Father of ex-hostage Eliya Cohen: "The terrorists didn’t touch him - it was a miracle" 

"Elia had great miracles, all thanks to the spiritual actions we did for him," said Momi Cohen, the father of ex-hostage Eliya Cohen, in his first interview with Kol Barama: "Eliya says that he felt this energy, there was an aura around him. Even when they harassed others, they didn't touch him."

Cohen added: "What kept him captive was faith, he and his friends said prayers that they knew, they really felt the prayers we sent them."

"He didn't know anything about what was going on here," Cohen said, "little by little we caressed him, for a year and two months they were tied in chains and it was faith that kept them going."

Cohen described that his son Eliya and the other hostages knew how to identify the days and times according to the prayers of the Arabs. He added: "When he was informed of the release, Elia suggested to one of his friends who remained there, who was physically and mentally weaker than him, to swap with him and remain in captivity instead."

Elia Cohen was released last Saturday after 505 days in Hamas captivity, along with five other abductees: Hisham al-Sayed, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham, Omer Venkeret and Omer Shem Tov.