Ex-hostage says Israel ‘failed’ those still in Gaza as 600-day mark looms

Released hostage Keith Siegel; Ayelet Samerano, mother of Jonathan Samerano, who was identified as having been killed on October 7; and Dalia Cusnir, sister-in-law of hostage Eitan Horn, speak at an online press conference before marking 600 days of the hostages’ captivity on Wednesday.

Cusnir and Siegel emphasize the need to bring home the hostages and bring about an end to the war.

“I feel that we failed them,” says Cusnir. “Humanity, the democratic countries, the health organizations, we failed them and we need to fix this, this is the only way of moving forward.”

Siegel names US President Donald Trump, Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government, the mediating countries and the leaders of the world, and urges them to get an agreement signed.

“We need to move forward in our lives and this can’t happen until all the hostages are brought home,” says Siegel.

Siegel says that after seeing fairly recent Hamas propaganda videos of two hostages, Matan Angrest and Omri Miran, with whom he spent time with in captivity, he sees how much they have deteriorated, physically and emotionally, since he last saw them.

“When I think about 600 days in captivity, I think about my experience, 484 days [in captivity], it’s hard for me to imagine surviving and to be able to cope with that,” says Siegel. “I cannot comprehend the difficulties they’re enduring for so long.”

Cusnir, who is married to Horn’s brother Amos Horn, notes that a third brother Iair Horn, who was also held hostage, marked 100 days of freedom on Monday.

“We were talking about he feels, and he said, ‘Don’t get me wrong, but I’m not really free because I left my little brother back in the tunnel,'” says Cusnir. “Iair is free in that he is walking around but his heart and mind and soul are in Gaza.”

Cusnir notes that 600 is a tough number, “but for hostage numbers, it’s just one more day,” she says. “Every day is horrible and painful. We knew Eitan was alive on February 15 but since then, everything can change, unfortunately. We think about them every single second of every day.”

Samerano, whose son was identified by intelligence as having been killed on October 7 and his body taken hostage by a UNRWA worker to Gaza, says she doesn’t yet know for sure that her son was killed when he was taken captive.

She adds that if he was killed, she can’t be sure if his body will ever be found to be brought home for burial.

“We don’t know if he’s alive or not and will they find him for me? That’s how we feel,” says Samerano. “I never imagined we would wait 600 days. I’m begging, my son should be home, he should have been home a long time ago.”