Latest news with #AlonOhel
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Tel Aviv protesters call for hostage release after 600 days in Gaza
Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to demand an end to the war in Gaza and the release of hostages still held by Palestinian militant group Hamas, marking 600 days since their abduction. Crowds assembled at Hostages Square in the centre of the city to draw attention to the fate of the hostages. "Tonight we count 600 days without you. And you are counting the seconds – nearly 52 million seconds," said the mother of hostage Alon Ohel in a speech. Former hostages shared accounts of their time in captivity. "In the tunnels, you don't know if a terrorist will get up one morning and shoot you, or if a bomb will destroy the tunnel where you're sleeping," said Yair Horn, who was freed in February. His brother Eitan is still held captive. Ahead of the demonstration, chaotic scenes unfolded between protesters and police. According to Israeli news portal ynet, about 20 people were detained after occupying the headquarters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and blocking nearby streets. The war in Gaza was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by militants from Hamas and other groups on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. There are still 58 hostages in the Gaza Strip, the majority of whom are no longer alive.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Counting the seconds': Mother of hostage Alon Ohel on fragile ceasefire deal
Hostage Alon Ohel's mother, Idit Ohel, joins NewsNation to discuss the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which is now on the brink of collapse. Alon Ohel, a 24-year-old pianist, was kidnapped from a roadside bomb shelter near the Nova Festival on Oct. 7, 2023. For nearly 500 days, his family had no confirmation of his fate — until earlier this month, when recently released hostages reported that Alon was alive. However, they described the conditions he is enduring as 'medieval,' saying he is chained, malnourished and suffering from untreated injuries. Now, his family is racing against time, fighting to secure his release before it's too late. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mother of Israeli hostage begs Trump, Netanyahu to bring son home before ceasefire collapses: 'No more time'
Idit Ohel, the mother of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, urgently pleaded for President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the release of the remaining Oct. 7 captives held by Hamas amid fears the current ceasefire deal is disintegrating. "They have no more time. And please don't go back to war. Please. Because if that happens, if we go back to war, the hostages could die. The hostages that are alive could die," she told Fox News Digital. "That's what happened last time. Last time we saw that after the hostages came out and war started, so many hostages died and were murdered by Hamas. So we cannot let this happen. Please do everything in your power and do something for my son. He's in the tunnels. He's crying for help." Idit Ohel said she received confirmation that her son is still alive from released hostages Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, two of the three gaunt, frail-looking Israelis forced to speak Saturday during a Hamas hand-over ceremony in Gaza. The mother said the released hostages, who were held with her son for part of their nearly 500 days in captivity, told her that Alon Ohel is unable to see out of an eye after being struck by shrapnel when Hamas was closing in on Oct. 7, 2023. Alon Ohel, a civilian, was attending the Nova music festival when terrorists attacked, and he took cover in a bomb shelter. Hamas pounded the shelter with grenades and gunfire, and he "was taken, wounded, with blood all over him," Idit Ohel said. Israel Slams Palestinian 'Deception Scheme' Over Claim It Halted Terror Rewards Program Alon Ohel's ancestors survived the Holocaust, including his great-grandfather who weighed just 30 kilos [about 66 pounds] when he was released from the Auschwitz concentration camp, Idit Ohel said. "So if he was alive today, he would probably die instantly just knowing that his great-grandson in the year of 2025 is starving," she said. "Alon has these genes. So he's fighting. He's fighting for his life every day." Read On The Fox News App Under the deal, another three hostages were due to be released by next Saturday, but Hamas said Monday that the group would not let them go, accusing Israel of violating terms of the ceasefire agreement. Concerns that fighting will resume are rising. Trump has since said that Hamas must release all remaining 76 hostages by noon Saturday, or he would demand the ceasefire deal be canceled and "let all hell break out." Netanyahu backed the demand. Israeli media is reporting that Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is being dispatched to Israel and Qatar this week to prevent the ceasefire deal from unraveling. