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In First, Israeli Hostage Speaks Out Publicly About Sexual Assault by Hamas Captors
Released hostage Amit Soussana, kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, talks to the press in front of her destroyed home at the Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Israel, Jan. 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
An Israeli lawyer who was held captive by Hamas terrorists for 55 days after being abducted from her kibbutz on Oct. 7 has given a chilling account of the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her captors.
In a harrowing account that was part of an investigation published in The New York Times on Tuesday, 40-year-old Amit Soussana from Kfar Aza described how a Hamas captor identified as Muhammad forced her to perform a “sexual act on him” at gunpoint among other incidents of sexual assault, all in a child’s bedroom.
Soussana is the first released hostage to detail allegations of sexual violence during Hamas captivity.
Days after her abduction on Oct. 7, Muhammad began asking her about her sex life and details about her period.
“He sat me on the edge of the bath. And I closed my legs. And I resisted. And he kept punching me and put his gun in my face,” Soussana is cited as saying by The Times. “Then he dragged me to the bedroom.”
The article went on to say that Muhammad then forced her to commit a sexual act on him. “After the assault, Muhammad left the room to wash, leaving Ms. Soussana sitting naked in the dark, she said,” the article reads.
Soussana, who was one of more than 100 hostages released in November as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas, said she was held in at least six locations during her captivity, including private homes, an office, and an underground tunnel. She said she was subjected to both physical beatings and psychological torment.
A video of Soussana’s abduction went viral in the days following Oct 7. In it, at least 10 men are seen repeatedly tackling her to the ground in attempts to restrain her. At one point, she flailed so violently when slung over a kidnapper’s back that he collapsed to the ground. The video depicts the attackers trying to subdue her through beatings and wrapping her in fabric, unsuccessfully attempting to transport her by bicycle, before finally binding her hands and feet to drag her across bumpy farmland into Gaza, as she refused to be taken “like an object,” she told The Times.
Soussana’s allegations have fueled grave concerns over the fate of Israelis still being held by Hamas. A recent UN report warned that abductees were at continued risk of sexual violence by the terror group, and also said that there was “clear and convincing information” that some hostages had been subjected to “conflict-related sexual violence.”
The same UN report also found that Hamas likely committed widespread acts of gang-rape and torture against women on Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group invaded the Jewish state, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 253 others as hostages.
Mounting evidence has documented Hamas’ systematic use of torture and sexual violence, including mass rape, against the Israeli people during the onslaught.
Soussana’s decision to speak out publicly about the sexual assault she endured was driven by a desire to raise awareness about the plight of the 134 hostages still being held in Gaza, The Times reported.
The post In First, Israeli Hostage Speaks Out Publicly About Sexual Assault by Hamas Captors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.