AS Israeli missiles blitzed Gaza day after day, it wasn’t the chance of being killed that terrified hostages.
It was the worry of being raped by wicked Hamas thugs.
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Ladies, youngsters and males have been brutalised by Hamas terrorists from the second they swept throughout the border amid the October 7 atrocity and unleashed whole hell on Israel.
Vile terrorists captured 251 hostages, lots of who have been subjected to unspeakably warped remedy – together with sexual violence.
Harrowing proof of sexual abuse has been collected – portray a damning image of the callous actions of Hamas brutes each on October 7 and within the 16 months since.
Courageous victims resembling Amit Soussna have spoken out about their ordeal since their launch.
And witness accounts reveal the true horrors of Hamas’ marketing campaign of intimidation – together with of two youngsters who have been pressured to carry out sexual acts on one another and abused by their captor.
With the ultimate hostages now being launched amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, an increasing number of stunning testimonies are coming to gentle.
A minimum of 70 hostages nonetheless stay captive in Gaza 500 days on from October 7 amid fears for his or her well being.
However Israeli professor Yifat Bitton instructed The Solar that with dozens of victims killed and held in solitude, and essential proof destroyed, the true extent of Hamas’ crimes could by no means be revealed.
Proof of sexual violence on October 7
The eyes of the world turned to the Center East on October 7, 2023, as callous Hamas terrorists launched a horrifying raid on Israel.
Unforgiving thugs tore by means of kibbutzes, army bases and a competition – killing greater than 1,200 individuals.
The assault caught Israel off guard as gun-toting Hamas killers wreaked havoc throughout the border.
Brutal gunmen not solely killed their victims, but additionally subjected lots of them to monstrous sexual violence.
In some haunting instances, ladies have been raped, mutilated and murdered.
Footage shot the day after October 7 by a girl trying to find her lacking pal on the scene of the Nova competition, the place a whole bunch have been massacred, supplies one of the crucial key items of proof of sexual violence by Hamas.
The traumatic, grainy clip, confirmed a girl laying on her again together with her gown torn, legs aside and her vagina uncovered.
Her proper hand lined her eyes, and her face burnt past recognition.
Identified initially as “the lady within the black gown”, her identification was later revealed as mum-of-two Gal Abdush.
Panicked Gal had develop into trapped on Route 232 as she and 1000’s of others frantically tried to flee the competition.
A tragic ultimate WhatsApp message to her household learn: “You do not perceive.”
Israeli police officers imagine she was raped earlier than she was killed.
Supernova bloodbath survivor Yuval Sharvit Trabelsi in the meantime instructed how she witnessed rape whereas making an attempt to flee.
In a video broadcast at an October 7 memorial at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, she stated: “We noticed homicide, kidnappings, however the hardest of all of them was rape.
“I’ve by no means heard screams for assist like those I heard from that girl.”
She went on to recount how she smeared herself together with her husband’s blood in order that the terrorists would suppose she was lifeless.
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Professor Bitton, who compiled a compelling report on how Hamas weaponised sexual violence on October 7, stated a lot of the proof of rape was missed initially as areas attacked have been handled as warfare zones, fairly than crime scenes.
First responders prioritised saving lives and taking the our bodies of the a whole bunch and a whole bunch of victims for identification.
However within the aftermath of the massacre, Professor Bitton stated there have been clear indicators of widespread sexual violence – with underwear and condoms discovered.
She stated: “There was a primary responder, who’s a really excessive commander within the police, within the subject and he or she stated that whereas she was dashing to avoid wasting lives she noticed scattered underwear.
“And once I requested her ‘what did you consider it, did you report it to anybody’ she stated ‘I could not consider something different than simply saving lives’.
“After which within the Shura camp, the place the our bodies have been delivered to of their a whole bunch, there was a doctor who stated she noticed a number of the our bodies arrive with out underwear.
“However once more, identification was the primary precedence”.
Israeli police have admitted that they weren’t focussed on amassing samples from our bodies, inspecting crime scenes or requesting autopsies, however as a substitute fixated on Id’ing these killed – and heading off Hamas.
Hamas has repeatedly tried to disclaim accounts of sexual violence.
However sickening footage revealed a father and son from the terrorist group openly admitting to raping and murdering harmless ladies.