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected in Israel on Saturday. To Trump and Netayanhu directly, Idit Ohel said, "Do something and bring them home. Please. Please." "Give him a chance. It's unbearable. Something has to change. You have to do everything in your power to bring him home to me, to his family," she said. "There's still hostages alive. There's still hostages alive. Please. Please, do something." Idit Ohel said she learned her son is being held in tunnels without medical attention and little food and has been "tortured, chained and starved." "It's not humane. There's so much food getting into Gaza, and he's not getting any of it," she said. Hamas Says It's Delaying Next Hostage Release, Claiming Ceasefire Violations "Alon, right now as we speak, is still being not fed, sleeping on the floor, being chained, constrained. So he cannot move for 494 days," Idit Ohel said. "My son is important. My son is only an innocent civilian. He went to the Nova festival to have fun. He's a pianist. He loves music. He did nothing wrong to nobody. We need to get him out now. He cannot continue. This is humanitarian." Days before Trump took office, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement. Former President Joe Biden said at the time that the first phase involved a "surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza" – something Idit Ohel stressed her son is not getting. She said the International Committee of the Red Cross "have never seen Alon and have never seen any of the hostages – [he] didn't get any treatment." "Where is he? Why is he not coming?" Idit Ohel added. "I do not understand it. I will never understand it. This is wrong. This is not moral." Ohel rallied thousands in Tel Aviv over the weekend on her son's 24th birthday – the second birthday he has spent in captivity since the Oct. 7 attacks. "I wanted to say happy birthday to my son. I couldn't even talk [to him] and see and hear his voice," she said. "When I heard about his condition, I fainted … I haven't been sleeping for days … I cannot control what Hamas is doing to my son." "Every mother in this world. Think just for a second. If there's one night that your son or daughter doesn't eat, you can't even live with yourself," Ohel added. "My son has not been getting food for 494 days." The mother also delivered a message directly to her son. "If you're listening to me, you know I love you and your father loves you. And we're doing everything in our power to make sure that you're home alive. You're coming home. And there's so many people all over the world and in Israel that are with you and are praying for you," Ohel said, asking fellow musicians to play songs in her son's honor in the coming days. "And you are not alone, Alon. You are not alone."Original article source: Mother of Israeli hostage begs Trump, Netanyahu to bring son home before ceasefire collapses: 'No more time'
Fox News
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Mother of Israeli hostage begs Trump, Netanyahu to bring son home before ceasefire collapses: 'No more time'
Idit Ohel, the mother of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, urgently pleaded for President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the release of the remaining Oct. 7 captives held by Hamas amid fears the current ceasefire deal is disintegrating. "They have no more time. And please don't go back to war. Please. Because if that happens, if we go back to war, the hostages could die. The hostages that are alive could die," she told Fox News Digital. "That's what happened last time. Last time we saw that after the hostages came out and war started, so many hostages died and were murdered by Hamas. So we cannot let this happen. Please do everything in your power and do something for my son. He's in the tunnels. He's crying for help." Idit Ohel said she received confirmation that her son is still alive from released hostages Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, two of the three gaunt, frail-looking Israelis forced to speak Saturday during a Hamas hand-over ceremony in Gaza. The mother said the released hostages, who were held with her son for part of their nearly 500 days in captivity, told her that Alon Ohel is unable to see out of an eye after being struck by shrapnel when Hamas was closing in on Oct. 7, 2023. Alon Ohel, a civilian, was attending the Nova music festival when terrorists attacked, and he took cover in a bomb shelter. Hamas pounded the shelter with grenades and gunfire, and he "was taken, wounded, with blood all over him," Idit Ohel said. Alon Ohel's ancestors survived the Holocaust, including his great-grandfather who weighed just 30 kilos [about 66 pounds] when he was released from the Auschwitz concentration camp, Idit Ohel said. "So if he was alive today, he would probably die instantly just knowing that his great-grandson in the year of 2025 is starving," she said. "Alon has these genes. So he's fighting. He's fighting for his life every day." Under the deal, another three hostages were due to be released by next Saturday, but Hamas said Monday that the group would not let them go, accusing Israel of violating terms of the ceasefire agreement. Concerns that fighting will resume are rising. Trump has since said that Hamas must release all remaining 76 hostages by noon Saturday, or he would demand the ceasefire deal be canceled and "let all hell break out." Netanyahu backed the demand. Israeli media is reporting that Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is being dispatched to Israel and Qatar this week to prevent the ceasefire deal from unraveling. