UNITED NATIONS —

Three years after one of the most tragic events in Israel’s history, Eliya Cohen, who spent 505 days trapped in Hamas captivity, shared his experience at the United Nations. He stood on stage with his wife, Ziv Abud, who survived the Nova music festival massacre, and tried to convey the horror they endured to a gathering of high-ranking diplomats.

“They wouldn’t let me change my clothes or even take a shower, not to mention eat or drink,” he recounted, visibly shaken. “I was chained by heavy iron shackles around my ankle,” Eliya described during an emotional conversation led by Dr. Phil McGraw at Israel’s U.N. tribute event.

Cohen detailed how the lights were kept on, which made it impossible for hostages to sleep, and how guards would frequently barge in at night, screaming to instill fear. He mentioned that they weren’t allowed to use restrooms, and at times, simply surviving felt daunting.

In his struggle, Cohen said he kept trying to push his thoughts away from the violence and focus on returning home: “Just keep going, stay strong. Perhaps one day, you’ll see your family again.”

On October 7, 2023, during a Hamas-led attack that claimed around 1,200 lives, Cohen was among the 251 individuals abducted. He lost 48 acquaintances that day alone.

Ziv shared her separate but linked ordeal. She and Cohen had just arrived at the Nova festival with her 19-year-old nephew and his girlfriend when everything unravelled. The attack soon forced them into a bomb shelter built for about eight people, but ended up housing 29 terrified individuals.

Ziv narrated how the shelter was assaulted by more than 40 armed attackers wielding grenades and firing guns. She said a brave man inside the shelter kept grabbing grenades and tossing them back just before he was killed.

During the chaos, Cohen covered Ziv with bodies—an action that ultimately saved her life.

“I lost consciousness; Eliya was taken,” Ziv recalled tearfully. “When I came to, I was on a pile of bodies.” She hesitated, struggling with her emotions. “It wasn’t just bodies. It was bits of bodies.”

She then discovered that her nephew and his girlfriend hadn’t survived. “I had to wait there with the dead for another seven hours,” she shared, acknowledging that she was lucky to be one of only seven survivors to escape.

Remarkably, she was the only one who returned from the four people who had gone to the festival together.

Throughout those 505 days, Ziv campaigned tirelessly for Eliya’s return, all while grappling with uncertainty about whether he was alive. Cohen, for his part, presumed that Ziv had perished during that time.

In a shared moment of optimism, they married shortly before the commemoration at the U.N. “Now he’s here,” Ziv smiled. “I can finally look forward, perhaps to a future filled with children and a family.”

Another survivor, Oriya Berlin, addressed the diplomats as well. She’s a young Israeli intelligence observer who had just arrived at her base near the Gaza border two days before the assault.

On the morning of the attack, Berlin thought she was hearing thunder. “What I heard instead was thousands of missiles aimed at obliterating my life and my friends’ lives,” she recalled. With four fellow soldiers, she fled barefoot into a small shelter, only to realize they were completely unarmed.

Initially believing the incursion would be manageable, the reality struck when approximately 60 armed militants launched a brutal attack on their base. Berlin explained that they received messages in their unit’s group chat to shout for identification, which raised immediate doubts about terrorists having taken a soldier’s phone.

They chose silence instead. Berlin recounted the chilling moment when another team called for soldiers to identify themselves, followed moments later by gunfire that silenced them.

After ten hours, special forces reached their shelter.

Berlin, unable to bear the grief of losing her friends to violence, opted to stay in military service despite being offered a chance to leave. She wanted people to see that the Israeli Defense Forces consisted of ordinary individuals, not just a looming military presence. She began sharing her story with diverse audiences, even encountering hostility during her talks.

Before the ceremony, U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz met privately with Cohen and Ziv, expressing his relief at seeing them together again. However, he was visibly moved when recounting details of Cohen’s captivity, particularly the night before his release when Hamas attempted to film him for propaganda purposes. “He stood firm and said no,” Waltz said, visibly emotional as he praised Cohen’s strength.

The hostage situation extended over two years, involved numerous negotiations, and countless rescue efforts. Waltz emphasized the importance of acknowledging both the tragedy of October 7 and the changes that had taken place since then. He likened October 7 to a 9/11 for Israel, marking it as a day of unprecedented loss.

Waltz hoped the ceremony would reflect on loss while also charting a hopeful path forward, addressing shifting dynamics in the region.

He remarked that the outcome of the events on October 7 backfired for Iran and their allies. “It has irrevocably changed the landscape,” he asserted, concluding with a strong message of support for the Jewish community.

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon used the occasion to highlight the challenges faced by Israel, emphasizing the ongoing struggles against undue criticism and comparison of its defense forces to those of Hamas. He pointed out the personal stakes involved, sharing that both of his children serve in the IDF, which gives his commitment to this cause a deeper significance.

For Cohen and Ziv, amidst the heavy conversation, there remained a glimmer of ordinary hope. They expressed a desire for children and a normal life despite the heavy shadows of October 7 and the experiences they endured.

When asked what he would say to his captors if they were listening, Cohen had a brief yet poignant response: “I won,” he declared. “I’m here.” He then added a broader message of pride, encouraging others to remain steadfast in their identity. “Stay proud to be Jewish, stay proud to be Israeli.”

“We are here to stay,” Ziv concluded.