Daijiworld Media Network - Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jan 5: Romi Gonen, a former Israeli hostage held in Gaza for more than 15 months, has spoken publicly for the first time about the abuse, intimidation and trauma she says she endured while in captivity, describing a prolonged period of fear and powerlessness and her determination to reclaim her voice.
Gonen, now 25, was abducted from the Nova music festival during the October 7, 2023 attacks and released in January 2025 as part of a hostage exchange. In a recent televised interview on Israel’s Channel 12 programme Uvda, she recounted multiple instances of sexual harassment and assault by different captors during her 471 days in captivity, saying the experiences left deep and lasting scars.
She said the constant threat of violence and isolation took a severe psychological toll. “Fear can paralyse you,” Gonen explained, reflecting on how captivity affected both her body and mind. At several points, she said, she felt stripped of control and dignity, living with an ongoing terror of what might happen next.
Gonen was wounded during the initial attack and said that her vulnerability was exploited in the early days of her captivity. She described spending the first month alone, moved between locations and held by different people, with no one to confide in. “I kept telling myself to be strong,” she said, adding that such experiences are not something a person simply recovers from.
She identified a particularly distressing period lasting just over two weeks, during which she said she faced repeated harassment and intimidation by two captors. Everyday moments, such as moving around the house or trying to maintain basic privacy, became sources of anxiety and distress, she recalled.
Gonen also alleged that at one point senior Hamas figures became aware that she was deeply shaken by what she had experienced. She said she was offered what she understood to be a deal: the possibility of earlier release in exchange for her silence. “They tried to quiet my story,” she said. “But I won’t be quiet anymore.”
Now speaking openly, Gonen said sharing her testimony is part of her effort to confront the past and move forward. “It happened to me, it was terrible, and I live with the consequences every day,” she said. “But I survived. I’m here.”
Her account adds to a growing body of testimonies from former hostages. A July 2025 report by Israeli researchers known as the Dinah Project documented accounts from multiple women and men who said they experienced or witnessed sexual violence during captivity in Gaza. The report concluded that such abuse was used in a systematic and deliberate manner.
In another case, Rom Braslavski, a security guard abducted from the same music festival, became the first male former hostage to publicly describe sexual abuse after his release in late 2025, saying the violence was intended to humiliate and destroy his sense of dignity.
International bodies have also raised concerns. A 2024 report by the United Nations’ Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict said there were credible grounds to believe that sexual violence occurred during the October 7 attacks and that hostages held in Gaza were subjected to abuse.
Hamas has consistently denied allegations of sexual violence.