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Families of Israeli hostages freed from Hamas captivity say they rejoice at each release, but their relief is tempered by the painful reality that not all loved ones return together. As partial releases stretch into months, parents, siblings and grandparents describe a sense of abandonment and an urgent plea: bring everyone home in one comprehensive deal.
“After everything they went through together, to separate them now too? Why?” asked Ruti Strum, whose son Iair Horn, 22, was freed last week while his brother, Eitan Horn, 20, remains in Gaza. When officials informed her only Iair would be released, “I couldn’t stop asking—why? Why are you doing this to them? Together they were a force.”
Strum said Iair’s homecoming has been bittersweet. “I know he left his brother behind. He knows what condition he was in when he left him,” she said. “I believe—he is part of us, he’s missed every moment.”
Yael Adar has no one to welcome home. Her son, Sgt. Tamir Adar, 19, was killed in the October 7 assault and his body is still held by Hamas. Adar, who has waited 559 days, said her grief has been compounded by what she calls national neglect. “My feelings are heavy. We were abandoned. Someone was supposed to protect him, and they didn’t,” she said.
Yaffa Adar, Tamir’s grandmother and a former hostage herself, said her return offered her no true liberation. “There was a sense of relief, a kind of gratitude,” she said. “But you can’t talk about joy—not when friends were kidnapped and murdered, when others are still being held. There is no freedom while they remain there.”
In Kibbutz Nir Oz, Nurit Cooper was released in the first exchange, but her husband, Amiram Cooper, 84, died in captivity and his body remains in Gaza. Their adopted son, 20‑year‑old Shrulik “Izzy” Kalvo, emphasized the family’s wish: “We got Mom back, and that was something. But the fact that Dad is still there—that’s tough. We don’t want soldiers killed just to bring back his body. If it’s part of a deal—we’d be happy. But not at the cost of lives. First of all, bring life back.”
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Across Israel, families share a single demand: no phased arrangements, no prioritization—just one comprehensive deal to bring every hostage and every fallen soldier home.