Younger brother of former Hamas hostage Matan Angrest enlists in IDF

Ofir Angrest, the youngest sibling of Matan Angrest, who was held hostage by Hamas and returned to Israel in October 2025, was accompanied by his entire family to the IDF induction center on Tuesday. His sister Adi, who enlisted a year ago, and their parents, Anat and Hagai, were there to see him off.

Anat said, “Ofir is the third child we are enlisting, with tremendous pride, to serve the country we were raised to protect and that we raised our children to protect and defend. With Adi, two years ago, we stood in the same place with broken hearts, and we prayed that we would get to accompany Ofir with Matan by his side, to restore our trust in the country and the army together with Matan’s return.”

She posted a message on Ofir’s Instagram account, saying, “Two years ago, we enlisted Adi with enormous pain in our hearts. Matan had already been gone for 10 months. We hoped so much that with you it would be different, and today it is happening. We are all here accompanying you and cannot stop the tears, still trying to process every family milestone like this…our Ofiri, you are setting out on your path, equipped with your huge heart. With your values and with the knowledge that we will always be behind you. Proud of you to the skies, my boy.”

As a high school student, Ofir led a campaign of street demonstrations and legislative meetings calling for Matan’s release from Hamas captivity, and the role he is slated to take on following basic training is described as “significant and classified.”

Anat described mixed feelings to while speaking with reporters outside the enlistment center.

“There are fears and triggers. It has not yet been a year since Matan returned, and going through another night with an empty bed is not easy. But this is normal worry, like the worry of any mother sending a child into the army. It is nothing like the anxiety of having a child suffering and in immediate danger to his life for two consecutive years.”

She also described some of the challenges that her family encountered with Matan’s return to their home, where circumstances had changed dramatically during his captivity.

“He remembered his little brother starting high school and being preoccupied with the things every child that age thinks about – which track he would be accepted to and which friends would be in his class,” Anat said. “And suddenly he met him several years further down the road, mature and full of values. A grown-up brother who had long since become a soulmate.”

Matan Angrest was among the 251 Israelis taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. He was taken near the Nahal Oz base after three of his comrades – Capt. Daniel Peretz, Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz and Staff Sgt. Itay Chen — were killed in action. The four soldiers made up the crew of an IDF tank deployed to defend the kibbutz. According to accounts, they fought until their ammunition was exhausted before terrorists overran their position. At least 47 other IDF soldiers were killed while defending the kibbutz, which was subsequently infiltrated by an estimated 215 terrorists.

Matan was among the last living Israeli hostages to be released, coming home as part of a hostage-release deal on Oct. 13, 2025. Two days later, he spoke publicly at the funeral of Peretz, whose remains had recently been returned by Hamas, and declared that he was ready to return to Gaza and assist in the recovery of Itay Chen’s remains.