The Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s health team on Wednesday released a report warning of the dire health conditions of surviving hostages in the Gaza Strip as well as the mental state of their relatives in Israel.
The health team assessed that some of the remaining hostages have lost around half of their body weight due to the lack of food in captivity, which will limit their chances of survival in the upcoming winter.
The hostages’ loss of body weight and muscle puts them in danger of frostbite, infections and hypothermia, according to the team. Without access to proper vitamins, hostages are also in danger of life-threatening heart problems, they said.
In addition to physical trauma, hostages face deep mental health issues due to the conditions of their captivity, including PTSD, depression and anxiety. Some may be experiencing suicidal thoughts, the report said.
Without access to visits by the Red Cross or proper health assistance, hostages face severe threats to their lives, the team added.
Their relatives are meanwhile suffering “ambiguous loss,” whereby an individual is left searching for answers due to a lack of closure or understanding over the absence of a loved one. They suffer chronic anxiety, depression and difficulty sleeping, the report said.
FILE: Members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad release Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 28, 2023. (Flash90)
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
IDF hostage envoy said to warn ‘conditions are deteriorating’
Echoing the warnings of the forum, the Israeli military’s envoy to negotiations aimed at freeing hostages held in Gaza has warned cabinet ministers that time was running out for the captives, Channel 13 reported Wednesday.
The report said that Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon said “stagnation” could not be accepted on the issue. He noted that Hamas has “taken a beating everywhere” in Gaza, and that “winter is arriving and conditions of the hostages are deteriorating.”
The general was quoted saying the IDF’s achievements have created conditions for a hostage deal.
This was also the stance voiced last week to hostage families by recently ousted defense minister Yoav Gallant, who suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kept the war going for political reasons and not due to security concerns, preventing a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon attends a ceremony at the IDF Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem on July 8, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
In quickly leaked remarks from a Likud faction meeting late last month, Netanyahu could be heard ruling out ending the war in exchange for the hostages, in what has further complicated negotiations. His critics have claimed his refusal to end the war stems from concerns that this would lead to the collapse of his coalition, which includes far-right elements who want the fighting to continue and for settlements to be established in northern Gaza.
While US officials have told The Times of Israel that the US has privately fumed at Netanyahu for adding conditions to an Israeli proposal that scuttled a deal in July, Washington has publicly placed more of the blame on Hamas for the ongoing impasse.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasted Hamas’s rejection of recent proposals for a short-term deal in remarks to reporters on Wednesday, adding that the terror group’s refusal to engage in recent negotiations is what led Qatar to tell Hamas’s officials in Doha to leave the country last week. No timeline has been given for the Hamas leaders’ departure, however.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
