(Jerusalem) Plastic chairs as beds. Bread and rice meal. Hours spent waiting for the toilet. As the hostages return to Israel after seven weeks of captivity by Hamas, reports of their conditions of detention have begun to trickle in.
The 58 hostages freed under a ceasefire agreement over the past three days have remained largely out of public view, with most still in the country’s hospitals.
Nearly two months after Hamas militants dragged them into Gaza in a bloody cross-border attack on Israel that also killed 1,200 people, most of the freed hostages appear to be in stable physical condition.
Information about the conditions of their captivity has been tightly controlled, but family members of the freed hostages have begun sharing details of their loved ones’ experiences.
PHOTO MANU FERNANDEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Merav Raviv shows a photo of a Hamas captive relative, October 26, 2023.
Merav Raviv, three of whose relatives were released by Hamas on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and ate mainly rice and bread. She said her cousin and aunt, Keren and Ruth Munder, each lost about seven pounds in just 50 days. His nephew, Ohad Munder-Zichri, 9, also looked thin.
Mme Raviv said his freed family members told him they slept on rows of chairs close together in a room that resembled a reception area. They said they sometimes had to wait hours to go to the bathroom.
Bittersweet release
Adva Adar, the granddaughter of released 85-year-old hostage Yaffa Adar, said her grandmother had also lost weight.
“She counted the days of her captivity,” she relates. She came back and she said, “I know I’ve been here 50 days.” »
Mme Adar said his grandmother was taken captive, convinced her family members were dead, only to learn they had survived. Yet her release was bittersweet: she also discovered that her home had been ravaged by militants.
“For an 85-year-old woman, losing the house where she raised your children, where she had her memories, her photo albums, her clothes… testified Mme Adar. She has nothing, and in her old age she needs to start again. She mentioned that it was difficult for her. »
In the 50 days since the hostages were captured, Israel devastated the Gaza Strip with a ground and air offensive that killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. As part of the current four-day ceasefire, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of 150 Palestinian security prisoners and an increase in humanitarian aid. enclave hit.
PHOTO AMIT ELKAYAM, THE NEW YORK TIMES
A helicopter bringing hostages lands at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel.
Eighteen foreign nationals, mostly Thais, were also released.
Eleven more hostages are expected to be released on Monday, the last day of the ceasefire, leaving nearly 180 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities said they were ready to extend the truce by one day for 10 hostages released by Hamas.
Well treated
The fullest picture of life under Hamas captivity was conveyed by Yocheved Lipschitz, 85, a hostage who was released before the current ceasefire. Upon his release, Mme Lipschitz said she was held in tunnels that stretched beneath Gaza “like a spider’s web.” She said her captors “told us that these are people who believe in the Koran and would not harm us.”
Mme Lifshitz said the captives were treated well and received medical care, including medication. Guards kept conditions clean, she said. The hostages were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita, she said, adding that her captors ate the same thing.
There are indications that the recently released hostages were also being held in hiding. Eyal Nouri, the nephew of Adina Moshe, 72, who was released on Friday, said his aunt “had to adapt to the sunlight” because she had been in the dark for weeks.
“She was in complete darkness,” explained Mr. Nouri. She walked with her eyes down because she was in a tunnel. She wasn’t used to daylight. And during her captivity, she was disconnected… from the outside world. »
Mr Nouri said his aunt did not know she was going to be released until the very last moment.
“Until she saw the Red Cross,” he said. That’s when she realized, okay, these horrible seven weeks are over. »
She learned that her husband had been killed by the militants and that her son’s family had miraculously survived.
Aftereffects
Doctors have warned of the heavy psychological toll of captivity. Israel has made counseling and other support available to those who have been released.
But most of the freed hostages appear to be in good physical condition, able to walk and talk normally.
However, at least two of them required more serious medical attention. One hostage released on Sunday, Alma Abraham, 84, was rushed to Israel’s Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba in life-threatening condition.
The hospital director said she suffered from a pre-existing condition that had not been properly treated in captivity. Another young hostage was using crutches in a video released by Hamas on Saturday. The girl grimaced at her captors as she boarded a Red Cross vehicle that took her out of the besieged enclave.
Yair Rotem, whose 12-year-old niece Hila Rotem-Shoshani was released Sunday, said he had to keep reminding her that she didn’t need to whisper.
“They always told them to whisper and be quiet, so I keep telling her now that she can raise her voice,” Mr. Rotem said. He added that Hila, who will celebrate her 13e birthday Monday, slept well on his first night back in Israel and has an appetite.
Ohad Munder was surrounded by friends shortly after his release, as they celebrated his month-belated ninth birthday over ice cream and pizza in a hospital ward.
Ohad’s friend, Eitan Vilchik, told Israel’s Channel 13 that his friend was “emotionally strong” and already able to answer their questions about what he ate and what happened to him while he was in captivity. But Ohad’s friends declined to share details, saying they wanted to respect his privacy.