New accounts of sex assaults on men, women and girls expose even greater depths of Hamas’s depravity
Dressed up in dolls clothes, a male victim's harrowing account of sexual assault, and new revelations that a young girl was forced to perform a sex act on her Hamas captor in a shower highlight the increasing testimonies emerging from hostages raped in Gaza.
I have covered this conflict for the Daily Mail from the very first day, on the ground since October 7. That whole time, hostages were being held entirely at the mercy of their Gazan captors, some in isolation in dark tunnels.
And just when it seems Hamas's savagery has reached its limit, new accounts expose even greater depths of depravity.
Two years ago, when terrorists stormed the Israeli border, dragging peace-loving kibbutzniks from their beds and attacking young revellers at the Nova music festival, testimonies of sexual violence and torture began to emerge.
These accounts were presented to the United Nations, which documented multiple cases of abuse.
I have spoken to traumatised survivors of Nova who told me that while they were in hiding in bushes or playing dead, they heard women being raped.
One account submitted by the Association of Rape Crisis Centres in Israel described a woman being gang-raped, her breasts cut off with a box cutter as the terrorists took turns with her.
'They threw her breast on the floor', said a witness, who added that afterwards they played with it 'like a toy'.
Natalia Lisbona (pictured, in Gaza) has covered this conflict for the Daily Mail from the very first day, on the ground since October 7
Rom Braslavski, 21, was taken from the Nova music festival on October 7 while working as a security guard
At the same festival, one young man bravely told me he was gang-raped by several terrorists.
I was among a small group of journalists shown censored footage and photographs from the aftermath of the massacre at Israel's intelligence headquarters.
The images were ghastly - women had objects violently inserted into their groin area, it was impossible to tell what they were. A bullet? A nail? But the photos made me retch.
Among the pictures was the image of a woman in what was left of a black dress — her lifeless body twisted, her dignity stripped away, as she was exposed fully, a huge gash on her thigh. It is an image I will never forget.
Many of the women brutalised that day will never be able to testify — because they did not survive.
Two years later, Israel's wounds are still raw, open and, at times, festering.
On Wednesday, Aviva Siegal 62, who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct 7 along with her husband, Keith 65, from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, spoke before the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) in Geneva.
She recounted acts of sexual assault committed by Hamas, including a 16-year-old female hostage: 'I am witness to one of the girls who was with us, that the Hamas terrorist came to the bathroom, told her to get undressed, came into the shower with her, and forced her to do oral sex. And she had to smile after she did that too.
Pictured: An armed Palestinian militant leading a man away during the Supernova music festival
Aviva Siegal, seen here with her daughter Elan, also said the male hostages were also victims
'I am a witness of one of the girls who was forced to take a shower. She is 16 years old, she's never ever shown anybody her body, the Hamas terrorist just stood there and stared and smiled.
'One of the days, one of the girls went to the bathroom, and when she came back, she was shaking. She's young… and after a while she told us a Hamas terrorist touched her whole body and did whatever he wanted. She was so scared because he said to her that if she said anything about it, he would kill her.'
Back in January 2024, Siegal testified that some of the female hostages were dressed up for their captor's depraved enjoyment.
'The terrorists bring inappropriate clothes, clothes for dolls and turn the girls into their dolls. Dolls on a string with which you can do whatever you want, whenever you want.'
Siegal, who was released in the first ceasefire deal after 51 days while her husband remained captive for 484 days, also said the male hostages were also victims.
'And it must be said that the boys also go through what the girls go through. They don't get pregnant, but they are also a puppet on a string', she told Israel's parliament.
Keith testified at the same hearing on Wednesday that he was forced to undress in front of his captives as they shaved his body: 'Our captives compared my body parts to those of another hostage, threatened us with knives, leaving us to beg to go to the bathroom.'
Dr Itai Pessach, who treated one-quarter of all hostages on their return at Sheba medical centre in Tel Aviv, would not discuss specific cases for fear of inadvertently identifying victims, but he emphasised the scale of sexual violence.
