Mazal tov: Former Hostages Matan Zangauker and Ilana Gritzewsky Announce Engagement

Former hostages Matan Zangauker and Ilana Gritzewsky have become engaged, marking a deeply personal milestone after surviving captivity in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 massacre.

The engagement was revealed overnight on Sunday with a photograph showing the couple raising glasses of champagne beside a “Will you marry me” sign. The image, taken outside the guitar-shaped Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, captures a quiet moment of celebration far removed from the trauma that once defined their lives.

Zangauker, now 26, was released in October 2025 after nearly two years in captivity. He and Gritzewsky, 31, were abducted together from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, when Hamas terrorists stormed the community. As gunmen fired at the door of their safe room, the couple jumped through a window and fled in different directions in a desperate attempt to escape.

Gritzewsky was seized and forced onto a motorcycle between two armed men, her head covered as she was taken into Gaza. Zangauker was also kidnapped separately and driven into Gaza on a motorcycle, where he later described being beaten by crowds of civilians upon arrival. At the time, neither knew the fate of the other.

Gritzewsky was freed in November 2023 after nearly two months in captivity. Zangauker remained a hostage for almost two more years, unaware that she had also been taken. He later recounted that he only learned the truth when he was briefly allowed to watch television on the day of her release. The moment brought conflicting emotions. Relief that she was alive and free, alongside the shock of realizing they had both endured captivity.

During his time in Gaza, Zangauker said he was moved frequently, often through underground tunnels, sometimes held with other hostages and sometimes in isolation. Though a civilian, he said his captors treated him as a combatant, subjecting him to beatings, deprivation, and psychological manipulation.

Gritzewsky has spoken publicly about being sexually assaulted during her abduction and while held in Gaza, becoming one of the first former hostages to openly describe such abuse. Her testimony helped shatter early attempts to downplay or deny the scale of sexual violence committed during the October 7 attacks.

Zangauker was finally released on October 13, 2025, as part of a ceasefire deal that secured the freedom of the remaining living hostages. His return allowed the couple to begin rebuilding a life interrupted by war, captivity, and loss.

Their engagement is being seen by many as a symbol of survival and resilience. After separation, violence, and years of uncertainty, Zangauker and Gritzewsky are choosing to move forward together, turning survival into a future they were once violently denied.