Separated by Hamas in Oct 7 attack, Israeli couple reunites to marry 10 months after engagement
Former hostage Eliya Cohen and Ziv Aboud got married Wednesday, 10 months after their emotional engagement, at Ronit Farm in Israel in front of around 1,000 guests.According to the New York Post, the couple had been separated for more than a year after Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, abducted Cohen to Gaza during the October 7, 2023 attack. Aboud survived by hiding among bodies inside a roadside shelter.Aboud later learned that Cohen had bought an engagement ring before his abduction and had planned to surprise her. The couple became engaged after his release and have now married.At their wedding, Israeli singer Amir Benayoun escorted the couple to the wedding canopy while performing his song “Nitzachta Iti Hakol” (“You Won Everything With Me”).The couple had attended the Nova music festival with Aboud’s nephew, Amit Ben Avida, and his girlfriend, Karin Schwarzman. The four fled to a roadside shelter on Route 232 as gunmen attacked the festival.Avida and Schwarzman were among those killed inside the shelter, while Aboud survived.Cohen was abducted along with three other hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. He spent 505 days in captivity before being released in February 2025.Cohen endured severe abuse and deprivation during his captivity while also suffering from an untreated bullet wound sustained during the attack.
