Details of captivity emerge as hostages return
Doctors warn of steep psychological burden
JERUSALEM — Plastic chairs as beds. Meals of bread and rice. Hours spent waiting for the bathroom.
As hostages return to Israel after seven weeks of Hamas captivity, information about the conditions of their confinement has begun to trickle out.
Most of the 58 hostages freed under a cease-fire deal over the past three days remain in hospitals around the country.
Information about the conditions of their captivity has been tightly controlled, but family members of the released hostages have begun to share details about their loved ones’ experiences.
Adva Adar, the grandchild of 85-year-old released hostage Yaffa Adar, said her grandmother had lost weight.
Adar said that her grandmother was taken captive convinced that her family members were dead, only to emerge to the news that they had survived. Still, her release was bittersweet: She also found out that her house had been ravaged by terrorists.
Eleven more hostages are set to be released Monday on the last day of the cease-fire, leaving close to 180 hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Doctors have warned of the steep psychological toll of captivity. Israel has made counseling and other support available to those who have been released.
Yair Rotem, whose 12-year-old niece, Hila Rotem-shoshani, was released Sunday, said he had to keep reminding her she didn’t need to whisper.
“They always told them to whisper and stay quiet, so I keep telling her now she can raise her voice,” Rotem said.
He added that Hila, who will celebrate her 13th birthday on Monday, slept well during her first night back in Israel and has an appetite.
Ohad Munder, Merav Raviv’s 9-year-old nephew, was surrounded by friends soon after his release, as they celebrated his ninth birthday a month late with ice cream and pizza in a hospital ward.
Ohad’s friend, Eitan Vilchik, told Israel’s Channel 13 that his friend was “emotionally strong” and already able to answer their questions about what he ate and what happened to him while he was in captivity.
But Ohad’s friends refused to share details, saying they wanted to respect his privacy.
Vilchik said teachers have canceled Munder’s homework requirements but his friends will help him make up the subjects he missed in school.
He said Ohad was still able to solve a Rubik’s cube in less than a minute.