“Hearing Eliya gives me chills,” added Ofek. “We have seen horrible videos, but learning that they were on the same truck and that he saw my brother be murdered by the terrorists – that cuts you off.”
In his interview with Hebrew-Language Channel 12, Cohen told how, after being kidnapped and on the way to Gaza, Bokobza tried to escape and was murdered by Hamas terrorists. “He chose to take control of the situation and said,” I jump. “We told him not to do it, but he jumped from the moving vehicle.
Bokobza and Cohen were among the five Israelis loaded on a white van, but Bokobza made the second decision to jump in a desperate attempt to save her life.
“We knew what happened to Raz”
That morning, Raz had sent two messages to his family, who arrived late due to the disruption of the network. The first reading, “It’s chaos, there are rockets, we enter the car.” The second, sent later, said, “We were struck. I love you all.”
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Eliya Cohen
(Photo: Forum of hostages and missing families))
“A year and a half later, hearing Eliya, it really strikes – if Raz had not jumped, maybe he would still be alive,” said Ofek. “But we are proud that he made this decision. When he jumped from the truck, he took control of his fate and made a courageous choice.”
Raz’s family is currently working to establish a memorial in his hometown of Beit Nehemia, honoring Raz and her near Ilay Cohen friend, who was killed in Gaza.
“Each day could be Alon’s last”
In the interview, Cohen described Alon’s deterioration condition: “He has panicked, he was terrified, and he started to cry. He cannot see with one eye, and his condition is probably not good.”
Kobi Ohel replied by saying: “We have heard another Eliya testimony on Alon’s situation. We now know that he has a serious eye injury and risks losing his vision. This is why there is such an urgency to bring them home as soon as possible – to save the life of Alon, recover it and give it the medical care he needs desperately.”
Calling progress in a hostage agreement, Kobi said it was the only way to save his son. “This is where I stand – I demand the action. Each day, we fear for Alon’s life. Every day could be the last. I don’t want to get this phone call saying:” We tried, we did everything, but that didn’t work. “I know that there is a way to bring them home, and in this way, it is by an agreement.”
Kobi described the constant fear with which he lives and urged the government to hand over the hostages to the top of the national agenda. “Each day, I cry for Alon,” he said. “He is attached, chained, hungry and now we know that his eyes wounds are fatal. I demand that the Israeli government attack the treatment of injured hostages and find a solution to get them out.”
“We know that the state of Alon is not only based on intelligence reports – he comes from someone who was with him for a year and a half,” said Kobi. “But now Alon is alone. He knew that an agreement was happening because he saw his friends released. And now he’s still there. What does it mean? How long can he survive-physically, physically?”
