After former hostage reports having suffered sexual assault, Israeli authorities again appeal for help in freeing hostages in Gaza

The Israeli army once again demanded the release of those kidnapped by the Islamist group Hamas, following the revelation of sexual assaults suffered by a former hostage during her 55-day captivity, the international press reported today.

Amit Soussana, a 40-year-old Israeli lawyer, was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, during the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in southern Israel, according to the AFP news agency.

In a long interview with the American newspaper New York Times, which presents her as the first Israeli to speak publicly about the sexual assaults suffered in captivity, the lawyer spoke in detail about the sexual violence and humiliations suffered.

The interview is now on the front pages of Israeli daily newspapers, some of which dedicated several pages to it, according to AFP.

“This is a horrible testimony, it is a wake-up call, a call to the world to act, to do everything in its power and to pressure Hamas to release our hostages,” Israeli army spokesman said on Tuesday. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

“Amit Soussana speaks on behalf of all the victims of Hamas’ abject crimes and sexual assaults, (…) of all women around the world,” added Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the social network X.

The Israeli lawyer stated that she was kidnapped from her home, beaten and dragged to Gaza by at least ten men, some of them armed.

After several days in captivity, according to Amit Soussana, a kidnapper began asking questions about his sex life. The Israeli lawyer was kept alone in a child’s room, with her left ankle chained.

Around October 24, her jailer, who called himself Muhammad, removed her chain and left her in a bathroom. He later dragged her at gunpoint into a room, “then forced me, with the gun pointed at me, to commit a sexual act,” added the lawyer, who was released on November 30.

Around 250 people were kidnapped on October 7 in Israel and 130 of them are still hostages in Gaza, of which 34 are dead, according to Israeli authorities.

A UN report published in early March found that members of Hamas committed sexual violence during the October 7 attack. These accusations were denied by the Islamist group.

Israel’s war against Hamas was triggered after the attacks by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than two hundred kidnapped.

According to figures from health authorities controlled by Hamas, Israeli retaliation has already killed more than 32,000 people in the Gaza Strip.