What happened to Elkana Bohbot in Gaza: Mother of former Israeli hostage shares details of son’s captivity

Elkana Bohbot had been held hostage, away from his family, his wife and 5 year-old son, for two full years. Like all the returning hostages, he was first taken to the hospital for an initial check up and evaluation before he could finally go home. He returned to his home town on Sunday to a hero’s welcome. However, he and his family acknowledge the road to recovery will be long.

“I don’t know how he survived,” Ruchama Bohbot, mother of Elkana, said in an interview with Channel 12. “He was bound, blindfolded, his hands and feet tied. He went through severe abuse, and I could feel it. He told me how he was in a pickup truck with Evyatar, Guy, and Bar. He was lying on top of them and was beaten brutally in Gaza.”

“Elkana wants everything; he wants to fly from one place to another,” she continued, sharing her son’s enthusiasm at his long-awaited freedom. “He couldn’t believe everything that’s happening here. He watched TV there, saw me when his captors called him over to see me,” Ruchama relayed in the interview.

It seemed like the entire population of Mevaseret Zion, nestled in the Judean hills just outside Jerusalem, came out to welcome him home on Sunday, and the scenes of joy and emotion were overwhelming.

Bohbot broke down in tears as others embraced and supported him.

“These children are psychologically wounded,” Ruchama added with caution. “It will leave a mark on their lives. He [Elkana] is still in recovery; he needs help and to land.”

“He’s been with Rivka a lot. Ra’am is around him all the time; he’s over the moon,” she continued, talking of Bohbot’s wife and 5 year old son. “Yesterday, Elkana took him (Ra'am) to kindergarten and picked him up from daycare for the first time.”

While in captivity Bohbot was able to glean some scraps of material and managed to make a little toy character for his son Ra’am with the Nike motto on the chest: “Just do it!”

His family has shared that ​​Elkana had been starved and chained in a tunnel for many months, losing all sense of space and time. However, Elkana managed to remember his wedding anniversary, and asked his captors if he could take a shower to mark the occasion. Despite being refused, Bohbot insisted until they eventually agreed to unchain him and grant his request. 

Like other hostages, Elkana also saw news of his family members appealing for his release and attending rallies at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv while he was in captivity. “He saw and he felt he wasn’t forgotten. You saved him, but also me and Re’em (Ra'am)," said his wife Rivka.

Though very active in campaigning for his release at the political level, the Bohbots kept a fairly low profile and largely avoided media exposure during his first year of captivity.

Elkana’s wife changed her approach after the January ceasefire, during which her husband was initially categorized as a phase 1 hostage but was ultimately left behind.

"Elkana was supposed to be [released] in phase one. He is a humanitarian (case): he has asthma, and he has a child. The State of Israel made a mistake by not putting fathers on the list; my child has universal rights," she said at the time. 

Explaining how she talked to their son Ra’am about the absence of his father, she recounted, "We told him that the army was looking for Dad to bring him home. Once, he watched The Lion King and said his father was in the sky, like Simba had gone to talk to Mufasa through the stars.”

Rivka says that although Elkana was starved for much of his time in captivity, he was force-fed for the last few days, causing medical problems and pain.

"Just before his release, he was given large amounts of food so that he would look somewhat better for the world to see. Because of this, Elkana is currently suffering from severe stomach pain, but I am confident that my heroic husband will be able to gradually return to good health thanks to the medical care he's receiving and his own inner strength,” she said, adding, “Many good people helped us.” 

Finally Elkana is back and enjoying every moment with his wife and young son. "The only thing that can't be returned is time,” Rivka has said.

Many have been quoting Psalm 126 in relation to the joyous return of the hostages from Gaza: “When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion, We were like those who dream,” the psalm begins. It is certainly a time of marveling and wonder. Even so, Ruchama Bohbot points to the pain of those who have not yet received the bodies of their loved ones.

“Until the last of the hostages comes back, I can’t close this chapter. I want to be the happiest person in the world, but we’re all one big family. We’ve seen what the people of Israel have done over these two years; we must stay close to the families whose loved ones are still there.”