Insufficient food, in isolation, in the dark: despite the discretion demanded by the Israeli authorities, some details are gradually emerging on the way in which the hostages kidnapped during the Hamas attack in Israel on the 7th were treated in the Gaza Strip. october.
This unprecedented bloody attack on Israeli soil triggered Israeli reprisals on the Gaza Strip, in the hands of the Islamist movement, with the Israeli army relentlessly bombing the Palestinian territory until a truce came into force on November 24 .
None of the 81 Israeli or foreign hostages released since the start of the truce have so far publicly expressed their conditions of captivity. And Israeli authorities have asked hospitals to remain discreet on the subject, for fear it would harm those still reclusive.
But caregivers or relatives provided some information.
According to the Dr Ronit Zaidenstein of Shamir Hospital, the 17 Thai hostages who were examined there upon their release were given only a “very poorly nutritious diet” during their captivity.
“The people we admitted lost a significant amount of their weight in a very short time — 10% or more.”
The Israeli military estimates that around 240 people were forcibly taken into the Gaza Strip on October 7, with around a third released in exchange for the release of 180 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Quoted by the information site Ynetin an interview published Monday, the DD Margarita Mashavi of Wolfson Hospital — where many hostages passed through upon release — said those she spoke to told her they had been held in the basement.
“We only gave them two hours of light” per day, she explained, in this interview since deleted from the site.
In solitary confinement
Patients told him that meals consisted of “canned rice, hummus and beans and sometimes cheese with bread, but nothing else.” No fruits or vegetables, no eggs.”
Subjected to several weeks of Israeli strikes, the Gaza Strip and its inhabitants are themselves largely deprived of supplies and the UN World Food Program (WFP) warned on Tuesday of a “high risk of famine”.
“Even when they asked for a pen or pencil to write to pass the time, the Hamas men refused for fear that they would pass on information. They were without television, without reading and therefore spent the time chatting with each other,” also indicated the DD Mashavi.
Her employer refused to allow her to grant an AFP interview.
Esther Yaeli, grandmother of Etan, a 12-year-old Franco-Israeli boy released on Monday, told the news site walla that the boy had been held in solitary confinement for 16 days.
“The days he was alone were horrible,” she said. “Now Etan seems very withdrawn.”
Two hostages were hospitalized upon their release, including Elma Avraham, 84, who was rushed to hospital by helicopter and placed in intensive care. Initially saying they feared for his life “due to the lack of adequate care” for his age, doctors announced Tuesday that his condition had improved.
Hagar Mizrahi, head of the hostage file at the Ministry of Health, told AFP that captives had been held in “horrible conditions” with “clear medical consequences”.
She refused to say more, citing medical confidentiality.
“Some of the things I’ve heard over the last few days break your heart,” she simply explained, without going into detail. “They are monstrous in every way. »