Released hostage Ilana Gritzewsky says captors sexually assaulted her
31-year-old, whose partner Matan Zangauker is still captive, tells NYT she was groped during abduction, passed out and woke up half-naked in Gaza with 7 gunmen standing over her
Former hostage Ilana Gritzewsky said in an interview published in The New York Times Tuesday that she was sexually assaulted during her abduction to Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and that her first memory from the Strip was waking up half-naked, surrounded by gunmen.
Gritzewsky, 31, recounted how that morning, she and her boyfriend Matan Zangauker — who is still held hostage — jumped out the window of the safe room of their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and ran in separate directions after Palestinian terrorists shot at their door. Gritzewsky said gunmen seized her and put her between two men on a motorcycle while her head and face were covered.
Her captors would later confirm to her that Zangauker, 25, was also a hostage, but Grtizewsky didn’t see him during her captivity, she said.
During her abduction, she said, one of the terrorists groped her from behind, touching her breast under her shirt as well as her leg. Her leg was pressed onto the exhaust pipe, causing burns, and she lost consciousness before they crossed into Gaza, Gritzewsky said.
When she woke up, she was on the floor with seven gunmen standing over her, her shirt pulled up to bare her breasts and her pants pulled down, said Gritzewsky, adding that she doesn’t know what they did to her until that point. She then told them she was on her period, which she believed likely saved her from worse.
“They hit me and lifted me up. I felt they were disappointed. I don’t think I have ever been so thankful for my period,” she said.
According to the report, Gritzewsky said one of her captors hugged her and told her at gunpoint that she would not be released even if Israel and Hamas reached a hostage deal, because “he wanted to marry her and have her children.”
Israel has accused international women’s groups of failing to condemn sexual violence by Hamas. Former captives and survivors of the October 7 onslaught have reported being sexually assaulted by terrorists and of witnessing extreme acts of sexual violence against people who were eventually killed.
Speaking to the Times, Gritzewsky said her captors also stole jewelry from her, and that after her release in a hostage deal on November 30, 2023, she found out she had a broken hip.
Gritzewsky and Zanguaker’s mother, Einav, have become central figures in protests seeking a ceasefire deal to return the remaining hostages.
“I’m not really available for my own rehabilitation, not for the body and not least for the soul,” Gritzewsky said.
“I live with the question of why me and not them. I have no answer. But if I am out, it’s a sign that God wanted me to raise my voice to help those who are alive gain their freedom and bring back the dead for a proper burial.”
Zangauker is one of 24 hostages still believed to be alive. All are young men abducted on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Hamas is also holding the remains of 35 hostages confirmed dead by the IDF, including a soldier who was killed in the 2014 Gaza war.
