Just days before he turns 25, the parents of hostage Eitan Mor have revealed new testimony on their son's captivity. In an interview Sunday, Efrat and Tzvika Mor said they received the information from a former hostage freed as part of a previous deal.
“He has incredible social skills that he uses both for himself and for the other hostages,” Efrat said. “It’s just amazing—exactly how we imagined, and that’s how it’s playing out.” Tzvika added: “Those calling for surrender are pushing us further from getting them back.”
Eitan Mor has been held in Gaza for 590 days. As talks between Israel and Hamas resumed in Doha—amid rising tensions and a potential escalation under Operation Gideon's Chariots—the Mors shared new details that recently came to light.
“Every sign of life is like oxygen flowing through our blood,” said Efrat. She recounted that several weeks ago, she and Tzvika spoke with a survivor from the first hostage-release deal. “He was the only one who saw and spoke to Eitan. We spoke with him for about half an hour,” she said. “The picture we’d formed in our minds of how Eitan was handling captivity—it’s exactly what’s happening. That was early in the captivity, and we believe he’s still the same.”
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“Eitan is optimistic,” she added. “He’s a strong young man—mentally and physically—and he has strong social skills, which he uses for his own benefit and that of the others, if they’re still with him.”
According to the released hostage, Eitan “really was their spokesman to the captors. He never stops believing that everything will be okay, that they’ll make it out. It’s just incredible that it’s happening the way we imagined—it gives us so much strength.”
The former hostage spent 55 days in Gaza. “He spent three days with Eitan in a tunnel along with three other men,” said Tzvika. “He described how, even in that hell, Eitan lifted everyone’s spirits. Two of the guys kidnapped from kibbutzim were completely hopeless. Eitan cheered them up, made them laugh, and instilled in them the hope that they’d get out. We’re not surprised—that’s exactly who he is.”
In February, the family received a sign of life from Eitan. “Most of the signs we’ve received over the past year and a half came through intelligence channels and were very minimal,” Efrat said. “The intelligence services can’t say much—they just tell us, ‘Eitan is alive and okay.’” She said the released hostage’s account was the first to “give color to the picture.”