Eliya Cohen, a former Hamas hostage who proposed to his partner Ziv Aboud in October, said Thursday he is heading to the hospital for surgery on his foot, sharing an emotional video message ahead of the procedure.
“I want to ask — pray that the surgery goes well, that with God’s help I will be able to stand on my feet, that with God’s help I will stand under my wedding canopy with Ziv and be able to step on the glass,” Cohen said. “There is nothing in the world I want more than that. That will be the greatest victory of all.”
Cohen, who was released a year and two months ago after 505 days in captivity in Gaza, said he had postponed the operation for some time. “On October 7 I was abducted to Gaza with a completely shattered foot from the gunfire into the shelter,” he said. “To be honest, going to a hospital is something that is very difficult for me, because of trauma I experienced in a hospital in Gaza. That’s also one of the reasons I’m not undergoing rehabilitation in a hospital — the place is very triggering for me.”
He added that he fears the surgery may not succeed. “I also have a very big fear that this surgery won’t go well, which basically means I won’t be able to stand at my own wedding. But I want to follow the path of faith and believe everything will be OK. Say a psalm, pray for Eliya son of Sigalit that this surgery will succeed.”
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Eliya Cohen is reunited with his family at Bellinson hospital after his release from Gaza
(Photo: Haim Zach, GPO)
On October 7, Cohen and Aboud attended the Nova music festival along with Aboud’s nephew Amit Ben Aviva and his girlfriend Karin Schwartzman. The four hid in a roadside bomb shelter along Route 232 near Kibbutz Re’im. Amit and Karin were among 16 people killed in the shelter, where 27 festivalgoers had sought refuge. Aboud was among seven survivors, while Cohen was abducted along with Or Levy, Alon Ohel and the late Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Aboud later described the ordeal: “They [the attackers] started pulling people out, including Eliya, and then the shooting began. Many people fell on top of me and actually saved me. Only after three hours did I dare to get up, and then I saw Amit and Karin dead. I looked for Eliya and couldn’t find him. I thought he had been murdered, and only later did I see on Telegram the video showing he had been taken alive to Gaza.”
Engagement party of Eliya Cohen and Ziv Aboud
(Video: Social media)
After his release, Cohen returned to the shelter and spoke about the actions of Aner Shapira, who was killed after throwing back grenades hurled into the shelter. “Out of nowhere he said: ‘We can’t let them kill us like this,’” Cohen recalled.
In March last year, as part of her campaign for his release, Aboud walked the streets of Tel Aviv wearing a yellow dress instead of a wedding gown, as much of the country celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim. She wore chains and photos of hostages, with a bleeding heart bearing Cohen’s image at its center. “Instead of standing under the canopy in a white dress, I’m wearing a yellow dress and holding a sign — my fiancé is a hostage in Gaza,” she said.