From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Ex-hostage soldier Matan Angrest meets IDF chief, attends funeral of slain commander Daniel Perez
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Released hostage soldier Matan Angrest met with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir at Ichilov Hospital earlier today, and this evening is attending the funeral of his commander, Cpt. Daniel Perez, whose body was returned to Israel by Hamas this week.
“Along the entire way [of the war], you were before my eyes, and your safety was a central consideration. We will not rest until we bring all the fallen hostages back to Israel,” Zamir says to Angrest, according to the IDF.
Ahead of the funeral, Angrest says: “It was important to me to salute and pay final respects to my commander, Daniel, who led our heroic battle that Saturday [on October 7, 2023],” according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“The circle will only be complete when Itay Chen is laid to rest in Israel, together with all the fallen [hostages],” he adds, referring to another member of his tank crew whose body is still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Angrest, Perez, Chen and Tomer Leibovitz were stationed in a tank on the Gaza border on the morning of October 7 and fought for hours against the Hamas invasion.
The bodies of Perez and Chen were taken captive to Gaza, while Angrest was abducted alive. Leibovitz was also killed, but his body was not kidnapped.
The Times of Israel Community.