As Israel has announced steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza, a former hostage described what that could mean for captives held by Hamas.

Iair Horn, a dual Israeli-Argentinian citizen who spent a year and a half in the terror group’s captivity, said hostages could tell when more aid was available because they would receive more food.

“When there’s less food, then there’s also less for the hostages. When there’s aid, there’s a possibility you might get a cucumber,” said Horn, 46.

Hamas terrorists kidnapped Horn from his home at Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with 250 other people, during the group’s October 7, 2023, attack. He was released on February 15 this year after 498 days in captivity. For most of that time, he was held in an underground cell in a tunnel with several other hostages, including his brother Eitan Horn, 38.

Since his release, Iair Horn has deferred his own recovery to fight for the release of his brother and the other 49 hostages still being held in Gaza, of whom at least 20 are still believed to be alive.

“I’m not a politician, and I’m not getting into those things because I don’t understand them,” Horn said. “What I understand is very simple: I want my brother back.”

Horn’s comments came as Israel, facing mounting international pressure over reports of starvation in Gaza, took several actions to increase the distribution of aid across the enclave, including 10-hour “humanitarian pauses” in fighting in population centers. The new policy was instituted shortly after weeks of negotiations in Qatar over a ceasefire and hostage release broke down.

Hearing that negotiations between Israel and Hamas were once again at an impasse over the weekend was devastating for his family, Horn said. Since his release, he has made four trips to the US, where he has met with President Donald Trump and other American leaders to plead for the hostages.

He wasn’t sure what to make of a comment Thursday by Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff, who said the US would consider “alternative options” after recalling its negotiating team from Qatar.

“My life is frozen right now,” he said. “I live in a nightmare that every day they are kidnapping me anew.”

Every morning when he opens his eyes, he must think for a few moments to remember he is no longer a hostage. He’s gained back some of the weight he lost in captivity, but his list of physical and psychological ailments is long. For now, he is living with family in the central city of Kfar Saba.

“He’s not really with us, and he says it all the time,” his sister-in-law, Dalia Cusnir, said in June. “He says, ‘I’m not here, my heart and my brain are not here,’ and his eyes fade from the conversation. He feels guilty that he’s back and Eitan isn’t, and nor are the others with whom he was held captive.”

Previously, he worked a variety of jobs in Kibbutz Nir Oz, including in education, maintenance and the kitchen. He also ran the kibbutz pub. But he does not know where he will live, what he will do in the future, or if he will go back to Nir Oz. The only thing he concentrates on is advocating for his brother’s release.

“I never imagined that another half year would pass without seeing my little brother,” he said.

Iair Horn is the oldest of three brothers who grew up in Argentina. He moved to Israel at age 20, followed by his middle brother, Amos. Eitan and their parents, long divorced, joined later. On October 7, Eitan was visiting Iair at his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz when the sirens started, warning of incoming missiles.

That morning, over 500 Palestinian terrorists swarmed into the unsuspecting Gaza border community. The army, plunged into disarray by the shock attack on dozens of towns and military posts simultaneously, entirely failed to come to the rescue, as the terrorists moved from home to home, brutalizing, massacring and kidnapping dozens of civilians.

Soon, the brothers received text messages alerting them to the fact that terrorists had infiltrated the kibbutz. Terrorists entered Iair’s home, where he was hiding in the reinforced safe room with Eitan. Iair attempted to hold the door shut until the terrorists began shooting through the door. Then he decided to surrender, worried they might use grenades or stronger weapons.

Iair, who was immediately taken into Gaza, didn’t know what had happened to his brother until around the 50th day of his captivity, when the terrorists placed the two brothers together.

Being together, even in their small, barred room, was a stroke of luck, Iair said.

“There’s a lot of time with nothing to do, and we talked a lot about our childhoods, about elementary school, about the youth movement, about soccer,” he said. “We tried to keep our sense of humor. He would ask me, did you brush your teeth? And I’d ask him, did you wash your bellybutton?”

“It was silly things, silly things between siblings that I don’t have right now. Many times it happens now that something happens to me on the street that I have to tell him. And I can’t, and I’m so sorry,” he said, starting to cry.

For most of the time, the Horn brothers were held with three other hostages. In early February, their captors came to the group of five and said that two would be released.

“For four days, we’re looking at each other and wondering if we can decide or influence the decision,” he said.

After four days, the captors arrived with a small plate of snacks and a video camera. They announced that Iair and another hostage would be leaving and filmed the emotional interaction between Iair and Eitan. Hamas later released the video on its social media channels, as it has with other videos of the hostages filmed under duress.

Their last night together, Eitan and Iair lay side by side in silence. “There was no conversation because in your head you don’t want to have a conversation as if it’s your last conversation,” Iair said.

When their mother, Ruty Chmiel Strum, learned that Iair was coming out but not Eitan, she said to anyone who would listen, “Why are you doing this to my sons? They are together and you’re separating them?”

No one gave her an answer, but Strum clung to hope that Eitan would be released soon.

Now she mostly ignores news about the negotiations, tuning out the information to protect herself. She said she raised her three boys “as a single body,” and their support for each other is unshakable.

She clasps Iair’s hand as they sit together on the couch in her home and look forward to the day Eitan returns.

“I will feel the hug of my three sons, enjoying life, each supporting each other,” she said. “It will happen.”