‘They Took Away My Humanity’: Hostage Freed by Hamas Calls for Boyfriend’s Release

About 450 days ago, Ilana Gritzewsky was set free after spending 55 days in captivity in Gaza, but she says a part of her never returned home.  

“My body returned, but my soul remains trapped,” Gritzewsky said while speaking at an event at The Heritage Foundation on Tuesday. “I always feel that I am not really free. I cannot forget what happened, what I experienced.” 

Gritzewsky was at home with her boyfriend, Matan Zangauker, on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists entered their community.  

Gritzewsky jumped out of the window of her house, attempting to flee from the terrorists, but was caught and dragged from her hiding place by her hair, beaten, and driven on the back of a motorcycle into Gaza. The terrorists touched her, and that is when Gritzewsky says she remembers shutting down. She believes the only reason she was not raped that day she was taken hostage is because she was on her period.  

“They took away my humanity, piece by piece,” Gritzewsky said.  

Gritzewsky is originally from Mexico and moved to Israel as a teenager. She met Zangauker while they were both working on a farm in Israel. The couple dated for about a year and a half before they were both taken hostage.  

Since her release, Gritzewsky has advocated for her boyfriend’s freedom, and the release of all the other hostages.  

With Monday marking 500 days of captivity for Zangauker and the remaining hostages, Gritzewsky says she prays for the day she can stop counting and finally be reunited with her boyfriend.  

“We must bring all of them home now. Every additional second that passes is one second too much,” she said.  

Gritzewsky shared her story during the Heritage event, “500 Days in Captivity: Hostage Families Speak Out.”  

Family members of three other hostages who remain in Gaza also shared their stories and called for the freedom of their loved ones. 

Gal Gilboa-Dalal and his little brother, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, were attending the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023. Gal Gilboa-Dalal spent 10 hours running and hiding from terrorists that day. When he was finally rescued, he learned that his little brother had been taken hostage into Gaza, where he remains today.  

The “healing process” cannot return in Israel until all the hostages are returned, Gal Gilboa-Dalal says.  

Like Gal Gilboa-Dalal, Ilay David has also dedicated much of the past 500 days advocating for the freedom of his younger brother, Evyatar David.  

Evyatar David was also attending the Nova Music Festival when he was taken hostage. While Ilay David said it feels likes he and his family are waking up to a horror movie every day, he said there is hope as hostages have been released following the inauguration of the Trump administration.  

“It gives us hope to see that kind of commitment from President [Donald] Trump,” Evyatar David said, referring to Trump’s direct demand for Hamas to release the hostages.  

On the 500th day since the attack, Hamas announced it would release six living hostages Saturday, the last of the living hostages to be released during phase one of the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.  

Originally, only three hostages were going to be released on Saturday, but Israeli official said new terms of the release were reached during talks in Egypt last week. 

Additionally, Hamas announced Tuesday that it would release the bodies of four deceased hostages, including the remains of mother Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir.  

Hamas claimed in November 2023 that Shiri Bibas and her children were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, but never provided any evidence to support that claim. Husband and father Yarden Bibas was released from Hamas captivity on Feb. 1.  

The Bibas family issued a statement Tuesday saying they are “in turmoil” over the announcement from Hamas. The family says they have not “yet received any official confirmation” from Israel regarding the status of Shiri Bibas and the children.  

Israel says Hamas will release the bodies of an additional four deceased hostages next week.  

Phase one of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is slated to last until the first week of March, and Israel and Hamas are expected to begin indirect negotiations this week on the details of phase two of the ceasefire.  

Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, said during a recent interview on Fox News that phase two is slated to include the release of 19 IDF soldiers, all of whom are thought to be still alive, including Israeli-American Edan Alexander.  

Witkoff described phase two of the ceasefire negotiations as being more “complicated” because it “contemplates an end of the war, but it also contemplates Hamas not being involved in the government and being gone from Gaza. So, we’ve got to square those two things.” 

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