E-Paper
First male victim of alleged rape by Hamas on Oct 7 describes how ‘celebrating’ gunmen assaulted him: ‘A very tough…’
The victim is the first man to reveal how he and other men were allegedly sexually assaulted by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack on Israel.
A man has alleged that he was stripped naked and raped by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack on Israel. The victim, identified only as D, is the first man to reveal how he and other men were allegedly humiliated and assaulted while innocent people were enjoying the Supernova music festival, local Channel 12 reported.
“They pin you to the ground, you try to resist, they take off your clothes, laugh at you, humiliate you, spit at you,” the victim recalled. “They touched [private] parts, they rape you.”
‘As if your blood is cheap’
D said he was shocked at how “celebrating, laughing” terrorists surrounded him while people around them died. “There is a circle, [people] laugh, and you don’t know what to do in the moment, whether you should resist or let it pass, how to deal with the situation,” he said. “There was a very difficult rape.”
“It’s a very tough moment. Weakness in the entire body. As if your blood is cheap,” D added. “They were wildly intoxicated, celebrating, laughing with their pistols, with their knives.”
D recalled that while he was being raped, other terrorists came over and asked their companions to stop so they could carry on the attack. Fortunately, he and some other survivors managed to escape with the help of the Israel Defense Forces.
D said that the assault has left him obsessed with cleanliness as it makes him feel like he is getting rid of the filth he experienced during the attack. “[I take] a lot, a lot of showers, to get all that energy off me, everything that happened,” he said.
D’s testimony, along with many others’, is being gathered by Israeli police documenting the scope of sexual assaults the terrorists carried out on October 7. The testimony is part of a lawsuit that over 100 survivors of the music festival filed to demand more than $137 million in government support. Many of them are reportedly unable to get on with their normal lives.
A report completed by the United Nations Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict earlier this year found that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across the Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations.” The report also highlighted that evidence suggests some of the Hamas hostages were raped too, and those who are being held now are still experiencing such abuse.
