and all the hostages is through an agreement including the end of the war. [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is dragging us to an endless political war.”
Matan Zangauker was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, alongside his girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky. Gritzewsky was released on November 30, 2023, as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel.
Zangauker’s mother, Einav, has become one of the most recognizable relatives of hostages. The former Netanyahu supporter has led protests and made media appearances in which she has repeatedly demanded a ceasefire-hostage release deal and slammed the government and the prime minister.