Who Is Romi Gonen? Israeli Woman Held Hostage By Hamas For 471 Days Breaks Silence On Sexual Abuse, Says ‘They Wanted To Make Me A Sex Slave’

Romi Gonen, a 25-year-old Israeli woman held captive by Hamas for more than a year, has publicly revealed the sexual violence she endured while imprisoned in Gaza.

“They often silenced my story and told me not to tell it. Now I am here, sitting in front of the camera, and honestly, no one will silence me anymore,” Gonen told CNN in an interview aired Sunday.

Who Is Romi Gonen?

Romi Gonen was abducted by Hamas terrorists during the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when she was 23 years old. She was moved between multiple locations in Gaza over the course of her captivity and subjected to repeated sexual assaults, harassment, and threats by her captors.

After 471 days in captivity, she was among the first three Israeli hostages released under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement.

Gonen was taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which included the assault on the Nova music festival. Following her abduction, she was transferred from one hideout to another inside Gaza.

Romi Gonen’s Ordeal – Assault by a Captor Posing as a Medic

During the initial phase of her captivity, she spent 34 days in total solitary confinement. She saw her captors only intermittently, including a man she described as a “pseudo medic” who treated a gunshot wound she sustained to her arm during the October 7 attack.

That encounter, according to her was the beginning of the sexual abuse she endured.

According to Romi Gonen, the first sexual assault occurred just days after her capture. She said the man who claimed to be a medic followed her into the shower under the pretext of treating her injury.

“He was a ‘nurse’ so he allowed himself to ‘help me.’ I was wounded, powerless, and couldn’t do anything. He took everything from me. And I had to continue living with him in that house afterward,” she told CNN.

Romi Gonen Alleged Repeated Harassment by Multiple Captors

Gonen described a 16-day period during which two men, identified as Ibrahim and Mohammed, repeatedly harassed and threatened her.

“I’m sitting on the bed. Ibrahim comes and sits next to me and harasses me. Everything is in complete silence. I start crying insanely, and he says, ‘Be careful. If you don’t calm down, I’ll get angry,’” she said.

She recounted how the harassment extended into the most private moments of her daily life.

“And that’s how the days go by: I go to the bathroom and Mohammed follows me. I sit on the toilet pulling down my pants with one hand, so he won’t see anything. Ibrahim keeps bothering me endlessly, touching my leg and thigh. I kick them off.”

Romi Gonen Opening About Turning Into A ‘Sex Slave’ For Hamas

Romi Gonen recalled another incident saying one of her captors forced her into a bathroom and assaulted her.

“I was crying like crazy, and he was having the time of his life, ecstatic, as if he had received the gift of a lifetime,” she told the outlet.

The psychological toll of the abuse left her believing she would never escape.

“The then-23-year-old said she couldn’t help thinking to herself, ‘Romi, everyone in Israel thinks you’re dead, and you’re going to be his sex slave for life…’”

She said one of her captors later put a gun to her head and threatened her into silence.

“Then he comes up to me, puts a gun to my head, and tells me, ‘If you tell anyone, I am going to kill you,’” Gonen recalled.

How Senior Hamas Leaders Intervened Who Offered A Deal

As the harassment and abuse continued, Romi Gonen said it became so apparent that senior Hamas commanders were informed.

She said she was led through a tunnel and placed on the phone with Izz a Din al-Haddad, who was then the head of Hamas’ Gaza Brigade and is now the group’s Gaza leader.

According to Gonen, she was offered a deal in exchange for her silence.

“I will put you at the top of the release list, and in return, you will promise me that you will keep quiet,” she recalled being told.

Despite the pressure, Romi Gonen said she ultimately chose to speak publicly after her release.

“They often silenced my story and told me not to tell it. Now I am here, sitting in front of the camera, and honestly, no one will silence me anymore. It happened to me, and it was terrible, and I deal with the consequences every day, but I am here. I beat it. I am in the aftermath, and I am much stronger than it,” she said.

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