Freed hostage Romi Gonen says Hamas offered to free her in exchange for silence about sexual assault
Gonen - who spent 471 in captivity in Gaza - told Channel 12 that Izz al-Din al-Haddad, currently the head of Hamas' military wing in the Strip, spoke with her about the sexual assaults she experienced. 'I don't know how if he really intended to get me out,' she said
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Gonen - who spent 471 in captivity in Gaza - told Channel 12 that Izz al-Din al-Haddad, currently the head of Hamas' military wing in the Strip, spoke with her about the sexual assaults she experienced. 'I don't know how if he really intended to get me out,' she said
Former Israeli hostage Romi Gonen Credit: Screengrab from Channel 12's 'Uvda' show.
Former Israeli hostage Romi Gonen Credit: Screengrab from Channel 12's 'Uvda' show.
January 02, 2026Updated:December 26, 2025
Former hostage Romi Gonen says that a senior Hamas commander offered to move her to the top of the organization's release list in exchange for her silence over the sexual assaults she experienced during her 471-day captivity.
In the second part of an interview aired Thursday evening on Keshet 12's "Uvda" ("Fact") program, Gonen said that she spoke by phone with Izz al-Din al-Haddad, currently the head of Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip, about the sexual assaults.
"At some point, they came and took me to the commanders' room upstairs. They told me to put on a hijab," she said. "I thought they were going to kill me; I was afraid of this conversation. There was a telephone waiting for me there, and someone said 'Hello' to me in Hebrew. I knew he was a high ranking commander... He said to me, 'I understand a situation happened, I want to hear what happened'."
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"I told him everything," Gonen added. "He told me he would find him (the attacker), and also that because of what happened to me he would put me at the top of the list to go home. on the 55th day of the war. He told me he wanted to make some kind of deal with me."
