Hamas on Saturday released a propaganda video of hostage Elkana Bohbot — the third time it has published footage of the captive held in Gaza.
Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.
Shortly after the video was published by the terror group, Bohbot’s family approved the publication of the video in Israeli media, which does not share images of hostages without their families’ permission.
In the video, a distraught and gaunt-looking Bohbot addresses his family in a mock phone call — evidently on his captors’ orders — and tells his wife and son that he dreams about returning home to them.
“Keep doing everything for me!” he cries, adding he has “appealed to the state, appealed to the government, appealed to everyone.”
“I have appealed to the IDF, also. I have heard that they are signing petitions to stop the war and release us,” he continues, referring to the recent wave of petitions signed by IDF reservists and others calling for a hostage deal and an end to the war.
“That’d be good, keep going,” he said, adding that “they care more about their citizens than the government.”
Bohbot also addressed his brother Uriel, asking him to go to the White House and ask US President Donald Trump to urgently get him out.
While Hamas propaganda videos featuring hostages are widely believed to be scripted and dictated by the terror group, Bohbot insisted in a previous video that he asked his captors to film him, and that his words were his own.
“I am the one who asked to do these videos. Hamas did not tell me to make these videos. This is not psychological warfare,” he said in the video released by Hamas last month.
After Bohbot’s family approved the publication of the video released Saturday, they put out a statement saying that “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?” the family asked. “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,” the family urged.
Bohbot, 36, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251, sparking the war in Gaza.
He is among the 24 hostages believed to be alive who were slated for release in the proposed second stage of the ceasefire deal agreed upon in January, which fell apart after its first stage ended in March, with Israel renewing the fighting in Gaza.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip still hold a total of 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 abducted on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
The January 19 ceasefire deal stipulated that negotiations would begin in early February for a second phase of the deal. The outline for the phase broadly envisions the release of all remaining living hostages in exchange for a full IDF withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war.
Negotiations to resume the ceasefire and release the remaining hostages have since stalled, with Hamas on Thursday rejecting an Israeli proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, reiterating that it opposes any truce deal that does not end the war.
A Hamas source told AFP that the terrorist organization also sent a written response Thursday to mediators on Israel’s latest proposal for a 45-day ceasefire. Israel had sought the release of 10 living hostages held by the terror group, according to Hamas.
The proposal also included the freeing of 1,231 Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. It also called for Hamas to disarm to secure a complete end to the war, a demand the terror group rejects.