Hostages once held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip detailed brutal acts of torture and violence perpetrated against them in captivity in a new report prepared for the U.N. by the Israeli government.
The report, dated Dec. 23, draws on testimony of hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks who were subsequently released or set free. Among other abuses, the prisoners testified that the Hamas terrorists subjected them to sexual assaults, brutal psychological torture, branding with hot objects, deliberate starvation and more.
“The captivity was designed to torture the hostages psychologically, break their morale, and make them easier to control,” the report reads. “Their time in captivity was marked by intense trauma: family separation, immobilization, arbitrary and frequent transfers, and exposure to further violence. Some captives witnessed the killing of other captives, further deepening their sense of helplessness and hopelessness.”
Israel Hostages Report by Nick Pope on Scribd
“About half of the returned hostages described being deliberately starved during their captivity. They were given a poor diet, which often led to hunger that worsened over time,” the report states. “In addition to inadequate nutrition, they were kept in dark spaces, increasing the risk of vitamin D deficiency. This malnutrition resulted in an average weight loss of 8- 15 kg (10-17% of body weight), with children losing an average of 10%, and in one extreme case, a girl lost 18% of her body weight.”
Other hostages interviewed for the report, including two young children, described being deliberately branded by the terrorists with hot objects. One female hostage said she was sexually assaulted at gunpoint, while other females said that their captors would watch as they forced them to undress or be tied down to beds as the terrorists ogled them.
Male hostages were routinely beaten and locked in confined, dark spaces while bound at the hands and feet, in some cases not having access to restrooms and being forced to soil themselves, the report states.
Hamas absconded to the Gaza Strip with 251 hostages on Oct. 7 after murdering approximately 1,200 people, according to The Times of Israel. Currently, 96 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, including the remains of at least 34 people who are known to have died as hostages.
The report further describes how many of the hostages that have returned to Israel are left with severe psychological and emotional scars, in some cases continuing to behave as though they were still in brutal captivity despite being back in Israel.
The report was published both in English and in Hebrew, and the Hebrew language version contains more graphic details than the English language version, according to The Times of Israel.
The Hebrew language iteration of the report states that two teenage hostages were forced to engage in sexual acts with each other and to undress in front of the terrorists, according to The Times of Israel. The Hamas captors also touched and whipped the hostages in their genital areas.
Israel launched its ongoing war against the terrorist organization following the Oct. 7 attacks, the worst in Israel’s history. While the fighting continues, Israeli forces have significantly weakened Hamas’ ranks by killing thousands of its fighters in combat and with air strikes.
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