Israel’s Ministry of Well being launched a chilling report revealing the brutal situations endured by 12 hostages lately free of Hamas captivity in Gaza on Tuesday. The report exposes a sample of extreme bodily and psychological abuse, hunger, and medical neglect confronted by women and men held hostage because the October 2023 battle.
“This can be a tough report back to learn, much more tough than the issues I’m detailing right here,” mentioned Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the ministry’s medical division, who authored the report. “The abductees suffered starvation, abuse, beatings, extreme violence, and tying up—and the well being situation of a few of them may be very critical.”
The survivors described relentless sexual harassment, humiliation, and intimidation. One feminine captive recounted months of abuse by her captors, whereas each women and men confronted degrading remarks and fixed threats. The ministry raised critical issues about lasting harm to the reproductive well being of feminine survivors.
Hostages had been confined in cramped underground tunnels—generally simply two sq. meters—with excessive overcrowding or complete isolation lasting over a yr. Hygiene was just about nonexistent; captives had been allowed to bathe solely as soon as each few months, typically sharing a single towel. Girls’s private hygiene wants had been solely ignored.
Deliberate hunger was routine. Prisoners obtained just one meager meal each day—usually stale pita or rice typically infested with worms—and restricted, contaminated water. Some endured complete days with out meals. This excessive deprivation led to dramatic weight reduction, muscle losing, vitamin deficiencies together with scurvy, weakened bones, and quite a few different critical well being points, the report mentioned.
“The intense hunger endangers all their bodily programs and threatens their lives. Hunger damages the nervous system, mind, coronary heart, lungs, and immune system. Any an infection might show deadly.” Mizrahi warned, “Every day in captivity places their survival at better threat.”
Bodily accidents had been widespread. Many hostages returned to Israel with gunshot wounds and shrapnel accidents sustained in the course of the preliminary abduction. Medical care was largely absent or insufficient, forcing some prisoners to deal with their very own wounds, generally dropping consciousness. Infectious illnesses, respiratory illnesses, and pores and skin situations went untreated, inflicting hallucinations and persistent ache.
Captives lived underneath fixed menace. The report recounted how guards brandished weapons and detonated grenades close by to unfold terror. A number of hostages had been sure so tightly they misplaced sensation of their limbs. Many witnessed the brutal killing of members of the family and buddies to govern and break their spirits.
The report additionally cited profound psychological trauma amongst survivors. Many endure from post-traumatic stress dysfunction, together with nightmares, flashbacks, nervousness, and deep survivor’s guilt. The report notes that psychological signs could worsen over time, underscoring the necessity for long-term care.
In gentle of those findings, the Ministry urgently referred to as on the Worldwide Committee of the Crimson Cross to supply speedy medical assist, meals, and water to the remaining hostages in Gaza and to facilitate their launch for correct therapy.
Roughly 1,200 individuals had been killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners had been taken hostage in Hamas’s assaults on Israeli communities close to the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 50 remaining hostages, round 30 are believed to be useless.