in Israel, the trauma of children released by Hamas

How are the children freed by Hamas? This week marks the first month of regained freedom for the first hostages of the Islamist organization. Today, 121 of them are free, including 36 children. Among them, Erez and Sahar, two Franco-Israelis.

They are free, they have found their mother, but nothing will ever be the same again for Erez, 12 years old, and Sahar, 16 years old. These two Franco-Israelis were kidnapped during Hamas attacks on October 7 against their kibbutz of Nir Hoz.

Free since November 27, they are trying to rebuild themselves. “Their father is still in Gaza and I remind you that, upon their return to Israel, they learned of the death of their grandmother Carmela, and their first cousin Noya. They were both burned. Obviously they can’t be okay“, immediately wants to clarify Olivier Jaoui, a cousin of the family.

“Sahar, who is 16, says at times she feels like she is six, because she is afraid of everything. They are afraid of the dark, they are afraid of sleeping… Erez, the 12-year-old boy, is particularly afraid. Even a closed door worries him. When he goes to the bathroom, for example, he says to his mother, ‘I’m afraid there’s someone behind the door.’ And that someone is Hamas because they saw the corpses of people they knew. So obviously, they remain very traumatized and very worried about their father“, explains Olivier Jaoui to franceinfo.

Thirty-eight inflatable buoys in the reception hall

Before joining a charming hotel in the seaside resort of Eilat, on the Red Sea, with all the other members of the Nir Oz kibbutz, Erez and Sahar passed through the Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petah Tikva, near from Tel Aviv. They were taken care of with 17 other children by Doctor Rotem Goldberg.

“Some recount their nightmares: they dream of the day they were kidnapped, others think of a member of their family who was murdered or kidnapped… It is a traumatic event. There is also the moment when they were released, when the crowd banged on the car doors. It is also the type of event that leaves significant trauma. And then there is the whole duration of captivity, when they had to remain silent, the cries, the hunger“, describes the specialist.

“Some children wake up screaming and we have to calm them down, show them we are there.”

Rotem Goldderg

at franceinfo

In the reception hall of this brand new hospital, 38 inflatable buoys have been arranged in a circle, 36 pink flamingos to represent the released children and two yellow ducks for those who are missing, the Bibas brothers, Ariel, 4 years old, and Kfir, a 10 month old baby.