Amit Soussana, a 40-year-old lawyer taken captive from Kfar Aza, was the first released hostage to give public and direct testimony of the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of Hamas terrorists.
Coming forward and publicly sharing the details of sexual offenses is always an incredibly difficult experience and an act of immense bravery.
Soussana demonstrated incredible strength by sharing her testimony, shedding light on the horrors the hostages endured and likely continue to endure at the hands of the terrorists, at a time when doubts about Hamas’s sexual violence were already widespread.
Released as part of the November hostage deal after 54 days in captivity, she shared her experience in an eight-hour interview with the New York Times.
Noa Argamani and her story of survival
Many people became familiar with Noa Argamani as the face of the hostage crisis after seeing footage of her capture from the Nova Music Festival.
Video shows her being loaded onto a motorcycle, surrounded and restrained by Hamas terrorists, while reaching out to her partner, Avinatan Or, who was taken captive alongside her.
The terror on her face in the seconds-long footage showing her taken captive and her desperation as she attempted to reach Or, who was separated from her soon after, put a face and an image to the unimaginable, as people around the world struggled to comprehend the horror of Hamas’ captive-taking.
Argamani was rescued in the IDF’s Operation Arnon after nearly 250 days of captivity. She is one of eight hostages whom the IDF has rescued alive.