Speaking before the United Nations, Keith and Aviva Siegal give harrowing testimony about life in captivity in Gaza.
By Rachel Avraham
Former Israeli hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel, who were held captive by Hamas, appeared before the UN Committee Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) in Geneva on Wednesday, providing harrowing testimony about the humiliation, violence, and sexual abuse they and other hostages endured in captivity, Arutz Sheva reported.
“For 50 days, I was with Aviva until her release,” Keith Siegal said. “After that, I was sometimes held with other prisoners, sometimes in complete isolation. Ultimately, I was alone without any other hostages for six months, a 60-year-old man, completely alone, not knowing the fate of my loved ones.”
In his testimony, Keith Siegal recounted horrific living conditions in Gaza: “Our captors compared intimate parts of me to another hostage; they threatened us with knives, leaving us to beg to go to the bathroom. We would wait until we were absolutely about to explode so that we wouldn’t anger the terrorists. I was denied the most basic human rights. I was starved, denied water. More than once, terrorists forced me to strip naked in front of them and shaved my body.”
Aviva Siegal testified: “”For 51 days, I was sure that I am going to die all the time. I was threatened, I was starved, I didn’t get enough water. I lost 10 kilos in 51 days. I used to hide food for Keith. I could see Keith. He was losing weight. The terrorists were putting on weight. They were eating in front of us…chewing all the time.”
According to her, “One of the days, one of the girls went to the bathroom, and when she came back, she was shaking. She’s young…and after a while she told us a Hamas terrorist touched her whole body and did whatever he wanted. She was so scared because he said to her that if she said anything about it, he would kill her.”
Aviva recounted: “I am witness to one of the girls who was with us, that the Hamas terrorist came to the bathroom, told her to get undressed, came into the shower with her, and forced her to do oral sex. And she had to smile after she did that too. I am witness of one of the girls who was forced to take a shower, she is 16 years old, she’s never ever showed anybody her body, the Hamas terrorist just stood there and stared and smiled.”
According to Aviva Siegal, “I had diarrhea for most of the time I was there in Gaza because they gave us dirty water to drink…I was scared to go to the bathroom. I am 62 years old, I had to ask for permission to go to the bathroom.”
“I was forced to pray to Allah,” she said. “And when they forced me to do that, I remember thinking to myself, to which Allah are they praying to? The one who’s looking at them, the way they are treating us, and not giving us any human rights?”
“People on the 7th [of October] died slowly,” she added. “While they were talking to their families, disappearing from life. When I came back, I heard so many stories, and they were videoed by Hamas because they were proud of themselves. They played soccer with heads of humans.” She also discussed how they cut off the breasts of women and played with them.
Photo from AIJAC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULBymemX3UQ
