The Israeli Ministry of Health has submitted a detailed report to the UN, which provides a chilling view of the atrocities of Hamas according to the testimonies of the abductees who returned from Gaza. The report describes the brutal abuse the abductees endured and the devastating effects of the experience on their health, both physical and mental.
The abductees experienced a mask of horrors that included physical violence, deliberate starvation, poor sanitary conditions and severe medical neglect. The report states that women, men and children reported beatings, isolation, denial of food and water, intentional burns, and a regimen of sexual and mental abuse.
About half of the hostages reported that they were kept in prolonged starvation conditions, with a significant decrease in their weight – between 8 and 15 kg on average, and even more in children. The poor diet damaged their immune system, delayed their recovery from injuries and increased the risk of serious metabolic disorders. Some returned With life-threatening infections, such as shigella and clostridium.
Beyond the physical effects, the abductees suffered severe psychological abuse, which included isolation, exposure to violence, threats and forced separation from their families. Children were separated from their parents, sometimes after witnessing the murder of their family members. Both women and men experienced sexual abuse and intentional humiliation.
Upon their return to Israel, many of the abductees presented complex mental symptoms such as anxiety attacks, feelings of guilt (“victim guilt”) and an inability to adapt to reality. Mental health professionals have noted that many of them suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) with reactions varying between periods of hyperactivity and deep depression.
In the report, the Ministry of Health also presented therapeutic models for the rehabilitation of the returned abductees, which were based on long-term research and extensive clinical experience. The rehabilitation includes two main stages: intensive treatment in the hospitals immediately upon release, and then continuous accompaniment in the community, through dedicated clinics and multidisciplinary teams.
The treatment model emphasizes personal adjustment, while understanding the special needs of each abductee – from those who have lost their families to the elderly and children. Researchers and professionals emphasize that rehabilitation is not a linear process, but includes ups and downs, especially in the reality where the remaining abductees are still in captivity.
The Minister of Health, Uriel Bosso, and the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, emphasized the importance of the report as a living testimony to the atrocities committed by Hamas. According to them, the report is a call to the world to wake up, to pressure Hamas to release the remaining abductees and to use diplomatic and moral measures to put an end to the acts of cruelty.
“These are intolerable acts that require the world to wake up and act,” Bosso said, “I call on the international community to use all means to put an end to this cruelty and return the abductees home now. This is a moral and human obligation and the time for its realization is running out.”
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the great difficulty of those who returned from captivity and those who are still there,” wrote Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the medical division at the Ministry of Health. Hamas. From the evidence, I can say that the physical and mental condition of all the abductees in Gaza is difficult and therefore the utmost must be done in order to act and bring them. Without the return of the abductees, the families and communities will not be able to heal and return to normalcy.”
Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations Danny Danon In response: “The UN and the international community are trying to continue their agenda, to forget the torture and the atrocities of the October Seventh. We will never forget the atrocities and we will not stop until we return all the abductees home.”
Dr Alice Edwards Requested an official comment from the State of Israel regarding the report that examines the torture and atrocities experienced by the abductees since the Seventh of October, which also includes the issue of sexual violence during wartime. The response included many testimonies of the abductees who returned from Hamas captivity. The report contains harsh descriptions of the atrocities that the abductees experienced including sexual abuse, starvation, neglect, humiliation and above all the cruelty of the Hamas terrorists.