‘I never imagined I would reach the 700th day’: Ex-hostages plead for loved ones’ release

Survivors of the October 7, 2023, massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz mark 700 days since the brutal Hamas-led invasion with a press conference in Kiryat Gat, where the community was temporarily relocated in the wake of the assault.

Among those speaking are former hostages Arbel Yehoud and Iair Horn. Yehoud’s partner, Ariel Cunio, and Horn’s brother, Eitan Horn, are still held captive in Gaza.

“I have a million stories about what it’s like to be in hell, to be in captivity,” says Horn. “I can say that we didn’t eat anything, that there was no air to breathe in the tunnels, that we barely drank water — and even when we did, it was salty. But after 700 days, it seems that it doesn’t matter to anyone, and that it’s ok to keep people captive.”

“I never imagined that we would reach the 700th day and that I would have to stand here and talk about my brother Eitan, who is still a hostage, and my friends who are still being held hostage,” Horn says.

He says that he doesn’t want to end up like the brother of Ron Arad, who has been classified as missing since 1988, or like Tzur Goldin, the brother of Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held by Hamas since 2014.

“I want to be with my brother now,” he says.

When Yehoud speaks, she laments all that was lost when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into the “private paradise” of Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.

“We were abducted from there to the depths of hell in Gaza,” says Yehoud, who spent 482 days in captivity. “There are no special days in captivity, you survive each day as it comes, every minute is an eternity and every second brings the risk of death.”

“There is immense anxiety, abuse, and terrible suffering,” adds Yehoud, before addressing Cunio directly.

“I am fighting, do not break, my love,” she pleads. “Keep holding on to hope and do not let go for a second. We will not give up, and we will not break for a second until you return to us.”