Amit was locked up for 55 days, mistreated and abused by Hamas, now she is telling her story

Soussana spoke for eight hours The New York Times. She lives in the kibbutz Kfar Azza, about 2.5 kilometers from Gaza. Soussana stated to the American newspaper that she was dragged from her house by ten armed men on October 7. On security footage – which has been verified by The New York Times – shows Soussana being held by the group of hostage takers and forced to walk with them.

The group dragged her straight through a field into Gaza, where she was put in a car and taken to Gaza City. Once in the enclave’s capital, the Israeli woman was taken to a home, where she was chained by her ankle to a window frame.

Soussana told the newspaper that she was linked to a “guard” named Muhammad, with whom she communicated in a mix of English and Arabic. According to the woman, he brought her food and kept a constant eye on her.

Before the sexual assault, Muhammad instructed Soussana to wash. In the bathroom, the man allegedly hit her and forced her to perform sexual acts on him with a weapon. Muhammad is said to have washed himself afterwards and declared that he was ‘a bad person’.

He is also said to have repeatedly asked Soussana not to report the events to the Israeli authorities. In consultation with the hostage, the newspaper does not provide any further details about the abuse.

Transferred to Nuseirat

After the start of the Israeli ground invasion in northern Gaza, the Israeli hostage was removed from the home in Gaza City. The woman was then taken to the city of Nuseirat and locked up there with four other hostages.

In Nuseirat, Soussana was allegedly assaulted several times by Hamas militants, who allegedly forced her to reveal information. Soussana stated opposite The New York Times not having known exactly what information they were looking for.

The newspaper describes in detail how the five hostages were taken to a Hamas underground tunnel system. The tunnels, about 40 meters deep, were cramped and too narrow for two people to pass each other. The Hamas militants themselves spent up to an hour a day there, Soussana stated.

After pleas from the hostages, Hamas brought them out again after a few days and to Gaza City. There the organization handed Soussana over to the Red Cross, 55 days after she was kidnapped.

Medical report

The New York Times writes that Soussana spoke to an Israeli gynecologist and a social worker shortly after her release. According to the newspaper, both confirmed Soussana’s story. The American newspaper also saw a medical report from an Israeli medical institute and spoke to a leading physician who assisted Soussana after her release.

The newspaper also submitted its testimony to Hamas. In an extensive response to the newspaper, a spokesperson for the group suggested that Soussana’s testimony was fabricated by the Israeli authorities.

Accusations of sexual violence by Hamas are not new. At the beginning of this month, UN envoy Pramila Patten released a report on sexual violence during the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

In the first reliable report on such abuses, Patten concluded that there are ‘well-founded reasons’ to believe that Hamas raped Israeli women on October 7. And that sexual violence continued even after the Israeli hostages were taken to Gaza by Hamas, the report concludes.

The special envoy based her findings on a study by a UN team that was present in Israel and the West Bank for two weeks. The investigative team found “clear and convincing” evidence that hostages taken to the enclave were victims of sexual violence and that this was still ongoing at the time of publication. The research team was unable to determine on what scale the violence took place.

Also The New York Times has previously published about structural sexual violence committed against Israeli hostages. However, fact checkers left little of that publication, which appeared last December.

Since the start of the war, Israel has been angry about the lack of attention to sexual violence committed by Hamas. Earlier this month, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz lashed out at UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. According to the Israeli government, he deliberately did not speak out publicly about the report.

Forensics was not a priority

Moreover, just as the United Nations did, the Israeli authorities have also recognized that it is difficult to determine exactly how many Israelis have been victims of sexual abuse. According to the Israeli authorities, the priority after the October 7 attack would not have been to conduct forensic research on the victims; attention was focused on pushing back Hamas.

Hamas has always denied Israeli allegations of sexual violence. The militants, in turn, regularly point to the sexual violence allegedly suffered by Palestinian women.

You can also read more about this in the report by UN envoy Patten. During a visit to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the UN investigation team heard stories about the ‘cruel treatment’ of Palestinians in detention by Israeli soldiers. The researchers reported, among other things, on sexual violence in the form of invasive physical examination and threats of rape. Male prisoners were forced to undress and be naked for extended periods of time.