Harris meets a former Israeli hostage who describes being sexually abused in Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris Monday met with an Israeli lawyer who has publicly described being sexually abused while holding hostages in Gaza, and said the story left him fearful that “it will only increase as more hostages are released.”

Harris hosted an event highlighting efforts to reduce conflict-related sexual violence around the world and said she spoke with Amit Susanna, who was abducted from her home when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Susana Details for the New York Times He was sexually assaulted while held captive in Gaza, before being released, along with a group of other hostages, in a November ceasefire that was briefly suspended. War between Israel and Hamas.

Harris said that after the October 7 attack by Hamas, “I saw pictures of kidnapped Israeli women covered in blood.”

“Then it came to light that Hamas had raped and gang-raped the Nova music festival,” the vice president said. The tribe of Nova Music that was taken over by Hamas militants. “And the bodies of the women were found stripped from the waist down, with their hands tied behind their backs and shot in the head.”

Such accounts of brutality are not new, but Harris detailed allegations of sexual violence surrounding the Israel-Hamas war while the Biden administration was serving. Another truce broker to stop the war in gaza

Harris on Monday called on Hamas to accept a US-backed cease-fire proposal. He also said he had heard stories from former Israeli hostages about what he had “seen and heard in captivity” and had spoken to Sossana, who the vice president said “bravely came forward with accounts of sexual violence he suffered while held captive by Hamas.”

“I fear these testimonies will increase as more hostages are released,” Harris said. “We cannot look away. And we will not be silent.”

Hamas has denied sexually assaulting, attacking or taking hostages on October 7, 2024. False reports of abuse At times it has helped fuel clashes between militant groups and Israel

But a UN report published in March found “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas raped, “sexual abuse” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during the October 7, 2024 attack. The same report found “reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may continue.”

The vice president also said his “heart breaks for all these survivors and their families and for all the pain and suffering in Israel and Gaza over the past eight months.”

“Sexual violence has been a tactic of war since ancient times,” Harris said, though he noted that the international community has made recent strides in recognizing it as an “attack on peace, stability and human rights.”

He said the Biden administration has taken steps to prevent such violence by providing rape kits and health care for survivors and helping train the military and international peacekeepers. The United States has imposed economic sanctions on people linked to conflicts in places like Iraq, Sudan, and the Central African Republic.

“It's not enough. Crime continues and our accountability systems around the world remain inadequate,” Harris said. “More must be done.”