Israeli hostage Alon Ohel’s family approves release of image from Hamas video amid fears of his worsening condition

The family of 24-year-old Israeli hostage Alon Ohel on Wednesday agreed to publish a still image of their kidnapped son from a recent Hamas propaganda video that was released on Monday ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. 

“On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we received a sign of life from our Alon,” the mother Idit said in a message that was published by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “We’ve looked at each and every frame [of the clip] to get as much as we can out of it. The more we look, the more we worry,” she continued. 

“You can see clearly” that Alon is now blind in one eye, the mother Idit Ohel said. “We’re extremely concerned about Alon’s second eye,” she continued. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly spoke with Alon’s parents Idit and Kobi before departing to the U.S. to deliver his annual address at the United Nations Assembly in New York. The Prime Minister’s Office said that Netanyahu and the government's hostage point-man, Gal Hirsch, explained that a “joint military-diplomatic maneuver [is] being continuously carried out to defeat Hamas and return all our hostages.”

Idit reportedly thanked the prime minister for “a long and sensitive conversation” while stressing with concern that her son’s condition had “greatly deteriorated as a result of cruel captivity and maltreatment.”

Alon’s father, Kobi, argued that Netanyahu’s diplomatic journey to the United Nations in New York “is a time for greatness for all the cabinet ministers to rise to the hour [and] be human enough and strong enough to give him all the support and strength so he’ll act for the release of Alon and the hostages.”

“Idit and I expect him to return from this trip with good news,” Kobi said. While agreeing to publish a still image, the Ohel family urged the public not to publish the entire Hamas video, which they blasted as “psychological terrorism that is meant to hurt us.”

Alon Ohel who is a talented pianist, was brutally kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023. 

In February, the family received the first signs of life from Alon Ohel after 492 days in captivity. 

“After 492 days of uncertainty, we received our first sign of life today – our Alon is alive. He is injured and not receiving treatment,” the Ohel family stated.

“Since he was abducted, Alon has been held in difficult conditions in Hamas’ underground tunnels, without daylight and without access to basic human conditions. We were informed that Alon has an eye injury,” the Ohel family said at the time. 

“In addition, Alon is being held in particularly difficult conditions of captivity, with a severe shortage of food,” the family added. 

Germany and Serbia have also condemned the brutal kidnapping of Alon Ohel who in addition to his Israeli nationality also holds German and Serbian citizenship. 

“The dehumanizing footage of the German-Israeli national Alon Ohel, which Hamas published of all times on Rosh Hashanah, is unbearable. Hamas must immediately release all hostages,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated on Monday on 𝕏.  “The ceasefire must come now; the suffering must end." 

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić also blasted the Hamas video and stressed that Serbia “stands in sorrow” with the Ohel family. 

“The video released today is a cruel blow to his parents, Idit and Kobi, and to all who long for his return,” Đurić said. 

“We call for the immediate release of Alon and all hostages,” Serbia’s top diplomat demanded in a post on Facebook “May this new year bring peace and freedom."