Evil Jamal Hussein Ahmad Radi, 47, and his twisted 18-year-old son Abdallah instructed Israeli investigators of their despicable crimes after being captured by IDF forces in Gaza.
Radi instructed how he unleashed terror in the Nir Oz kibbutz and attacked helpless households.
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He admitted: “In every home the place we discovered somebody, we both killed them or kidnapped them.
“Within the first home I discovered a girl and her husband, and we hit them with hearth and killed them – they have been of their late 40s.”
Warped Radi additionally confessed to raping ladies.
Talking about one incident, he stated: “She was screaming, she was crying, I did what I did, I raped her.
“I threatened her with my gun to take her garments off, I bear in mind she was carrying jean shorts, that is about it.”
Hostages raped & sexually abused by captors
Terrified hostages have been subjected to beatings, verbal abuse and in some instances sexual violence from the second they have been captured.
Having simply witnessed the callous slayings of their households and mates in Israel, in addition to the destruction of their houses, they endured Hamas’ tortuous actions.
Not even youngsters weren’t exempt from Hamas’ sick abuse.
Victims have instructed how they have been pressured to undress at gunpoint and have been topic to branding, meals and water deprivation, hair-pulling, and isolation.
Survivor Amit Soussana courageously gave an in depth account of her 55-day ordeal that noticed her chained, tortured and sexually assaulted.
Haunting footage confirmed courageous lawyer Amit being hauled away by Hamas brutes as she desperately tried to flee.
She was overpowered by a gaggle of males, who pressured her to Gaza – the place she was taken to a home and guarded by two males.
Amit stated tied up by an iron chain to bars on a window for 3 weeks and sexually abused “underneath the specter of a gun” by considered one of her captors after having a shower.
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She instructed The Occasions final 12 months: “I bought up, took the small towel and lined myself.
“He came to visit with the gun to my head, making an attempt to tear the towel away, however I wouldn’t let him.
“He punched me and I nonetheless wouldn’t let him.”
Amit then described how the guard, Mohammad, took her right into a youngsters’s room in the home the place he pressured her to carry out a sexual act.
Her captors then continued to humiliate her for days on finish, forcing Amit to dress quick and in addition clear for his or her amusement.
Mia Schem has additionally recalled the horrors she confronted throughout her 54 days in captivity – describing her ordeal “the holocaust”.
The Israeli-French tattoo artist was dragged again to Gaza after being snatched by Hamas from the Supernova music competition.
In a harrowing testimony, Mia stated she was operated with no anaesthetic or painkillers for a gunshot wound on her arm.
Mia was launched in November 2023 throughout a quick ceasefire between Hamas and Israel – and remains to be coming to phrases with the abuse she suffered.
We noticed homicide, kidnappings, however the hardest of all of them was rape. I’ve by no means heard screams for assist like those I heard from that girl.
October 7 survivor
Professor Bitton – who based Tmura, which advocates for the rights of girls who’ve suffered abuse – stated: “A number of the testimonies that we now have are the kind that it takes time to grasp and realise what they imply.
“When Mia Schem bought again, with time she began offering an increasing number of details about incidents that she had.
“One in all them was, for instance, that when she was kidnapped and put in a automobile, the terrorist subsequent to her rubbed her chest whereas she was being taken hostage.”
Throughout her time in captivity, Mia was pressured to stay together with her evil captor and his spouse, who she described as “a nasty girl” with “such imply eyes”.
Professor Bitton added: “She was very particular about an incident when she was making an attempt to insert a tampon, they usually – a person and girl – have been together with her.
“She fainted as a result of it was so painful [trying to insert it] together with her wounded hand.
“She was then mentally tortured by the person who instructed her that he had seen her bare as a result of she fainted with out her panties on.”
Mia beforehand stated her captor “checked out you 2/4, raping you together with his eyes”.
“His spouse was outdoors the room with the youngsters. That was the one purpose he did not rape me,” she added.
A disturbing report by Israel’s well being ministry additionally revealed how youngsters and youngsters additionally suffered Hamas’ torture.
Two youngsters have been sure collectively by their palms and ft and compelled to carry out intercourse acts on one another.
They have been additionally cruelly sexually abused by their captors – together with having their genitals whipped.
