New Hamas propaganda video features Israeli hostage Matan Angrest

The Hamas terrorist organization released a propaganda video on Friday, featuring Israeli hostage Matan Angrest. In the video, Angrest (21) appeared frail and was pleading to be released from captivity.

Angrest is an IDF soldier who was kidnapped during the Hamas attack on the Nahal Oz military base on Oct. 7, 2023. The video revealed that Angrest had been held hostage in Gaza for 511 days, which means that the video was likely filmed days earlier. He said that he feels that the Israeli government is abandoning him and the remaining hostages held in Gaza. “We’re starting to lose hope,” Angrest added.

He revealed in the video that he has not seen sunlight and has been suffering from the winter cold, in addition to being treated “like a soldier,” without further elaboration. Previously released hostages have shared that Hamas treats male hostages of military age worse than other hostages.

Angrest also pleaded directly to the U.S. President Donald Trump in the video

“You’re the only one who has the power to influence Netanyahu,” and added that additional IDF operations will endanger the release of the remaining 59 hostages.

At least 24 of the remaining hostages are still believed to be alive according to Israel Defense Forces.

Hostages and Missing Families' Forum released a statement from Angrest’s family who expressed deep concerns for his life.

“We are shaken by the video we just saw, in which we see our Matan looking drained and desperate after 518 days in Hamas’s tunnels,” the family stated.

“Beyond the grave psychological state evident in the footage, his right hand is non-functional, his eyes and mouth are asymmetrical, and his nose is broken: according to testimonies from those who have returned, this is all due to interrogations and torture in captivity. What more proof is needed to understand that time has run out?” the family added.

Matan is “undergoing hellish torment, torturous interrogations, and is being held in inhuman conditions,” the family stated.

The Angrests urged President Trump to “continue fighting for our Matan and all 58 other hostages with the same unwavering commitment and relentless determination. We must not stop until the deal is completed – only when the last hostage comes home.”

Trump, who recently met with freed Israeli hostages at the White House, delivered a stern warning to Hamas.

“Release all of the hostages now – not later – and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,” the U.S. President warned.

Israel has threatened to resume fighting in Gaza within days if the Hamas terror group does not release more hostages.

Newly-appointed IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir recently vowed an Israeli victory, stressing that “we will strike a decisive blow” against Israel's enemies.

“From the depths, filled with courage – our people rose, our army stood up, you stood up and struck back. From here, our focus is set in one direction – victory and the defeat of the enemy! This is our mission, this is our purpose. Against our enemies who sought to destroy us, who slaughtered and raped, who burned and kidnapped – we will strike a decisive blow!”

On Friday, some 50 former Israeli hostages urged Netanyahu to maintain the current ceasefire in order to secure the release of the remaining captives in Gaza.

“We, who were kidnapped during the October 7 massacre, experienced on our flesh the hell from which our loved ones have yet to return. We saw the darkness, heard the horrors, breathed in the fear,” the former hostages wrote in a joint letter.

“We know, and are not [just] imagining, what the hostages left behind are going through. Brutal torture, humiliating hunger, sickness without treatment, abysmal loneliness – that is their reality in these moments,” they continued. “Every minute there is hell, every additional moment is a potential death sentence.”

“Israel was founded to defend the Jewish people, but on October 7, it failed,” the letter continued. “The only way to begin atoning for this resounding failure is to bring back all the hostages, the living for rehabilitation and the dead for a proper burial on Israeli soil.”

“This may be the last chance.”