Released hostage Maya Regev: Every female captive in Gaza has experienced some form of sexual harassment

Speaking to the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, released hostage Maya Regev warns that every female captive in Gaza “goes through sexual harassment in some form or another.”

“On October 7, I didn’t understand why they didn’t come to save me and all the other women who were there,” she tells the committee in an appeal for the government to act with urgency to secure the release of the 130 hostages still in captivity, 19 of whom are women.

“I was released after 50 days and I’m dealing with the impact; I don’t want to describe what they’re going through there,” she adds.

Criticizing the government for going ahead with a scheduled six-week Knesset recess despite the war in Gaza, Regev says that if she could, she would rescue the hostages herself, “but that’s the job of the country that let us down, and you’re still going on vacation.”