At least ten of the freed Israeli hostages, male and female, were sexually assaulted by Hamas terrorists during their captivity, according to a doctor who treated some of them upon their release and who spoke to the Associated Press.
The Times of Israel reported Wednesday:
At least 10 of the Israeli civilians released by Hamas, both men and women, were sexually assaulted or abused while in captivity, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
In a report detailing allegations of severe and widespread sexual abuse by Hamas terrorists during their October 7 onslaught and later against hostages, a doctor who treated some of the 110 hostages released from captivity told the AP that at least 10 men and women among those freed were sexually assaulted or abused.
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The doctor’s comments corroborated similar accounts shared at a meeting on Tuesday. The meeting, held between the Israeli war cabinet and a group comprising recently freed hostages and family members of those still held in Gaza, featured firsthand testimonies from some of the released captives. These individuals detailed their experiences of sexual abuse during their captivity, participants said.
New eyewitness accounts of rape during the October 7 terror attack have been appearing in Israeli media, often from survivors who played dead to save themselves and managed to see or hear what was happening to victims, who were later murdered.
Reports of abuse and torture have been emerging slowly, for three reasons: one, because victims have been reluctant to talk about their experiences as they recover; two, because of patient privacy concerns; three, because of fear that exposing the reality of abuse by Hamas would endanger the 138 hostages, including women, who are still being held by Hamas in captivity in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the silence of women’s organizations around the world on Tuesday, adding that they seemed to be silent when the victims were Israeli, and specifically Jewish, woman. “Where the hell are you?” he asked.
Some signs of ill treatment have become impossible to ignore. The family of Chana Katzir, 77, reports that her health deteriorated rapidly in captivity and that she has returned to Israel with cardiological problems that she did not have when she was abducted.
A poster of Chana Katzir, an Israeli hostage, hangs on the door of her destroyed family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, November 21, 2023. Hours later, it was revealed that she had died in Hamas custody. (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Katzir was taken from her partially destroyed home in Kibbutz Nir Oz; her husband, Avraham or “Rami,” 79, had been murdered.
Families of the remaining 138 hostages, including 20 women, are growing desperate, saying that they are concerned that their relatives are not receiving food, water, and medicine, and that the aid entering the Gaza Strip is not being shared with them.
In addition, there are worries that the Israeli war effort might inadvertently kill the hostages as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) closes in on Hamas positions and tunnels. The IDF is trying to rescue hostages if possible; Hamas is guarding them closely.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
