Freed hostage recounts torture of women in Gaza's terror tunnels - Washington Post

As soon as Agam Goldstein-Almog (17) was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7 in Gaza, she was forced to put on a headscarf and a long dress, commanded to look at the ground, was forced to recite Islamic prayer, and her abductors gave her a name from the Quran, Salsabil, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

In an interview with international media, Agam described the horror she experienced for nearly two months as a hostage inside Gaza while speaking from a kibbutz in central Israel that has largely become a temporary refuge for displaced Israeli civilians. 

In the interview, Agam addressed the female hostages still in Gaza. She asked, “Have you eaten enough today? Are you together, or have they separated you? Has he harmed you again? Has he asked you, again, if you’re married, if he could set you up with someone from Gaza? Has he entered your shower again, stripped the pajamas that he gave you, touched the would from the bullet that he shot, that really hurt you? But his control hurt more.” 

Agam was taken to the Hamas tunnels underneath Gaza, to apartments and a school that was also a rocket launching site. Her captors allowed her to shower five times in the 51 days she was in Gaza, the Washington Post reported. 

At Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Goldstein-Almog’s father and older sister were shot dead by Hamas terrorists in their family home. She was taken in her “tiny shortie pajamas,” half sleeping in Gaza with her mother and her nine and 11-year-old brothers. 

Guarded by terrorists at all times at gunpoint, their mother and the three siblings were not allowed to cry, make noise, or mourn the death of their family members in any apparent way. Sometimes, the guards would shout at Agam, other times, they tried to win Agam’s sympathy with looted creams and perfumes, Agam said, reported the Washington Post. 

Psychological torture the family endured

She, her mother, and her brothers were psychologically tortured while in the hands of the terrorists. She remembers being told that if Israel found out where they were hiding, the military would kill them. They also told her that she had been abandoned by Israel and that she would remain in Gaza for years and marry a local man, the Washington Post reported. 

Agam recounted that her captors told her repeatedly that the attack was justified and that it was only “an opening blow.” “They would be yelling at us that this country is theirs,” Agam recounted to the Washington Post. “They said that their aim was to pray in Jerusalem. They told us that when they come back, they’ll come back bigger and stronger. They told us Hamas in Gaza is about 40,000 fighters and that next time, all 40,000 will come, and not 3,000.” 

The terrorists also reminded her of Gilad Schalit, the Israeli soldier who was taken captive by Hamas in 2006 and was held for five years before being swapped for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including Yahya Sinwar, who was part of the team that orchestrated the attacks of October 7. 

The terrorists told her not to return to their kibbutz but rather suggested they move to Tel Aviv or New York. She said their final words were, “Don’t remember our faces. And Gaza people - good.”

Meeting other hostages in the tunnels

While she was in a tunnel, a week before her release, Agam met six women. Some had been badly injured, so she and her mother helped dress wounds with dwindling supplies. One woman told Agam she looked forward to receiving proper care in Israel. She remains in Gaza. 

Some hostages had been kept alone in small rooms with their captors. They told Agam and her mother that they had been sexually assaulted “with great difficulty and tears.” 

“That was the first question we asked when we understood they were alone: “How did they treat you?” Agam said. “Suddenly, they had a friend to tell, someone they could unburden themselves to. We cried together.” Agam did not say whether she was sexually assaulted. 

Recovery for former hostages is challenging

At Schneider Children’s Medical Center, which treated those released from Hamas captivity, staff worried about re-feeding, the risk of overwhelming malnourished bodies. Many had gone hungry in captivity and had gotten used to tiny portions, the Washington Post reported. While at the hospital, mothers held their children close, still in a panic that they would be retaken. 

Initially, “everyone was in this kind of high, alongside a deep sadness and mistrust,” Efrat Bron-Harlev, the head of Schneider, told the Washington Post. Hostages had been drugged with clonazepam upon release so they would look happy, an official from Israel’s Health Ministry told the Knesset. As the drugs wore off, nightmares, anxiety, and tantrums became the new normal. 

Since Agam’s return, she has visited her old home and has learned of what happened on October 7. Returning to Israel is still hard for her to comprehend, even after she has been in Israel for nearly the same amount of time she was in captivity.