An Israeli woman, who spent over 50 days in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, said that other female hostages suffered sexual abuse and torture.
Aviva Spiegel revealed this during a testimony on Tuesday in a special hearing at the Knesset, or Israeli parliament, dedicated to the 136 hostages still held in Palestinian territory. The 62-year-old said that after one female hostage went to the bathroom, she returned looking agitated.
“I’m going to say words that are not pretty, but that bastard touched her,” she was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. “And he didn’t even allow me to hug her after it happened. It’s awful, just awful.”
Siegel said in another episode, their captors tortured a woman they believed was an officer in the Israeli army while she was right next to Siegel. Though she did not elaborate on how her fellow hostages were abused, she appeared visibly upset as she spoke, AP reported. She was among some 250 people taken hostage during Hamas’ October 7 cross-border attack.
She was released in late November during a weeklong cease-fire. She pleaded with lawmakers to take action to release her husband, Keith Siegel, 64, who is still being held in captivity. At the time of the early morning attack on October 7, the couple grabbed their phone and took refuge in the safe room of their home, still in their pyjamas, according to their son-in-law Yuval Baron.
He told The Guardian newspaper they had thought it was just another rocket attack, but later Siegel and her husband were seen being taken away with other hostages by armed men. Schoolteacher Aviva was born in South Africa but moved to Israel when she was eight. The couple have four children and five grandchildren.
(With agency inputs)
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