Amit Susana plays an Israeli hostage who is raped by a Hamas terror attack in Gaza.

Amit Susana, an Israeli lawyer, was abducted from his home on October 7, beaten and dragged to Gaza by at least 10 men, some of whom were armed. After a few days of captivity, he said, His bodyguard started asking him about his sex life. Souzana said she was kept alone in a room with her left ankle chained.

Sometimes the guard comes in and sits beside him on the bed. He lifted her shirt and touched her., said. She repeatedly asked when she would get her period. On October 18, just after her period, she tried to stop him by pretending she had been bleeding for almost a week, he recalled. On October 24, the guard called himself Muhammad. He attacked hersaid.

Early that morning he took off her chain and let her go to the bathroom. After she undressed and started showering, Muhammad returned with a gun. “He approached me and pointed a gun at my forehead,” she recalled. He forced her to remove a towel covering her and beat her several times, and returned her at gunpoint to a room covered in pictures of the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, she recalled. then pointed the gun at him, “He forced me to have sex with him”.

Suzanne, 40 years old, He was the first Israeli to speak publicly about sexual assaultAgainst him when he was held captive after an attack by a terrorist group in southern Israel. In interviews with The Times, she gave detailed accounts of the sexual and other violence she endured during the 55-day ordeal. Her account is consistent with what she told two doctors and a social worker within 24 hours of her release on November 30.

Susanna described that there was Held in half a dozen locations by his captors, including private homes, an office and an underground tunnel. They then tied her between two sofas and beat her.

For months, Hamas and its supporters have denied that their members were sexually abused captive population or during the October 7 terrorist attack. This month, a United Nations report said there were “clear and convincing reports” that some hostages had been subjected to sexual violence and that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that sexual violence had occurred during the trials, while acknowledging “challenges and limitations.” Investigate the problem.

After being released along with 105 hostages during a ceasefire in late November, Susana spoke publicly only in vague terms about her treatment in the Gaza Strip, wary of describing such a traumatic experience.

When the terrorist group filmed her moments before her release, she said She pretended to be well behaved so as not to endanger her freedom. With more than 100 hostages still in Gaza, Susana said she decided to speak out now to raise awareness of their plight as cease-fire talks have failed.

Hours after her release, she spoke about the sexual assault to Israeli obstetrician Julia Barda and social worker Valeria Chekovsky, both of whom gave separate interviews to The Times. A medical report jointly submitted by them and reviewed by this journal summarizes their story. “Amit spoke promptly, fluently and comprehensively. Not just about his sexual assault But also about the many experiences he went through,” Barda said.

The next day, December 1, he shared his experience with a doctor from Israel's National Center for Forensic Medicine. Siegel Zadetsky, a professor at Tel Aviv University's medical school who is providing support and counseling to the woman's family, said Susanna told him about the sexual assault. A few days after his release. Susanna also spoke to the UN panel that issued a report on sexual violence.

Hamas spokesman Bassem Naim He realized that investigating these allegations was vital to his organization, Susana charges, but that's impossible “under the present circumstances.” Naim questioned Susanna's account and asked why she did not speak publicly about the abuse. He said the details in his account “make it hard to believe the narrative concocted by some security agents”.

“For us, the human body, and Especially for women, it is sacred”He said Hamas' religious beliefs “forbid the mistreatment of any human being, regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity”.

Naim criticized the Times for not adequately reporting the suffering of Palestinians, including reports of sexual abuse by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian women that have been the subject of investigations by UN officials, human rights groups and others. “Civilians are not hostages” the purpose of the raid, he said “We are ready to release them from the first moment.

However, a Hamas planning document found in a village after the bloody attack on October 7 said: “Negotiate with them soldiers and civilians as prisoners and hostages.” The video, dated October 7, shows uniformed militants of the fundamentalist organization abducting civilians.

Chausana lived alone in a small one-story house on the west side of Kibbutz Kafar Assa. After hearing warning sirens of rocket attacks on October 7 He took refuge in his bedroom, which was the fortified shelter of the house. From her bedroom, Sausana heard the sight of her attackers approaching.

The small kibbutz is very close to the Gaza border and was one of two dozen Israeli villages, towns and military bases seized by the attackers, who killed 1,200 people, including many women and children, and kidnapped 240 others.