Former Israeli hostage Ori Megidish shared details of the sexual harassment she endured in Hamas captivity, and spoke about her best friend Noa Marciano, a fellow hostage who was killed at Shifa Hospital, in a Thursday interview with Channel 12.
Megidish described that in Gaza, a Hamas terrorist got close to her, and she instantly felt compelled to tell him she had a partner so he would leave her. Previously, she told her captor that she didn't have a partner. "I told him that I had lied and that I actually do have a boyfriend, but it had the opposite effect. He started getting closer to me and touching me, even though I clearly told him I didn’t want that," she revealed.
"He just disgusted me so much. It took me a few months to come to terms with the fact that what happened was sexual harassment. I needed time before I could tell my mother and my partner. My mother only knows part of what happened during the captivity, and I told my father just a few days ago," Megidish shared.
"I was in captivity for 23 days, which felt like years. The whole 23 days, I was scared I would die."
The former Israeli hostage described that on October 7, she saw "over 30-40 terrorists enter the mobile shelter in euphoria," and that the Hamas terrorists looked "energetic." Even though she doesn't "even" remember what the Hamas invaders looked like, Megidish recalls they were smiling: "I remember their smiles."
Survival, silence, and sorrow
Megidish was an IDF observer at the Nahal Oz base and was rescued from Hamas captivity during an IDF operation at the end of October 2023.
When Megidish returned from captivity, she was waiting for Noa Marciano, her best friend, who Hamas also kidnapped on October 7. "When I came back, it was hard that I was here and she [Noa] was there [in Gaza]. I was waiting for her to come back [from captivity] and talk about it."
"She [Noa] was in great pain and suffering, and one of the doctors in Gaza decided to end their life. It was his decision. I went to visit her family, and it felt unjust; it was uncomfortable because I was at the same time celebrating my release."