Freed hostage Elkana Bohbot recounted how Hamas captors forced him and another hostage to feign a suicide attempt for a propaganda video.
Bohbot told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, “They drew blood from our hands and beat us so that we would be injured, to simulate a suicide scene.”
Hamas never released the propaganda video along with the similar films the terror group disseminated during the two years of the war in Gaza.
“They told me that my mother died and that my wife had left me,” he said. Fortunately, Bohbot was reunited with his family upon his release in October.
He described the violence at the time of his kidnapping from the Nova festival as “a hunting trip, a massacre.” He said, “Suddenly, 70 terrorists were all around us, passing by with weapons, breaking windows of vehicles, verifying their kills.”
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“Human animals, shooting dead people,” he said.
When he was taken into Gaza, Bohbot said he feared being lynched by the crowds.
“I talked to God. I said: Free me from this suffering, give me a bullet in the head, just don’t let them lynch me,” he said.
He and other hostages devised a plan to escape, but the opportunity ended when they were forced into a tunnel.
“In the tunnels, there is no difference between you and a dead person; both of you are buried without air, with the worms,” he said. “The only difference is that your heart is beating. Besides that, you are a corpse.”
“As hard as it was physically, it was even harder mentally,” he said. “The last six months were the hardest, since they starved us.”
The terrorists forced him and other hostages to view footage of Israeli soldiers being killed in combat every time they asked for food.
In the months following his release, Bohbot said, “I live from hour to hour. I have no routine. I take care of myself, but it has not been easy connecting with my son, Re’em, again, after he didn’t have a father figure for two years,” he said. “It’s a process, and it will be a long one.”
“My mother is sick, and this is another battle. We’re fighting here for many things,” he continued. “I want to bring Re’em a brother or sister, and for them to have a safe home here in Israel to sleep in. That’s all we want.”