Amit Soussana was kicked and punched by Hamas gunmen as they abducted her on October 7
Amit Soussana revealed that she was sexually assaulted by a guard while she was held captive in Gaza by Hamas. She was kidnapped from her home in Kfar Aza, Israel during the October 7 raid. Ms Soussana is pictured outside the ruins of her home
'Almost fifty percent of them had endured significant sexual assaults,' he said.
'And how do you define it? Being watched naked while bathing and forced to dress in front of a few men ? To me, that also counts as assault. Therefore, the figure could be far higher', he told the Daily Mail.
Last week, the Daily Mail broke the world exclusive that Rom Braslavsky, 21, described sexual violence during his two years in captivity, where he was tortured, stripped naked and abused.
'It is sexual violence, and its main purpose was to humiliate me. The goal was to crush my dignity and that's exactly what he did,' Braslavsky told Channel 13's Hazinor programme. 'It's hard for me to talk about that part, specifically. I don't like to talk about it.'
It was the first time a male hostage had publicly gone on record. He also described other methods of torture such as stones forced in his ear and daily beatings while his captors were laughing.
Amit Sousanna, 40 was the first former hostage to speak publicly. She told how she was dragged from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza by ten men and then subjected to sexual acts at gunpoint in captivity.
Ilana Gritzewsky, 30, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, recounted that she lost consciousness during the kidnapping after being sexually assaulted.
When she came to in Gaza, she found herself half-naked and surrounded by seven men, who were frustrated when they realised she was on her period.
Fifteen-year-old Dafna Elkayim testified in May that her captor threatened to join her in the shower, said he would marry her and touched her inappropriately.
She was abducted alongside her eight-year-old sister, Ela, after their father and stepmother were murdered.
Noa Beer was driving away from the Nova festival site when she and the group she was with came up against a Hamas roadblock
One of the passengers is seen with blood streaming down his face in the chilling footage
Ilana Gritzewsky (pictured), who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, recounted that she lost consciousness during the kidnapping after being sexually assaulted
Released hostage Ilana Gritzewsky poses for a portrait in her apartment in Kiryat Gat, Israel, on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, near photos of her boyfriend, Matan Zangauker, who was held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip
Dafna Elyakim (pictured, right) and Ela Elyakim (pictured, left) were reunited with their mother Maayan Zin (pictured, centre)
A report submitted by Israel's Ministry of Health last year said Hamas captors forced two minors to perform sexual acts on one another, compelled them to undress in front of them, touched their private parts, and whipped their genitalia.
The same two former hostages reported being bound and beaten throughout their captivity, with scars and marks consistent with trauma.
Experts warn there are likely many more cases of sexual assault and rape among the released hostages that remain unreported, as survivors often stay silent due to shame and stigma.
Specialists in trauma care stress that victims need time, safety and psychological support before they can begin to speak about what happened to them — if they ever choose to at all.
'There is also the fact that many of the hostages endured such horrific experiences, that they would have blocked a lot of it out.' Says Dr Pessach.
After everything these men and women have endured over the past two years, there's at least some consolation in knowing that - should they choose - it's possible for them to talk about it, receive real help and begin to rebuild.
But my thoughts keep returning to the Palestinians who have spent the last 19 years living under Hamas's rule of terror and all the stories of abuse they will never be able to share.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15290853/Ive-writing-October-7-rape-horrors-day-one-new-accounts-sex-assaults-men-women-girls-expose-greater-depths-Hamass-depravity-writes-NATALIE-LISBONA.html
An Israeli man freed from captivity in Gaza has revealed for the first time how he was sexually assaulted and tortured by his kidnappers in an interview with Israel's Channel 13 programme Hazinor.
Rom Braslavski, 21, was violently abducted by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on October 7, 2023 while he was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival.
He was held captive for more than two years in brutal conditions and was released last month as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal that saw all living hostages freed.
In a televised interview, Mr Braslavski speaks of his horrific ordeal for the first time and detailed how his captors stripped him naked, tied him up and made him starve.
'They stripped me of all my clothes — underwear, everything. They tied me up from my... while I was completely naked. I was torn apart, dying, with no food,' he said.
'I prayed to God, "Please, save me, get me out of this already." And you just say to yourself, "What the f***?"'
