For 482 days in Gaza, Arbel Yehoud says she was sexually assaulted “almost every day.”
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, the 30-year-old former hostage described prolonged sexual violence, physical abuse and psychological torment during her captivity after being abducted on October 7, 2023.
The assault, she stressed, was not isolated.
It was routine.
Held in extended isolation, starved, and beaten — suffering two broken ribs — Yehoud said the abuse became a daily reality. “I tried to take my life several times. I felt that I couldn’t go on,” she told Channel 12. She attempted suicide three times during her captivity. “There were moments when I thought that was the only way out.”
This is the reality the world is doing its best to ignore.
Systematic sexual violence against a civilian hostage.
Arbel Yehoud seen in a screenshot of a propaganda video released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on January 27, 2025, just days before her release.
Yehoud said thoughts of her partner, Ariel Cunio — abducted alongside her and later separated — kept her alive. In the early months, they managed to smuggle short love notes through intermediaries. That contact was cut off when captors threatened to harm her if Cunio mentioned her name again.
For more than a year, each lived without knowing whether the other was alive.
Yehoud was released on January 30, 2025, forced to walk alone through a crowd of armed gunmen. Even then, she said, she struggled to believe she was free.
Gaza terrorists parade Arbel Yehoud through a raucous mob in southern Gaza during her release on January 30, 2025. Photo by Abed Rahim Khaatib/Flash90
Cunio was freed months later after 738 days in captivity.
They are now rebuilding their lives — navigating trauma, sleepless nights and flashbacks. But her testimony stands as a stark indictment of what captivity in Gaza meant for at least one Israeli woman: Daily sexual assault. Psychological destruction. Survival against intent.
Hamas and its abetters in the mainstream media said the hostages were treated well. She has now told us otherwise. The question is, who will the world believe: Hamas, or Arbel Yehoud?
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
