Taken captive: Devoted uncle and Nir Oz resident Yair Horn
Yair captured with his younger brother Eitan Horn, visiting Kibbutz Nir Oz for the Simchat Torah Shabbat, October 7
Yair Horn, 45, was abducted from his Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7, as Hamas terrorists swarmed through the kibbutz, killing or kidnapping one in four of the community’s residents.
Horn’s younger brother, Eitan Horn, 37, was visiting from his home in Kfar Saba for the holiday weekend.
The family immigrated from Argentina years ago, and when sirens began sounding, warning of incoming rockets, their father Itzik messaged his two sons.
Eitan answered, writing, “Did you forget that in Yair’s kibbutz the missiles always pass overhead?”
That was the last communication received by the Horn family.
When father Itzik Horn heard that terrorists were attacking Kibbutz Nirim, he understood that Nir Oz would be next in line, given its location.
A Nir Oz friend later confirmed that the brothers were together at the time of the Hamas incursion into the kibbutz.
Yair works in construction, and is heavily involved in Nir Oz, organizing parties and holiday activities and is responsible for the local kibbutz pub.
They’re also very involved uncles, according to their father, Itzik, often taking their nephews to Hapoel Beersheba soccer games.
