Third released hostage says he was sexually abused during Gaza captivity

Alon Ohel, a former hostage held in Gaza for more than two years, said Monday he was subjected to sexual abuse during his captivity, becoming the third recently released survivor to publicly recount such treatment.

Ohel, who was freed in the most recent hostage-release deal after 738 days in Hamas captivity, described the abuse in an interview with Channel 12. His account follows similar testimony in recent weeks from former hostages Guy Gilboa Dalal and Rom Braslavski . The report contains graphic descriptions.

1 View gallery Alon Ohel ( Photo: Amir Levy/Getty Images )

Ohel said the abuse began after he was left alone in the tunnels, once the other hostages held with him had been released in earlier deals. “From the moment I was alone, and after the second hostage deal collapsed, their new goal was to terrify me,” he said. He described guards manipulating food rations and engaging in sexual harassment.

He said one incident occurred when he went to shower. “He came in to shampoo me. He put shampoo on his hands and began to wash me in the shower. He touched me,” Ohel said. Even when he protested and tried to push the captor away, the guard persisted, telling him it was important that he “wash properly” to avoid rashes. “Fortunately, it did not go further,” Ohel added.

Last month, Gilboa Dalal detailed a series of sexual assaults he said he endured during his time in captivity. He told Channel 12 that a captor “started touching me, kissing me on the neck and back. It was very frightening.” Galbo’a Dalal said the man then held a rifle to his head and a knife to his throat, warning him never to tell the other hostages. “So not only did I go through that terrible experience, I also couldn’t tell anyone,” he said.

In another incident, he said he was pulled from a shower, forced naked into a room and assaulted. “He rubbed his genitals against me for several minutes. I froze. I didn’t know what to do with myself,” he said.

Braslavski, who was held for the same 738-day period as Ohel, previously told Channel 13 that he, too, was stripped, tied up and sexually assaulted. “That was sexual violence, and the goal was one thing — humiliation,” he said. Asked if there were additional incidents, he replied, “Yes. It’s hard for me to talk about that part. That was the horrible thing. It’s something the Nazis didn’t do. You just pray it stops. Every day, every blow, every night you say, ‘I survived another day in hell. Tomorrow will be another hell, and another hell.’ It didn’t end.”