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Two months after being released from Hamas captivity, former hostage Eliya Cohen returned on Sunday to the "shelter of death" from which he was abducted in the October 7 attack. In a video posted on his Instagram account, he is seen putting on tefillin and reciting Shema Yisrael.
He captioned the video with, "From the very spot where I was abducted, I return and say the same sentence I said moments before my abduction: 'Shema Yisrael.'"
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Eliya Cohen with Tefillin in the 'shelter of death'
Eliya Cohen attended the Nova music festival with his partner Ziv Aaboud, her nephew, the late Amit Ben Avida, and Amit’s partner, the late Karin Schwartzman. When the attack began, the four hid in a shelter that was later dubbed the "shelter of death." Amit and Karin were murdered, and Eliya was abducted. After his abduction, Ziv discovered that Eliya had planned to propose to her and had even purchased a ring.
From the same shelter, Omer Shem Tov, who was released from Hamas captivity after 491 days, and Alon Ohel, who is still in Gaza, were also abducted. Hersh Goldberg-Polin was murdered in captivity. In an interview earlier this month, Eliya spoke about the horrific moments in the shelter and the heroism of Aner Shapira, who managed to remove eight grenades that Hamas terrorists had thrown inside. "Out of nowhere, he said, 'We can’t let them kill us like this,'" Eliya shared.
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Aner Shapira threw another grenade out and continued his efforts, but Eliya recounted: "I saw it with my own eyes—it was clear to everyone what he was doing. At some point, Aner was holding a grenade, and I saw that they managed to shoot him. He fell to the floor, and the grenade exploded with him. At that moment, I thought, 'I can’t believe this—the guy protecting us is gone.'"
After Aner fell, others continued throwing grenades out. "I remember a woman picking up a grenade and throwing it—and the last grenade eventually severed Hersh’s hand. After that, no one got up to throw grenades anymore," Eliya said. He described how, at that point, he had to cover himself with bodies: "I saw a body, grabbed it, and covered myself with it, saying to myself, 'At least if grenades explode, this will protect me and Ziv.'"
Eliya was released from captivity during the latest hostage deal after being held in Gaza for 505 days. He was released alongside fellow survivors Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.