Hagari apologizes to family of hostage Matan Zangauker after interrogation of his abductor aired without their knowledge

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says he has apologized to the family of hostage Matan Zangauker after footage published yesterday of the interrogation of a terrorist who had kidnapped the 30-year-old on October 7 was not first shown to his relatives.

The interrogation clips were initially leaked to the British tabloid The Daily Mail, and only hours later were unofficially released by the IDF.

“Yesterday, videos were published from the interrogations of two terrorists who participated in the terror onslaught on October 7. In one of the interrogations, the name of 24-year-old Matan Zangauker was mentioned, who was kidnapped from Nir Oz with his girlfriend Ilana,” Hagari says in a press conference.

“The information that was said during the interrogation was not presented to Matan’s family before the publication due to a human error,” he says.

Hagari says the military investigated the incident, and he spoke with Einav and Yaron, Matan’s parents to “personally apologize.”