Ruth Strom, mother of hostage Eitan Horn and released captive Iair Horn from Kibbutz Nir Oz, spoke to Ynet on Monday, urging Israeli leaders to focus solely on returning the hostages.
“I’m not a politician. I’m a mother—and my son is a hostage,” she said. “I wish people would stop talking politics and start doing something—move everything, bring them all back. And then we’ll see.”
Strom declined to criticize Israel’s political or military leadership, saying she’s motivated solely by the quiet, relentless pain that’s consumed her for 612 days. “This isn’t the time for elections,” she said. “First, deal with the hostages. Then you can fight. Right now—bring our children back.”
Iair, her middle son, was released in the second hostage deal in February. Her eldest, Amos, wasn’t taken on October 7. But her youngest, Eitan, remains in Hamas captivity in Gaza. “Even though Iair is back, I never left October 7,” she said.
“I’m still there. My head and heart are stuck there. I keep imagining what they’re going through. I hear the testimonies—it’s unbearable. I can hardly sleep. And when I wake up, I can’t believe we’re still in this reality. How have they not brought everyone back yet?”
She knows very little about Eitan’s condition. Iair has told her only fragments. “The conditions are inhumane,” she said. “Eitan has a chronic skin condition. He needs fresh air, showers, clean water—all things he doesn’t have. I know his condition flared up. I saw the clothing they returned from captivity. No one had to tell me it was his. I saw it. I felt it.”
She often speaks of her sons as one unit. “Iair, Eitan and Amos—they’re a force. The fact that Iair and Eitan were together gave them strength. Now Eitan's alone. Of course I worry. But I believe he’ll come back. I know he’s strong. He’ll come back.
“Each day is harder than the one before. Every moment I’m trying to understand what’s happening to them—moment by moment, day by day. Sometimes I feel like I can’t go on. But I find strength, from somewhere, because I have to—for them.”
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She described the emotional impact of Iair’s return. “Being with him—it’s wonderful. I’m with him and he’s with me. But we won’t truly start healing until Eitan is here too. Then we’ll be able to recover. All of us. Even Iair. I’m doing everything I can to make sure Eitan comes back—so we’re not left alone again.”
Despite everything, she holds on to hope. “When Eitan returns, he’ll get everything he needs—every kind of care. We’ll heal together. Once he’s here, it’ll be easier for all of us, even for Iair. I’m holding on to hope that this is coming soon. Enough. It’s time—for the families, for the hostages, for the whole nation—to begin to heal.”