After the assault, the guard ordered her ‘not to tell Israel.’
By Shula Rosen
Amit Soussana (40) told The New York Times she was sexually assaulted and tortured as a hostage in Gaza.
Although there is forensic evidence of Hamas’s sexual crimes as well as testimony from witnesses, Amit Soussana is the first hostage to speak firsthand about the experience.
Soussana was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kfar Azza on October 7th and was severely beaten by a group of terrorists, bound, and dragged away.
While she was kept in a room in Gaza, her guard often asked her questions about her sexuality and inquired about her menstrual cycle, which Soussana claimed was lasting longer than it did to delay the imminent assault.
Her guard Mohammed eventually ordered her to bathe and after she did so, put a gun to her head and forced her into a sexual act.
After the incident, the guard ordered her “not to tell Israel.”
Following the sexual assault, Soussana was moved around to different locations, and at one point, her limbs were tied to poles, her body was stretched out and she was repeatedly beaten in front of other terrorists and hostages.
The terrorists said they would kill her if she didn’t give them information, but Soussana said she had no idea what they wanted to know.
After spending a period of time in the tunnels, the terrorists informed her she would be released, and Soussana was freed in late November.
She immediately told the medical staff who treated her about her ordeal, including the sexual assault but didn’t speak publicly about it until recently.
Shortly before her release, Soussana claimed she was well treated by Hamas out of fear for her own safety and that of the other hostages.
She has decided to speak publicly now to validate existing evidence and testimony of sexual crimes by Hamas and to advocate on behalf of the hostages who are likely going through the same treatment in Gaza.
Soussana is an intellectual property lawyer who lived in Kfar Azza, and was going to stay in Sderot with her mother but on Saturday October 6th said she had to return to the kibbutz to feed her cats.