“It’s not like Elkana to break down,” said Ruhama Bohbot, the mother of Hamas captive Elkana Bohbot, who appeared in a Hamas propaganda video released on Saturday alongside fellow hostage Yosef Haim Ohana.

In the video, Ohana claims that Elkana attempted to harm himself.

The families of “Prisoner 21” Yosef Chaim Ohana and “Prisoner 22” Elkana Bohbot have approved distribution of Hamas latest sick propaganda video.

Both men are CIVILIANS abducted from a music festival 582 days ago by Hamas jihadists. pic.twitter.com/cJC5UY8DNc

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) May 10, 2025

Since the video aired, Ruhama told JNS that the family has been overwhelmed with anxiety and fear, unable to eat or sleep. They don’t know if what’s shown in the video is real, and are desperately awaiting updates from Israeli intelligence.

“I haven’t stopped vomiting, we’re all broken. These videos are not doing good to us. Every one of them is another punch to the stomach. To me it’s not a sign of life, it just shows how much danger he is in,” she said.

Elkana, a dual Israeli-Colombian citizen from Mevaseret Zion near Jerusalem, works for a production company that builds stages for large events. He was a co-producer for the Supernova festival, from where he was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

Before his capture, Elkana informed his family that gunfire had erupted at the party and that he was helping the wounded. He and his wife Rivka have a young son named Re’em.

Ruhama recalled that morning, telling JNS she was at home with her daughter-in-law and grandson while her husband was at synagogue. When sirens sounded and she saw disturbing reports on television, she woke Rivka and said it looked like war had begun.

“At 7:50 a.m., we called Elkana. He answered and said he needed to stay there to help evacuate and that he would come home afterwards. I couldn’t imagine for a minute the scope of the massacre,” she continued.

She said Rivka spoke to Elkana again shortly afterward, warning him about armed terrorists in pickup trucks disguised as soldiers. He assured her he was helping but promised to return home soon.

At noon, a friend called the family to inform them Elkana had been kidnapped—then sent a video confirming it.

“We didn’t understand right away what it meant to be kidnapped or to be a hostage. This word hadn’t existed in our lexicon since Gilad Shalit. When they sent us the video, we saw that Elkana was kidnapped,” she told JNS.

Since the abduction, the family has been on a tireless public campaign to secure his release.

“We are on a very hard journey that doesn’t end. We were sure it would be over quickly because of the number of hostages taken. We couldn’t picture that we would still be in the same situation over 580 days later,” said Ruhama.

The family recently explained the situation to Re’em. Ruhama said that until now, they had only told him vague, hopeful stories about his father being taken by “bad guys,” assuring him that he would be back soon. But Re’em still waits by the door.

Elkana Bohbot, 36, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7th. When Hamas began their attack, he told his wife and mother he stayed to help evacuate the wounded—only after saving others would he go home.

Hours later, his family discovered that he had been taken… pic.twitter.com/pMMW6IiWiJ

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) April 19, 2025

“He takes binoculars and goes out on porches and looks for his dad. Every gift he gets he can’t wait to tell his dad, he prepared a surprise box for Elkana with drawings and letters. He also saves his pocket money for his dad, he doesn’t spend it because he knows that they took all of his father’s money and he doesn’t have any,” she said.

Following the announcement of the January hostage deal, in which 33 hostages were released, the family was devastated when Elkana’s name wasn’t on the list. Ruhama said they expected him to be included because of his status as a father and his medical issues.

“We were sure that Elkana would be on the list. He is a father, he is asthmatic and is suffering from a skin disease that he contracted in the tunnels based on information we received from [former Hamas captive] Ohad Ben Ami,” she said.

Reacting to the recent release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, Ruhama said she felt torn—happy for the family, but pained by the disparity in action taken on behalf of her son.

“Every hostage that comes back is a whole world. It hurts, that with Edan holding US citizenship, it feels his leader moved worlds around to get him out of there. My son grew up here, he served his country, got married to a girl from Colombia and brought her here telling her it was the safest place to be, fathered a son and that’s what happened,” she said.

Describing Elkana’s character, Ruhama painted the picture of a man deeply devoted to his family and community.

“Elkana likes to help and give of himself. He is an amazing father. His child and his wife are the apple of his eye. During COVID, he took every opportunity he had to work so that his child and Rivka wouldn’t lack anything,” she said.

She shared anecdotes of his generosity, saying Elkana used to help an elderly market neighbor by setting up his stall before his own each morning.

“Elkana was born on Purim, he loves life. He always would say that freedom has no price,” she added.

Speaking to JNS, Ruhama said the pain her family is going through is indescribable.

“There are no words. This pain has no name. We have no life, no air, we can’t breathe. Help me bring my son back home so that his son gets to call him ‘dad’ one more time and get to run to him to hug him,” she said.

“Help me bring him back so that they can make up for the last year and nine months in which Elkana did not see his son grow up and so that he can bring more children to this world, that’s what I demand,” she added.

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