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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.
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