From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Released hostage Iair Horn struggling to walk and see, but he’s completely focused on freeing his brother, relative says
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Released hostage Iair Horn is struggling with walking and with vision problems after being kept in tunnels for 498 days, but all he cares about right now is getting his younger brother Eitan Horn home, says Dalia Cusnir, the sister-in-law of the Horn brothers, in a meeting with journalists.
As Horn was meeting with doctors about his care, says Cusnir, “he stood up and stopped everyone. ‘You asked what I need,’ said Iair Horn. ‘The only thing I need is for you to bring me my brother.'”
Cusnir says Horn was initially held with his brother Eitan and then separated but they don’t know how long ago they were separated. Eitan Horn was visiting Iair on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 when they were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists.
“Being with Eitan was very significant,” says Cusnir of Iair’s captivity. “It gave him a reason, a purpose to fight and struggle and to wake up and stand up every morning. He had to keep going because of Eitan.”
Eitan Cusnir has a severe skin disease that requires medication and has led to infections in the past, and the lack of hygiene in the tunnels is highly problematic with his disease and frightening to his family.
As the eldest son in the family of three brothers, who used to sleep in the same bedroom growing up in Argentina and followed one another to Israel as teens, Iair Horn feels tremendous responsibility for his brothers, who Cusnir says are like triplets.
Eitan Horn is not on the list of 33 hostages to be freed in the first stage of the current hostage deal.
Iair Horn hasn’t shared many details about his captivity, says his sister-in-law. He has mentioned a little bit about physical and psychological torture and that the worst day was October 7, when they were abducted with severe violence.
“They are counting the minutes and the seconds,” says Cusnir, “knowing that if they arrive at the end of the day and are still alive, that’s a miracle, and who knows what’s next.”
Iair Horn was unaware of what was happening with the other hostages, and thought that all the women and children were released in November 2023. He also didn’t know what happened to Nir Oz, where one in four people were killed or taken hostage, nor of the vast destruction in the community that day.
“He asked to see a list of all the hostages from the other kibbutz and the Nova festival,” says Cusnir. “He said that’s his task, and he wanted to go to the [hostage] rally yesterday [marking 500 days of captivity.] He said, ‘I’m going to be on the stage to talk to everyone,’ and we had to tell him the doctors wouldn’t allow it yet.”
Cusnir adds, “He said that as long as there are hostages in Gaza, he is still a hostage.”
