Mother of hostage Alon Ohel, seen in Hamas video: ‘His smile gives a lot of hope; his life is in PM’s hands’

The mother of hostage Alon Ohel says that seeing her son’s smile in a Hamas video released Friday gave her hope.

“His speech is a little slurred, but he seems fine,” Idit Alon tells the Kan public broadcaster. “To see him and see that there’s still something of him, his smile — in one moment it gives a lot of hope. He’s alive and we have to bring them home.”

Idit Ohel says that she told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that her son’s fate is the premier’s responsibility.

“I spoke with the prime minister about Alon — the conversation between us will remain between us, but I clarified things with him and he listened,” she says.

“Alon’s life is in the hands of the prime minister, under his personal responsibility. We trust him, but it is entirely his responsibility,” she says.

Alon’s family yesterday permitted the publication of a photo from the video released a day earlier. The video, which also included hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, was the first time Ohel had been seen alive since he was taken hostage along with 250 others during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Netanyahu spoke with the families of both hostages following the publication of the video, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Ohel, 24, a talented pianist, went to the Supernova desert rave with several friends, reaching the party at 5:30 a.m., an hour before the Hamas attack began. Ohel and his friends fled to a field shelter, which was later attacked by terrorists, with many of those inside murdered.

Ohel’s family said Friday that experts told them the video showed that Ohel had lost vision in his right eye. In February, the Kan public broadcaster reported that there were indications that Ohel could lose his sight due to shrapnel injuries, among other wounds. The assessment was made based on the testimonies of freed hostages.