Former Israeli Hostage Romi Gonen Details Sexual Abuse During Hamas Captivity
Romi Gonen, a former Israeli hostage, has publicly recounted enduring sexual assaults and harassment during her 471 days in Hamas captivity, shedding light on the abuse faced by hostages.
Romi Gonen, a 25-year-old Israeli woman, has publicly shared her experiences of sexual abuse during her 471-day captivity by Hamas. Abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, Gonen was released in January 2025 as part of a hostage exchange.
In an interview with Israel's Channel 12 program 'Uvda,' Gonen described multiple instances of sexual assault and harassment by her captors. She recounted an incident where a captor followed her into a bathroom and assaulted her, stating, "There was this one moment in the bathroom, I was crying like crazy, and he was having the time of his life, ecstatic, as if he had received the gift of a lifetime."
Gonen also detailed how her captor threatened her life to ensure her silence: "Then he comes up to me, puts a gun to my head, and tells me, 'If you tell anyone, I am going to kill you.'"
She described the psychological toll of her captivity, expressing feelings of paralysis and fear: "Only when you're in this situation can you grasp what happens to the body. And fear – it sometimes paralyzes."
Gonen's testimony aligns with findings from the Dinah Project, an Israeli research group that reported in July 2025 that Hamas used sexual violence as a "tactical weapon of war" during the October 7 attacks. The report documented cases of physical sexual assault, forced nudity, and threats of forced marriage, concluding that such acts were systematic and intended to terrorize and dehumanize Israeli society.
Hamas has consistently denied allegations of sexual violence.
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