Released hostage Sapir Cohen recounted her experience in Gaza, held by Hamas terrorists in an interview with the Italian newspaper Libero Quotidiano, which was published on Wednesday.
On the day of the massacre, Cohen witnessed her boyfriend, Sasha Troufanov, still a hostage in Gaza, “beaten bloody and thrown face-first into the ground.” Sasha’s mother and grandmother, Yelena Troufanov and Irena Tati, were also taken away, but have since been released.
Cohen recounted that six months before the attacks, she had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. She told the newspaper, “I began to have a dark feeling that something was about to happen. At first I felt physical discomfort. I even started praying, and it was the first time I had done so in my life, because the doctors had told me that the cause of the problem was in my feelings rather than a virus that had actually affected me.”
On October 7, Cohen recalled, “The messages warning of the ongoing assault on the kibbutzim began to arrive on our cell phones. And I was in Nir Oz, 15 km from Be’eri, the first target of the attack. We were hoping for the military to intervene in our defense. Instead, terror broke out, accompanied by the screams of Allahu Akbar! We heard the shots and the cries of desperation of those who were forced to witness that massacre. Of those who saw their loved ones massacred by bullets. And at a certain point the door of the house was torn off.”
As Cohen was taken to Gaza, she said, “Innocent civilians who supported the terrorists kicked and punched me mercilessly, without stopping. And I couldn’t help but protect my head with my hands, invoking God’s name so that he wouldn’t let me die at that moment.”
She also said that while she was in Gaza, her captors tried to convince her that Israel had forgotten about her, and that it doesn’t care about the hostages or was prioritizing other issues.
Former hostage Ofir Engel also speaks out about Hamas captivity
17-year-old Ofir Engel, who was in Hamas captivity for 54 days, repeated similar sentiments in an interview with Kan News.
“Only after the first night, I realized that I had been kidnapped to Gaza,” he said. “We were constantly kept in apartments with terrorists who threatened that we will die in Gaza, and that our families don’t care about us.”
