Yarden Roman-Gat, a resident of Kibbutz Be'eri, was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7. She was released as part of the sixth exchange deal on November 29 and shared her experience with Lesley Stahl for CBS's "60 Minutes". A significant part of her story focuses on sexual violence, a complicated and painful topic that most abductees try to avoid. For Yarden, the fear of being raped was one of the most intense experiences.
During the massacre in the kibbutz, Yarden pretended to be dead, but the terrorists found her and took her captive. Yarden's husband and daughter managed to escape. "So they said, 'No, she's not dead. There is no blood. So pick her up.' And they grabbed my arms and started dragging me on the ground back towards the car. I was wearing pajamas, and the pajama pants got pulled down while they dragged me, and it was one of the scariest moments," Yarden recounted. "I was afraid that even if they didn't have sexual intentions, they might have now as I was half-naked."
Yarden was terrified of being raped: "Fortunately for me, they didn't do that; their goal was to take me to Gaza. "When the car with the kidnappers and the hostage entered Gaza, there were crowds of jubilant people on the streets. "My kidnappers displayed me to these celebrating crowds as a trophy, as their prey, as an object; I wasn't a person to any of them," Roman-Gat revealed.
Most Israeli hostages were taken into tunnels, where Hamas held them for more than two months. Many are still there. Yarden never stayed in the tunnels; she was hidden in houses in the Gaza Strip. There were other Israelis, and a guard always accompanied her. They changed guards, but they were always men. "I couldn't address any of them - it could cost me my life," Yarden said. They gave her a hijab to cover most of her body, and the prisoner felt that this fabric was her only protection.
When asked if she tried to talk to her guards to establish human relations to make them want to protect her, Yarden replied firmly, "They won't want to protect you as a person; they're just guarding you as prey." Yarden shared that she is willing to talk only about what she experienced herself and will not disclose what other hostages told her when she finally met them the day before her release. Her husband's sister, Carmel Gat, is still held captive by Hamas - so these days, Yarden is doing everything possible to continue drawing the world's attention to Israeli hostages to secure their release.
