Hostage's father: "We have shocking videos that will shake up the entire country"

Hagai Angrest, father of captured soldier Matan Angrest, said today (Tuesday) that he and the family have shocking videos from captivity that have not yet been published. According to him, if necessary, he will publish them and they will "shake the country."

He made these statements in an interview with the program "Seder Yom" on Kan Reshet Bet, following the footage of his son in captivity that he published yesterday. According to him, the images they published yesterday are only part of the videos they have.

He added regarding the decision to publish the videos: "We've reached this point to push our leaders to want to act." The father continued: "Matan's face is completely broken, the child is completely broken and that's just his face. We know he treated his own body. There's no choice and he trusts the Prime Minister to save him."

Yesterday Angrest's family published the first images of him from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

Matan, serving in a tank unit at the Nahal Oz military base near the Gaza border, was taken during ferocious battles that day. He was in a tank with fellow soldiers Itai Chen, Daniel Peretz, and Tomer Leibovitz when it came under attack. The three other soldiers were killed, their bodies also taken into Gaza, while Matan was dragged from the wreckage, severely wounded and unconscious. Reports indicate he suffered critical injuries, including extensive burns, likely from the tank’s destruction.

The family claims that Matan was kidnapped while severely wounded and "is going through hell, interrogations with torture, and is being held in inhumane conditions." They noted yesterday that "Matan was not returned during the humanitarian phase despite being captured while severely wounded, only because he is a soldier in Israel."

Last September, about six months ago, for the first time since being kidnapped by Hamas on Simchat Torah, captured soldier Matan Angrest was heard in a recording in which he directly appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him to act to return the hostages and bring them home.

In the full recording, revealed by Matan's family from a recording published by Hamas, Matan is heard asking Netanyahu to expedite efforts for his release: "Netanyahu, you must make this exchange between prisoners in Israel and prisoners here in Gaza. I want to see my family and friends. I trust you and believe you can do this."