Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Freed Israeli Hostage Arbel Yehoud Details Near-Daily Abuse and Suicide Attempts in Gaza

She says protest footage alongside smuggled notes helped her choose to live.

Overview

  • In new interviews, Yehoud says she was sexually assaulted almost every day during 482 days in captivity after being abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023.
  • She reports prolonged isolation, starvation and repeated physical and psychological abuse, including two broken ribs, while declining to disclose some details.
  • Yehoud says she attempted suicide three times and recounts that seeing drone images of Hostages Square protests with her and Ariel Cunio’s names halted one attempt.
  • She and Cunio exchanged smuggled letters for months until captors threatened to kill them if they continued, according to their Channel 12 account.
  • Yehoud was released on January 30, 2025, and Cunio on October 13, 2025, after 738 days; both describe ongoing trauma and efforts to rebuild their lives.