WASHINGTON — Since Hamas kidnapped her son over 500 days ago, Idit Ohel has been unable to think about anything else aside from seeing him brought home.
The mother of an Israeli hostage being starved in chains inside a Hamas tunnel with shrapnel injuries blinding his left eye is tirelessly fighting for her son’s freedom amid reports from hostages recently released by the terror group that he is still alive.
“I don’t think there is a mother in the world who could sleep knowing that her son is wounded and not being taken care of,” Ohel told The Christian Post. “As a mother, you want to take care of your child, but you have no way of physically doing that.”
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“The only way I can is spiritual in some way,” she added. “That’s what I’m looking to do to help him.”
Ohel has traveled the globe to advocate and pray for her son, Alon, who has been captive of the Hamas terror group in Gaza since it abducted him and around 240 others during its Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
As a spiritual person, the mother has faith that her son, who turned 24 in captivity on Feb. 10, can hear her prayers in the tunnels where Hamas is holding him.
On the day of Hamas’ invasion, Alon Ohel attended the Nova Music Festival, where Hamas extremists massacred over 380 people and sent thousands fleeing for their lives.
He took cover in a bomb shelter as terrorists attacked and was wounded by a grenade thrown into the shelter. Hamas abducted the pianist alongside several others who had hidden in the same spot.
Idit Ohel received confirmation from hostages released from captivity through a recent ceasefire deal that her son is still alive but malnourished and injured.
The three-staged deal, reached in January, temporarily halted the fighting, with Israel agreeing to release Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for hostages taken by Hamas.
“He’s being starved,” the mother said. “He has been in the tunnels for over 500 days; he has been chained, so he cannot move. He has shrapnel in his eye, so he cannot see in his right eye. He doesn’t know the difference between day or night.”
Alon Ohel is someone who makes friends easily, his mother said. He also loves music and started learning to play piano at 9.
Former prisoners of Hamas who saw Ohel’s son also told her that Alon Ohel is “fighting for his life” and often spoke confidently about the future and returning home. Witnesses remembered Alon Ohel hummed songs to himself as a way of maintaining a connection to his old life.
Based on the reports she has heard about the condition of hostages Hamas has released as part of the current deal, Idit Ohel believes freeing the remaining captives is the utmost priority.
She thinks the ceasefire deal intended to secure the hostages’ release should have happened sooner.
The mother stressed that Israel didn’t start the war with Hamas and acknowledged Israel’s accomplishments during the war, such as the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. But Idit Ohel maintains that the Israeli government’s primary focus should now be on rescuing the hostages.
For her, every life spared “is the whole world” — even if it means Israel releasing Palestinian terrorists in exchange for those held captive by the terror group.
“The most important thing is to bring the hostages home because they don’t have time. We know there are hostages that we can save,” Idit Ohel told CP. “We have to get them out and bring them home alive. And the ones that are not alive need to be buried. So, that’s how I see it. Because I live in the now.”
Any mother would feel the same level of protectiveness for her child, she said, vowing to continue advocating on her son’s behalf and those still held in captivity along with him.
“I want my son to have a future. That’s the most important thing,” Idit Ohel said. “This is what I need to do. This is what everybody has to do: Make sure that the hostages that are alive have a future.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
