(Jerusalem) “I am a soldier of the Israeli forces and I am here to take you home. You are safe.” Israel is preparing methodically and carefully to recover its first child hostages, potentially traumatized by their detention and the conditions of their kidnapping.
From the manual on psychological trauma to basic medical support, even the soldiers’ first words, when they come into contact with the children, have been carefully chosen. Because experts emphasize that the little ones may take a long time to recover from this terrible ordeal and that it is appropriate, at the very least, to take care of the exit.
According to the truce agreement which was to come into force Friday morning at 7 a.m. local time, a first group of 13 hostages will be released in the afternoon against Palestinian prisoners, after seven weeks of captivity.
At the request of the authorities, child abuse specialists from the Haruv Institute in Jerusalem have prepared guidelines on how best to apprehend minors upon their release.
“When the soldiers meet the child,” the manual emphasizes, “they should introduce themselves politely and say reassuring words such as: ‘I’m here to take care of you’.”
Emergency medical care aside, they are supposed to bring them whatever food they want, from pizza to chicken schnitzel. Failing that, they must come with bread, cheese and fruit.
Many of them have lost loved ones.
But it is not up to the military to answer for what happened to their brother, sister or parents on October 7, when fighters from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas undertook the worst attack on Israel since the foundation of the state in 1948.
And this, even if the soldiers know the truth. Because they will have to stick to the essentials: “my job is to take you to Israel, to a safe place, where people you know will answer all your questions.”
Obviously, all access to the media is prohibited.
The manual is based on experiences accumulated in the past, notably in Nigeria, with children kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram, explains Ayelet Noam-Rosenthal, one of the authors.
“We need elements of common language” compatible with trauma, she believes. “We must do everything not to cause additional trauma.”
“Dark and scary” place
Many questions remain unanswered about what kind of support little ones will need.
“No one knows if the children and parents will be released separately or together,” explains Moty Cristal, a retired officer. “It is not known whether the women were subjected to sexual violence in captivity.”
And “given the nature of the attacks, we can only prepare for the worst.”
Around 240 people were kidnapped on the day of the attack on military posts, villages, kibbutzim and a music festival. AFP confirmed the identities of 210 of them.
At least 35 are children, 18 of whom are under 11 years old. Some people’s birthdays occurred in captivity.
“Children were taken away right after seeing their parents brutally murdered,” Zion Hagai, president of the Israel Medical Association, told local press.
They were then taken away. “Not only are they experiencing this trauma, but they are experiencing it in a strange, dark and scary place.”
“It’s beyond my imagination”
One of the youngest hostages is Kfir Bibas, a nine-month-old baby, kidnapped with his brother Ariel and his parents Yarden and Shiri from Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the border with Gaza. Shiri appears in a video, hugging her children, surrounded by armed men.
The Haruv Institute handbook and experts emphasize that health professionals themselves will be vulnerable.
Ofrit Shapira-Berman, psychoanalyst and professor at the Hebrew University, received a session with a teenager who, on October 7, had heard his sisters screaming on the phone before being shot.
She recalls in a video posted on the website of an Israeli think tank: “I’m sitting there and trying to use my experience to help him.”
“This boy will need us for many years,” she assures. “I do the best I can and then I come out and I start crying because it’s beyond my imagination. »