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Hamas released a harrowing video Saturday showing hostage Elkana Bohbot pleading in tears for his release after 540 days in captivity in Gaza.
The footage, approved for publication by his family, marks the second proof-of-life video of Bohbot in recent days. He is one of 59 hostages still held by the terrorist group.
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Second Hamas propaganda video featuring hostage Elkana Bohbot
In the edited video, Bohbot is seen sobbing, visibly distressed, and at one point kneeling on the ground with his face in his hands in a gesture of despair. While Hamas claimed he recorded the video voluntarily, at least some of his statements seemed to have been dictated by his captors as part of a psychological warfare tactic.
“For the second time, I am prisoner number 22,” Bohbot says in the footage, directing his words to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I am the one who asked to record the video. Hamas did not tell me to record the video. This is not psychological warfare. The real psychological war is me waking up without seeing my son, without my wife."
His voice breaking, Bohbot cries out, “I'm telling you, this is killing me, driving me mad, don't you understand?! I want to get out of here! I appeal to you, the Histadrut labor federation. I’m suffocating! I want to get out. Please help me. I miss my wife, my son, my entire family—get me out of here!”
Bohbot, 36, worked as a contractor and was a member of the Histadrut for 15 years. He was part of the production team at the Nova music festival on October 7, where he helped treat and evacuate wounded concertgoers before being abducted by Hamas terrorists. He and his wife, Rivka, have a five-year-old son.
In the video, Bohbot specifically appeals to the labor federation: “I never asked for anything. Now I ask just one thing—help get me out of here alive. You’ve done prisoner deals before. You’ve released soldiers, elderly people, young people—what about us?”
Fighting back tears, he adds, “Why is my wife alone? Why can’t my son say ‘Dad’? His birthday is coming. Why? Please get us out of here."
He continues his plea, questioning why his rights as a longtime worker are being ignored. “I have been working for this country for 15 years. I am a contractor, please check that yourselves. Please. No one has been in our situation—we are under bombardment 24 hours a day, every day. And now we’re told there might be a rescue attempt by force? That would kill us. I’m afraid I’ll die here at any moment.”
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.
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Hamas propaganda video featuring hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Chaim Ohana
“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."
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Ohana went on to say that on March 18, an Israeli airstrike nearly ended their lives. “We know that they are telling you that they intend to send us home but know that an attack like the one that happened yesterday was the closest thing to my death and the death of those with me. We saw death before our eyes,” he said. “Now, after the attack and the closure of the crossings, things have returned to the way they were—food is running out, conditions have become difficult and the is no safe place. We want you to know that.”
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.”