Hamas released a new video Saturday showing further proof of life of hostage Elkana Bohbot, who was abducted from the Nova music festival during the October 7 terrorist attack.
At the request of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the footage or excerpts from it will be published only with the family’s consent.
Hamas propaganda video featuring hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Chaim Ohana
The latest video follows another clip published Monday by the terrorist group, which showed Bohbot alongside fellow hostage Yosef-Chaim Ohana. That video, released with the families' approval, featured statements believed to have been scripted by their captors as part of Hamas’ ongoing psychological warfare.
“Until yesterday, I had a name, an identity and hope. Today, I am just a number,” Bohbot said in the earlier video. Ohana added: “We, the prisoners in Gaza, want to tell you about our situation. We are the ones who asked and begged to be heard. Before the latest ceasefire deal on January 19, when the border crossings were closed throughout the war, there was almost no food. The situation was difficult, and there was no safe place. Living conditions were difficult. What was even worse was that we felt neither dead nor alive."
Ohana went on to say that on March 18, an Israeli airstrike nearly ended their lives. “They tell you they want to bring us home, but that attack was the closest we’ve come to dying. We saw death in front of us,” he said. “Now, after the strike, with the crossings closed again, things are back to how they were—food is running out, the conditions are worsening and we have nowhere safe to go. We want you to know that.”
Bohbot, a resident of Mevasseret Zion, turned 36 in captivity on Friday. He was working on the production team at the Nova festival when the attack began, and he reportedly helped treat and evacuate the wounded before being taken hostage. He and his wife, Rivka, are parents to a four-year-old son.
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סרטון מהשבי של אלקנה בוחבוטסרטון מהשבי של אלקנה בוחבוט
Elkana Bohbot in Hamas propaganda video
(Photo: Screengrab)
Yaakov Bohbot, Elkana’s brother, said after the first video was released that it was deeply emotional to see him, but troubling as well. “At first, it’s overwhelming to see him after so long. But then you notice—it’s not really him. It’s not the person you know. Not the body language, the expression, the energy. The words aren’t his, even though the body is.”
“He’s angry, broken inside,” Yaakov added. “He knows there’s nothing he can do. It’s up to us—his family, society, the government. We all need to act together to bring him home. This is a man who was kidnapped in broad daylight. A man with a family—not just parents, siblings and friends, but a wife and child.”