Israeli mother pleads for return of son held captive by Hamas a year after Oct. 7 attack

John Yang:

During the October 7 attacks on Israel, about 250 men, women and children were abducted by Hamas militants and taken to Gaza. 117 have been freed and eight others rescued by Israeli soldiers.

But for the loved ones of the more than 60 hostages believed to still be alive, the past year has been a nightmare without end. Nick Schifrin spoke with the mother of one of those who is still being held captive.

Nick Schifrin:

For Alon Ohel, music is life. He started playing when he was nine. His mother says music helps define him. Today, his piano is silent, its lid kept open.

Idit Ohel, Mother of Hostage Alon Ohel: So the fact that it is open, it makes, it's like, come home. It's like energy. Come home and play. Come home and play. Come home and play. And he makes sure that he will play again.

Nick Schifrin:

365 days ago, Ohel was in the Nova music festival, the deadliest location of the deadliest day in Israeli history. A video shows Ohel pulled into a pickup truck destined for Gaza. Ever since, there's been no video proof of life. Edit Ohel doesn't need one.

Idit Ohel:

I can feel him. You know, I talk to him. I have a conversation with him, like, not a real conversation, okay? I don't like the phone and talk to him. But, like, I close my eyes and I think about him. He's my son. I held him in my belly for nine months. I still feel like there's a thread, like there's a red thread that comes from my, you know, my belly. And it's moving, and it goes wherever he goes, and it's still connected with him every day.

And every day I check it in my mind. If I see it and I see it's, like, moving and it's around him and it's in his belly, and it's like the cord, you know, there's umbilical cord. Time is running out.

Nick Schifrin:

Like many hostage families, she urged the government to accept a ceasefire, especially after Hamas murdered six hostages last month.

Idit Ohel:

This is very scary. This could happen again. I hope not. So it wouldn't have happened if they were freed, like a month and a.

Nick Schifrin:

Half freed before, meaning through a ceasefire, through a deal.

Idit Ohel:

Obviously, yeah.

Nick Schifrin:

But there has been no ceasefire in Gaza or from Hezbollah rockets in northern Israel where she lives. And so after a rocket alert, we sit in her safe room, also Alon's room.

Idit Ohel:

I'm thinking about the fact that whatever happens in the north, the hostages will be the same deal that will stop everything that ceasefire, and they'll be over with.

Nick Schifrin:

Until then, they come to Tel Aviv's hostage square, summoned by solidarity and a piano with a mother's message to the world and to Alon, you are not alone. And from Japan to France, back to Israel, Idit Ohel has created more than 40 yellow pianos across 10 countries.

Idit Ohel:

A pianist, the common place, he gives to Alon, because when you play for somebody, you give something from yourself to somebody else. Music is his life, so music is part of him. So when you play for him, it will get to him somehow. That's what I feel.

Nick Schifrin:

And she feels him here, too. That's the shirt he wore when he was kidnapped.

Idit Ohel:

It's like he's sitting here and he's playing in my mind somehow.

Nick Schifrin:

For PBS News Weekend, I'm Nick Schifrin.