“We know that Hamas has acted as an Iranian proxy. We know that over the past 20 months, the situation in the Middle East has changed dramatically, but the snake’s head remains powerful,” Udi Goren, the cousin of Tal Haimi, whose body is being held by Hamas in Gaza, told JNS.
His comments come as dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out a preemptive strike on Iran early Friday, targeting multiple military and nuclear sites as part of an operation against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
“On one hand, I have hope that this strike has weakened Iran enough for us to realize that Hamas, backed by Tehran, is no longer an existential threat to Israel—and that we can finally prioritize bringing back all the hostages and ending the war,” Goren said.
“On the other hand, I’m extremely concerned that this will shift public attention away from the hostage issue, pushing it into the background as everyone focuses on the new full-blown front with Iran,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation, dubbed “Rising Lion,” would “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.” He added that it will “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”
Haimi, a civil engineer and member of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak’s civil defense squad, loved spending time in the Western Negev, where he lived. On Oct. 7, he confronted Hamas terrorists attempting to infiltrate the kibbutz, and held them off for two and a half hours before he was killed and his body abducted into the Gaza Strip.
He is survived by his wife, Ella, and their three children. Ella, who was pregnant at the time of the attack, has since given birth to their fourth child.
‘I’m holding on to hope’
Speaking about the recovery this week of the bodies of slain hostage Yair Yaakov and a second captive from the Khan Yunis area in southern Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces—after 613 days in captivity—Goren said he was glad those families could find rest, closure and solace. But, he added, for him, it is not enough.
“This is not a solution. We must settle for nothing less than bringing all the hostages back to Israel, and it’s impossible to recover all of them through military force alone,” he said. “That’s why we are calling for a hostage-release agreement that will return all 53 remaining hostages to Israel.”
Dalia Cusnir’s two brothers-in-law, Yair and Eitan Horn, were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. While Yair was released on Feb. 15 as part of a hostage-for-ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Eitan remains in captivity in Gaza. Speaking to JNS, Cusnir said that as Israeli civilians were sent to shelters on Friday, her first thought was of Eitan.
“I feel torn,” Cusnir told JNS. “On one hand, we’ve known for 15 years that Israel needed to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But on the other hand, it feels like this puts the hostage issue aside.”
“It breaks my heart. Israel is attacking Iran to protect the physical safety of the state and its citizens, but not bringing back the hostages is destroying our mental and emotional safety as well,” she said.
“We know the coming days and weeks will be critical, with everyone bracing for a counterattack and the airport shut down. But what about the hostages? When will it be their turn to come back to safety? We are devastated,” she added.
The last sign of life that Cusnir received regarding Eitan was on Feb. 15, when his brother, Yair, who had been held with him for most of their captivity, was released.
Eitan suffers from Hurley stage 3 hidradenitis suppurativa, a severe skin disease he has been battling for years, characterized by widespread skin abscesses. In 2019, he underwent complex surgery, but his condition has worsened during his captivity due to open wounds and a lack of proper hygiene.
“I understand if the government decided that now was the time to launch strikes on Iran,” Cusnir said. “But the time for bringing back the hostages was 616 days ago. I fear, as all Israelis do, for the next few days, and I understand that once again, the hostages may not be a top priority.”
“I used to define myself as an optimist, and I’m holding on to hope. I know that Eitan is alive and fighting, even though he is very sick, stressed and in a very bad mental state,” she continued.
Maybe, she added, “if Iran is Hamas’s No. 1 supporter, the fact that the Iranian government has suffered huge costs in this attack could make a difference.”