Ziv Abud, the girlfriend of Eliya Cohen, who remains in Hamas captivity, discussed in a post on social media how her boyfriend is completely cut off from the media.
“I often think about the moment you return,” wrote Abud. “How will you react when you find out that I’m alive? And what will I tell you? How will I tell you about Amit, Yonatan, and [the] hundreds of our friends who are no longer alive?
“I can’t explain how painful it is to know that you are suffering, that you are hungry, that it is difficult for you, but that you are also strong. I want you to know that during this entire period, you were not only shackled by your feet but also in the hearts of everyone who loves you.
“I know that what happened and is happening to you in captivity is unimaginable and that you are going through one of the most difficult things. And it is so hard to be here without an option to make things easier for you, without the ability to hug you.”
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Ziv and Eliya met at age 14 and became a couple five years later when he enlisted in the army.
“Since then, he and I have been together for seven years. From friendship to relationship, we weren’t apart even for a day. Until October 7.”
“Most people don’t know us as Ziv or Eliya separately. It’s always Ziv and Eliya.”
Abud herself survived the Hamas massacre on October 7, having gone to the music festival together with her boyfriend.
“I was buried under the bodies for six hours, and after six hours, a man came to look for his son. And when he came to look for his son, based on the location his son had sent him, he found me and five other people,” she told Reuters in an interview in April 2024.
The two had sought refuge in a shelter now known as the “death bunker.” Of those who hid there, 16 were killed by terrorists, four were taken hostage, and seven were rescued by Israeli forces.
“I myself have experienced the horrors. I myself am in mourning for my nephew, for my family, and with all of this, I still have to get up every morning and think to myself – what am I doing today to release my partner from Gaza?” Abud said.
On Tu B’av 2024, the Jewish holiday of love, Abud set up a romantic dinner for two on the Tel Aviv Promenade, complete with two plates and two glasses of wine and rose petals. Abud, dressed in a red evening gown, sat facing a photo of her partner alongside a sign that read, “It’s already Tu B’av, and my fiancé is still captive in Gaza.”
His mother's words
Cohen is set to be released in the first phase, which will see the return of 33 hostages from Gaza. So far, 16 have been returned to Israel.
His mother, Sigi, revealed in a post on Facebook that he was held in the same tunnel as Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who were both released on Saturday.
“It’s enough to see them and understand what Eliya is going through there,” his mother wrote.
“I hoped he would return safely, but after Saturday night, when I saw what [sort of] a holocaust they went through there, I didn’t sleep at night. My stomach is turning. I’m completely shattered,” she told KAN.
“Be strong, just a little longer, and you’ll be home. The entire people of Israel are waiting for you to return. I promise you that these days will pass as if they never happened. You will return to your strength; be strong. We will still laugh about these days. We will only have joy,” she said in a final message to her son.