What Happened?
- Amit Soussana, an Israeli lawyer, was abducted from her home on Oct. 7 and taken to Gaza by Hamas militants [timesofindia.indiatimes.com, algemeiner.com, cnn.com, elcomercio.pe, guardian.ng, nytimes.com]
- Soussana was held captive for 55 days and eventually released in November 2023 as part of a hostage exchange [timesofindia.indiatimes.com, algemeiner.com, cnn.com]
- Soussana has become the first released hostage to publicly detail allegations of sexual violence and other forms of abuse during her captivity in a New York Times interview [algemeiner.com, cnn.com, spiegel.de, elcomercio.pe, guardian.ng]
What is the Arab media saying?
- Soussana claims she was assaulted on around October 24 by a man who was assigned to guard her. [mc-doualiya.com, alhurra.com, hawarnews.com]
- Soussana’s account, as seen in surveillance camera footage, is that the guard, who identified himself as Mohammed, pointed a gun at her forehead, hit her, and took her to a child’s bedroom, where he forced her to engage in sexual acts with him. [mc-doualiya.com, alhurra.com, hawarnews.com]
- Despite calls for victims of sexual violence to testify, none of them have come forward. The UN mission spoke to survivors and witnesses of the October 7 terrorist attack and viewed 5,000 photos and up to 50 hours of footage documenting the attack. [mc-doualiya.com]
- Hamas has strongly rejected the UN report’s allegations, calling them a “Zionist attempt” to demonize the Palestinian resistance. [mc-doualiya.com, alhurra.com]
- Soussana said she was subjected to a “horrific series of events” that involved being beaten and dragged to Gaza. [alhurra.com]
- Soussana recounted being held in solitary confinement, chained from her ankle, and forced to perform sexual acts under threat of a weapon while in Hamas’ custody. [alhurra.com]
- Soussana said the guard then struck her, forced her to remove her towel, touched her, and made her sit on the edge of the bathtub, where he struck her again, and then forced her to perform a sexual act with him under threat of the gun. [alhurra.com]
- Al-Hurra was unable to independently verify the claims made by the former Hamas hostage Soussana, and Hamas did not comment on the New York Times report at the time of publication. [alhurra.com]
- A Hamas official, Bassem Naim, previously denied the UN report on sexual assaults in an interview with CNN earlier this month. [alhurra.com]
What is the International media saying:
- Soussana was abducted, beaten, and dragged into Gaza by at least 10 men, some armed [timesofindia.indiatimes.com, algemeiner.com, cnn.com, elcomercio.pe, guardian.ng, nytimes.com]
- Soussana was held alone in a child’s bedroom, chained by her left ankle [cnn.com, spiegel.de, elcomercio.pe, nytimes.com]
- Soussana was subjected to physical abuse, including being groped, hit, and forced to remove her towel [cnn.com, spiegel.de, elcomercio.pe, nytimes.com]
- Soussana was held in at least six locations during her captivity, including private homes, an office, and an underground tunnel [algemeiner.com, elcomercio.pe, guardian.ng]
- A video of Soussana’s abduction went viral, showing the attackers trying to subdue her [algemeiner.com]
- Soussana’s decision to speak out was driven by a desire to raise awareness about the plight of the 134 hostages still being held in Gaza [algemeiner.com]
What is the Israeli media saying?
- Soussana’s testimony of sexual violence and physical abuse in Hamas captivity was given in an eight-hour interview with The New York Times [jpost.com, ynetnews.com, maariv.co.il]
- Soussana is the first released hostage to give direct testimony of sexual atrocities committed by Hamas, including being groped, forced to commit a sex act, and sexually assaulted [jpost.com, ynetnews.com, maariv.co.il]
- Muhammad, the Hamas terrorist in charge of guarding Soussana/Susana, constantly asked about her period and eventually forced her to commit a sexual act on him at gunpoint [jpost.com, maariv.co.il]
- Soussana was also beaten, suspended between two sofas, and subjected to other forms of physical abuse by her captors [jpost.com, maariv.co.il]
- Hamas spokesperson Basem Naim denied the allegations and claimed their religious beliefs forbid any mistreatment of human beings [jpost.com]
- Israeli officials, including the president and military spokesman, condemned Hamas’s actions and called for the immediate return of all hostages [jpost.com, ynetnews.com]
Sources:
- nytimes.com
- cnn.com
- algemeiner.com
- guardian.com
- elcomercio.pe
- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
- jpost.com
- ynetnews.com
- maariv.co.il
- walla.co.il
- mc-doualiya.com
- alhurra.com
- hawarnews.com
Links:
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
- https://www.algemeiner.com/
- https://www.cnn.com/
- https://elcomercio.pe/
- https://guardian.ng/
- https://www.nytimes.com/
- https://www.jpost.com/
- https://www.ynetnews.com/
- https://www.maariv.co.il/
- https://www.walla.co.il/
- https://www.mc-doualiya.com/
- https://www.alhurra.com/
- https://hawarnews.com/ar/
