‘You’re finally back’: Ex-hostage Matan Angrest pays tribute to fallen comrade Itay Chen

5 November 2025, 8:32 am

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Released hostage soldier Matan Angrest speaks at the funeral of his commander Cpt. Daniel Perez, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, October 15, 2025. (Screenshot: X)

Matan Angrest, the only survivor of his tank crew, who was held captive for two years before being freed last month, eulogizes his slain comrade Staff Sgt. Itay Chen after his remains were returned to Israel last night.

“I never stopped thinking of you,” he writes on Instagram. “You’re finally back, my brother.”

Chen was slain on October 7 alongside Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz and his commander, Cpt. Daniel Perez, and the bodies of Chen and Perez were taken captive to Gaza, while Angrest was kidnapped alive.

Perez’s body was returned to Israel on the same day Angrest was released last month, and the freed captive attended his funeral, vowing at the time that he was ready to return to Gaza to look for Chen.