Freed hostage Eliya Cohen and Nova survivor Ziv Aboud are engaged

Cohen said he would not propose until every surviving hostage was home. On Thursday, he kept that promise.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Freed hostage Eliya Cohen and Ziv Aboud, a Nova festival survivor, held a ceremony celebrating their engagement at a private gathering on the Jaffa coast on Thursday.

The engagement, held at the Setai Hotel and attended by family, friends and fellow survivor Or Levy, came eight months after Cohen’s release from Gaza.

The couple, who had dated for eight years and were part of Israel’s trance music circles, met through a brief exchange on social media that led to an invitation to his military beret ceremony.

Cohen’s family said he purchased an engagement ring shortly before he was kidnapped, intending to surprise her with a proposal.

On Oct. 7, 2023, the pair attended the Nova music festival with Aboud’s nephew, Amit Ben Avida, and his girlfriend, Karin Schwartzman.

When the attack began, the four sought shelter near Kibbutz Re’im with two dozen others. Only seven survived. Aboud was among them; Cohen, Levy and several others were taken hostage, while Amit and Karin were killed.

Aboud later recounted that armed terrorists dragged people from the shelter one by one before opening fire.

She said she lay beneath the bodies of those who had fallen and waited for hours before realizing her nephew and his girlfriend were dead.

Believing Cohen had been killed as well, she learned he was alive only after seeing a video circulated online.

During his captivity, Cohen did not realize that Aboud had survived Hamas’ attack.

Following his return to Israel, Cohen visited the same site to honor Aner Shapira, who was killed while hurling grenades back toward the attackers.

During the months of waiting, Aboud drew national attention by marching through Tel Aviv in a yellow gown covered in chains and photos of hostages — a symbol, she explained, of a wedding postponed by captivity.

Now reunited, Cohen said he would not propose until every surviving hostage was home. On Thursday, he kept that promise.