The Nova Festival Survivor, Amit Soussana, speaking publicly for the first time about how Hamas militants raped him in a brutal attack on October 7.
The survivor testified for Israel’s Channel 12 news; this is the most recent of several stories on the sexual violence committed by terrorists attacking men as well as women.
Since most victims of sexual violence were killed in the attack, first-hand testimony—given to the channel anonymously—is rare.
“There was a circle, [people] laugh, and you don’t know what to do at the moment, whether you should resist or let it pass, how to deal with the situation,” the man detailed his attack. There was a somewhat tricky rape. They had to stop eventually since more people arrived and demanded them.
Identified solely by the Hebrew initial Dalet, the man said: “It’s a very painful moment. Deficiency in the whole body. As if your blood were cheap. Celebrating, laughing with their knives and pistols, they were drunk.
Dalet said: “You remove yourself from the scenario, but on the other hand, experience it exceptionally intensely. quite challenging.
He claimed to have escaped when Israeli troops showed up.
Coping with the assault has been difficult, Dalet remarked “It wasn’t easy at first,” he noted.
“I closed off myself quite tightly.”
The attack had driven him into a fixation with personal hygiene.
He claimed he showers “a lot, a lot to get all that energy off me, everything that happened.”
The police group in charge of looking at sexual offences carried out by Hamas militants on October 7 has received his statement.
Dalet said he provided evidence produced by medical professionals attesting to the damage done to him as he knew people would try to discredit his experience.
To further validate what he went through, he added he had also participated in a polygraph test.
His statement is the most recent addition to the growing body of proof showing the sexual nature of the violence and abuse October 7 victims and survivors went through.
On October 8, Israeli Defence Forces reservist Shari Mendes reported physically handling the mutilated bodies of women.
Five months ago, Mendes told Sky’s Yalda Hakim what she and her colleagues felt “seems like a systematic genital mutilation of women.”
She reported seeing and handling ladies with very “bloodied knickers” and “women shot in the crotch, the genitalia.”
Her staff reported seeing “women shoot in the breasts.” She also related some bodies arriving “booby-trapped” with explosives.
March saw the UN envoy on sexual violence in war uncover proof that the October 7 terror assault on Israel included rape and other forms of sexual violence, including against dead women.
UN delegate Pramila Patten recorded two occurrences involving the rape of women’s bodies by witnesses.
Former Israeli captive Amit Soussana exposed how Hamas sexually mistreated her when she was detained in Gaza.
Forty-year-old Soussana initially detailed how she was kept chained in a dark bedroom for several weeks as a Hamas terrorist called Muhammad made her perform sexual acts on him under gunpoint.
The Israeli attorney kept captive for 55 days made appearances in a documentary created by former Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, Screams Before Silence, which explored the sexual abuse victims on October 7 suffered.
Released in the November bargain as well, Israeli schoolgirl Agam Goldstein-Almog claimed to have been touched by her kidnappers.
She claimed to be continually terrified she would be raped after her release.
“Half of the girls and young women I met in captivity told me they suffered sexual or physical violence or both,” she claimed. They are still residing there beside their rapist.
More than a hundred Supernova festival survivors’ lawsuit against the State of Israel includes Dalet’s testimony.
The action requests that the government assist victims with more than NIS 500 million (USD 137 million).
“Many of them aren’t able to return to work and aren’t able to return to their lives,” one of the lawyers representing the survivors stated.
Regarding Dalet’s experience, Ginzburg remarked, “Of course, it’s impossible, at this stage, to return to normal life after what happened.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.