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"They Asked for My Help in a Video"

I Knew Where Matan Was Held in Real-Time

Einav Zangauker reveals she possessed intelligence on her son's location throughout his 738-day captivity in Gaza, and that Hamas refused to proceed with the deal until speaking with her

Einav Zangauker

Einav Zangauker, mother of freed hostage Matan Zangauker, has disclosed extraordinary details about her conduct during her son's captivity in Gaza. In an interview with Israel's Channel 13, Zangauker (who became one of the most vocal and sharp critics of the government during the war) revealed that she possessed intelligence information about her son's whereabouts throughout his ordeal.

"Throughout the entire journey, I knew where Matan was being held, almost in real-time," she stated in excerpts released ahead of the full interview.

She then dropped a bombshell about the negotiations: "Hamas refused to continue the deal until they spoke with me — that was their condition. I turned to Netanyahu, I'm banging on the table with both hands and telling him that Matan's blood will be on his hands."

In a scathing social media post, Zangauker returned to one of the most difficult days in the struggle to bring the hostages home, recounting the moment she received devastating news. She accused Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team of allowing political and personal considerations to override the opportunity to return the captives.

"It was one of the hardest days in the struggle and one of the most difficult we've known since that cursed day of October seventh," Zangauker wrote. "The rumors wouldn't stop running in every direction, an entire country entered a state of anxiety, and then came the news that shattered me."

She then leveled sharp accusations at decision-makers: "It was possible to save them. But they abandoned and sacrificed these special children on the altar of politics and personal considerations. It was more important to sell the public the spin of Philadelphi as the bedrock of our existence than to bring them back."

According to her, "The pictures of them in the tunnels of death still show how much light was in them and how much darkness is in those who voted again and again against their release ... And of course one cannot ignore that at those very moments, Netanyahu's advisers are leaking materials to Bild that harm Israel's security in order to influence public opinion and damage our struggle to get the children back ... A thousand circles of hell will not be able to cleanse the souls of the people who did this, from the prime minister down to his entire team."

Matan Zangauker was released in the most recent exchange deal after 738 days in captivity, having been abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. His mother Einav led the public campaign for his release and emerged as one of the most prominent figures in the protest movement against the government.

Photo: IDF Spokesperson
Photo: IDF Spokesperson

Two weeks ago, Zangauker responded emotionally to the elimination of terrorist Ismail Mohamed Ibrahim Brim, a commander in Hamas's military wing who had held her son during his captivity. "In my name and in Matan's name, we wish to thank the IDF for all its fighters in regular and reserve service and all security forces who closed the circle and brought about the elimination of this murderous terrorist," she wrote at the time.

Matan himself also reacted to the elimination of the terrorist who held him captive. "I got out of captivity, he got out of the story. Well done to the IDF," he wrote in a story on his Instagram account. The terrorist Brim was eliminated in a strike in the Khan Yunis area after attempting to rebuild the organization's terror capabilities.

The full interview with Einav Zangauker will air on Channel 13 and is expected to reveal additional details about the difficult period the family endured and the unusual relationship that developed between her and the terror organization during the captivity.

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