Amit Soussana is one of the many Israelis who was kidnapped from her own home on October 7. She was held hostage for 55 days while enduring sexual assault and many other forms of violence at the hands of Hamas. She is now telling her story about what happened during her days in captivity.

After being abducted from her home by at least ten armed men then dragged to Gaza, Soussana, a lawyer, said she was beaten, and chained in a small room, and forced by gunpoint to perform sexual acts toward her captors. While held as a hostage, Soussana revealed that she was moved around different locations in Gaza, from private homes to underground tunnels.

Her captor kept asking her if she’s on her period, and Soussana kept lying to him that she was. Still, while the ankles chained her, she was groped by the guards, and when the guard found out that she wasn’t on her period, she was shoved into a bathroom to take a shower, then was forced to perform sexual acts with a gun pointed towards her head.

“He came towards me and shoved the gun at my forehead,” Soussana recalled. After hitting Soussana and forcing her to remove her towel, “Muhammad groped her, sat her on the edge of the bathtub and hit her again,” The New York Times reported, citing Soussana.

She was finally released in late November of 2023 as part of an exchange of hostages in Gaza who were kidnapped during the Hamas attack for Palestinian prisoners.

“Amit Soussana’s courageous testimony detailing her horrific captivity is one of many harrowing accounts from hostages held by Hamas,” the Hostages Families Forum said in a statement.

A harrowing account provided by Amit offers further evidence of the incessant physical, sexual, and psychological torment inflicted upon our dear ones in Gaza. Dr. Ayelet Levy Shachar, the mother of 19-year-old hostage Naama Levy, whom a distressing video depicted being forcibly dragged by her hair from the back of a Jeep at gunpoint in Gaza, her sweatpants stained with blood, I can attest to the unbearable suffering they endure daily. Each passing day feels like an eternity in the face of such relentless agony.

She said what happened to Amit “is the same nightmare so many other hostages, women and men, are facing every day in captivity. Maybe even at this very moment. We are begging – their lives hang in the balance. Bring our daughters and all our loved ones back to us now – before it is too late”.

In March, the UN released a report suggesting sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, likely occurred during the October 7 Hamas attack. The report stated there was “clear and convincing” evidence of rape against hostages in Gaza, with ongoing abuse faced by current captives. Hamas official Basem Naim refuted the UN report of sexual assaults in a recent interview with CNN. But video and photo evidence and survivors, including Palestinians who were also kept hostage by Hamas, are painting a different image.