Hamas’s armed wing on Monday released a video showing two Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The footage, lasting over three minutes, could not be independently verified for its exact recording date.
According to Israeli publication Haaretz, the video features Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Chaim Ohana, who were taken captive during the assault. The two men are seen sitting on the floor, speaking in Hebrew to a hostage who has since been released, asking him to share his experiences in captivity to help expedite their release.
Hamas releases a video of two Israeli hostages.
“Time is running out.” pic.twitter.com/dBnjvH2cNT
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Bohbot, 36, from Mevasseret Zion, was abducted from the Nova music festival during the attack. His family first received a sign of life in February through freed hostages who had been held with him. Before that, the only indication of his survival was footage from October 7 released by Hamas, in which he appeared bound and wounded. According to former hostages, Bohbot has been held in underground tunnels in Gaza with limited access to food. He is married to Rivka and has a three-year-old son, Haaretz reported.
Ohana is from Kiryat Malachi and attended the music festival after his friend Daniel Sharabi invited him and a few other people to celebrate Ohana’s going-away party before his trip to the US for a pilot’s course, The Jerusalem Post reported.
According to Channel 12, Bohbot developed a severe skin disease during captivity due to the dismal conditions in which he was being held. “Of course, he did not receive proper medical treatment,” the released hostage was reported as saying by the news outlet.
As per Israeli reports, Bohbot was held in a narrow, 30-meter-deep tunnel along with five other hostages where they could barely stand or walk because of lack of space, they slept on a damp sheet full of mold.
Egypt Introduces New Proposal To Revive Gaza Ceasefire
As the humanitarian crisis deepens in Gaza, Egypt has introduced a new proposal aimed at reviving the ceasefire, news agency AP reported. An Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hamas has agreed to release five living hostages, including an American-Israeli, in exchange for Israel allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and pausing hostilities for several weeks. Israel would also release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal, as per AP.
A Hamas official confirmed that the group had “responded positively” to the proposal but did not provide further details. Both officials were not authorised to discuss the ongoing closed-door negotiations publicly, AP reported.
This comes as Israeli air and ground strikes across Gaza have killed more than 60 Palestinians in the past day, including women and children, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Monday, news agency AP reported. Since Israel resumed military operations after the ceasefire collapsed, hundreds have been killed, pushing the overall death toll from the war to over 50,000.
The ministry reported that hospitals had received the bodies of 61 people killed by Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, along with 143 wounded. It stated that the total Palestinian death toll had risen to at least 50,082, with 113,408 injured. The figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
