Amit Soussana kidnapped in deadly Hamas attack on October 7
Tel Aviv, Israel:
An Israeli woman’s first-hand account of sexual assaults while in captivity in Gaza is asking the international community to put “pressure” on Palestinian group Hamas to release remaining hostages, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.
A U.N. report in early March found that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that the rape was committed by Hamas, which struck southern Israel on Oct. 7 in a deadly attack that sparked an ongoing war that has hijacked the country. Hostages in Gaza were also raped.
Israeli officials and groups have also relayed evidence of sexual violence in the unprecedented Hamas-led attacks, but Amit Sussana’s testimony, published by The New York Times on Tuesday, appeared to be the first time a survivor has spoken publicly.
Israeli lawyer Soussana, who was freed during a weeklong truce in November, told U.S. newspapers that she was abducted in Kfar Aza, near the Gaza border, and taken to the Hamas-ruled area , one of the kidnappers forced her to “commit a crime.” sexual behavior towards him”.
“He made me sit on the edge of the tub. I put my legs together. I resisted. He kept hitting me and pointed a gun at my face,” Susana told the New York Times.
“Then he dragged me to the bedroom.”
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the reported abuses “are a wake-up call to the world to take action and take all measures to put pressure on Hamas.” , release our hostages.”
The Israeli Association of Non-Governmental Rape Crisis Centers said on social media platform X that Susanna’s “heartbreaking testimony forced the world to take action”.
“The Israeli government and world governments must make every effort to bring the remaining hostages home,” the statement said.
Susana was one of some 250 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the attack on 7 October. Israel believes about 130 people remain in the Gaza Strip, 33 of whom are presumed dead.
According to an AFP tally, at least 14 of the remaining captives are women.
“Stand with the victims”
Hamas, which has long denied that its agents committed acts of sexual violence, expressed doubts about Susana’s claims in response to the New York Times and said an investigation was impossible under the “current circumstances.”
The report noted that her “personal account…is consistent with what she told two doctors and a social worker less than 24 hours after her release” and that the newspaper “agreed not to disclose specific details.”
Susanna said that during her 55 days in captivity, she was held in underground tunnels and private homes and described beatings, threats at gunpoint and being chained to a bed.
“You’re with him and you know every moment this could happen again,” Susanna said of the man she accuses of assaulting her. “You’re completely dependent on him.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on .”
The U.N. Security Council, in its first resolution since the establishment of Israel-Hamas, called for an “immediate ceasefire” and also called for the release of hostages on Monday.
The United States, which had vetoed previous resolutions, abstained from the vote, drawing angry condemnation from Israel.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
