{"id":120242,"date":"2025-04-03T17:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=120242"},"modified":"2025-04-03T12:38:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:38:47","slug":"03-00-108","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=120242","title":{"rendered":"In Harrowing Account, Israeli Ex-Hostage Describes Abuse, Starvation, Witnessing Execution of Fellow Captive"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>In Harrowing Account, Israeli Ex-Hostage Describes Abuse, Starvation, Witnessing Execution of Fellow Captive<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Debbie Weiss<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Israel former hostage Eliya Cohen recounting his experience in Hamas captivity in Gaza. Photo: Screenshot<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Israeli former hostage Eliya Cohen, who was abducted by Hamas terrorists at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, said in an interview this week that his 505 days in captivity in Gaza were marked by near-starvation and\u00a0physical and psychological torment<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the most traumatic moments for Cohen was witnessing the execution of a fellow captive and being stripped naked on a weekly basis only to be told he \u201cwasn\u2019t thin enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohen\u2019s account, relayed to Israel\u2019s Channel 12 news on Tuesday, was one of the most chilling testimonies to date.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohen and his fianc\u00e9e, Ziv, had fled\u00a0the Nova festival in southern Israel<\/a>\u00a0and taken refuge in a roadside bomb shelter. The shelter, which would later be referred to as the \u201cbunker of death,\u201d was attacked by terrorists who threw grenades inside. Another person hiding in the bunker, Aner Shapira, hurled grenade after grenade back outside. But the eighth exploded, killing Shapira and the others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI jumped on Ziv \u2026 and the first thing that came out of my mouth was: \u2018Ziv, I love you,’\u201d Cohen recalled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohen and Ziv survived the blast, but they were soon captured. On the way to Gaza, one of the captives in the truck announced his intention to escape. Cohen said he and the others tried to convince him to change his mind. \u201cWe told him not to. But he jumped off the truck, and they stopped driving and shot him dead,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

When they arrived in Gaza, Cohen was taken to a house where a man claiming to be a medic approached him. \u201cHe said he\u2019d remove the bullet from my leg,\u201d Cohen recalled. He denied Cohen\u2019s request for painkillers, instead, shoving a cloth into the hostage\u2019s mouth and warning him not to scream, fearing that the noise might attract attention from civilians outside. The medic then used tweezers to extract the bullet. \u201cIt was completely agonizing,\u201d Cohen recalled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohen, who\u00a0returned home severely malnourished<\/a>, left behind another captive, Alon Ohel. Ohel\u2019s fate became clear when Cohen, after being told of his own release, was informed that Ohel would not be joining him. \u201cAlon panicked and started crying,\u201d Cohen recalled in an interview. Cohen offered to switch places, but his captors refused. \u201cI truly thought the second stage would come in a matter of days,\u201d Cohen said about the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal. \u201cHe\u2019s blind in one eye.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohen\u2019s departure was bittersweet. He recalled their last moment together, saying, \u201cI told him, \u2018Don\u2019t forget your family. They\u2019re the most important thing in the world.’\u201d Cohen made a promise to Ohel: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t forget him. Until I see him back home, this isn\u2019t over.\u201d Even after his release, Cohen said he is haunted by Ohel\u2019s absence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUntil I see him back home, this isn\u2019t over,\u201d Cohen said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conditions in captivity were deplorable, and\u00a0starvation was a daily reality<\/a>\u00a0for Cohen and the others. For most of their imprisonment, food was scarce, rationed to barely enough to survive. Cohen described a daily struggle for sustenance: \u201cWe fought for survival. We got one pita a day with two spoonfuls of fava beans, peas, or something similar.\u201d Many times, they were given less food than promised, and the captors showed little remorse, telling the hostages to \u201cshare it among yourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe fought for survival,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cYou\u2019d think twice before going to the bathroom because just standing up made you dizzy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Twice a week, they were ordered to take off all their clothes. Their captors would taunt, \u201cYou\u2019re not thin enough, time to cut your food rations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunger was a constant struggle, he said, and the captors seemed to take pleasure in their suffering. \u201cWe\u2019d beg for extra food, and sometimes it worked,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way to describe the feeling when we managed to touch their hearts, and they\u2019d give us a small chocolate bar to share between the four of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohen and the others were kept in chains for two months at a time, often so tightly that the restraints cut into their skin. \u201cThey bound them so tightly they cut into my legs,\u201d Cohen explained. \u201cI felt like a caged animal in some dark, remote place.\u201d At the end of the two months, he was allowed to shower, after which he preferred to rechain himself rather than face the increased discomfort from their captors tightening the chains even further.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Cohen said that the food deprivation was the worst of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can handle being humiliated, you can handle being cursed at, you can handle your legs being in chains,\u201d he said. \u201cBut hunger is a daily struggle because, beyond being hungry, you are also fighting for your life. Every night, you go to sleep thinking, \u2018What am I going to do tomorrow to get that piece of pita bread?’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Among those Cohen and Ohel were held with were Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino. Cohen later learned that they were\u00a0executed by Hamas after a failed rescue attempt<\/a>\u00a0by the Israel Defense Forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In Harrowing Account, Israeli Ex-Hostage Describes Abuse, Starvation, Witnessing Execution of Fellow Captive Debbie Weiss Israel former hostage Eliya Cohen recounting his experience in Hamas captivity in Gaza. Photo: Screenshot Israeli former hostage Eliya Cohen, who was abducted by Hamas terrorists at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, said in an interview this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120242"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120256,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120242\/revisions\/120256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}