Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Freed Hamas hostage dons tefillin in ‘death shelter’

In an emotional full-circle moment, former Hamas captive Eliya Cohen returned Sunday for the first time to the bunker from which he was kidnapped and donned tefillin.

Eliya Cohen
Eliya Cohen was released after 505 days of captivity by Hamas in Gaza, returning to Israel on Feb. 22, 2025. Photo by Oren Ben Hakoon.

In an emotional full circle, former Hamas captive Eliya Cohen returned on Sunday for the first time to the shelter from which he was kidnapped and donned tefillin.

Cohen was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists while attending the Nova music festival with his girlfriend, Ziv Abud.

When the rocket fire began, they fled to a shelter that later became known as the “death shelter.”

With them were Ziv’s nephew, Amit Ben Avida, and his girlfriend Karin Schwartzman, who were both killed, while Eliya was abducted to Gaza by the terrorists.

Eliya was released from captivity after 505 days. His girlfriend, Ziv, posted a photo of the couple at the bunker today and wrote, “I can’t write anything, just victory.”

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

Merav Sever is a columnist for Israel Hayom.
“They want to make a deal, but I don’t. I’m not satisfied with it, so we’ll see what happens,” the president told reporters.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Toronto Police Service has made “over 517 arrests and laid over 1,275 charges in connection with demonstrations, protests and hate‑motivated offenses,” its police chief said.
“What made it easy for the D.C. government to do this is that they already had an existing standing program,” Ron Halber, CEO of the JCRC of Greater Washington, told JNS.
“We won’t support a Democrat who doesn’t represent the views and values of the vast majority of American Jews,” the Jewish Democratic Council of America said.
“For years, the Biden-Harris administration doggedly harassed and targeted Christians simply for living according to their beliefs,” Rep. Tim Walberg said.
Calls are mounting for the University of Portsmouth to act after a history professor posted on social media that “blowback is bad, but it is also inevitable.”