Alexandre Meneghini / REUTERS
Amit Susana, who was released from Hamas prison on November 30, made the disclosure New York Times He was sexually assaulted at gunpoint by one of his guards. This is the first public testimony of its kind.
She is the first Israeli to speak publicly about sexual assaults in prison since October 7. Amit Susana, a 40-year-old Israeli lawyer, was abducted from his home on Kibbutz Kafr Aza during an attack by Hamas commandos in southern Israel. In a long interview with New York TimesShe gives numerous details about the sexual violence and humiliation she suffered during captivity.
The interview was on the front pages of Israeli daily newspapers on Wednesday, some of which devoted several pages to it. “This is a terrifying testimony, it is a call to wake up, a call to the world to act, to do everything in their power and to pressure Hamas to release our hostages »Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday. “All victims of Amit Susa’s heinous crimes and sexual assaults by Hamas, (…) speak on behalf of all women around the world”Added Israeli President Isaac Herzog on X.
Beaten and raped
Amit Susana described being abducted from his home, beaten by at least ten men and dragged to Gaza, some of whom were armed. Several days into her captivity, she said, one of the captors began asking her questions about her sex life. She was left alone in a child’s room, chained to her left ankle.
Around October 24, his jailer, who called himself Mohammed, removed the chain from him and left it in the bathroom. He later dragged her into a room at gunpoint, “He then pointed a gun at me, forced me to perform a sexual act”, added Ms. Susana. She was released on 30 November.
About 250 people were kidnapped in Israel on October 7 and 130 of them are still being held hostage in Gaza, 34 of whom have died, Israeli authorities said. A UN report published in early March cited sexual violence perpetrated by members of Hamas during the October 7 attacks, which killed more than 1,160 people in Israel, most of them civilians. The allegations were denied by Hamas.
