Mother of hostage Alon Ohel says son unrecognizable in Hamas video

Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.

Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, speaks during a rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, March 8, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, speaks during a rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, March 8, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, tells Channel 12 news that she could “hardly recognize” her son in a propaganda video released by Hamas yesterday.

“We went through a very difficult weekend, seeing my son. There are moments when I hardly recognize Alony,” Idit tells the Hebrew network in her first public reaction to the video, which also included footage of Guy Gilboa-Dalal. “His voice is broken. It’s absolutely clear that he doesn’t see well; he can’t see with his right eye, and he can’t focus his vision.”

“On the one hand, it was so moving after such a long time not seeing Alon, but on the other hand, it was hard. Hard to see him looking like that,” she adds.

The video, which also included Guy Gilboa-Dalal, was the first time Alon had been seen in footage since they were taken hostage along with 249 others during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Ohel’s family has requested that Israeli networks not disseminate the video beyond a single still they approved earlier this evening.

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