For two years, Herut Nimrodi has lived between dread and belief — the kind of fragile hope that wakes her up at night. Her son, Tamir, was taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. She still does not know if he is dead or alive.
“I fear the worst,” she said quietly, “but I still hope he’s hanging on.”
Tamir was 18 — an education officer, not a combat soldier. The last image his mother has of him is from a video on social media: barefoot, wearing pyjamas, terrified, shoved into a jeep and driven into Gaza. “He didn’t even have his glasses,” she said. “He can barely see without them.”
Nimrodi says her son is the only Israeli hostage whose family has never been told whether he’s living or dead. “It’s unbearable,” she said. “Even the families who’ve been told their loved ones are gone — they still can’t accept it without proof.”
Tamir is one of 47 hostages still held in Gaza. Twenty are believed to be alive.
As indirect talks resumed this week in Egypt, hopes for a breakthrough under U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan have stirred cautious optimism among hostage families. The proposal calls for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages — both living and dead — in the first phase.
“This one feels different,” Nimrodi said. “We’ve heard promises before, but this time there’s real hope.”
Her days now move between exhaustion and determination. She joins other families at rallies in Tel Aviv, wearing a white T-shirt with Tamir’s smiling face printed on it. “People ask me, ‘How are you holding on after two years?’” she said. “It doesn’t feel like two years. It feels like one long, exhausting day.”
Read Also: Trump Says Gaza Peace Deal ‘Really Good’ As Talks Resume
That day — October 7 — remains the deadliest in Israel’s history: 1,200 people killed, 251 taken hostage. The war that followed has devastated Gaza, killing more than 67,000 people, according to its health ministry.
At a rally over the weekend, Nimrodi lifted a poster of her son above the crowd. “I believe Trump will not let this slip away,” she said. “It’s time. Bring them home.”
When night comes, she still sees her son’s eyes — terrified, searching. “To hope for two years,” she whispered, “is absolutely exhausting.”
