Former hostage Eliya Cohen married his longtime girlfriend, Ziv Abud, on Wednesday night in an emotional ceremony and celebration attended by hundreds of guests.

As Cohen and Abud posted photos of the ceremony at Ronit Farm near Herzliya, Cohen wrote, “Let’s continue to bring the light, the victory and the craziness we celebrated from yesterday until the wee morning hours.”

Cohen was released during a ceasefire in January 2025 after 505 days of captivity in Gaza.

Hamas terrorists took Cohen captive from under a pile of dead bodies in a field shelter at Kibbutz Re’im, near the Nova desert rave, during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, where he was hiding with Abud, Abud’s nephew Amit Ben Avida, and Ben Avida’s girlfriend, Karin Shwarcman.

Cohen was shot in the leg and taken hostage along with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alon Ohel and Or Levy.

He has said that as he was pushed into a pickup truck, the terrorists sprayed the shelter with bullets.

Cohen assumed throughout his captivity that his girlfriend and the others were dead.

Abud was one of seven survivors from the shelter; Ben Avida and Shwarcman were killed.

Throughout the months of Cohen’s captivity, Abud fought publicly for his release alongside members of his family.

At one........

© The Times of Israel