After 505 days in Hamas captivity, Eliya Cohen was released today from Hamas captivity as part of the hostage deal. This is his story.
Over the past week, Eliya's family received their first sign of life from him through hostages who were released. According to his mother, Sigi Cohen, she received testimonies indicating that her son is being held in a tunnel, chained, wounded in his legs from gunfire, without food, and suffering from abuse.
A video of his abduction, published on Jue 24, shows him being taken in a truck with three other hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Or Levy.
Eliya had been with his fiancée, Ziv Aboud , at the Nova party in Re'im. After the rocket fire started, they reached a protected shelter, which turned into a death trap. Along with them were Ziv's nephew, Amit Ben Avida, and his fiancée, Karin Schwartzman, who was killed. Amit and Karin were murdered, and Elia was abducted to Gaza.
Ziv Aboud was injured, and since then, she has been fighting for Eliya's release from captivity. She also learned that he had planned to propose to her. In an interview with Israel Hayom on Holocaust Remembrance Day, while meeting with a Holocaust survivor, she shared: "Eliya and I were holding each other until I felt them pulling him away from me. Everything she described, I could relate to my own story. I try to search for Eliya among the bodies and realize there is no trace of him. I understand that now I am alone. I need to save myself."
Eliya's mother shared that he was "a happy child who loved life, handsome, charismatic, and a leader. He has friends everywhere – in Israel and around the world. He traveled a lot and made friends everywhere he went."
Eliya loves electronic and techno music. In the past, he organized parties and brought international artists. Not long before his abduction, he began working in sales and real estate.
