Sigi Cohen, former hostage Eliya Cohen, who was released Saturday from Hamas captivity , shared some of her son's experiences during the period he was held hostage. "It's a miracle that my son managed to escape the hell there, I'm still thrilled," she told Kan Reshet Bet . "Every moment, I'm right next to him and embracing him endlessly, it gives me a lot of strength." She added that throughout her son's time in captivity, he did not know the fate of his girlfriend, Ziv, and assumed that she had not survived the massacre: "He was completely surprised. He thought that he would need to continue on without her." Eliya told her that from the moment he understood that he had been kidnapped, he told himself, "I don't know when I'll get out of here, but now I live in Gaza, until they get me out." She added, "There were hard days with very little food and terrible treatment, they were bad." Cohen also said that her son ate pitas, which were sometimes moldy, until the last few days of his time in captivity, when they stuffed him and the other hostages who were released. "He gained seven or eight kilograms just in the past two weeks," she said. Related articles: Ministers demand to cut all power to Gaza 'I'm here because of Trump' Hamas shows flexibility but refuses to disarm 'I want my husband home, not on a video' "They would tie them to each other in chains the whole time, until it was announced that the deal would actually happen. I asked him why, and he explained that the captors were afraid that the IDF would come rescue them. If they came, [the terrorists] would manage to kill them first. "In the beginning, captors treated them decently. After the four were rescued ( in Operation Arnon - ed.), the treatment became terrible and more humiliating. The last seven months were much worse." Regarding Eliya's friend, Alon Ohel, who is still held hostage in Gaza, Cohen said, "Eliya feels that he left a friend behind. He will not begin to truly heal, I see it on him. He wants to go to the Square (Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where there are weekly rallies for the hostages - ed.)." Upon his release from captivity, Eliya asked to meet Alon's parents, she added. "It was important to him to calm them, and to tell them that he is okay, considering the circumstances. He left him behind wounded. He asked them, 'Leave me,' but obviously the captors did not agree. Last week, Alon had a birthday, they tried to celebrate it, and asked for cookies from their captors."
