Israeli hostage describes horrific rape and torture she suffered while held by Hamas, including being hung upside-down, beaten and humiliated, telling UN council ‘every moment I feared for my life’ We ask Bacik the Trinity Labour Party Leader and Mouthpiece, any Views on this, Ask for Harris, well a Boy Scout leading a Country, against Israel, at what Cost?

An Israeli hostage who was brutally raped and tortured at the hands of her Hamas captors has gone before the UN to tell of her harrowing ordeal and call for a release of those still held in Gaza.

Lawyer Amit Soussana was on sick leave at her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into her house and kidnapped her.

She was released some 55 days later along with several other hostages, including Franco-Israeli Mia Schem in unforgettable scenes that saw masked militants hand her over to Red Cross volunteers as baying Palestinians looked on.

Yesterday she delivered an emotional appeal to the UN Security Council in which she offered a graphic description of her treatment.

‘I was alone, chained by the ankles with a metal shackle, unable to move, and forced to beg to use the bathroom,’ she said.

‘I was sexually assaulted by the Hamas terrorist who guarded me. He forced me into the shower, following closely with his gun aimed at me. His heavy breathing and predatory stare were terrifying… I was powerless to stop it.

‘I had no one to comfort me and had to ‘behave’ for the man who had just violated me in the most horrifying way.’It is your responsibility to protect human rights, fight terrorism, and bring the perpetrators to justice… Secure the freedom of the hostages and ensure no one else endures such a fate.’

Sousanna’s plea came as Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian also accused the Security Council of not fulfilling its duty to tackle the Middle East conflict – albeit for very different reasons.

‘The fire of war is still raging in the Palestinian Gaza Strip and Lebanese cities,’ Pezeshkian told leaders from emerging economies at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

‘And international institutions… topped by the United Nations Security Council – who are drivers of international peace and security – lack the necessary efficiency to extinguish the fire of this crisis.’

Pezeshkian condemned Israel for violating ‘the red lines’ of different states and ‘producing a new wave of violence and terror’.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, the Islamic Republic has criticised the UN body for being inactive and ineffective in ending conflict in the Middle East and is engaged in an intense diplomatic campaign to establish ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon. 

The efforts are also aimed at preventing the conflict expanding across the region after Israel’s threat to retaliate to an attack by Iran on October 1.

Iran supports Hezbollah and the Palestinian movement Hamas, whose militant groups are fighting Israel.