Freed Israeli hostage says he faced sexual violence in Gaza captivity, TV reports

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -An Israeli hostage who was released in October has told an Israeli television channel he was subjected to sexual violence during his two-year captivity in Gaza by Palestinian militants -- the first male hostage to publicly make such an accusation.

Rom Braslavski, 21, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, made the allegation in an interview with Channel 13's Hazinor programme. Excerpts of the interview, broadcast late on Thursday, were shared with Reuters.

Describing being stripped naked and tied up while in captivity, he also recounted actions by one of his captors, saying: "It was sexual violence, and its main purpose was humiliation. Its goal was to humiliate me, to crush my dignity."

He said it was hard for him to talk about the experience.

"I was praying to God, like, please save me, get me out of this already," he said in the interview as he held back tears.

Reuters was unable to speak to Braslavski directly and could not independently confirm the specifics of his account.

Braslavski was held by Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group allied with Hamas which also took hostages in the 2023 attack. While he was in captivity, Islamic Jihad released a video of a skeletal and weeping Braslavski in which he appeared to be in pain.

Asked by Reuters for comment, an Islamic Jihad official said Braslavski's allegation about sexual abuse was "incorrect" without elaborating.

An Israeli government spokesperson told journalists in a daily online briefing that Braslavski's account was "living testimony" of what she described as the true nature of Gaza's militant groups.

At least four women held as hostages have spoken publicly about incidents of sexual abuse against themselves or fellow captives.

In March 2024, a team of United Nations experts reported that it also found what it described as clear and convincing information that some of the hostages taken to Gaza were subjected to sexual violence.

Hamas, which held most of the hostages, has denied the allegations.

Braslavski also described regular beatings. "You just pray to God for it to stop. And while you’re there, every day, with every beating, every day, you say to yourself — I completed another day in hell," he said.

Palestinian militants killed 1,200 people in their cross-border attacks in October 2023 and took 251 hostages back to Gaza. Israel responded with a two-year military assault on the enclave that killed more than 68,000 people.

Braslavski is one of the last 20 living hostages released on October 13 as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Around 2,000 Palestinian convicts and Gaza detainees were freed in exchange.

Rights groups, including Israeli ones, have documented abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons during the war, including sexual violence.

Israel is investigating dozens of suspected abuse cases but denies systematic abuse.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Howard Goller)