A particularly moving reception was held Wednesday evening for Kiryat Ata resident Sapir Cohen, who was kidnapped together with her boyfriend Sasha Trofanov while they were staying on 7 Takeover in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Sasha's parents, who are still held captive by Hamas, live.
Sapir recounted the moments of the abduction: "10 Hamas terrorists rolled me out of the blanket and led Sasha and me separately. They put me on a motorcycle, and on the way, residents of Gaza stood with sticks, screamed and threw cigarettes at me. I was trying to defend myself."
Sapir Cohen with the mayor of Kiryat Ata, photo: PR
Recalling her ordeal of captivity, she said: "There were days when I didn't know if I would survive. I can't elaborate too much, but the tunnels there are crazy. Thank God I survived and I hope that the state will return the abductees who remained there."
Eli Cohen, Sapir's father: "I would like to thank Mayor Yaakov Peretz and his office staff who were in daily contact with us and demanded our welfare and asked and offered to take care of everything we needed. We went through a difficult time. There was a great miracle here that cannot be defined in words. We tried to suppress the difficult situation and prayed every day. We learned a lot during this time about unconditional love, it's exciting. Thank you very much to everyone."
The reception ceremony and lighting of candles in Kiryat Ata for Sapir Cohen, who was released from Hamas captivity, photo: PR
The welcoming ceremony held at the municipal youth club, which also included the lighting of the seventh candle of Hanukkah, was attended by Mayor Yaarab Peretz, the city's Chief Rabbis Rabbi Avraham Diskin and Rabbi Eliyahu Maimon, Deputy and Acting Mayor Adv. Maimon Toledano, Deputy Mayor Aryeh Meisels, Rabbi Chaim Yosef Peretz. In addition, members of the various youth movements in the city waited for Sapir and received her with singing and Israeli flags.
Mayor Yaakov Peretz, who personally accompanied Sapir Cohen's family from the day of the abduction, congratulated her: "The residents of the city prayed for your safety and for the safety of all the abductees and captives, and we are all happy with your return home. We are so happy to see you safe and sound. We pray that the Light will bring all the abductees home soon. We also wanted to see the late Ofir Sarfati at home, but unfortunately we received the devastating news that he had been murdered and our hearts are with his family."
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