Captivity survivor Eitan Horn spoke on Monday evening about his time in captivity, in a lecture titled “The Power of Ordinary People.” Horn was abducted on October 7 while visiting his brother, Yair Horn, in Nir Oz, and returned home after 738 days, on October 13, 2025. Horn immigrated to Israel from Argentina at the age of 16 and worked in education in kibbutzim, youth movements and on a Jewish Agency delegation.
The lecture, held at the Neve Ofer Community Center in southern Tel Aviv as part of the city’s October 7 events, opened with an ironic anecdote about the coincidence that led to his abduction. “I planned to visit Yair in Nir Oz, and a few days before October 7, I told him I wasn’t coming. He said to me, ‘As you wish, but just know that this is the last weekend the kibbutz pool is open.’” From there, Horn went on to give a difficult account of his experiences in captivity, accompanied by the humor that characterizes him and that helped him at times during his captivity.
![Eitan Horn in his lecture "The Power of Ordinary People" (Photo: Yuval Lekach)](https://static.davar1.co.il/www/uploads/2026/10/d09f24e9-7f39-461f-8c43-7b088ec59b12-768x1024.jpeg "Eitan Horn in his lecture "The Power of Ordinary People" (Photo: Yuval Lekach)")
“After they abducted Yair from the safe room, I understood that they were coming to kill me, so I decided to light one last cigarette. I went outside because Yair has a rule that you’re not allowed to smoke inside the house,” Horn recalled. He returned to the house and was abducted as well. According to him, on the way to Gaza, terrorists and civilians cursed him and assaulted him. That same day, he was taken down into the tunnel network, where he spent two years, from the northern Strip to the south, without seeing daylight.
Eitan and Yair were not held together at the beginning of their captivity. For several months, they were separated and did not know what had happened to the other. They later reunited, and several months after the first hostage deal, which took place at the end of November 2023, they were held together for more than a year. The two were separated again in February 2025, when Yair was released from captivity, while Eitan remained in Gaza for another eight months or so, until he returned to Israel in October 2025.
At the beginning of his captivity, Eitan was held alongside women and children. “I didn’t believe there were more than 250 hostages, and at first they put me with women and children, so I was sure they would release all of us quickly.” After the women and children who were held with him were released in the first hostage deal at the end of November 2023, he was transferred to a cell with men. According to him, conditions deteriorated at that point, and the amount of food and water was reduced. “From a liter of water and four small meals that together amounted to one reasonable meal, we went down to 300 milliliters of dirty water a day, and half a pita with a little hummus or cheese.”
The Humor That Helped Him Cope With Captivity
Horn spoke about the emotional abuse he experienced at the hands of his captors. According to him, they had complete control over his daily routine and that of his cellmates: when they would eat, drink, talk, stay awake and sleep. His captors would tell them that they were about to be released, and after moving them between hiding places, they would sometimes give them large meals and promise that from then on, the conditions of their captivity would improve and that what had happened up to that point had been a mistake. Within days, he said, it would become clear time and again that the promises were false.
He also said that his captors would tell them there would be “another October 7,” and that next time there would be no survivors. They even advised them, “out of love,” to leave the country immediately after they were released.
According to Horn, his personality and sense of humor helped him cope with the abuse. “They liked talking about religion, and when we would start a conversation with them about it, they would get into it. A bit of a bore, but better than being abused. I would tell them I wanted to study the Quran with them, but I was too hungry for that, and they would give me food. Great book.”
Even when his captors brought a mirror into the cell and refused to take it out, although the hostages did not want to see what they looked like, Horn tried not to give them the satisfaction of seeing him break down. When they mocked him for the rapid loss of dozens of kilograms due to malnutrition, he replied: “Sure, Hamas diet. I’ll get out of here and become a model.”
The lecture ended on a positive note, with Horn reflecting on the joyful moments he has experienced since returning from captivity. “There is a lot of anger in me, mainly at the humanity that brought about what happened to us and to me. But it is that same humanity that was preserved within us and that we did not lose throughout our captivity, and that was also preserved here in Israel—whether in the reserves, at protests, in prayer, or helping families. It is that same humanity that brought me home.”