Nova Festival survivor reveals for the first time how he was raped by Hamas terrorists on October 7

A male survivor of the Nova Festival has spoken publicly for the first time about how he was raped in a brutal attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

The survivor gave his statement to Israel’s Channel 12 news. It is the latest in a series of reports describing sexual violence by terrorists who attacked both male and female victims.

The first-hand testimony was provided to the broadcaster anonymously and is a rarity since most of the victims of sexual violence were murdered in the attack.

The man described his attack in detail: “There was a circle, (the people) were laughing, and in that moment you don’t know what to do, whether to defend yourself or let it go, how to deal with the situation. It was a very serious rape. At some point more people came and called out to them, and then they had to stop.”

The man, identified only by the Hebrew initial Dalet, added: “It’s a very hard moment. Weakness all over your body. As if your blood was cheap. They were completely drunk, celebrating and laughing with their guns, with their knives.”

Dalet said: “You distance yourself from the situation, but on the other hand you experience it very strongly. Very difficult.”

He told reporters that he was able to escape because Israeli forces had appeared.

Dalet said dealing with the attack was challenging. “It wasn’t easy at first,” he said.

“I was very closed off.”

He said the attack had left him obsessed with washing himself.

He said he showers “very often to get rid of all the energy after everything that happened.”

His statement was handed over to the police unit responsible for investigating the sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

Dalet said he knew people would try to deny his experience, so he shared medical reports attesting to the harm he suffered.

He said he also took a lie detector test to further prove what he had been through.

His testimony is the latest in mounting evidence of the sexual nature of the abuse and violence experienced by the victims and survivors of October 7.

Israel Defense Forces reservist Shari Mendes said she personally cared for the women’s mutilated bodies on October 8.

In an interview with Sky’s Yalda Hakim five months ago, Mendes described what she and her team believed was “a systematic female genital mutilation.”

She said she had seen and interacted with women with very “bloody underwear” and “women with gunshot wounds to the crotch and genitals.”

She said her team saw “women with gunshot wounds to the breasts.” She also described some bodies that were “laced” with explosives.

In March, the UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict found evidence that rape and sexual violence occurred in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, including against women who were killed.

In a report by UN representative Pramila Patten, witnesses described two incidents involving the rape of women’s corpses.

Former Israeli hostage Amit Soussana revealed how she was sexually abused by Hamas while being held hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Soussana, 40, first described how she was chained up in a dark bedroom for several weeks while a Hamas terrorist named Muhammad forced her to perform sexual acts with him at gunpoint.

KFAR AZA, ISRAEL – JANUARY 29: Amit Soussana (R), who was taken hostage by Hamas and released, reacts after speaking to the press near her home from which she was kidnapped during the October 7 attack on the kibbutz, in Kfar Aza, Israel, on January 29, 2024. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

The Israeli lawyer, who was held captive for 55 days, appeared in the documentary “Screams Before Silence,” produced by former Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, in which people were sexually abused on October 7.

Israeli teenager Agam Goldstein-Almog, who was also released under the November agreement, said she was groped by her captors.

After her release, she said she was constantly afraid of being raped.

Agam Goldstein-Almog watched as Hamas terrorists murdered her father and older sister during their attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7. (Photo: Screenshot via X)

She said: “Half of the girls and young women I met in captivity told me they experienced sexual or physical abuse, or both. They are still living there with their rapists.”

Dalet’s testimony is part of a lawsuit filed by more than 100 survivors of the Supernova Festival against the State of Israel.

The measure requires the government to pay over NIS 500 million (US$137 million) in assistance to victims.

Einat Ginzburg, one of the survivors’ lawyers, said: “Many of them cannot return to work or resume their lives.”

Of Dalet’s experience, Ginzburg said: “Of course, at this point it is impossible to return to normal life after what has happened.”

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