For the first time since his release from Gaza earlier this week, freed hostage and pianist Alon Ohel returned to the piano, an instrument his family says has always been “his whole world.”
“On Monday, Alon came back to us, and today, in the hospital, he’s back at the piano,” his family wrote Saturday on his Instagram account, sharing a photo of him playing at Rabin Medical Center, where he is recovering. “Between the touch of the keys and the sound of music, between silence and healing, the music is heard again and beating, just like the spirit that never broke.”
Ohel, a gifted pianist and musician, was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im. In June last year, video footage emerged showing his abduction alongside hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Or Levy and Eliya Cohen, who had taken cover in a roadside bomb shelter that came to be notoriously known as the “shelter of death,” where many festivalgoers sought refuge.
Last month, more than 700 days after his abduction, Hamas released the first video showing Ohel in captivity, meeting another hostage, Guy Gilboa-Dalal. Two weeks later, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, Hamas released another clip showing Ohel again, prompting concern from his family that he was losing sight in his right eye.
For most of his captivity, Ohel was reportedly held in a tunnel, and about 40 days before his release, was moved unexpectedly to another tunnel in central Gaza to serve as a human shield. After the release of hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Eliya Cohen, he was held alone until reunited with Gilboa-Dalal.
Sharabi described Ohel as deeply loyal, recalling, “When I was taken out, he refused to let go of me. The terrorists tore him away.” Cohen said that while in the tunnel, Ohel would “play music in his head, hearing the notes.”
Ohel was injured on Oct. 7 while fleeing the Nova festival, and his wounds were poorly stitched while in captivity, with shrapnel remaining in his body. He continues to suffer from headaches and will require eye surgery, though doctors believe his vision can be significantly improved.
Ohel was freed on Monday and transferred to Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, where he is undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.
Freed hostage's emotional reunion with fellow captives
Freed hostage Omer Wenkert on Saturday released footage of his reunion with Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, who were held with him and Tal Shoham in Gaza. Wenkert and Shoham were released in a previous hostage deal and have since consistently mentioned David and Gilboa-Dalal in their public statements.
Freed hostage Omer Wenkert reunites with fellow former captives Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal
In early August, after Hamas released a harrowing video showing a gaunt and frail David digging his own grave inside a tunnel, Wenkert spoke publicly about the emotional toll. “Evyatar didn’t need to say a word—his eyes told me everything: that he was in pain, that he was hungry, that he felt completely drained of strength. His weakness, inside and out, the endless longing and that one paralyzing fear when you’re there—that you’ve been abandoned,” Wenkert said at the time. “His eyes said it to me—to me: ‘Omer, my brother, help me. I’m abandoned.’ Abandoned. I saw it immediately, I felt it, I recognized it. He was abandoned—without compassion, without warmth, without love, without a kind word or support.”
“At first, I felt worry,” Wenkert continued. “Are they even coming to him? Are they feeding him daily? Is anyone caring for him? Why does he look so utterly forsaken? And then came anger—I was sick of them, sick of seeing those images and thinking those thoughts. I knew they had food on the other side of the door—I could smell it every day while I was eating two spoonfuls of rice. They had light, they had everything to give me—so why didn’t they give it to him? Stop lying to Evyatar. Feed him. How much cruelty and evil can there be?”
The cousin who never gave up
In a separate reunion, freed hostage Elkana Bohbot met with Menashe Haroush, a cousin of his father who had campaigned relentlessly for his release since Oct. 7, 2023. “There’s no one in Hostage Square who doesn’t know him,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “Menashe was there from day one. He never left the square, always reminding the world not to forget Elkana.”
Freed hostage Elkana Bohbot meets with Menashe Haroush, a cousin of his father who had campaigned relentlessly for his release
(Video: Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
The forum added that Haroush served as a powerful source of strength for Elkana while in captivity. “Elkana saw a picture of Menashe with Re’em on his shirt and held onto that image,” they said, referring to Bohbot's five-year-old son. Over the past two years, Haroush kept a count of the days for anyone who asked. “One man with a giant heart who never let a single moment pass without hope,” the forum said. “Today, when they finally met face to face, the circle closed with one big hug.”
In video from the meeting, Bohbot told Haroush, “You helped me so much. In the hardest moments, I knew there was always someone out there for me, through this whole thing.”
First published: 17:35, 10.18.25