Hamas hostage celebrates wedding as he finally marries his fiancee after spending 505 days in captivity

Hamas hostage celebrates wedding as he finally marries his fiancee after spending 505 days in captivity EXCLUSIVE: 'It will be the happiest day of my life' says Hamas hostage ahead of his emotional wedding day. Eliya Cohen is looking forward to a day he thought he'd never see An Israeli man who was held hostage by Hamas for 505 days will tomorrow marry his fiancee and told the Mirror: “It will be the happiest day of my life.” For the entire time Eliya Cohen was tortured in underground Gaza tunnels he believed his beloved girlfriend Ziv Abud was dead after the October 7th attacks. The last time he saw her she was hidden under a pile of dead bodies in a shelter as Hamas gunmen shot him and took him away into Gaza. But now they will get married in an emotional ceremony. It’s the wedding they never thought would happen. Eliya, 29, said: “This is to be a day I could not even imagined during my 505 days in captivity. It is by far the happiest moment in my life. “For the first week after I discovered she was alive and I hugged her so tight, I just kept staring at her all day and all night. Was this real or was I just dreaming and deluded? I had been convinced my beloved Ziv had been killed. “I had promised myself I would not get engaged to Ziv until all my fellow-hostages were freed. But when my fellow hostages were all set free I set up a special heart made of white roses with the words 'Will you marry me?"' in English and Hebrew. “She said yes, of course! Now we'll be a blissfully happy married couple - and what would make me even more happy is if we live in a country fully at peace.” Ziv, 28, toured the world publicising Eliya’s fate and demanding that he be released. Over 1200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage on October 7th when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel. Eliya was eventually freed on February 22nd 2025, amid negotiations over hostage release, prisoners being set free and a ceasefire. The Hamas attack sparked a fierce response from Israel with a bombardment of Gaza killing tens of thousands of Palestinians and occupation of swathes of territory. The on-going situation has sparked widening conflict in the Middle East along with diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed. Following Eliya’s release, the couple visited London earlier this year and gave a series of interviews. In one he gave greater detail of his ordeal and said: "Amid the gunfire we had run into a hitchhiking shelter, but the gunmen began firing and throwing hand-grenades. "One of those sheltering kept throwing the grenades back till he was blown up. I hugged Ziv and kept telling her 'I love you' and she said the same. I said: 'We'll meet again -- up in Heaven.' "Then I threw dead bodies over her and crawled in next to her. But the gunmen found me alive and shot my leg. I passed out, and the next thing I knew I was being driven though Gaza, being hit and jeered at."