Matan Angrest, an Israeli tank soldier who was kidnapped to Gaza and returned about three weeks ago, on Wednesday mourned his fallen comrade, Sgt. Itay Chen, whose body was brought back to Israel overnight after being held by Hamas.
In a post on Instagram accompanied by a broken heart emoji, Angrest wrote, “I haven’t stopped thinking about you. You finally came back, my brother.”
Angrest and Chen fought together in a tank in Nahal Oz as part of “Team Peretz” from the army’s 77th Battalion on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched its deadly cross-border assault. Angrest was kidnapped while critically wounded, and Chen was killed in the fighting.
Chen’s body was held in Gaza until its return this week. Alongside him, another fallen soldier, Daniel Peretz, was also kidnapped and later returned to Israel. Angrest was freed after 738 days in captivity. The fourth member of their tank crew, Tomer Leibovitz, was also killed in battle that day.