‘Picture of victory’: Former Israeli hostage couple engaged months after release from Hamas captivity

Former hostage Matan Zangauker and his girlfriend Ilana Gritzewsky got engaged, according to a photo shared by Matan’s mother Einav on social media on Sunday overnight. The image shows the couple celebrating with champagne beside a “Will you marry me” sign at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida.

Eina, who campaigned relentlessly for her son's release after the October 7, 2023, attack, called it her “picture of victory”. Zangauker, 26, was freed in October after two years in captivity, while Gritzewsky, 31, was released in November 2023 after nearly two months.

During the attack by Hamas on Israel, both jumped out of the window of their home and ran in separate directions after Palestinian terrorists shot at their door. Later, Gritzewsky was captured, and gunmen seized her to put between two men on a motorcycle and covered her head and face. Her captors later confirmed that Zangauker was also a hostage.

Greeted with sticks, rocks, & pipes

Matan Zangauker told Channel 12 in November that he was greeted by “children, women, old people, lined up with sticks, with rocks, with pipes, and they started to hit me, to beat me" while he was driven into Gaza on a motorcycle on October 7.

Zangauker said the first Israeli he encountered in the tunnels that day was the body of a dead IDF soldier, with his captors warning that he would meet the same fate. He was later held alongside Yocheved Lifshitz, also from Nir Oz, who was abducted on October 7 and released weeks later, while her husband, Oded Lifshitz, died in captivity.

He said he was frequently moved between locations, largely within the tunnel network, and was sometimes held with other hostages and at other times alone. Despite being a civilian, Zangauker said his captors treated him as a soldier, subjecting him to beatings and food deprivation. He also said his captors used psychological pressure, feeding him false claims about their supposed battlefield gains against the Israeli military.

After nearly two months in captivity, Gritzewsky was released in November 2023. Zangauker stated that he was unaware that Ilana had also been taken captive and believed she had managed to hide after they separated. He said he only learned of her abduction when he was permitted to watch television on November 30, the day she was released.