The Hamas terrorist organization released footage of Eitan Horn on Saturday night, showing him captive in the Gaza Strip. Horn, along with his older brother Yair, 46, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The video was apparently filmed a short while before Eitan, now 38, was separated from Yair, who was released from captivity on Feb. 15.
The brothers were shown in the footage holding each other and bursting into tears. Eitan speaks to the camera, pleading with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign an agreement for phase two of the ceasefire so that he can be freed as well.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement: “The Hamas terrorist organization has, this evening, disseminated another cruel propaganda video in which our hostages are forced to engage in psychological warfare. Israel will not be deterred by Hamas propaganda. We will continue to act relentlessly for the return of all of our hostages and until all objectives of the war are met.”
The Horn family, authorizing the publication of the video, said in a statement: “It breaks our heart to see Eitan in this difficult situation, saying goodbye to his brother Yair, who is being freed while Eitan remains held in Hamas’s hell for 512 days now.”
It continues, “You can see the despair and fear in Eitan’s eyes. Since Yair returned to us, he hasn’t stopped thinking about and working for Eitan, and all the other hostages he met in captivity who are still there. We demand from the decision-makers: Look Eitan in the eyes. Don’t end the agreement that has already brought dozens of hostages back to us. They are running out of time! Bring everyone home, now, in all at once.”
At least three other hostages are seen in captivity with Eitan and Yair Horn, two of whom have their faces blurred.
The third abductee whose face is visible, American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, was released on the same day that Yair was handed over to Israel, along with Alexander (“Sasha”) Troufanov, 29, a dual Russian-Israel citizen who had been held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist organization that operates in Gaza.
All three men were taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, one of the hardest-hit Jewish communities in the terrorist assault; one in four residents was either kidnapped that day or killed.