Freed hostage Alon Ohel, who spent over two years in Hamas captivity, carried out at a party of freedom at a US Independence Day match on July 4, marking the rustic’s 250th birthday.
Ohel, a pianist, accompanied musician John Ondrasik, higher referred to as 5 for Combating, aboard the USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered supercarrier, in New York Harbor.
They performed “Superman,” one among Ondrasik’s greatest hits, ahead of an target audience that incorporated senior army staff and executive officers, amongst them the USA ambassador to the United International locations.
The tune comprises the lyrics: “Even heroes have the right to bleed/I may be disturbed, but won’t you concede/Even heroes have the right to dream.” Ondrasik, an outspoken supporter of Israel, recorded a brand new model of the 25-year-old tune to honor the hostages taken by means of Hamas. Now not lengthy after the tune’s authentic unlock, it was once used as a tribute to the sufferers of the 9/11 terror assault by means of al-Qaeda.
Ohel seemed comfortable and satisfied all the way through the efficiency, however a bureaucratic snafu just about averted his arrival in the USA. When he flew into New York, he was once nonetheless indexed within the executive laptop as a hostage, and the subject needed to be clarified with the Israeli consulate, in keeping with a document in Ynet. Greater than a yr in the past, some other freed hostage, Liri Albag, confronted a identical safety factor in New York when she flew to the Large Apple for a circle of relatives holiday.
Ohel, a pianist who was once making plans to proceed his tune research when he was once abducted on October 7, 2023, was once launched on October 13, 2025, and spent a complete of 737 days in captivity. He suffered critical accidents all the way through his abduction that went untreated and spent a lot of his time in captivity in a tunnel, chained by means of his leg. There have been fears that, because of accidents to his eye, he would lose his imaginative and prescient, and he has gone through a number of surgical procedures since returning house.
All through his captivity, his circle of relatives began a marketing campaign to boost consciousness of his situation, and the slogan “Alon You Are Not Alone” was once inscribed on pianos in Israel and all over the world.
In February 2026, Ohel carried out “Yesh Li Sikui” (I Have a Likelihood) by means of Eviatar Banai at a live performance to boost budget for his rehabilitation. He devoted the tune to fellow former hostage Eli Sharabi, who was once attending the live performance. The 2 advanced a powerful bond whilst they had been held in Gaza, and each and every credited the opposite for encouraging him to continue to exist.
