Overview
- In her first detailed public interview, Romi Gonen described repeated sexual assault, harassment and intimidation during 471 days in Hamas captivity after being abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
- She said the first assault occurred within days of her abduction when a man posing as a medic followed her into a shower under the pretext of treating a gunshot wound to her arm.
- Gonen recounted a 16‑day period she called the worst of her captivity, alleging two captors identified as Ibrahim and Muhammed repeatedly harassed and touched her.
- She said senior Hamas figures led her through tunnels to make a call in which a Hebrew‑speaking man, whom she identified as Izz a Din al‑Haddad, offered to prioritize her release if she agreed to remain silent.
- Her account aligns with a 2024 UN report finding reasonable grounds that sexual violence occurred and a 2025 Dinah Project study concluding such abuse was widespread and tactical, which Hamas disputes.