Hamas’ armed wing on Saturday released another video of an Israeli hostage, Elkana Bohbot, crying uncontrollably and desperately pleading with the government to help him return to his home from captivity in Gaza, where he was held for 540 days.
In over three minutes of video span, Bohbot, who was taken from a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that initiated the conflict, speaking in Hebrew and requesting his freedom.
The captive, addressing Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “I am the one who asked to do these videos. Hamas did not tell me to make these videos. This is not psychological warfare,” as per the translation done by Times of Israel.
“The real psychological warfare is what is going on inside my head, every morning when I wake up without my son and my wife,” he declared. “It’s screwing me up, it’s making me crazy!”
“Do you not understand? I want to get out of here!” Bohbot pleaded. “I miss my wife, my son. Everyone. My family, get me out of here!”
Addressing the Histadrut Labor Federation, where Bohbot is employed, he said: “I worked for 15 years. For 15 years under the Histadrut. I never asked for anything. Nothing,” he said, telling the federation to take action to “protect your workers.”
Bohbot also asked the government why it had not secured the release of all the hostages: “You got the female soldiers out. You got the elderly out, you got the young people out. You got everyone else out. What about us?”
Bohbot argued against the government’s assertion that only use of force will lead Hamas to free hostages.
“We are getting bombed every day. Every day, we are bombed for 24 hours a day. Do you not understand this? And they say that they’re going to get us out using force. No one can get us out using force, don’t you see? It will kill us, finish us. I’m afraid every second of every day that I’ll die here!”
With tears streaming down his face, he dropped to his knees, desperately pleading for his release and that of his fellow hostages, longing to celebrate his son’s fifth birthday.
“Please help us!” he cried. “Please!”
Bohbot, aged 36, was taken captive during the Nova music festival attack on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants invaded southern Israel. The assault resulted in approximately 1,200 fatalities and 251 abductions, which initiated the Gaza conflict.
He is one of 24 surviving captives scheduled for liberation under the second phase of the January ceasefire agreement. However, this arrangement collapsed after its initial stage, leading Israel to resume military operations in Gaza.
Armed groups in Gaza continue to detain 59 hostages, with 58 of them taken during the October 7, 2023 attack. This number includes the remains of at least 35 individuals confirmed deceased by the IDF.
