In the early hours of October 7, Alon Ohel, a talented musician 22 years old, arrived at the Nova Music Festival. Since then, more than 290 days have passed, including his birthday. Out of the 240 people who were taken hostage, he is one of the 116 who remain in Hamas captivity. His mother, Idit Ohel, spoke to The Media Line about Alon, how her life changed that day, and her efforts to bring him back home.
TML: Can you tell us about Alon?
Idit Ohel: Alon is just a beautiful person, always smiling, always trying to be helpful and he’s a people person, you know, everyone who meets him is really easy to talk to and he has many, many friends. He loves gourmet food, he loves cars, anything that has to do with cars, and he’s a pianist, he loves to play the piano and just music in general. That’s why he was at that NOVA party that day, he was planning on taking some courses in Rimon School of Music, that was one of his plans before he was kidnapped. He’s 23, he had his birthday on the 10th of February, as a hostage in Gaza.
TML: Can you tell us what you experienced on October 7?
Idit Ohel: We were at home, Alon got to the NOVA festival about 5:30 in the morning, he was just there for a couple, like an hour and then it all started and they had to flee, have to find a way to get away and get covered. I think we woke up in the morning, me and my husband, and we went with the dog to just do a walk and my father calls us and asks us if we know where Alon is and we told him yeah he’s in the NOVA festival and then he says well do you know exactly where he is because there’s something happening there. So we go get back home, we open the news and then we send him a WhatsApp message and that message, my husband writes him, “Where are you? How are you? Everything is OK?” And he sends us back a message saying that he’s in a bomb shelter and he’s fine.
Then my husband sends him a message saying, “OK great,” he does that and send us pictures so we can see and that was it, he never sent pictures and there were many things that day but at the end of it my husband drove all the way to Soroka Hospital to try to find Alon because in the bomb shelter after he was kidnapped they went inside the Hamas and shoot everybody there and the people who survived, there were only seven who survived out of the 27 people that were there, this wonderful man that was trying to find his kid got into the bomb shelter and took whoever lived, were just injured but not dead, to Soroka Hospital but he took Alon’s phone with him. So he left us the phone at Soroka Hospital, when my husband was there he called his friend from the army telling him that we are in this big ordeal and we need his help.
About like two hours later when my husband was just driving back home he called and said that Alon was kidnapped. I think about like two weeks later we got footage of the kidnapping from what Hamas took that day so we could see that Alon was taken, was kidnapped alive and that’s something that we have with us still today knowing that he was kidnapped alive.
TML: Since Alon was kidnapped on October 7, have you had any news from him perhaps from other hostages that were freed or rescued by the IDF?
Idit Ohel: No, no, most of the hostages that came back were not kidnapped from where Alon was kidnapped so they didn't see him, none of them that came back saw him or any others that they were kidnapped with that I know of. He was kidnapped, he wasn't the only one who was kidnapped that day, there were four with him that were kidnapped so none of them saw any of them, sadly.
TML: How much support are you getting from the government?
Idit Ohel: There’s the government officials which is like social workers and things like that. They’re really helpful and they’re trying to do their best and be with us and everything. If we need something they will help us and there’s the politicians which is different.
OK, the politicians are another story. It’s not easy, I don’t get too much support from them. Yes, sometimes I meet them but it’s not that they have anything to say or… We’ve been in different meetings for the past nine and a half months, not that these meetings go anywhere too much because the government, that is the politicians who are in charge of this whole thing. They’re not really cooperating with us too much.
As time passes by you understand that sometimes my son is not that important to the government, government politicians that I mean. You know it’s about nine and a half, almost 10 months since the kidnapping and it’s tiring.
TML: Are you dissatisfied with the government’s commitment to returning hostages?
Idit Ohel: Initially, I didn’t want to believe this. But over time, it’s clear that politics often takes precedence over human lives, including my son. Their approval ratings are more important. This realization is hard to accept because it implies the government isn’t doing enough for its citizens. Sadly, if this is true, maybe we shouldn’t be here with this country. Our situation in Israel is just really hard. I believe it is possible to finish it and bring all the hostages home—so I’m just hopeful but also a little bit skeptical. This is the time to do it: the leadership of the country needs to do their job, sign a deal, and bring the hostages back.
TML: How has your routine changed since October 7?
Idit Ohel: Before October 7, I worked as a teacher. Since then, my husband and I have dedicated ourselves to bringing Alon home. We attend meetings and advocate for him in every possible way. We’re asking everyone we can for help and asking them to be our voice and bring our hostages home. Everything we do is to bring him back and give him a home when he returns. We built our country so he would have a place to come so we could live together. Alon isn’t just my son. He’s all of Israel’s sons, and we need to do everything to bring them back. It’s not just about Alon; it’s about standing together and advocating for what’s right.
Some Knesset members aren’t willing to sign a deal for the hostages’ release, but they don’t have sons or daughters in Gaza, so their priorities are different. Politicians often think about politics and personal gain rather than the community’s well-being. But sometimes, you must go beyond yourself, and sometimes, you must give up something of yourself for somebody else. When the 7th of October happened, it was his term on the Knesset, not somebody else’s. You can’t close your eyes and pretend the problems didn’t happen; since it happened on your turf, you cannot say, ‘I don’t care.’ You already didn’t care before.
I’m talking now about the year before the kidnap. Alon’s brother was in Be’eri for the whole year, volunteering there before he joined the army. Twice that year, they had to flee from Be’eri, taking the whole of the community, once to the Dead Sea and then to Eilat, because of rockets; it wasn’t safe there—a year before October 7 in Be’eri. The government did nothing more. No one cared then, so I think, ‘Do your job now.’ The people put him there to represent us, but today, I guess this doesn’t mean much. People are there just for the power, not to do what they need to be doing. Tonight is a very stressful night, and Netanyahu will speak in Washington, DC.
Before this, you would have never heard me talk about politics, and I would never talk about why things happened.
TML: Would you like to share a final message?
Idit Ohel: I know Alon is going to come back. I know this. For me, I’m just looking forward and doing everything I can to make sure that this will happen on my end. But it’s not enough. We need everyone in this country and abroad to understand that for the hostages to come home, we need to see it, to be a part of it, to take action. Every citizen of Israel can do so. They might not think they have anything to do, but they have. There are many things you can do to help bring them back. Going to the Hostages’ Square, writing a text on social media, sharing their voices. This is about the future and about advocating about what is right. It’s not just for the hostages; it’s for everyone. We have to make sure that everybody knows it.
TML: Your words are very touching and powerful and I really appreciate this opportunity to interview you.
Idit Ohel: Thank you.