Mr Braslavski's testimony marks a harrowing new chapter in the accounts emerging from freed hostages, exposing the scale of the abuse inflicted by Palestinian terrorists.
'It was sexual violence — and its main purpose was to humiliate me,' he said. 'The goal was to crush my dignity. And that's exactly what he did.'
When asked by Channel 13 reporter Roni Aviram if more assaults took place, Mr Braslavski confirmed they had.
Rom Braslavski, 21, was taken from the Nova music festival on October 7 while working as a security guard
In an upcoming interview with Israel's Channel 13, he details how he was starved and sexually abused by his captors
'Yes. It's hard for me to talk about that part specifically. I don't like to talk about it. It's hard, It was the most horrific thing,' he said.
'It's something even the Nazis didn't do. During Hitler's time, they wouldn't have done things like this. You just pray for it to stop. And while I was there — every day, every beating — I'd say to myself, 'I survived another day in hell. Tomorrow morning, I'll wake up to another hell. And another. And another. It doesn't end.'
'I came back from meeting the devil,' he added.
While female hostages such as Amit Soussana and Ilana Gritzewsky have bravely spoken of sexual assault in captivity, Mr Braslavski's testimony is the first by a male survivor to publicly describe such abuse.
Ms Gritzewsky, who testified before the UN Security Council, described being held at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
She said: 'On the way to Gaza, when they started to touch me and sexually abuse me, I passed out physically and mentally. I couldn't handle it anymore.'
In May, 15-year-old Dafna Elyakim spoke publicly about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of one of her Hamas captors during her time in Gaza.
She had been abducted from her father's home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz along with her younger sister, Ela, then aged eight.
'We had one guard, one of the terrorists, who would touch me all the time, or tell me that I was going to stay there — that they would return Ela and everyone else — and only I would stay behind with him. He said we were going to have children together and a house and all that,' she said. 'He would always tell me that he was coming with me to shower.'
Mr Braslavski broke down in his first TV interview following his release from captivity in Gaza
Last August, Mr Braslavski family authorised the release of parts of a video distributed by Islamic Jihad, showing him emaciated, tortured, unable to stand and pleading for his life.
His mother, Tami, who campaigned tirelessly across the world for his release, said her son was tempted with food to convert to Islam but refused, holding on to his Jewish identity.
Last month, Mr Braslavski was pictured draped in the Israeli flag as he greeted members of the IDF upon his release.
On festival security duty, he was abducted when trying to save an injured person.
In August this year, a video showed him crying, saying he had run out of food and water, unable to stand.
Mr Braslavski's full interview will air on Israel's Channel 13 on Thursday night.
The war began with Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, when militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 captives.
Mr Braslavski was freed last month amid a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He is pictured here draped in the Israeli flag as he greeted members of the IDF following his release on October 13
He was working as security at the festival before he was captured. Pictured: Braslavski before he was taken hostage into Gaza
Though most of the 251 who were kidnapped and taken into Gaza have been returned, dead or alive, the last 20 living hostages were only handed back to Israel last month, following the signing of a Gaza peace deal.
Several hostages released by Hamas have revealed they were threatened with weapons and starved to near-death during their time in the tunnels.
Many reported that their cruel Hamas captors ate in front of them as they withered away from hunger.
In one of the worst cases, hostage Avinatan Or, 32, was held in near-total isolation for two years, not meeting another kidnapped person until he was released on Monday.
Avinatan, who was kidnapped alongside his girlfriend Noa Argamani, 28, from the Nova Festival, was also severely starved. Local media reported that he had lost up to 40 per cent of his body weight.
Similarly, hostage Elkana Bohbot, 36, is reported to have spent most of the two years he was held by Hamas chained up in a dark and dingy tunnel where he lost all sense of time.
Kidnapped twins Gali and Ziv Berman, both 28, were separated and cut off from the rest of the world by Hamas.
Though they were held in the same area, neither knew for certain whether the other was alive. Both went through periods of starvation.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15261143/male-Israeli-hostage-victim-abuse-tied-naked-torturers-Nazis-God.html
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