Hamas releases new video showing proof of life from Israeli hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Chaim Ohana

Hamas released a video on Saturday showing proof-of-life from hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Chaim Ohana. The Hostage Families Forum requested that the video, or any portion of it, not be published without prior approval from the families.

Hamas first released a video of the two on March 24. In that initial video, the two addressed the end of the ceasefire and the resumption of fighting in Gaza on March 18.

Another video of Bohbot was released by Hamas on April 19, in which he addressed his wife Rivka and their son.

Last night, a report on Friday News on Kan 11 stated that negotiations for the release of hostages have intensified recently – ahead of Trump’s expected visit to the region next week.

At the same time, Israel announced that its large-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip will only begin after Trump’s visit to the Gulf. So far, no formula has been found to bridge the sides’ positions – Israel is demanding a partial agreement without a ceasefire, while Hamas insists on a full agreement that would end the war.

A source involved in the negotiations told Kan that despite the intensifying talks, the sides remain far apart and there has been no significant progress regarding the proposal presented to Hamas.

After the release of the first video of the two, Avi Ohana, father of Yosef Chaim, said on Kan 11’s Evening News that the video showed his son was in severe distress and had lost a lot of weight. Ohana said he felt public attention had shifted away from the hostages: “Everything going on now – the Shin Bet head, the attorney general – they’re overshadowing the hostages. It’s very difficult. The country must stop and focus only on the hostages,” he pleaded.

Ruhama Bohbot, Elkana's mother, responded to the first video on Kan Reshet Beit’s Agenda program saying, “It destroyed me, how terrible. He’s asthmatic. How was he not on that humanitarian list, how? He’s suffering so much, and you can see it in the video. He’s swollen. Who knows if it’s from the asthma or his allergies. I don’t know what they’re giving him there, if they’re helping him. He looks frustrated and angry.”

Bohbot, 35, from Mevaseret Zion, was kidnapped from the Nova party in Re’im, where he was working as part of the event’s production team. At 8:00 a.m., he spoke with his wife Rivka and told her, “Everything’s okay, I’m trying to evacuate people, I’ll come home.” About an hour later, contact with him was lost. Later, Rivka received a video from one of Elkana’s friends that had been shared on social media, from which she realized he had been kidnapped.

Ohana, 24, from Kiryat Malachi, was also abducted from the Nova party. He was listed as missing for two weeks until his family was informed he had been brought into Gaza. According to accounts from the witnesses at the party, Yosef had been helping the wounded at the scene.