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected in Israel on Saturday. To Trump and Netayanhu directly, Idit Ohel said, "Do something and bring them home. Please. Please." "Give him a chance. It's unbearable. Something has to change. You have to do everything in your power to bring him home to me, to his family," she said. "There's still hostages alive. There's still hostages alive. Please. Please, do something." Idit Ohel said she learned her son is being held in tunnels without medical attention and little food and has been "tortured, chained and starved." "It's not humane. There's so much food getting into Gaza, and he's not getting any of it," she said. "Alon, right now as we speak, is still being not fed, sleeping on the floor, being chained, constrained. So he cannot move for 494 days," Idit Ohel said. "My son is important. My son is only an innocent civilian. He went to the Nova festival to have fun. He's a pianist. He loves music. He did nothing wrong to nobody. We need to get him out now. He cannot continue. This is humanitarian." Days before Trump took office, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement. Former President Joe Biden said at the time that the first phase involved a "surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza" – something Idit Ohel stressed her son is not getting. She said the International Committee of the Red Cross "have never seen Alon and have never seen any of the hostages – [he] didn't get any treatment." "Where is he? Why is he not coming?" Idit Ohel added. "I do not understand it. I will never understand it. This is wrong. This is not moral." Ohel rallied thousands in Tel Aviv over the weekend on her son's 24th birthday – the second birthday he has spent in captivity since the Oct. 7 attacks. "I wanted to say happy birthday to my son. I couldn't even talk [to him] and see and hear his voice," she said. "When I heard about his condition, I fainted … I haven't been sleeping for days … I cannot control what Hamas is doing to my son." "Every mother in this world. Think just for a second. If there's one night that your son or daughter doesn't eat, you can't even live with yourself," Ohel added. "My son has not been getting food for 494 days." The mother also delivered a message directly to her son. "If you're listening to me, you know I love you and your father loves you. And we're doing everything in our power to make sure that you're home alive. You're coming home. And there's so many people all over the world and in Israel that are with you and are praying for you," Ohel said, asking fellow musicians to play songs in her son's honor in the coming days. "And you are not alone, Alon. You are not alone."
Khaleej Times
11-02-2025
- Khaleej Times
Hostage mother gets first sign of life from son shackled in Gaza tunnel
Nearly 500 days after Hamas gunmen seized him from a roadside bomb shelter in southern Israel, Alon Ohel managed to get a message out from the Gaza tunnel where he is being held by the Palestinian militants. He sent a birthday wish for his sister via two other hostages who had been held with him and were freed on Saturday, his mother Idit Ohel said. She is overjoyed to know her son is alive but has been unable to sleep now she knows the conditions of his captivity. "Alon has been in the tunnels all this time," Ohel told Reuters in an interview. "(He) hasn't seen sunlight, doesn't know the difference between day and night, has gotten little food — about one (piece of) bread a day." Ohel, a pianist, turned 24 on Monday. He was wounded by a grenade thrown into the bomb shelter where he had taken cover with almost 30 people on October 7, 2023 as they fled the attack led by Hamas gunmen on a music party. "He cannot see in his right eye because of the shrapnel," Ohel said. "And there are shackles on his legs." Those details were relayed to her by an army officer on Sunday from Or Levy and Eli Sharabi who were released on Saturday with another hostage, Ohad Ben Ami. Their gaunt, pale and skeletal appearance shocked Israel. They looked in worse condition than most of the 18 other hostages freed since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on January 19. Ofer Kalderon, 54, released on February 1 said in a statement on Monday that he was held in tunnels, saw no daylight, received little food and was not allowed to shower. The mother of Romi Gonen, released on January 19, told Reuters her daughter had lost around 10kg and did not see daylight in captivity. "There was food and they didn't get food," said Meirav Leshem Gonen. Israel has rejected suggestions that hostages are deprived of food because of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, brought on by its military offensive launched after the Hamas-led attack. Reuters could not reach Hamas' armed wing for comment. The group said on January 25 it protects its captives' wellbeing. Conditions in captivity The conditions hostages are held in may have worsened since Israel carried out a military operation on June 8, 2024, in which four hostages were rescued from apartments in central Gaza and up to 210 Palestinians were killed. In response, Hamas took more hostages into tunnels, one Israeli military official said. Abuse of male hostages increased, two security officials said. On July 3, 2024, Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas and also holds Israeli hostages, said it was worsening captives' conditions in response to the June 8 operation and to reported abuse of Palestinians held in Israeli detention. Rights groups have reported grave abuses of Palestinians in Israeli detention since the Gaza war began. Israel's military is investigating several cases but rejects allegations of systematic abuse in its detention facilities. In December, an Israeli Health Ministry report said hostages in Gaza had been subjected to torture, sexual abuse, starvation, burns and medical neglect. Alon Ohel is not on the list of 33 hostages slated for release in the six-week first phase of the ceasefire, which is looking fragile even before the next phase has been agreed.
