The terror group Hamas has released a video on Saturday showing additional signs of life from Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot, who remains captive in Gaza. He started by sending a message to his wife, Rivka: "I dream of you every day and night. Every hour! I see you and our son Re'em in my dreams! You are a hero. I urge everyone, the IDF, and the government, to release us."
The family of Elkana Bohbot conveyed the following message after the release of the video, through a press release from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum: "We are deeply shocked and devastated. At the end of Passover, the only thing we are experiencing is the complete opposite of freedom. How much suffering must a person endure? We are extremely concerned about Elkana's physical and mental condition—everyone can see it. How much longer will he be required to wait and 'stay strong'?"
"Elkana understands exactly as we do that he has been wronged. How is it possible that the State of Israel did not include him, a father of a young child, in the 'humanitarian list' they formulated? We call on everyone involved to bring them home now and put an end to their suffering, our suffering as families, and the suffering of Jewish people worldwide", they said.
This marks the third time in a month that the terror group has released a video of Bohbot. “This is not psychological warfare,” he said, speaking on Hamas’s release of previous hostage videos. “The real psychological war is me waking up without seeing my son, without my wife; this makes my health not well."
“Do you not understand? I want to get out of here. I do not have food... I am suffocating. I want to get out of here. Please help me,” Elkana added.
Bohbot’s wife, Rivka, said previously, “That’s not my husband’s face. I saw anger. I didn’t feel it was just what Hamas told him to say; he was speaking from the heart.”
'No child should see a video like that'
Bohbot's wife shared a few weeks ago, when Hamas released the previous video: "I pulled over to the side, started watching, looked at my husband's lips, cheeks, sunken eyes, and burst into tears. My son asked, "Why are you crying?" and I said, "Just a moment, Ram," before telling him, "Mom misses Dad." I couldn’t show him the video. This isn’t my husband; it’s someone else. This isn’t the man who left us on October 6 with a smile and blonde hair. That’s how my son should remember his father. No child should ever have to see a video like that."
For a long time, the Bohbot family rarely spoke or gave interviews to the media and was among the less prominent and known families in the hostages' families' struggle.