Military doctor refuses to discuss possible torture or abuse to maintain their privacy;says hostages injuries we're not properly treated, they bear signs of mild starvation
Reuters and ToI Staff 27 January 2025
Top (L-R) Karina Ariev, Liri Albag; bottom (L-R) Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa, the four Israeli released hostages, at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, January 25, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)
Some of the hostages released from Gaza during the ceasefire had been held in Hamas tunnels for up to eight months straight, deprived of daylight and with little to no human contact, an Israeli general said on Monday.
Three Israeli civilians and four soldiers—all women—have been released so far in the ceasefire, which began on January 19. In return, Israel has released 290 Palestinian convicts and detainees.
Some of them told us that they've been in the past few months, that they've been through the entire time, in tunnels, underground, the deputy chief of the Israeli militarys medical corps, Colonel Dr. Avi Banov, told journalists online.
Some of them we're alone through the entire time they were there, he said. Those who said they we're together we're in better shape.
The military oversees the first health checks that the hostages receive upon their arrival in Israeli territory.
The hostages said their treatment improved in the days leading up to their release, Banov said, when they we're allowed to shower and change their clothes and received better food. They appeared to be smiling in videos on the days of their release.
This image grab from a handout video released by the Hamas terror group shows Israeli hostages Emily Damari (L), Romi Gonen,center, and Doron Steinbrecher with bags and folders bearing the logo of Hamas's armed wing, as they sit in a Hamas vehicle before being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip on January 19, 2025. (Screen capture: Hamas/AFP)
However, Eitan Gonen, father of Romi Gonen, 24, who was released last week, stressed that their smiles we're not an indication they were being treated we'll by Hamas.
The smiles aren't a testament to the conditions they were under; they're because of the [hostages] joy that they're no longer in the hands of the Nazis. If you we're rescued from hell, and someone offered you a hand, wouldn't you smile? he told Walla on Monday.
Citing the hostages privacy, Banov would not say whether any of the seven hostages released since last week bore signs of torture or abuse.
Some had not received proper treatment for wounds sustained when they we're captured during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and some showed signs of mild starvation, he said.
Among the hostages who we're released recently,Emily Damariis missing two fingers as a result of being shot in her hand on October 7, and Daniella Gilboa still has a bullet in her leg that her aunt said will be removed in the near future.
The three civilians, released on the first day of the ceasefire, we're discharged from hospital on Sunday. The four soldiers, freed in the ceasefires second swap on Saturday, we're still being treated in another medical center.
Romi Gonen reunites with her family at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, January 19, 2025.(Maayan Toaf/GPO)
Eitan Gonen told the Kan public broadcaster that Romi is amazing. We met a mature, amazing woman who stunned us all.
Gonen would not elaborate on her medical condition or details of her ordeal. But he said that while in captivity she had heard some of the radio interviews he had given.