Freed hostage tells CBS: ‘You can’t object to anything. It could cost you your life’
Yarden Roman-Gat says fear of sexual assault hung over her constantly during her 54 days in captivity. Now she is fighting for the freedom of her sister-in-law Carmel Gat
Yarden Roman-Gat, abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and later released, said that she was under constant watch and faced perpetual fear of abuse throughout her 54 days in captivity, in an interview with US network CBS seen Sunday night.
Roman-Gat, 34, who was snatched by Hamas from her in-laws’ home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, told Leslie Stahl of “60 Minutes” about the horror of hostage life, including having no control over what happened to her and being forced to act happy upon her release in a truce deal on November 30.
Alon Gat, Yarden’s husband, also appeared in the segment, touring the ruins of his parents’ home in Be’eri, where Yarden, Alon, and his sister Carmel were visiting at the time of the Hamas onslaught on October 7.
Alon described to Stahl how, after storming the kibbutz gates, Hamas terrorists broke into the Gat family home and fatally shot his mother, Kinneret Gat. Yarden, Alon, and their 3-year-old daughter Geffen were shoved into a car, and Alon’s sister Carmel disappeared.
In the October 7 onslaught, about 3,000 terrorists aligned with Hamas stormed into Israel, killing, mutilating, and burning an estimated 1,200 people, mostly civilians, raping victims, and taking some 240 hostages, including 40 children.
Carmel Gat, 39, is still in Hamas captivity. An occupational therapist by training, some of the freed hostages have reported seeing her practice yoga daily with children who were being held hostage.
Alon told Stahl how he, his wife, and their daughter, were being driven to Gaza by Hamas operatives. When the terrorists encountered an Israeli tank, they stopped the car and went to hide in nearby woods, allowing the family to flee. Alon, the faster runner, took Geffen with him, and together they hid in a ditch for almost nine hours until the danger had passed.
Yarden, still in pajamas, ran as well, until she fell to the ground, too exhausted to continue. The terrorists soon closed in on her.
“I played dead, but holding my breath was next to impossible,” she said in the interview. “So they said, ‘No, she’s not dead. There is no blood. So pick her up.’ And they grabbed my arms and started dragging me on the ground back towards the car.”
As they dragged her, the pajamas she had on caught on the ground and began to come off. Recalling the moment as “one of the most frightening,” she feared they would rape her.
Witnesses and others have testified that among the atrocities carried out during the October 7 onslaught were cases of sexual violence, including rape. There has been wide speculation that Hamas continued to weaponize sexual violence against hostages in Gaza.
However, Roman-Gat indicated that her abductors were instead focused on the mission of getting her into Gaza, where she was paraded as a trophy before cheering multitudes, she said.
In Gaza, Roman-Gat was taken to a house and given a hijab that covered most of her body: “My only protection,” she told Stahl, though it did not offer much.
Under the constant watch of exclusively male guards, Roman-Gat was afraid of getting sexually assaulted: “You cannot object to anything. It could cost you your life.”
Yarden Roman-Gat, one of the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks and held for nearly two months, shares her experience: "You're hopeless. You have no protection. You cannot object to anything, it could cost you your life."
Hear more on tonight's @60Minutes pic.twitter.com/L8uN0HfClb
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 17, 2023
With the incessant Israeli bombardment, she was also afraid of being killed in an airstrike.
Three weeks into her captivity, Roman-Gat experienced a glimmer of hope. Overhearing the radio, she noticed a cousin of Alon’s refer to herself and her sister-in-law Carmel as hostages. By omission, Roman-Gat inferred that her husband Alon and daughter Geffen had evaded abduction.
Meanwhile, in Israel, Alon devoted himself entirely to the effort to free his family members from Hamas captivity, barely taking the time to mourn his murdered mother.
“I was disconnected emotionally,” he said, “and I think I still am.” He and his family set up a family “war room,” and traveled to Washington to seek help.
During the last week of November, as part of a deal mediated by Qatar, Israel temporarily ceased its pummeling of Gaza and agreed to a prisoner swap, releasing 240 Palestinian prisoners and receiving 105 women and children held hostage by Hamas.
For six days, Israel released prisoners, and was given a list of hostages to be freed the next day. Gili Roman, Yarden’s brother, described the process to Leslie Stahl as a “twisted reality show.”
Yarden Roman-Gat’s name made the final list before the agreement unraveled and fighting resumed.
Roman-Gat recalled her guards’ insistence that she appear joyful at her release.
“They wondered why I’m not happy. They almost demanded it. ‘Be happy, be happy already. You’re going home,'” she said.
She declined to say if she was drugged, as other hostages were.
“I don’t want to go there,” she told Stahl.
Alon Gat, Yarden’s husband, recounted telling their daughter the news of her release at 2 a.m. “I woke her and I told her ‘We found Mommy. We found Mommy and she’s coming back.’”
Yarden told “60 Minutes” she is now part of the family war room, fighting for the freedom of the 128 hostages believed still held in Gaza, including Alon’s sister.
“My sister-in-law Carmel and a bunch of other hostages are still in Gaza,” she said. “And it’s wrong. And we have to stop it. And if we can do anything to help that, we will.”
