Hostage Recounts Hamas Captivity, Credits Fellow Captive Soldier for Saving Her Life “`

Amit Soussana, a former hostage, has revealed new details about her ordeal, crediting fellow captive and IDF soldier Liri Albag with saving her life. Soussana recounted her brutal treatment on Israeli television, describing how her captors bound and beat her, demanding a confession of IDF affiliation. A captor held a gun to her head, giving her 40 minutes to comply or face death.

Albag intervened, persuading the captors of Soussana’s innocence. Soussana, deeply grateful, considers Albag a lifesaver, stating, “I told her when she came back: ‘I don’t know if they would have killed me or not; as far as I’m concerned, you saved my life.’”

During the October 2023 conflict, Hamas terrorists abducted Soussana from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She was forced to walk barefoot in her pajamas from her burning home to the Gaza border, enduring beatings along the way. Soussana actively resisted her captors in a desperate struggle to delay her capture until potential rescue.

Soussana was released in November 2023 after 55 days of captivity, as part of Israel’s initial hostage exchange with Hamas. In March 2024, she became the first Israeli woman to publicly disclose the sexual assault she suffered during her captivity, initially recounting the experience to The New York Times and later addressing the UN Security Council in October 2024.

Throughout her captivity, Soussana was shackled by the ankle, requiring permission even to use the restroom. She described the sexual assault by her Hamas guard, detailing the horrific event in a shower, where he threatened her with a gun and subjected her to invasive physical contact. Afterwards, she was forbidden from expressing sadness or distress and forced to interact normally with her attacker.

Israel and Hamas have been engaged in a protracted conflict since Hamas’s surprise attacks on October 7, 2023. A current ceasefire agreement stipulates the release of Agam Berger, Arbel Yehoud, and 80-year-old Gadi Moses by Hamas on January 30.