The report, which was ready for the United Nations, added: “Moreover, two younger youngsters had burn marks on their decrease limbs.
“One youngster said that the burns have been the results of a deliberate branding with a heated object.
“Each the kid and adults who have been with him in captivity described the incident as a purposeful branding occasion, not an accident.
“It was described as a particularly traumatic expertise.”
How the October 7 bloodbath unfolded
THE horror October 7 bloodbath in 2023 was the catalyst that plunged the Center East into warfare.
That day, greater than 1,200 civilians, troopers and overseas nationals inside Israel have been savagely murdered in a hideous early-morning assault.
Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel from Gaza, firing 1000’s of rockets, flying over in paragliders and bulldozing by means of in vehicles in over 100 completely different locations throughout the border.
Numerous houses have been razed to the bottom – and 251 hostages have been dragged again throughout the border to Gaza.
An IDF report discovered that 6,000 fighters from Gaza managed to get into Israel that day – together with 3,800 from the Hamas terror group’s elite Nukhba forces.
Horrifying experiences that adopted October 7 revealed youngsters have been killed, ladies have been raped and round 250 had been kidnapped and brought again to Gaza.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu declared “we’re at warfare” following the ambush – and stated the army would “flip Gaza right into a abandoned island” and urged its residents to “depart now”.
Males have been additionally subjected to callous acts – together with being shot of their genitals.
Each feminine and male survivors have struggled to return ahead have been reluctant to return ahead, believing their traumatic expertise pales towards these murdered, Professor Bitton stated.
And numerous Israeli ladies are too scared to return to their houses near the border amid worry of being attacked within the wake of October 7.
Professor Bitton stated: “My preliminary thought was that for victims of any such sexual abuse by terrorists, the enemy, they’d be extra motivated to return ahead.
“And with time it is changing into a lot clearer that the alternative is true for just a few causes.
“To begin with, we now have the layers of trauma which can be the extra traumatic the incident was, the much less possible it’s for the sufferer to talk up.
“We all know that it is a psychological relation or correlation between the 2 and individuals who have been saved hostage.
“So you could have the trauma to begin with of them being a part of the terrorist assault. Many endured different losses, they noticed their mates being murdered in entrance of their eyes.
“After which they’re being overwhelmed, starved, handled as animals being locked in a cage and being sexually assaulted.
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“So the layers of trauma that you simply endure are very a lot hampering your capacity to talk up about what you’ve got gone by means of.
“We have had some hostages saying that they do not really feel they’ve the precise to complain about being sexually abused when persons are being murdered.
“And given the denialism and silencing and so forth, we have a second layer of unhealthy expertise that we have had with this on this respect of denialism.”
Professor Bitton stated the total prolong of Hamas’ vile marketing campaign of sexual violence won’t ever be recognized – however that it is necessary this atrocity isn’t forgotten.
“We all know that it occurred,” she stated.
“However we will not actually inform the extent, as a result of there’s an obliteration of proof or many of the victims are killed.
“Even the accounts that we now have, testimonies that we now have. We’ve got three accounts of listening to a girl being raped, in these instances they’re speaking a few girl being finally killed.
“I feel in lots of respects the truth that a number of the feminine hostages have been held in full isolation from others is a kind of indication.
“It is like elevating the chance of her being sexually attacked to the utmost.”
The terrorist group has repeatedly denied that its members dedicated acts of sexual abuse in direction of prisoners or victims through the October 7 assaults.
However a United Nations report launched said there may be “clear and convincing data” that some hostages had suffered sexual violence.
You are Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes within the UK a life is misplaced to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of individuals in each nook of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and docs, actuality stars and footballers.
It’s the most important killer of individuals underneath the age of 35, extra lethal than most cancers and automobile crashes.
And males are thrice extra prone to take their very own life than ladies.
But it’s hardly ever spoken of, a taboo that threatens to proceed its lethal rampage except all of us cease and take discover, now.
That’s the reason The Solar launched the You’re Not Alone marketing campaign.
The goal is that by sharing sensible recommendation, elevating consciousness and breaking down the obstacles individuals face when speaking about their psychological well being, we are able to all do our bit to assist save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for assist after we want it, and pay attention out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you happen to, or anybody you recognize, wants assist coping with psychological well being issues, the next organisations present help:
