(JNS) Released Israeli hostage Amit Soussana was sexually assaulted during the 54 days she spent in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, she revealed in an interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday, March 26.
Soussana, 40, was abducted by terrorists from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. She was eventually released on Nov. 30, in the last wave of the weeklong hostages-for-ceasefire deal with the Hamas terrorist organization.
While several female hostages freed in the November ceasefire have alluded to being sexually abused in Gaza, Soussana’s interview marked the first time that a released hostage has detailed Hamas sex crimes.
The Times noted that the accounts were consistent with what she told an Israeli gynecologist and a social worker within hours of her release. The newspaper reviewed medical files in order to verify the claims.
“Amit spoke immediately, fluently and in detail, not only about her sexual assault but also about the many other ordeals she experienced,” stated Dr. Julia Barda, a senior gynecologist affiliated with Tel Aviv University.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday night implored the international community to condemn Hamas’s “brutal terror” and demand the immediate release of all 134 remaining hostages.
“Amit Soussana speaks for all those who cannot speak. She speaks for all the victims of Hamas’ despicable sexual crimes and abuse. She speaks for all women everywhere, he tweeted, adding: “The whole world has the moral duty to stand with Amit–and all the victims.”
At least 10 of the hostages released during the temporary truce were sexually assaulted or abused, a doctor who treated some of the 110 persons released from captivity told the Associated Press late last year.
In addition, Israel is investigating many accounts of sex crimes that occurred during the Oct. 7 assault on the northwestern Negev, when thousands of heavily armed Hamas gunmen stormed the border, killing 1,200 people, wounding thousands more and taking 253 hostages.
The full scope of the rapes may never be known because many of the victims and witnesses were murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.
