After Hamas captivity, Nimrod Cohen says, 'best healing is to stay active,' as he returns to IDF duty

The former Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen, held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza for two years, announced that he intends to return to military service in the Israel Defense Forces.

"I didn't really do my service, the way I see it. I served for ten months until I was kidnapped," Cohen told Israel's Channel N12 "Ulpan Shishi" program on Saturday.

"Operationally, I managed to be there for something like two months. The rest of the time I was in training or exercises and didn't really do what I define as significant service," he added.

Hamas terrorists kidnapped Cohen on Oct. 7, 2023, from a burning IDF tank close to Kibbutz Nir Im, a rural Israeli community near the Gaza border. Cohen was kidnapped together with the remains of the killed fellow soldiers Omer Neutra, Oz Daniel and Shaked Dahan.

Last October, Cohen was among the final 20 living Israeli hostages to be released from Gaza following a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Like most former hostages, Cohen is still struggling with post-traumatic stress. He told the N12 that being active and sticking to routines will help him to heal.

"The best healing a person can have is to stay active and maintain some kind of routine. Being at home all day would be awful. And also enjoying yourself:  how much can you really fly? I flew twice. After those flights, I felt that I needed a bit of rest at home. I said I would save my strength for the next flights," Cohen explained.

"I don't want to be sitting at home doing nothing, and also don't want to start working because I don't feel ready for it. The military has the correct framework for me in this moment of my life," he said.

In August 2025, two months before his release, Cohen’s family authorized the publication of footage showing him being captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack.

At the time, Cohen’s mother, Vicky, explained why the family decided to show the footage.

“As a mother, I have nothing left to do but to watch this in complete helplessness. The video we are about to show reminds me of the trauma of October 7. In a single moment, I was exposed to the video Hamas uploaded to social media, and I am no longer the same mother,” she said.

Cohen is not the first former hostage to return to the Israeli military.

In September, Edan Alexander, a dual American-Israeli citizen, announced that he would return to the IDF service after being released from captivity in Gaza.