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JERUSALEM — In a powerful and emotionally charged testimony before the Knesset on Monday, Ilana Gritzewsky, a former hostage of Hamas, urged Israeli lawmakers to summon the courage to sign a deal that would free the remaining Israeli hostages and bring an end to the war in Gaza.
Gritzewsky, 31, was one of the hostages released during the November 2023 ceasefire. Speaking at a hearing of the Knesset’s Foreign Policy and Public Diplomacy Subcommittee, which focused on Hamas’s use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, she recounted harrowing details of her 55-day captivity. Her boyfriend, Matan Zangauker, remains in Hamas captivity and is believed to be alive.
“Fifty-five days of hell that there are no words to describe,” Gritzewsky told lawmakers. “I became a piece of property… I was left in underwear and a bra whenever they wanted. The hellish deeds are etched into my body.”
The session followed the release of a report by the Dinah Project, which documents Hamas’s systemic use of sexual violence during and after the October 7, 2023, assault on Israel. Three co-authors of the report presented alongside Gritzewsky, calling for international prosecution of Hamas for war crimes.
Gritzewsky did not hold back in criticizing international women’s organizations for their silence and accused Israeli leaders of political cowardice. “You’re the ones who have to explain to the hostage families why they’re still there,” she said, directly addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and fellow lawmakers.
In her plea, Gritzewsky emphasized the human toll — both of the hostages still in Gaza and of the Israeli soldiers fighting to recover them. “There’s a way to save all the soldiers and all the hostages — a deal that’s on the table. Enough sacrificing them,” she said.
Her testimony follows growing public pressure in Israel to prioritize a hostage deal. Demonstrations have intensified, with families of hostages and supporters gathering regularly outside the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Gritzewsky, who immigrated to Israel from Mexico, said she believed in Israel’s founding promise: that no citizen would be abandoned. “I’m not asking for mercy. I demand responsibility,” she told the committee. “Sometimes making a deal demands more courage than continuing a war.”
As negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release continue in Qatar with U.S. backing, Gritzewsky’s words have added urgency to the national conversation. For many Israelis, her voice is a sobering reminder of the stakes — and the human lives still hanging in the balance.