Mufawadat 505 Days in Hamas Captivity

The harrowing story of Eliya Cohen’s life. Fifty meters underground, his body more like a skeleton than a living person, chained, humiliated, beaten, and often the victim of merciless mental abuse – there was one thing his captors could not take from him: the light within. The soul that lived, fought, and said thank you for every moment of survival.

Moufadat – negotiation – is the phrase that recurred again and again throughout his 505 days of captivity: negotiating his life and his release, between life and death; negotiating a piece of pita for him and his friends; negotiating between him and God; and imaginary conversations with Ziv, his girlfriend, who remained in the shelter where grenades were thrown and shots were fired indiscriminately.

Day after day, psychological and physical struggles took place – between him and his captors, between the captors themselves, and between them and their leadership and the “street” outside. Eliya, with a stubborn faith destined to live, navigated them with determination, fighting to survive – and not to give up. Beyond being a breathtaking story, the book provides rare insights and tools for dealing with extreme situations; how to win when there is no chance, and how to hold on to hope – even when it seems to be the last – in order to rise back to the light.