Amit Soussana, a former hostage of Hamas, has come forward with new, harrowing details about her captivity, revealing that fellow hostage Liri Albag played a crucial role in saving her life.
In an exclusive interview with Israeli Channel 12’s investigative show Uvda, Soussana recounted the brutal treatment she endured at the hands of her captors.
Tied up and beaten, she was accused of being an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier. Her captors bound her hands and feet, struck her with a stick, and ultimately pointed a gun at her head, threatening to kill her unless she confessed.
“You have 40 minutes to tell us the truth, or else I kill you,” one of her captors warned.
It was at this critical moment that Albag, an IDF soldier also being held hostage, intervened. She managed to convince the captors that Soussana was not a member of the Israeli military.
“She is something special, a force,” Soussana said about Albag. “I told her when she came back, ‘I don’t know if they would have killed me or not; as far as I’m concerned, you saved my life.’”
Soussana was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. Forced to walk barefoot in her pajamas from her burning house to the Gaza border, she was beaten repeatedly.
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Describing her abduction as “the battle of my life,” she resisted her kidnappers, desperately hoping the IDF would intervene before she was dragged into Gaza.
After 55 days of captivity, Soussana was finally released in November 2023 as part of Israel’s first hostage deal with Hamas.
In March 2024, Soussana became the first Israeli woman to publicly disclose that she had been sexually assaulted while in Hamas captivity. She detailed her experience in an interview with The New York Times and later testified before the United Nations Security Council in October 2024.
During her captivity, Soussana was chained by her ankle and denied freedom of movement. “I had to ask for permission to use the bathroom,” she recalled.
“In that house, I was sexually assaulted by the Hamas terrorist who guarded me,” she continued. “He forced me to go to the shower and entered the room, pointing his gun at me. He was breathing heavily and had a monstrous beast-like face.”
The Hamas member sat next to her in his underwear, lifted her shirt, and touched her. “I knew exactly what he was planning to do, and yet I couldn’t do anything to prevent it. I was utterly helpless,” she recounted.
Following the assault, Soussana was not allowed to cry or show any sadness. “I felt isolated. I was forced to act nice to the person who had just sexually assaulted me,” she said.
The war between Israel and Hamas has now lasted over 15 months following Hamas’ surprise attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. As part of the current ceasefire deal, Hamas is expected to release more hostages, including Agam Berger, Arbel Yehoud, and 80-year-old Gadi Moses, in Jan. 30, 2025.
Soussana’s testimony adds to the growing accounts of the atrocities committed during Hamas’ captivity. Her courage in sharing her story is a powerful testament to the resilience of those who endured the unimaginable.