"Prayed For It To Stop": Freed Israeli Hostage Claims Sex Abuse In Gaza

A recently freed Israeli hostage was the first man who publicly claimed that he was sexually assaulted while being held captive in Gaza.

Rom Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when Hamas took him and many others hostage, starting a years-long war with Israel. "They stripped me of all my clothes, my underwear, everything. When I was completely naked, I was wiped out, dying without food. And I prayed to God - save me, get me out of this already, and you just say to yourself like ... what the hell is going on?" he was quoted as saying by CNN.

Braslavski said the purpose of the sexual violence was to humiliate him and crush his dignity. "And that's exactly what he did," he was quoted in an excerpt that the Daily Mail published of an interview with Israel's Channel 13's "Hazinor".

"It's something even the Nazis didn't do. During Hitler's time, they wouldn't have done things like this. You just pray for it to stop. And while I was there - every day, every beating - I'd say to myself, 'I survived another day in hell. Tomorrow morning, I'll wake up to another hell. And another. And another. It doesn't end'," he further added.

A report in the Times Of Israel quoted Braslavski's mother as saying that her son was pressured to convert to Islam, luring him with promises of extra food and better conditions, but he resisted.

Braslavski was among the 20 living Israeli hostages released after over two years of captivity after a ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and Hamas. Before his testimony, only female hostages had come forward to allege sexual abuse.